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PL 2 · cols. 143–176

Tertullian, Adversus Gnosticos Scorpiace

Editors' preface

PL 2:143
Q. SEPT. FLOR. TERTULLIANI ADVERSUS GNOSTICOS SCORPIACE.
OF Q. SEPT. FLOR. TERTULLIAN, AGAINST THE GNOSTICS, THE SCORPIACE [THE REMEDY FOR THE SCORPION'S STING].
ARGUMENTUM.— Gnosticos adoritur, qui martyrium tollebant; illius utilitatem necessitatemque probat. Scorpiace sive Scorpiacum liber hic vocatur, quoniam scorpiorum in morem latenter simplicioribus imponerent, dicebantque D⟨e⟩um sanguinem Christianorum non sitire, nec Christum de morte nostra salutem exspectare. EDIT. VENET.
ARGUMENT.— He attacks the Gnostics, who did away with martyrdom; he proves its usefulness and necessity. This book is called Scorpiace or Scorpiacum, because after the manner of scorpions they stealthily imposed upon the simpler sort, and said that God does not thirst for the blood of Christians, nor does Christ look for salvation from our death. THE VENETIAN EDITORS.
CAPUT PRIMUM.
CHAPTER I.
Magnum de modico malum scorpios terra suppurat: tot v⟨e⟩nena, quot genera; tot pernicies, quot et species; tot dolores, quot et colores, Nicander scribit et pingit: et tamen unus omnium violentiae gestus nocere de cauda; quae cauda erit, quodcumque de postumo corporis propagatur, et verberat. Proinde scorpii series illa nodorum, venenata intrinsecus venula subtilis, arcuato impetu surgens, hamatile spiculum in summo tormenti ratione stringit; unde et
A great evil out of a small thing, the scorpion, does the earth fester forth: as many venoms as kinds; as many banes as there are also species; as many pains as there are also colours, Nicander writes and paints: and yet one gesture of violence belongs to them all, to do harm from the tail; and whatever is extended from the hindmost part of the body will be tail, and it lashes. Accordingly that series of knots of the scorpion, a fine little vein envenomed within, rising with an arched thrust, draws taut at its tip a hooked sting after the manner of an engine of war; whence also
Editors' notes and page, col. 143

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 1] ‹scorpios› · call in col 143 Scorpium Pam. Rhen. Seml.

"Scorpium": Pamelius, Rhenanus, Semler.

[var. 2] ‹quot genera› · call in col 143 Ingenia, Pam. Rhen. Seml. et genera, Petr. Ciacconius ex Isidoro.

"Ingenia": Pamelius, Rhenanus, Semler; "et genera": Pedro Chacón, from Isidore.

[var. 3] ‹Proinde› · call in col 143 Perinde ut Rhen. Seml. proinde scorpiis

"Perinde ut": Rhenanus, Semler; "proinde scorpiis"

[var. 4] ‹tela vegetantem› · call in col 144 Jun. Pam. Rhen. Seml.

Junius, Pamelius, Rhenanus, Semler.

[var. 5] ‹in vulnus› · call in col 144 Christus Pam. Franeq.

"Christus": Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 6] ‹saevitia velificat› · call in col 144 Velificabat Fran.

"Velificabat": the Franeker edition.

[var. 7] ‹naturalia plurima› · call in col 144 Naturalia plurimum Pam. Fran. naturalium plurimum Seml.

"Naturalia plurimum": Pamelius, the Franeker edition; "naturalium plurimum": Semler.

[var. 8] ‹Nam et› · call in col 144 Jam et Jun.

"Jam et": Junius.

[var. 9] ‹praebibunt quidam› · call in col 144 Quaedam Wouw.

"Quaedam": Wouwer.

[var. 10] ‹et urgendi› · call in col 144 Ungendi Seml. Signando statim et adjurando et ungendo cod. Wouw.

"Ungendi": Semler; "Signando statim et adjurando et ungendo": Wouwer's manuscript.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 76)

(1) ‹scorpios› · call in col 143

(printed under page 76) (1) Scorpiace. In codice illo Agobardi, librum de Praescriptione haereticorum proxime sequitur Scorpiace, qui liber in vulgatis editionibus inscribitur, Adversus Gnosticos Scorpiacum, de bono Martyrii. Nos veteres membranas secuti appellavimus Scorpiacen, sive de Scorpiace. Nam et ita inscribitur, ut, de Praescriptione haereticorum, et, de exhortatione castitatis; cum reipsa sit et Scorpiace, et Praescriptio haereticorum, et Exhortatio castitatis. Tertullianus huic opusculo, sane eleganti, titulum fecit Scorpiacen, Graecorum more qui et σκορπιακὴν ἀντίδοτον dicunt. Apud Hieronymum, in vulgatis quidem editionibus, legitur Scorpiacum lib. adversus Vigilantium: « Scribit adversum haeresim tuam, quae olim erupit contra Ecclesiam. Tertullianus, vir eruditissimus, insigne volumen, quod Scorpiacum vocat rectissimo nomine, quia arcuato vulnere in Ecclesiae corpus venena diffudit. » RIG.

Scorpiace. In that codex of Agobard the Scorpiace immediately follows the book On the Prescription of Heretics; in the common editions this book is entitled Against the Gnostics, the Scorpiacum, on the Good of Martyrdom. Following the old parchments we have called it Scorpiace, or On the Scorpiace. For it is so entitled in the same way as On the Prescription of Heretics and On the Exhortation to Chastity, though in fact it is the Scorpiace, as the other is the Prescription of Heretics and the Exhortation to Chastity. Tertullian gave this little work, a truly elegant one, the title Scorpiace, after the manner of the Greeks, who also speak of a σκορπιακὴ ἀντίδοτος (an antidote against scorpions). In Jerome, at least in the common editions, one reads Scorpiacum, in the book against Vigilantius: "Tertullian, a most learned man, wrote against your heresy, which once broke out against the Church, a remarkable volume which he calls by the most fitting name Scorpiacum, because it spread its venom into the body of the Church with an arched wound." Rigault.

(printed under page 76)

(2) ‹terra suppurat› · call in col 143

(printed under page 76) (2) Scorpios terra suppurat. Haec de alimento scorpiorum e terra eductorum intelligenda mihi non videntur. Verum ex eo explicanda sunt, quod scorpii non modo ex sese generentur, sed etiam procreentur e putredine, lignis putrefactis et terra etiam; unde Nicandri scholiastes in Ther.: Γίνονται δὲ οἱ σκόρπιοι οὐ μόνον ἐξ ἀλλήλων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ σεσημμένων ξύλων καὶ παγούρων. « Nascuntur scorpiones non tantum alii ex aliis, verum etiam putrefactis lignis et cancris » LE PR. et EDD.

"The earth festers with scorpions." These words do not seem to me to be understood of the food of scorpions drawn out of the earth. Rather they are to be explained from the fact that scorpions are not only generated from one another but are also bred from putrefaction, from rotted wood and from the earth too; whence the scholiast on Nicander's Theriaca: "Scorpions are born not only from one another but also from rotted wood and from crabs" (Latin rendering likewise). Le Prieur and the editors.

(printed under page 76)

(3) ‹et colores› · call in col 143

(printed under page 76) (3) Quot colores. Plures sunt scorpiorum species, quae a colore potissimum denominantur; has Nicander in Theriacis octo enumerat. LE PR.

"As many colours." There are several species of scorpion, named chiefly from their colour; Nicander in the Theriaca counts eight of them. Le Prieur.

(printed under page 76)

(4) ‹de cauda› · call in col 143

(printed under page 76) (4) Unus omnium violentiae gestus nocere de cauda. Plinius: « Semper cauda in ictu est, nulloque momento meditari cessat, ne quando occasioni desit. » RIG.

"All have one manner of violence, to harm with the tail." Pliny: "The tail is always ready to strike, and at no moment does it cease to practise, lest it ever miss an opportunity." Rigault.

(printed under page 76)

(5) ‹impetu surgens› · call in col 143

(printed under page 76) (5) Arcuato impetu surgens. Hoc imitatus est Hieronymus prooemio in Joelem: « Insurgat licet scorpio, et arcuato vulnere ferire conetur. » RIG.

"Rising with an arched thrust." Jerome imitated this in the preface to Joel: "Though the scorpion rise up and try to strike with an arched wound." Rigault.

(printed under page 76)

(6) ‹tormenti ratione› · call in col 143

(printed under page 76) (6) Tormenti ratione. Hoc est, in modum tormenti. RIG.

"On the principle of an engine": that is, after the manner of a siege engine. Rigault.

(printed under page 76)

(7) ‹tela vegetantem› · call in col 144

(printed under page 76) (7) Unde et bellicam machinam retractu tela vegetantem. Ea describitur ab Ammiano, lib. XXIII. RIG.

"Whence also the war engine that gives force to its missiles by drawing back." It is described by Ammianus, book XXIII. Rigault.

(printed under page 76)

(8) ‹fistula est› · call in col 144

(printed under page 76) (8) Id spiculum et fistula est. Sic de Culice, tubam pariter et lanceam, lib. de Anima, et lib. I, advers. Marc. RIG.

"That sting is also a tube." So of the gnat, "a trumpet and likewise a lance," in the book On the Soul and in book I against Marcion. Rigault.

(printed under page 76)

(9) ‹figit effundit› · call in col 144

(printed under page 76) (9) Quae figit, effundit. Haec attigit Isidorus more suo negligenter: « Scorpio est sagitta venenata, arcu vel tormentis excussa, quae dum ad hominem venerit, virus quod figit, infundit. » Ita ad sagittam transtulit, quae de machina et animali Septimius dixerat. RIG.

"What it pierces, it pours into." Isidore touched on this in his usual careless way: "The scorpion is a poisoned arrow shot from a bow or from engines, which, when it reaches a man, pours in venom where it pierces." So he transferred to the arrow what Septimius had said of the engine and the animal. Rigault.

(printed under page 76)

(10) ‹concubitus exhaurit› · call in col 144

(printed under page 76) (10) Sed concubitus exhaurit. Quod scilicet praebiberunt remedii, veneris ardore exhauritur. Perstringere videtur Psychicos suos prurigas, de quibus initio lib. de Monog. RIG.

"But intercourse drains it." That is, the remedy they have drunk beforehand is drained away by the heat of lust. He seems to be glancing at his lecherous "Psychics," of whom he speaks at the start of the book On Monogamy. Rigault.

(printed under page 76)

(11) ‹et adjurandi› · call in col 144

(printed under page 76) (11) Diffidentia signandi statim et adjurandi. Expressimus scripturam codicis Agobardini. Etsi minime displiceat quod in Ursino legitur: « Nobis fides praesidium, si non et ipsa percutitur diffidentia, signando statim et adjurando, » etc. RIG.

"By distrust of signing at once and adjuring." We have printed the reading of the Agobard codex, though the reading in Orsini is not at all displeasing: "Our defence is faith, if it too is not struck by distrust, by signing at once and adjuring," etc. Rigault.

(printed under page 76)

Page

  • running head: 143 TERTULLIANI OPERUM PARS II. (the head continues across the page beyond this column's crop)
  • marginal letters: A beside "CAPUT PRIMUM." / "Magnum de modico" (opening line of the chapter); B and C fall in the Commentarius at the page foot, not in the text; D (none)
  • old-edition numerals: 121 before ARGUMENTUM; 122 after arcuato
  • other: The work's title and the ARGUMENTUM are printed across the full page; this column's images are cropped at the column edge, so only their left halves were seen. Every ⟨ ⟩ in the title and Argumentum marks text CUT OFF BY THE CROP, not damaged type: it must be completed from the full-page image (col. 144 side) in the settle step. Seen: "Q. SEPT. FLOR." / "ADVERSU" / "GNOSTICOS S"; the Argumentum line ends seen at "marty", "quoni", "Christianorum". The English of those lines is provisional for the same reason.
  • other: The title and the ARGUMENTUM (signed EDIT. VENET.) are editors' matter, not Tertullian's; set per Ray's ruling of 2026-10-17.
  • other: Page foot holds Variae lectiones 1–10 and Commentarius notes (1)–(11) for this page (editors' apparatus, left to pass 2): calls 1–3 and (1)–(6) stand in col. 143, calls 4–10 and (7)–(11) in col. 144. The column ends mid-sentence at "unde et".
  • other (QA Q1a, 2026-10-18): the right halves of the title and Argumentum, seen on col. 144's images, read: "...FLOR. TERTULLIANI" / "ADVERSUS" / "...ICOS SCORPIACE."; Argumentum: "...ritur, qui martyrium tollebant; illius utilitatem necessitatemque" / "...ic vocatur, quoniam scorpiorum in morem latenter simplicioribus" / "...m Christianorum non sitire, nec Christum de morte nostra salu-". For the settle step.
  • running head: 143 TERTULLIANI OPERUM PARS II. — SERIES I, POLEMICA. 144
  • marginal letters: (none in this column; B and C stand in the footnote area only)
  • old-edition numerals: 121 before ARGUMENTUM; 122 after arcuato
PL 2:144
bellicam machinam, retractu tela vegetantem, de scorpio nominant. Id spiculum et fistula est, patula tenuitate in vulnus et virus, qua figit effundit. Familiare periculi tempus aestas; Austro et Africo saevitia velificat. In remediis naturalia plurima; aliquid et magia circumligat, medicina cum ferro et poculo occurrit. Nam et praebibunt quidam festinando tutelam; sed concubitus exhaurit, et denuo sitiunt. Nobis fides praesidium, si non et ipsa percutitur diffidentia signandi statim et adjurandi, et urgendi
they name from the scorpion the engine of war that gives force to its bolts by drawing back. That sting is also a tube, with a fine opening for wound and venom alike: where it pierces, it pours out. The familiar season of danger is summer; with the South wind and the African wind its savagery sets sail. Among remedies very many are natural; magic too binds something round; medicine meets it with steel and the cup. For some also drink beforehand, hastening their protection; but intercourse drains it out, and they thirst again. For us faith is our defence, if it too is not struck through by a want of confidence in signing at once and adjuring, and in urging
Editors' notes and page, col. 144

Footnotes

[var. 4] ‹tela vegetantem› · call in col 144 (printed under page 76) [var. 5] ‹in vulnus› · call in col 144 (printed under page 76) [var. 6] ‹saevitia velificat› · call in col 144 (printed under page 76) [var. 7] ‹naturalia plurima› · call in col 144 (printed under page 76) [var. 8] ‹Nam et› · call in col 144 (printed under page 76) [var. 9] ‹praebibunt quidam› · call in col 144 (printed under page 76) [var. 10] ‹et urgendi› · call in col 144 (printed under page 76)

(7) ‹tela vegetantem› · call in col 144

(printed under page 76)

(8) ‹fistula est› · call in col 144

(printed under page 76)

(9) ‹figit effundit› · call in col 144

(printed under page 76)

(10) ‹concubitus exhaurit› · call in col 144

(printed under page 76)

(11) ‹et adjurandi› · call in col 144

(printed under page 76)

Page

  • running head: ...ERUM PARS II. — SERIES I, POLEMICA. 144
  • marginal letters: A bellicam machinam, retractu tela; B der in Theriacis octo enumerat (in the notes); C bam pariter et lanceam (in the notes); D (none)
  • old-edition numerals: (none)
  • running head: 143 TERTULLIANI OPERUM PARS II. — SERIES I, POLEMICA. 144
  • marginal letters: A ‹bellicam machinam, retractu tela›; B, C in the footnote area only; D (none)
  • old-edition numerals: (none)
PL 2:145
bestiae calcem: hoc denique modo etiam ethnicis saepe subvenimus; donati a Deo ea potestate, quam Apostolus dedicavit (Act. XXVIII), cum morsum viperae sprevit. Quid ergo promittit stylus iste, si fides de suo tuta est? Ut et alias de suo tuta sit, cum suos scorpios patitur. Acerba mediocrita⟨s⟩ et istis, et genus varium, et uno modo armantur, et certo tempore subornantur, nec alio quam ardoris. Hoc apud Christianos persecutio est. Cum igitur fides aestuat, et Ecclesia exuritur de figura rubi, tunc Gnostici erumpunt, tunc Valentiniani proserpunt, tunc omnes martyriorum refragatores ebulliunt, calentes et ipsi offendere, figere, occidere. Nam quod sciant multos simplices ac rudes, tum infirmos, plerosque vero in ventum, et si placuerit, Christianos, nunquam magis adeundos sapiunt, quam cum aditus animae formido laxavit; praesertim cum aliqua atrocitas fidem martyrum coronavit. Itaque primo trahentes adhuc caudam de affectibus applicant, aut quasi in vacuum flagellant. Haeccine pati homines innocentes? ut putes fratrem, aut de melioribus ethnicum? Siccine tractari sectam nemini molestam?
the heel of the beast: in this way, indeed, we often come to the help even of heathens, endowed by God with that power which the Apostle consecrated (Acts 28) when he disregarded the bite of the viper. What, then, does this pen promise, if faith is safe of itself? That it may be safe of itself in other respects too, when it suffers its own scorpions. A bitter smallness belongs to these also, and a varied kind; and they are armed in one manner, and are prompted at a fixed time, and at no other than that of heat. This, among Christians, is persecution. When therefore faith is in a fever, and the Church is burnt after the figure of the bush, then the Gnostics break out, then the Valentinians creep forth, then all the opponents of martyrdoms bubble up, themselves also hot to strike, to pierce, to kill. For since they know that many are simple and unlearned, and weak besides, and most indeed are Christians according to the wind, and, if it so please, they know that they are never more to be approached than when fear has loosened the entrances of the soul; especially when some atrocity has crowned the faith of martyrs. Therefore, first trailing their tail as yet, they apply it to the feelings, or lash as it were into the void. Should innocent men suffer such things? so that you might think him a brother, or a heathen of the better sort? Should a sect troublesome to no one be treated thus?
Editors' notes and page, col. 145

Footnotes

(12) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (12) Urgendi bestiae calcem. In Agobardino legitur, ungendi. Manum Tertulliani scripsisse puto, urgendi. Urgere bestiae calcem idem est atque urgere bestiam calce. Ipse mox dicet: « At tu, fides si vigilat, ibidem scorpio pro solea anathema illidito. » Illidere scorpio soleam est urgere bestiae calcem. Ait autem Christus, Lucae X: Ecce dedi vobis potestatem calcandi supra serpentes et scorpiones. RIG.

"Of pressing the heel on the beast." The Agobard codex reads "ungendi" (anointing). I think Tertullian's hand wrote "urgendi." To press the heel on the beast is the same as to press the beast with the heel. He will say himself shortly: "But you, if faith is awake, strike the scorpion on the spot with the anathema as with a sole." To strike the sole on the scorpion is to press the heel on the beast. And Christ says, Luke 10: Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions. Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (13) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (13) Hoc denique modo etiam ethnicis subvenimus. Signando statim et adjurando. RIG.

"In this way, in short, we help even the heathen": by signing at once and adjuring. Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (14) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (14) Donati a Deo ea potestate. Calcandi scorpiones, urgendi bestias calce. RIG.

"Endowed by God with that power": of treading on scorpions, of pressing the beasts with the heel. Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (15) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (15) Cum suos scorpios patitur. Haereticos significat quales mox describet. RIG.

"When it suffers its own scorpions." He means heretics, such as he will shortly describe. Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (16) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (16) Acerba mediocritas et istis. Jam incipit haereticos cum scorpiis comparare: et quemadmodum de scorpiis dixit: « Magnum de modico malum, » ita hic de haereticis, « Acerba mediocritas et istis. » RIG.

"These too have a bitter smallness." Now he begins to compare the heretics with scorpions: and as he said of scorpions, "A great evil from a small thing," so here of the heretics, "These too have a bitter smallness." Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (17) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (17) Et certo tempore subornantur, nec alio quam ardoris. Plinius « Venenum omnibus medio die, dum incanduere solis ardoribus. » RIG.

"And they are got ready at a fixed season, and that no other than the season of heat." Pliny: "All have their venom at midday, when they have grown hot in the blaze of the sun." Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (18) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (18) Omnes martyriorum refragatores. Gnosticos et alios haereticos asseclas notat, qui martyria tollere conabantur, atque adversus ea dimicabant. LE PR.

"All opponents of martyrdoms." He marks the Gnostics and other heretics, their followers, who tried to do away with martyrdoms and fought against them. Le Prieur.

(printed under page 77) (19) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (19) Calentes et ipsi offendere. Verissima scriptura. Etenim scorpiis incalescentibus venenum inardescit. RIG.

"They too strike when they are hot." A most true reading. For when scorpions grow hot their venom blazes up. Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (20) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (20) Plerosque vero in ventum, et si placuerit Christianos. In ventum, hoc est, vento ferente, vento secundo, prout ventus tulerit; prout temporis occasio dederit, suaserit. Et si placuerit, nimirum Caesari, Proconsuli, Praesidi, etc. RIG.

"But most of them, to the wind, and Christians if it is pleased." "To the wind," that is, as the wind carries, with a following wind, as the wind may bear; as the occasion of the time may give or urge. "If it is pleased," namely Caesar, the proconsul, the governor, etc. Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (21) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (21) Nunquam magis adeundos sapiunt, quam cum aditus animae formido laxavit. Alludit ad illud Juvenalis: Et trepidum solvunt tibi cornua ventrem Cum lituis audita. Ita ut formido non solum ventrem, sed et animum solvat. RIG.

"They never think men more worth approaching than when fear has loosened the entrances of the soul." He alludes to that line of Juvenal: "And the horns, heard with the clarions, loosen your trembling bowels." So that fear loosens not only the bowels but the mind as well. Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (22) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (22) Trahentes adhuc caudam. Nondum arcuato impetu surgentes; nondum figentes spicula; nondum fundentes virus. RIG.

"Still dragging the tail": not yet rising with an arched thrust, not yet driving in their stings, not yet pouring out venom. Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (23) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (23) Applicant. Blande ac molliter accedunt. RIG.

"They draw near": they approach coaxingly and softly. Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (24) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (24) Haeccine pati homines innocentes. Haec dicuntur sub persona Gnosticorum, accedentium ad fideles simplices et formidantes; ac deinceps tales personae sunt a Septimii persona diligenter distinguendae. RIG.

"That innocent men should suffer such things!" These words are spoken in the character of the Gnostics, approaching the simple and fearful faithful; and from here on such characters must be carefully distinguished from the person of Septimius. Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (25) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (25) Perire enim, et sine causa. Verba sunt Tertulliani Gnosticorum dicta cum indignatione examinantis. Etenim dicebant perire qui martyria subirent, et, perire sine causa. Quasi perirent qui Deo impendebantur! Aut quasi sine causa, qui pro Christi nomine! RIG.

"To perish, and without cause." These are the words of Tertullian examining the Gnostics' sayings with indignation. For they said that those who underwent martyrdom perished, and perished without cause. As though those perished who were spent for God! Or as though without cause, who died for the name of Christ! Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (26) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (26) Et quis me salvum faciat, si is occidet qui salvum facere debebit? Hujusce commatis principium in codice Agobardi vetustatis injuria delevit. Scriptum fuisse videtur: « Et quis me salvum, faciat, si is occidet qui salvum facere debebit? » RIG.

"And who will save me, if he kills who ought to save?" The damage of age has effaced the beginning of this clause in the Agobard codex. It seems to have been written: "And who will save me, if he kills who ought to save?" Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (27) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (27) Admenta haereticorum venenorum. Admentum in veteribus Glossis, Ammentum, ἀμμαλόγχης λῶρόν ἔστιν ὅθεν κατέχεται ἡ λόγχη. Hinc illud, quod supra notavimus: « Admentavit hanc sententiam. » RIG.

"The thongs of the heretics' venoms." "Admentum" in the old Glossaries, "Ammentum": the thong of a spear, by which the spear is held. Hence the phrase we noted above: "He has fitted this sentence with a thong." Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (28) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 77) (28) Si plagam satiaverit. Si jaculum penetravit adactum in vulnus. RIG.

"If it has glutted the wound": if the dart, driven into the wound, has gone deep. Rigault.

(printed under page 77) (29) Carne spiritus exolescit. Carne, hoc est, vitae mortalis amore pravo. RIG.

"The spirit withers away through the flesh": through the flesh, that is, through a perverse love of mortal life. Rigault.

(printed under page 77)

Page

  • running head: ADV. GNOSTICOS SCOR (cut off at the image edge, presumably SCORPIACE)
  • marginal letters: A bestiae calcem (12) : hoc denique modo etiam; B rit, Christianos (20), nunquam magis adeundos; C (12) Urgendi bestiae calcem. In Agobardino legi- (in the commentary); D (17) Et certo tempore subornantur (in the commentary)
  • old-edition numerals: 123 after stylus
  • other: the word molestam? was split at the column break and stands whole here (joined on receipt); check that the English reads whole across the break into col 146
PL 2:146
Debinc adigunt, perire homines sine causa. Perire enim, et sine causa, prima fixura. Exinde jam caedunt. Sed nesciunt simplices animae, quid, quomodo scriptum sit, ubi, et quando, et coram quibus confitendum, nisi quod nec simplicitas ista, sed vanitas, imo dementia, pro Deo mori. Et: Quis me salvum faciat, si is occidet, qui salvum facere debebit? Semel Christus pro nobis obiit, semel occisus est ne occideremur. Si vicem repetit, nunc et ille salutem de mea nece exspectat? An Deus hominum mundi sanguinem flagitat, maxime si taurorum et hircorum (Psal. LIX, 13) recusat? Certe peccatoris poenitentiam mavult quam mortem (Ezech. XVIII, 23). Et quomodo non peccatorum desiderat mortem? Haec et si qua alia admenta haereticorum venenorum, quem non vel in scrupulum figant, si non in exitium? vel in bilem, si non in mortem? At tu, fides si vigilat, ibidem scorpio pro solea anathema illidito, et relinquito in suo sopore morientem. Caeterum, si plagam satiaverit, intimat virus, et properat in viscera; statim omnes pristini sensus retorpescunt, sanguis animi gelascit, carne spiritus exolescit, nausea nominis inaccrescit.
Next they press on: men perish without cause. For "to perish, and without cause" is the first fixing of the sting. From then on they now strike. But simple souls do not know what is written and how, where and when and before whom one must confess, except that to die for God is not this simplicity but vanity, nay madness. And: "Who will save me, if He who ought to save me kills me?" Once Christ died for us, once He was slain so that we should not be slain. If He seeks a return in kind, does He too now expect salvation from my death? Or does God demand the blood of the men of the world, especially if He refuses that of bulls and of goats (Ps. 49:13)? Surely He prefers the repentance of the sinner to his death (Ezek. 18:23). And how does He desire the death of those who are not sinners? These and whatever other throwing-thongs of the heretics' venoms there may be, whom would they not pierce, if not unto destruction, at least unto a scruple? if not unto death, at least unto bile? But you, if faith is awake, crush the scorpion on the spot with an anathema instead of a sandal, and leave it dying in its own torpor. But if it has sated its blow, it drives in the venom and hastens into the vitals; at once all the former senses grow numb again, the blood of the soul congeals, the spirit wastes away in the flesh, nausea at the Name grows sour.
Editors' notes and page, col. 146

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 11] ‹call not on this foot› Sit ut et Rhen. Seml. sit, et Pam. Fran.

"Sit ut et": Rhenanus, Semler; "sit, et": Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 12] ‹call not on this foot› Cum suo scorpio mediatur acerba, mediocritas et isti cod. Wouw.

"Cum suo scorpio mediatur acerba, mediocritas et isti": Wouwer's manuscript.

[var. 13] ‹call not on this foot› Callentes Pam. Fran.

"Callentes": Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 14] ‹call not on this foot› Et abest. Pam. Fran.

"Et" is absent: Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 15] ‹call not on this foot› Puta Pam. Fran.

"Puta": Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 16] ‹si is occidet, qui› · call in col 146 Ut qui me s. f. si is occidit, quis Rhen. Semler. et quis m. s. f. si is occidit, qui salvum cod. Wouw.

"Ut qui me s(alvum) f(aciat) si is occidit, quis": Rhenanus, Semler; "et quis m(e) s(alvum) f(aciat) si is occidit, qui salvum": Wouwer's manuscript.

[var. 17] ‹non peccatorum› · call in col 146 Peccatorum non Pam. Fran.

"Peccatorum non": Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 18] ‹alia admenta› · call in col 146 Adinventio, Rhen. Seml.

"Adinventio": Rhenanus, Semler.

[var. 19] ‹in exitium› · call in col 146 Exitum Pam. Fran.

"Exitum": Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 20] ‹suo sopore› · call in col 146 Pure Jun.

"Pure": Junius.

[var. 21] ‹carne› · call in col 146 Caro Rhen. Seml.

"Caro": Rhenanus, Semler.

[var. 22] ‹nausea nominis› · call in col 146 Ingrescit, cod. Agob.

"Ingrescit": the Agobard codex.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 77)

(29) ‹spiritus exolescit› · call in col 146

(printed under page 77)

Page

  • running head: ...NOSTICOS SCORPIACE. 146
  • marginal letters: A stam? Debinc adigunt; B quem non vel in scrupulum figant; C Juvenalis :; D rent, et, perire sine causa.
  • old-edition numerals: 121 after simplicitas
  • misprints kept as printed (QA Q2): "Debinc" (for Dehinc); "Psal. LIX, 13" (the verse is Ps. 49:13 in the Vulgate; the English gives 49:13)
  • other (QA Q2): the Commentarius notes (25)–(29) called in this column are set in full in n145 (page 77's notes)
PL 2:147
Jam et ipsa mens sibi quo vomat quaerit. Atque ita semel infirmitas quae percussa est, sauciatam fidem vel in haeresim, vel in saeculum exspirat. Et nunc praesentia rerum est medius ardor ipsa canicula persecutionis: ab ipso scilicet cynocephalo. Alios ignis, alios gladius, alios bestiae Christianos probaverunt. Alii fustibus interim et ungulis insuper degustata martyria in carcere esuriunt. Nos ipsi ut lepores, destinata venatio, d⟨e⟩ longinquo obsidemur, et haeretici ex more grassantur. Itaque tempus admonuit adversus nostrates bestiolas (promptam) mederi theriacam stylo temperare; qui l⟨e⟩geris, biberis. Non amarum potio. Si eloquia Domini dulcia super mella et favos (Psal. XVIII, 7), inde pigmenta sunt; si lacte et melle promissio Dei manat, hoc sapiunt quae illuc faciunt. Vae autem qui dulce in amarum, et lumen in tenebras convertunt (Isa. V, 20). Perinde enim et qui martyriis refragantur, salutem perditionem interpretantes, tam dulce in amarum, quam lucem in tenebras reformant, atque ita miserrimam hanc vitam illi beatissimae praevertendo, tam amarum pro dulci, quam tenebras pro luce supponunt.
Now even the mind itself seeks where it may vomit. And so the weakness which has once been struck breathes out its wounded faith either into heresy or into the world. And now, in the present state of affairs, there is a midsummer heat, the very dog-star of persecution: from the dog-headed one himself, that is. Fire has tested some Christians, the sword others, beasts others. Others, having meanwhile tasted martyrdom with clubs and with claws besides, hunger for it in prison. We ourselves, like hares, a quarry marked out, are beset from afar, and the heretics prowl as is their custom. Therefore the time has warned [me] to temper with the pen a theriac ready to heal against our native little beasts; you who are read are drunk. The potion is not bitter. If the words of the Lord are sweet above honey and honeycombs (Ps. 18:7), from there are its spices; if the promise of God flows with milk and honey, the things that lead there have that savour. But woe to those who turn sweet into bitter, and light into darkness (Isa. 5:20). For in just the same way those who oppose martyrdom, interpreting salvation as perdition, change sweet into bitter as much as light into darkness, and so, by preferring this most wretched life to that most blessed one, they substitute bitter for sweet as much as darkness for light.
CAPUT II.
Chapter II.
Sed nondum de bono martyrii, nisi debito primum; nec ante de utilitate ejus, quam de necessitate
But not yet of the good of martyrdom, except first of its being due; nor of its usefulness before its necessity
Editors' notes and page, col. 147

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 23] ‹call not on this foot› Infirmitate quoque percussa, Rhen. Seml.

"Infirmitate quoque percussa": Rhenanus, Semler.

[var. 24] ‹call not on this foot› Degustato martyrio Rhen. Seml.

"Degustato martyrio": Rhenanus, Semler.

[var. 25] ‹call not on this foot› Ipsius Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Ipsius": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 26] ‹call not on this foot› Bestiolas nostra te scorpiacum Seml.

"Bestiolas nostra te scorpiacum": Semler.

[var. 27] ‹call not on this foot› Nec amarum potio Rhen. Seml. nec amara enim potio Latin.

"Nec amarum potio": Rhenanus, Semler; "nec amara enim potio": Latinius.

[var. 28] ‹nisi debito› · call in col 147 De debito Ciacon. Jun.

"De debito": Chacón, Junius.

[var. 29] ‹call not on this foot› Dicendum Lat.

"Dicendum": Latinius.

[var. 30] ‹call not on this foot› Ad commodum Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Ad commodum": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 31] ‹call not on this foot› Fuerint ad officium. Haereticos Jun.

"Fuerint ad officium. Haereticos": Junius.

[var. 32] ‹call not on this foot› Dominus Deus tuus Pam. Fran.

"Dominus Deus tuus": Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 33] ‹call not on this foot› Dii abest. Rhen. Seml.

"Dii" is absent: Rhenanus, Semler.

[var. 34] ‹call not on this foot› Sum omitt. Oberth.

Oberthür omits "sum".

[var. 35] ‹call not on this foot› Inibi Rhen. Seml.

"Inibi": Rhenanus, Semler.

[var. 36] ‹call not on this foot› Vobis secundum haec Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Vobis secundum haec": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 37] ‹call not on this foot› Dominus add. Jun.

Junius adds "Dominus".

[var. 38] ‹Aegypti et› · call in col 148 E Jun.

"E": Junius.

[var. 39] ‹alienos ex diis› · call in col 148 Deos aliorum et deos Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Deos aliorum et deos": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 40] ‹aemulatur Deus› · call in col 148 Et Deus aemulator Dominus Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Et Deus aemulator Dominus": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 41] ‹in te: ne› · call in col 148 Et ne Seml. Ut ne Jun.

"Et ne": Semler; "Ut ne": Junius.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 78) (30) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 78)

(30) Nausea nominis inaccerescit. Cod. Agob. inagrescit: ἀγριάζει. Hesychius διαπρίεται· Horatius dixit inamarescunt epulae. Hoc est, inacescit. Sic in Apolog. « Acescit aer ructantibus decuriis; » et lib. I, advers. Marc. « totam fidei massam haeretico acore decepit. » Et Plinius dixit, aceti perfidiam, nequitiam. Eo acore provocari nauseam nominis Christiani ait Septimius. RIG.

"Nausea at the Name turns sour." The Agobard codex has "inagrescit": it grows wild (Greek ἀγριάζει); Hesychius, "it is sawn through" (διαπρίεται). Horace said "the dishes turn bitter." That is, it turns sour. So in the Apology: "the air turns sour with the belching of the decuries"; and in book I against Marcion: "he has soured the whole lump of the faith with heretical sourness." And Pliny spoke of the treachery, the badness, of vinegar. Septimius says that nausea at the Christian name is provoked by this sourness. Rigault.

(printed under page 78) (31) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 78) (31) Sauciatam fidem vel in haeresim, vel in saeculum exspirat. Hoc est, de Christianis fratribus nostris fiunt haeretici vel ethnici. RIG.

"It breathes out its wounded faith either into heresy or into the world." That is, from Christians, our brethren, they become heretics or heathens. Rigault.

(printed under page 78) (32) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 78) (32) Ab ipso scilicet cynocephalo. Diabolo, canina invidia genus humanum vexante. RIG.

"From the dog-headed one himself, of course": from the devil, who torments the human race with a dog's envy. Rigault.

(printed under page 78) (33) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 78) (33) Degustata martyria in carcere esuriunt. Hoc est, exoptant martyria consummare, quae tantum degustaverint, fustibus vel ungulis verberati laceratique; quasi extrema tantum cute perstricta. RIG.

"Having tasted martyrdom, they hunger for it in prison." That is, they long to complete the martyrdom they have only tasted, beaten and torn with clubs or hooks, as though grazed only on the surface of the skin. Rigault.

(printed under page 78) (34) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 78) (34) Adversus nostrates bestiolas promptam mederi theriacam. Sic restituimus, secuti exemplaris vestigia hujusmodi: « Adversus nostrates bestiolas..... in mederi theriacam stilo temperare. » Nostrates bestiolas dicit scorpiunculos haereticos perniciosissimos de non veris Christianis prognatos, de quibus supra dixit: « Magnum de modico malum, et, Acerbam mediocritatem. » Et in serpentium genere, scorpii sunt modici et mediocres. Et rem parvam Tertullianus mediocrem dicere amat. RIG.

"Against our home-grown little beasts, an antidote ready to heal." So we have restored it, following traces in the exemplar of this kind: "Against our home-grown little beasts ..... in to heal an antidote to mix with the pen." By "our home-grown little beasts" he means the heretics, most deadly little scorpions, sprung from no true Christians, of whom he said above: "A great evil from a small thing," and "a bitter smallness." And among the kinds of serpents scorpions are small and middling. And Tertullian likes to call a little thing "middling." Rigault.

(printed under page 78) (35) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 78) (35) Ut qui negant bonum, non suadeantur accommodum, nisi cum subacti fuerint. Haec omnino est scriptura cod. Agob. Ait Tertullianus, eos qui negant bonum esse martyrium, non prius suaderi debere bonum esse et commodum, quam divinarum Scripturarum auctoritate subacti fuerint credere, necessarium esse ad salutem martyrium. Nam hoc evicto, facile obtineri ut credant, non modo bonum esse, sed et commodum atque utile. RIG.

"So that those who deny it is good should not be persuaded it is advantageous until they have been subdued." This is exactly the reading of the Agobard codex. Tertullian says that those who deny martyrdom is good ought not to be persuaded that it is good and advantageous before they have been brought by the authority of the divine Scriptures to believe that martyrdom is necessary to salvation. For once this is proved, it is easily won that they believe it not only good but also advantageous and useful. Rigault.

(printed under page 78) (36) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 78) (36) Ad officium haereticos compelli, non illici dignum est. Gnostici martyria nec bona nec utilia apud Deum esse dicebant, adeoque non appetenda Christianis. Septimius adversus id genus haereticos sic agendum sibi non esse ait, ut blandis et subtilibus rationum illecebris suadeantur utilia esse martyria, sed in ipso jam limine disputationis vim adhibendam, qua compulsi coactique sentiant necessaria esse: etenim ea fortiter obiri Deum velle, Deum jubere: itaque verbi divini auctoritatem, vires et copias divinas, arma coelestia intentat artem Scripturarum instruit. His gladiis compellit haereticos ad officium: his crucibus atque tormentis duritiam eorum frangit ac subigit. Et consentanea loquitur iis quae ad Scapulam dixit: « Religionis non esse cogere religionem, » quae sponte suscipi debeat, non vi. Nimirum eo sermone vim abdicandam esse contendit, quae corpus hominis vexat, aut necat, eamque vim, in hujusmodi negotiis absurdam atque inutilem, ideo damnat, quod hypocritas quidem faciat, minime autem religiosos, nedum Christianos. RIG.

"It is fitting that heretics be compelled to their duty, not enticed." The Gnostics said that martyrdoms were neither good nor useful before God, and so not to be sought by Christians. Septimius says that against heretics of that kind he must not proceed by persuading them with soft and subtle enticements of argument that martyrdoms are useful, but that force must be applied on the very threshold of the dispute, so that, compelled and constrained, they may perceive that martyrdoms are necessary: for God wills that they be met bravely, God commands it. So he levels the authority of the divine word, divine strength and forces, heavenly arms; he marshals the art of the Scriptures. With these swords he compels the heretics to their duty; with these crosses and tortures he breaks and subdues their hardness. And he speaks consistently with what he said to Scapula: "It is not for religion to compel religion," which ought to be taken up freely, not by force. Plainly in that saying he maintains that the force which harasses or kills a man's body must be renounced, and he condemns that force, absurd and useless in matters of this kind, because it makes hypocrites, not religious men at all, still less Christians. Rigault.

(printed under page 78)

Page

  • running head: 147 TERTULLIANI OPERUM PARS II. - (cut off at right edge)
  • marginal letters: A ‹scit (30). Jam et ipsa mens›; B ‹sunt; si lacte et melle›; C ‹(30) Nausea nominis inaccerescit› (commentary); D ‹est, exoptant martyria consummare› (commentary)
  • old-edition numerals: 125 after ‹bestiae›
PL 2:148
discendum. Auctoritas divina praecedit, an tale quid voluerit atque mandaverit Deus, ut qui negant bonum, non suadeantur accommodum, nisi cum subacti fuerint. Ad officium haereticos compelli, non illici dignum est. Duritia vincenda est, non suadenda. Et utique satis optimum praejudicabitur, quod probabitur a Deo constitutum atque praeceptum. Sustineant Evangelia paulisper, dum radicem eorum ex primo legem; dum inde elicio Dei voluntatem, unde et ipsum recognosco. Ego sum, inquit (Exod. XX), Deus tuus qui te eduxi de terra Aegypti. Non erunt tibi dii alii praeter me. Non facies tibi simulacrum eorum quae in coelo, et quae in terra deorsum, et quae in mari infra terram. Non adorabis ea, neque famulaberis eis. Ego enim sum Dominus Deus tuus. Item in eadem Exodo: Ipsi vidistis quod de coelo locutus ad vos sim. Non facietis vobis deos argenteos, et deos aureos non facietis vobis. Secundum haec et in Deuteronomio (VI): Audi, Israel, Dominus Deus tuus unus est, et: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex totis viribus tuis; et rursus: Ne obliviscaris Domini Dei tui, qui te eduxit de terra Aegypti et domo servitutis. Dominum Deum tuum timebis, et illi famulaberis soli' et illi adglutinaberis, et in nomine ejus dejerabis. Non ibitis post deos alienos ex diis nationum quae circum vos, quia aemulatur Deus tuus in te: ne
is it to be learned. Divine authority goes first, as to whether God has willed and commanded any such thing, so that those who deny that it is good are not persuaded that it is advantageous until they have been subdued. It is fitting that heretics be compelled to their duty, not enticed. Obstinacy is to be conquered, not persuaded. And certainly that will be prejudged as quite the best which shall be proved to have been established and commanded by God. Let the Gospels wait a little, while I read their root from the beginning; while I draw out the will of God from that source from which I also recognize Him Himself. I am, He says (Exod. 20), your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. You shall have no other gods besides Me. You shall not make for yourself an image of those things which are in heaven, and which are on the earth below, and which are in the sea beneath the earth. You shall not worship them, nor serve them. For I am the Lord your God. Likewise in the same Exodus: You yourselves have seen that I spoke to you from heaven. You shall not make for yourselves gods of silver, and gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. In accordance with these, also in Deuteronomy (6): Hear, Israel, the Lord your God is one, and: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with all your strength; and again: Do not forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and the house of bondage. You shall fear the Lord your God, and Him alone you shall serve, and to Him you shall cleave, and by His name you shall swear. You shall not go after foreign gods from the gods of the nations which are around you, for your God is jealous over you: lest
Editors' notes and page, col. 148

Page

  • running head: RUM PARS II. — SERIES I, POLEMICA. 148
  • marginal letters: A tate discendum; B Ego enim sum Dominus; C scriptura cod. Agob. (in Commentarius); D adhibendam, qua compulsi (in Commentarius)
  • old-edition numerals: 126 after inde
PL 2:149
iratus indignetur, et exterminet te a facie terrae. Sed et proponens benedictiones et maledictiones: Benedictiones, inquit (Deut. XI, 27), si audieritis praecepta Domini Dei vestri, quaecunque ego praecipio vobis hodie, et non erraveritis de via, quam mandavi vobis, ut abeuntes serviatis diis aliis quos non scitis. De quibus omnifariam exstirpandis: Perditione perdetis, inquit, omnia loca, in quibus servierunt nationes diis suis, quas vos possidebitis haereditate: subter montes et colles, et sub arbores densas quasque effodietis aras earum, evertetis et comminuetis staticula earum, et excidetis lucos earum, et scalptilia ipsorum deorum concremabitis igni, et disperdetis nomen eorum de loco illo. Adhuc ingerit cum iotroissent terram promissionis, et exterminasseut nationes ejus: Cave tibi ne sequaris eas posteaquam exterminatae fuerint a facie tua, ne requisieris deos illarum, dicens: Quemadmodum faciunt nationes deis suis et ego ita faciam. Sed et id: Si prophetes, inquit (Deut. XIII), exsurrexerit in te, aut somnium somnians, et dederit tibi signum vel ostentum, et evenerit, et dixerit: Eamus, et serviamus diis aliis, quos non scitis: ne audiatis sermonem prophetae, aut somniatoris illius; quia tentat vos Dominus Deus vester, an ex toto corde vestro, et ex tota anima vestra timeatis eum. Post Dominum Deum vestrum abibitis, et hunc timebitis, et praecepta ejus custodietis, et vocem ejus audietis, et illi servietis, et illi adjiciemini. Prophetes autem et somniator ille morietur: locutus est enim ad seducendum te a Domino Deo tuo. Sed et alio capitulo: Si autem rogaverit te frater tuus ex patre vel matre, aut filius tuus, aut filia tua, aut mulier, quae in gremio tuo est, aut amicus qui animae tuae pars est, clam dicens: Eamus, et serviamus diis aliis, quos non scis, nec patres tui, ex diis nationum quae circum te proxime sunt, aut longe; ne velis ire cum illo, et ne audieris eum. Non parcet oculus tuus super eum, nec misereberis, nec celabis eum; annuntians annuntiabis de eo; manus tuae erunt in eum in primis ad occidendum, et manus omnis populi in novissimis, et lapidabitis illum, et morietur, quoniam quaesivit avertere te a Domino Deo tuo. Subjicit etiam de
being angry, He should be indignant and exterminate you from the face of the earth. But also, setting forth blessings and curses: Blessings, He says (Deut. 11:27), if you hear the precepts of the Lord your God, whatsoever I command you today, and do not stray from the way which I have commanded you, so as to go off and serve other gods whom you do not know. Concerning whom, as things to be rooted out in every way: With destruction you shall destroy, He says, all the places in which the nations, which you shall possess by inheritance, have served their gods: beneath the mountains and hills, and under every thick tree you shall dig up their altars, you shall overturn and smash their little statues, and you shall cut down their groves, and the carved images of the gods themselves you shall burn with fire, and you shall destroy their name from that place. Further He presses it upon them when they had entered the land of promise and had exterminated its nations: Take heed to yourself lest you follow them after they have been exterminated from before your face, lest you seek out their gods, saying: As the nations do to their gods, so I too will do. But also this: If a prophet, He says (Deut. 13), arises among you, or one dreaming a dream, and gives you a sign or a portent, and it comes to pass, and he says: Let us go and serve other gods, whom you do not know: you shall not hear the word of the prophet, or of that dreamer; for the Lord your God is testing you, whether you fear Him with your whole heart and with your whole soul. After the Lord your God you shall go, and Him you shall fear, and His precepts you shall keep, and His voice you shall hear, and Him you shall serve, and to Him you shall cleave. But that prophet and dreamer shall die: for he has spoken to lead you astray from the Lord your God. But also in another chapter: But if your brother by father or by mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife who is in your bosom, or the friend who is part of your soul, asks you, saying secretly: Let us go and serve other gods, whom you do not know, nor your fathers, of the gods of the nations which are round about you, near or far; you shall not be willing to go with him, and you shall not hear him. Your eye shall not spare him, nor shall you pity him, nor shall you conceal him; you shall surely make report concerning him; your hands shall be upon him first to kill him, and the hands of all the people last, and you shall stone him, and he shall die, because he sought to turn you away from the Lord your God. He adds also concerning
Editors' notes and page, col. 149

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 42] ‹call not on this foot› Benedictionem et maledictionem: benedictionem Pam. Fran.

"Benedictionem et maledictionem": "benedictionem": Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 43] ‹call not on this foot› Maledictionem si err. Pam. Fran.

"Maledictionem si err(averitis)": Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 44] ‹call not on this foot› Hodie: et maledictionem si non audieritis praecepta Domini Dei nostri, quaecumque ego praecipio vobis hodie, et erraveritis de via Jun.

"Hodie: et maledictionem si non audieritis praecepta Domini Dei nostri, quaecumque ego praecipio vobis hodie, et erraveritis de via": Junius.

[var. 45] ‹call not on this foot› Deis Venet.

"Deis": the Venice edition.

[var. 46] ‹call not on this foot› Suis abest. Pam. Fran.

"Suis" is absent: Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 47] ‹call not on this foot› Super Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Super": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 48] ‹call not on this foot› Et sub arbore densa quaque Jun.

"Et sub arbore densa quaque": Junius.

[var. 49] ‹call not on this foot› Deorum ipsorum Fran. Deorum ipsarum Pam.

"Deorum ipsorum": the Franeker edition; "Deorum ipsarum": Pamelius.

[var. 50] ‹call not on this foot› Ut add. Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

Rhenanus, Semler and Oberthür add "ut".

[var. 51] ‹call not on this foot› Id omitt. Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

Rhenanus, Semler and Oberthür omit "id".

[var. 52] ‹call not on this foot› Venerit Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Venerit": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 53] ‹Deus vester, an› · call in col 149 Ut sciat si add. Pam. Fran.

Pamelius and the Franeker edition add "ut sciat si".

[var. 54] ‹vestra timeatis› · call in col 149 Ametis Jun.

"Ametis": Junius.

[var. 55] ‹Deum vestrum› · call in col 149 Dominum omitt. Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

Rhenanus, Semler and Oberthür omit "Dominum".

[var. 56] ‹alio capitulo› · call in col 149 Titulo Rig.

"Titulo": Rigault.

[var. 57] ‹Non parcet› · call in col 149 Pascet Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Pascet": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 58] ‹nec celabis› · call in col 149 Nec desiderabis, nec salvabis eum Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Nec desiderabis, nec salvabis eum": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 59] ‹omnis populi› · call in col 149 Manus populi tui Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Manus populi tui": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 60] ‹call not on this foot› Aspernatum opus Seml. Oberth.

"Aspernatum opus": Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 61] ‹call not on this foot› Sequimini Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Sequimini": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 62] ‹call not on this foot› Nec add. Pam. Fran.

Pamelius and the Franeker edition add "nec".

[var. 63] ‹call not on this foot› Dei scita sunt ad omnes Seml. Oberth.

"Dei scita sunt ad omnes": Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 64] ‹habent, nec› · call in col 150 Et non Seml. Oberth.

"Et non": Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 65] ‹qui faciunt ea› · call in col 150 Ea abjicit Seml. post Rhenan.

Semler, following Rhenanus, drops "ea".

[var. 66] ‹Itaque› · call in col 150 Ita Seml. Oberth.

"Ita": Semler, Oberthür.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 79)

(37) ‹alio capitulo› · call in col 149

(printed under page 79) (37) Sed et alio capitulo. Quod semel annotasse sufficiat, vel hinc patet longe aliam fuisse capitum distinctionem in Bibliorum editionibus aetate Tertulliani, atque nunc, cum istud eodem cap. hodie reperiatur; neque id novum illi videbitur, qui commentarios veterum Patrum et maxime Rhabani Mauri in Scripturas pene universas, quae apud me mss. exstant, inspexerit. Nata est vero haud dubie varia distinctio, eo quod in capita initio distinctae Scripturae non fuerint, sed in libros duntaxat. PAM.

"But in another chapter too." Let it suffice to note once: it is plain even from this that the division into chapters in the editions of the Bible in Tertullian's day was very different from today's, since this passage is now found in the same chapter. Nor will this seem new to anyone who has looked into the commentaries of the old Fathers, and above all those of Rabanus Maurus on almost all the Scriptures, which I have in manuscript. The varied division doubtless arose because the Scriptures were not at first divided into chapters, but only into books. Pamelius.

(printed under page 79)

(38) ‹nec celabis eum› · call in col 149

(printed under page 79) (38) Nec misereberis, nec celabis eum. Diversae alicujus scripturae vestigia exhibent membranae: Ne desidera... vabis eam. RIG.

"Nor shall you pity him, nor hide him." The parchments show traces of a different reading: "Ne desidera... vabis eam." Rigault.

(printed under page 79)

Page

  • running head: ADV. GNOSTICOS SCOR[PIACEM] (cut off at the image edge)
  • marginal letters: A iratus indignetur, et exterminet; B sionis, et exterminasseut nationes ejus; C illi adjiciemini. Prophetes autem; D mis, et lapidabitis illum
  • old-edition numerals: 127 after arbores
PL 2:150
civitatibus, si quam ex his constitisset suasu iniquorum hominum transiisse ad deos alios, ut interficerentur omnes incolentes eam, et devotamenta fierent universa ejus, et colligerentur omnia spolia ejus in omnes exitus ejus, et igni cremarentur cum omnibus vasis suis, et cum omni populo in conspectu Domini Dei: Et non erit habitabilis, inquit, in aeternum, non reaedificabitur amplius, nec adhaerebit quidquam manibus tuis ex devotamento ejus, uti avertatur Dominus ab indignatione irae suae. Maledictionum quoque ordinem ab idolorum exsecratione commisit: Maledictus homo qui fecerit sculptile aut fusile, aspernamentum Domino, opus manuum artificis, et collocaverit illud in abscondito (Deut. XXVII, 15). In Levitico vero (XIX, 4): Non sequemini, inquit, idola, et deos fusiles non facietis vobis. Ego Dominus Deus vester. Et alibi: Filii Israel famuli pueri mei, hi sunt quos eduxi de terra Aegypti. Ego Dominus Deus vester. Non facietis vobis manu facta, nec scalptile staticulum statuetis vobis, nec lapidem scopum ponetis in terra vestra. Ego Dominus Deus vester. Et haec quidem prima per Moysen dicta sunt a Domino, utique pertinentia quoscunque Dominus Deus Israelis perinde de Aegypto superstitiosissimi saeculi, et de domo humanae servitutis eduxerit. Sed et deinceps omne os prophetarum ejusdem Dei vocibus sonat, eamdem legem suam eorumdem praeceptorum instauratione cumulantis, nec aliud primum tam principaliter denuntiantis, quam ab omni factura atque cultura idolorum cavere; ut per David: Dei nationum argentum et aurum; oculos habent, nec vident; aures habent, nec audiunt; nares habent, nec odorantur; os, nec loquuntur; manus, nec contrectant; pedes, nec ingrediuntur. Similes erunt illis qui faciunt ea, et qui fidunt in illis.
cities, if any of them should be found to have gone over to other gods at the persuasion of wicked men, that all who dwell in it should be slain, and the whole of it should become a thing devoted, and all its spoils should be gathered into all its outlets, and be burned with fire together with all its vessels, and with all the people, in the sight of the Lord God: And it shall not be habitable, He says, for ever; it shall not be rebuilt any more, nor shall anything of what is devoted from it cleave to your hands, so that the Lord may be turned away from the indignation of His wrath. He also began the series of curses with the execration of idols: Cursed is the man who makes a carved or a molten image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of a craftsman's hands, and sets it up in a hidden place (Deut. 27:15). In Leviticus, moreover (Lev. 19:4): You shall not follow idols, He says, and you shall not make molten gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God. And elsewhere: The sons of Israel are My servants, My children; these are they whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. You shall not make for yourselves things made by hand, nor shall you set up for yourselves a carved statuette, nor shall you place a stone as a landmark in your land. I am the Lord your God. And these indeed were the first things spoken by the Lord through Moses, pertaining assuredly to all whomsoever the Lord God of Israel should likewise bring out of the Egypt of a most superstitious age, and out of the house of human bondage. But thereafter too every mouth of the prophets resounds with the words of the same God, who heaps up this same law of His by the renewal of the same precepts, and who proclaims nothing else first and so principally as to beware of all making and worship of idols; as through David: The gods of the nations are silver and gold; they have eyes, and do not see; they have ears, and do not hear; they have nostrils, and do not smell; a mouth, and do not speak; hands, and do not handle; feet, and do not walk. Those who make them shall become like them, and those who trust in them.
CAPUT III.
Chapter III.
Nec putem disceptandum, an digne Deus prohibeat nomen et honorem suum mendacio addici, an digne quos ab errore superstitionis avulserit, rursus in Aegyptum regredi nolit; an digne a se non patiatur absistere quos sibi allegit. Itaque nec illud.
Nor should I think it a matter for debate whether God rightly forbids His name and honour to be made over to a lie, whether rightly He is unwilling that those whom He has torn away from the error of superstition should go back again into Egypt, whether rightly He does not suffer those whom He has chosen for Himself to depart from Him. Accordingly, neither will He
Editors' notes and page, col. 150

Page

  • running head: [ADVERSUS] GNOSTICOS SCORPIACE. 150 (left part cut off at image edge)
  • marginal letters: A civitatibus, si quam ex his; B quemini, inquit, idola; C quam ab omni factura; D in Aegyptum regredi nolit
  • old-edition numerals: 128 after Maledictionum
  • other (QA Q2): this column carries the Variae lectiones calls 60 (opus), 61 (sequemini), 62 (scalptile), 63 (dicta), 64 (nec vident), 65 (faciunt ea), 66 (Itaque); their notes are set in n149 (page 79's notes), where 60–63 are labelled "call not on this foot" though they are called here, in col. 150.
PL 2:151
exspectabit retractari a nobis, an observari voluerit disciplinam quam voluit instituere, et an merito ulciscatur desertam, quam voluit observatam: quando frustra instituisset, si observari eam noluisset, et frustra observari voluisset, si vindicare noluisset. Sequitur enim ut has definitiones Dei adversus superstitiones, tam evictas quam etiam vindicatas probem, quoniam ex his tota martyriorum ratio constabit. Aberat apud Deum in monte Moyses, cum populus tam necessariam absentiam ejus impatiens, deos sibi producere quaerit, quos potius ipse perdiderit. Urgetur Aaron, et jubet inaures feminarum suarum in ignem conferri. Amissuri enim erant in judicium sibi vera ornamenta aurium, Dei voces. Sapiens ignis effigiem vituli defundit illis, suggillans illic cor habentes, ubi et thesaurum, apud Aegyptum scilicet inter caetera animalia bovis etiam cujusdam consecraticem; itaque tria millia homines a parentibus proximis caesa, quia tam proximum parentem Deum offenderant, transgressionis et primordia et merita dedicaverunt. In Arithmis (Num. XXV), cum divertisset Israel apud Sethim, abeunt libidinatum ad filias Moab, invitantur ad idola, ut et spiritu fornicarentur; edunt denique de pollutis eorum: dehinc et adorant deos gentis, et Beelphegor initiantur. Ob hanc quoque idololatriam, moechiae sororem, viginti tria millia domesticis obtruncata gladiis divinae irae litaverunt. Defuncto Jesu Nave (Judic. II), derelinquunt Deum patrum suorum, et serviunt idolis Baalim et Astartis; et iratus Dominus tradidit eos in manibus diripientium; et diripiebantur ab illis, et venundabantur inimicis, nec poterant omnino subsistere a facie inimicorum suorum; quocunque processerant, manus erat super illos in mala, et compressati sunt valde. Post quae instituit super illos Deus Critas, quos censores intelligimus, sed nec istis obaudire perseverarunt: ut quis Critarum obierat, illi ad delinquendum supra quam patres eorum, abeundo post deos alienorum et serviendo
expect this to be reconsidered by us, whether He willed the discipline which He willed to establish to be observed, and whether He rightly avenges its desertion when He willed it to be observed: since He would have established it in vain if He had not willed it to be observed, and would have willed it to be observed in vain if He had not willed to avenge it. For it follows that I should prove these definitions of God against superstitions to be as much enforced as also avenged, since from them the whole rationale of martyrdoms will stand firm. Moses was away with God on the mountain, when the people, impatient of his so necessary absence, seek to produce for themselves gods, which he himself had rather destroyed. Aaron is pressed, and orders the earrings of their women to be brought together into the fire. For they were about to lose, to their own condemnation, the true ornaments of the ears, the voices of God. The wise fire casts for them the image of a calf, rebuking them for having their heart there where their treasure also was, namely with Egypt, which among the other animals consecrated a certain ox as well; and so three thousand men, slain by their nearest kin because they had offended so near a Parent, God, dedicated both the beginnings and the deserts of transgression. In Arithmi (Num. 25), when Israel had turned aside at Shittim, they go off to commit lust with the daughters of Moab, they are invited to the idols, so that they might fornicate in spirit also; they eat, in short, of their polluted things: then they also worship the gods of the nation, and are initiated into Beelphegor. For this idolatry too, the sister of adultery, twenty-three thousand, cut down by the swords of their own households, made an offering to the divine wrath. When Jesus Nave had died (Judg. 2), they forsake the God of their fathers, and serve the idols Baalim and Astartes; and the Lord, angered, delivered them into the hands of plunderers; and they were plundered by them, and were sold to enemies, and could not at all stand before the face of their enemies; wherever they had gone forth, the hand was upon them for evil, and they were greatly oppressed. After which God set over them Critae, whom we understand as censors, but they did not persevere in obeying even these: as each of the Critae died, they [went on] to transgress beyond their fathers, by going after the gods of strangers and serving
Editors' notes and page, col. 151

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 67] ‹call not on this foot› Exspectabitur, cod. Wouw.

"Exspectabitur": Wouwer's manuscript.

[var. 68] ‹call not on this foot› Edictas cod. Wouw.

"Edictas": Wouwer's manuscript.

[var. 69] ‹call not on this foot› Quo se potius Jun.

"Quo se potius": Junius.

[var. 70] ‹call not on this foot› Diffundit illos cod. Wouw.

"Diffundit illos": Wouwer's manuscript.

[var. 71] ‹call not on this foot› Et deest Venet.

"Et" is lacking: the Venice edition.

[var. 72] ‹Post quae› · call in col 151 Postquam Rhen. Seml.

"Postquam": Rhenanus, Semler.

[var. 73] ‹call not on this foot› Orando Rhen. Seml.

"Orando": Rhenanus, Semler.

[var. 74] ‹call not on this foot› Transgressi sunt cod. Agobardi.

"Transgressi sunt": the Agobard codex.

[var. 75] ‹call not on this foot› Obaudierunt Rhen. Seml.

"Obaudierunt": Rhenanus, Semler.

[var. 76] ‹call not on this foot› Idololatria Seml.

"Idololatria": Semler.

[var. 77] ‹compungimur, et› · call in col 152 Et abjicit Seml. post Rhenan.

Semler, following Rhenanus, drops "et".

[var. 78] ‹praeceptum observatum› · call in col 152 Observando Pam. Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Observando": Pamelius, Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 80) (39) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 80) (39) Tam evictas quam etiam vindicatas. Sic legitur in codice Agobardi; in lib. Ursini, edictas. RIG.

"As much proved as also avenged." So it reads in the Agobard codex; in Orsini's book, "edictas" (proclaimed). Rigault.

(printed under page 80)

(40) ‹In Arithmis› · call in col 151

(printed under page 80) (40) In Arithmis. Vocem Graecam retinuit, pro in Numeris, ut paulo post Critas habet, pro Judices. LE PR.

"In Arithmi." He kept the Greek word for "in Numbers," as a little later he has "Critae" for "Judges." Le Prieur.

(printed under page 80)

(41) ‹et Astartis› · call in col 151

(printed under page 80) (41) Idolis Baalim et Astartis. Baalim sunt hic dii gentium seu idola; aliquando Baal pro loco sumitur. Astarte de qua plurima fit mentio in libris Reg. dea erat Sidoniorum. Id testatur Cedrenus, ubi narrat Salomonem exstruxisse Moabitarum idolo et Astartae Sidoniorum templa; et Achilles Tatius initio Amorum Clitoph. et Leucip.: Ἔθυον τῇ τῶν Φοινίκων. Καλοῦσιν αὐτὴν Ἀστάρτην οἱ Σιδώνιοι: « Deae Phoenicum sacra fecerunt: Astarten hanc vocant Sidonii. » Abominandum vero illud idolum Venerem Graecorum fuisse ait Suidas. Ἀστάρτη ἡ παρ' Ἕλλησιν Ἀφροδίτη λεγομένη θεὸς Σιδωνίων. Idem apud Cedrenum reperies. LE PR.

"The idols Baalim and Astartes." The Baalim here are the gods of the nations, or idols; sometimes Baal is taken for a place. Astarte, of whom much mention is made in the books of Kings, was the goddess of the Sidonians. Cedrenus attests it where he relates that Solomon built temples to the idol of the Moabites and to Astarte of the Sidonians; and Achilles Tatius at the beginning of the Loves of Clitophon and Leucippe: "They sacrificed to the goddess of the Phoenicians; the Sidonians call her Astarte" (with Latin rendering). Suidas says that abominable idol was the Venus of the Greeks: "Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians, called Aphrodite among the Greeks." You will find the same in Cedrenus. Le Prieur.

(printed under page 80) (42) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 80) (42) Transgressa est gens ista pactum meum. In Agobardino legitur: Transgressi sunt gens ista pactum meum, et paulo post: Et non audierunt voci meae, quo modo scriptum a Tertulliano fuisse non dubito. Sed mutavere qui magistellorum sceptra metuebant. RIG.

"This nation has transgressed my covenant." The Agobard codex reads "Transgressi sunt gens ista pactum meum," and a little later "Et non audierunt voci meae," and I do not doubt Tertullian wrote it so. But those who feared the rods of the petty schoolmasters changed it. Rigault.

(printed under page 80) (43) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 80) (43) Si a primordio constat et prohibitam. Vetitam fuisse tanquam summum scelerum idololatriam certo certius est. Unde Tertullianus in eo crimine cuncta comprehendi probat lib. de Idolol., quem his vocibus orditur: « Principale crimen generis humani, » etc. A cujus sententia non discedit Gregor. Nazianz. orat. 38 de Idolol.: Ἔσχατοι τῶν κακῶν καὶ πρῶτοι. LE PR.

"If it is agreed that from the beginning it was also forbidden." That idolatry was forbidden as the chief of crimes is more certain than certain. Hence Tertullian proves, in the book On Idolatry, that all things are comprised in that crime; he begins it with the words: "The chief crime of the human race," etc. Gregory Nazianzen does not depart from his opinion, oration 38, on idolatry: "The last of evils and the first." Le Prieur.

(printed under page 80)

Page

  • running head: 151 TERTULLIANI OPERUM PARS II. — (cut off at right edge)
  • marginal letters: A exspectabit retractari a nobis; B vituli defundit illis; C relinquunt Deum patrum suorum; D (39) Tam evictas quam etiam (commentary)
  • old-edition numerals: 129 after perdiderit
PL 2:152
et adorando eos. Itaque Dominus iratus. Quoniam quidem, ait, transgressa est gens ista pactum meum, quod disposui patribus eorum, et non audierunt vocem meam, et ego non advertam ad auferendum virum a facie eorum ex nationibus quas relinquit decedens Jesu (Judic. II, 20, 21). Atque ita per omnes pene annales critarum et deinceps regum, reservatis gentium circumcolarum viribus, bello et captivitate et jugo allophylorum iram dispensavit Israel, quotiescunque ab illo maxime in idololatriam exorbitaverunt.
and adoring them. Therefore the Lord was angry. Because indeed, He says, this nation has transgressed My covenant, which I set out for their fathers, and they have not heard My voice, I in turn shall not turn to removing a man from before their face out of the nations which Jesus [i.e. Joshua] left when he departed (Judg. 2:20–21). And so through almost all the annals of the Judges and thereafter of the kings, with the strength of the surrounding nations kept in reserve, He dispensed His wrath upon Israel by war and captivity and the yoke of foreigners, whenever they swerved away from Him, above all into idolatry.
CAPUT IV.
Chapter IV.
Hanc igitur si a primordio constat et prohibitam de tot tantisque praeceptis, et nunquam impune commissam, de tot tantisque documentis, nec ullum tam superbum crimen apud Deum deputari, quam hujusmodi transgressionem, ultro intelligere debemus divinarum et denuntiationum et executionum intentionem, jam tunc martyriis patrocinatam, non modo non dubitandis, verum sustinendis, quibus scilicet locum fecerat prohibendo idololatriam: aliter enim martyria non evenirent; et utique auctoritatem suam praestruxerat, volens ea evenire quibus locum fecerat. Nunc enim de Dei voluntate compungimur, et ingeminat scorpius plagam, hanc negans, hanc accusans voluntatem, ut aut alium Deum insinuet, cujus haec non sit voluntas; aut nostrum nihilominus destruat, cujus talis sit voluntas; aut omnino neget voluntatem Dei, si ipsum negare non poterit. Nos autem de Deo alibi dimicantes, et de reliquo corpore haereticae cujusque doctrinae, nunc in unam speciem congressionis certas praeducimus lineas, non alterius Dei, quam Israelis, eam defendentes voluntatem, quae martyriis locum fecerit, tam ex praeceptis prohibitae semper, quam ex judiciis punitae idololatriae. Si enim praeceptum observatum vim patitur, hoc erit quodammodo observandi praeceptum, ut id patiar per quod potero
If, then, it is established that from the beginning this [idolatry] was both forbidden by so many and such great precepts, and never committed with impunity, as so many and such great examples show, and that no crime is reckoned before God so proud as a transgression of this kind, we ought readily to understand that the intent of the divine denunciations and executions already then lent its patronage to martyrdoms, which are not only not to be doubted but to be endured, and for which, namely, He had made room by forbidding idolatry: for otherwise martyrdoms would not come about; and certainly He had laid down His authority in advance, willing those things to come about for which He had made room. For now we are stung concerning the will of God, and the scorpion redoubles its blow, denying this will, accusing this will, so as either to insinuate another God, whose will this is not, or nonetheless to destroy ours, whose will is such, or altogether to deny the will of God, if it cannot deny Him Himself. But we, contending elsewhere about God and about the remaining body of every heretical doctrine, now draw out fixed lines for a single kind of encounter, defending as the will of no other God than the God of Israel that will which has made room for martyrdoms, as much from the precepts of an idolatry always prohibited as from the judgements of an idolatry punished. For if a precept, when kept, suffers violence, this will in a manner be the precept of keeping it, that I suffer that through which I shall be able
Editors' notes and page, col. 152

Page

  • running head: UM PARS II. — SERIES I, POLEMICA. 152 (cut off at left edge)
  • marginal letters: A viendo et adorando eos; B impune 130 commissam; C minus destruat, cujus talis; D ἡ παρ' Ἕλλησιν (beside the Commentarius)
  • old-edition numerals: 130 after impune
  • other (QA Q2): this column carries the Variae lectiones calls 73 (eos), 74 (transgressa est), 75 (audierunt), 76 (idololatriam), 77 (et ingeminat), 78 (observatum) and the Commentarius calls (42) (pactum meum) and (43) (prohibitam); their notes are set in n151 (page 80's notes), where 73–76, (42) and (43) are labelled "call not on this foot" though they are called here, in col. 152.
PL 2:153
observare praeceptum; vim scilicet quaecunque mihi imminet caventi ab idololatria. Et utique qui imponit praeceptum, extorquet obsequium. Non potuit ergo noluisse ea evenire, per quae constabit obsequium. Praescribitur mihi ne quem alium Deum dicam; ne, vel dicendo, non minus lingua quam manu Deum fingam; ne quem alium adorem, aut quoquo modo venerer, praeter unicum illum qui ita mandat; quem et jubeor timere, ne ab eo deserar; et de omni substantia diligere, ut pro eo moriar. Huic sacramento militans ab hostibus provocor, par sum illis si manus dedero; hoc defendendo depugno in acie, vulneror, concidor, occidor. Quis hunc militi suo exitum voluit, nisi qui tali eum sacramento consignavit?
to keep the precept; namely, whatever violence threatens me as I guard myself against idolatry. And certainly He who imposes a precept exacts obedience. He cannot, therefore, have been unwilling that those things should come about through which obedience will be established. It is prescribed to me that I name no other God; that I do not, even by naming, fashion a God with the tongue no less than with the hand; that I do not worship any other, or in any way venerate any other, besides that One alone Who so commands; Whom I am also bidden to fear, lest I be forsaken by Him; and to love with all my substance, so that I may die for Him. Serving as a soldier under this oath, I am challenged by the enemy; I am their equal if I surrender; in defending this oath I fight it out in the battle line, I am wounded, I am cut down, I am slain. Who willed this end for His soldier, if not He Who sealed him with such an oath?
CAPUT V.
CHAPTER V.
Habes igitur Dei mei voluntatem: occursum est huic plagae. In alium ictum consideremus, de voluntatis qualitate. Longum est ut Deum meum bonum ostendam, quod jam a nobis didicerunt Marcionitae. Deum interim sufficit dici, ut necesse sit bonum credi. Malum enim Deum qui praesumpserit, constare in utroque non poterit: aut Deum negare debebit, quem malum existimarit, aut bonum dicere, quem Deum pronuntiarit. Bona igitur erit et voluntas ejus, qui nisi bonus, non erit Deus. Probabit hoc etiam ipsius r⟨e⟩i bonitas, quam Deus voluit; martyrii dico: quia bonum nonnisi bonus voluit. Bonum cont⟨e⟩ndo martyrium apud eumdem Deum, a quo et prohibetur et punitur idololatri⟨a⟩. Obnititur enim et adversatur idololatriae martyrium. Malo autem obniti et adversari nisi bonum non potest. Non quasi negemus esse aemulationem, tam malorum inter se, quam et bonorum. Sed alia conditio est hujus tituli. Martyrium enim non de communi aliqua militia certat
You have, then, the will of my God: this wound has been met. Let us look to the other blow, concerning the quality of that will. It would be a long task to show that my God is good, which the Marcionites have already learned from us. For the present it suffices that He be called God, so that He must of necessity be believed good. For whoever presumes God to be evil will not be able to stand firm on both counts: either he will have to deny that He is God, Whom he has judged evil, or to call Him good, Whom he has pronounced God. Good, therefore, will be the will also of Him Who, unless He is good, will not be God. The goodness of the very thing which God willed will also prove this; I mean martyrdom: since only one who is good has willed what is good. I contend that martyrdom is good in the sight of the same God by Whom idolatry is both forbidden and punished. For martyrdom strives against idolatry and opposes it. But nothing except good can strive against and oppose evil. Not that we deny there is rivalry, both of evil things among themselves and also of good things. But the condition of this title is different. For martyrdom contends, not out of some common warfare,
Editors' notes and page, col. 153

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 79] ‹quoquo modo› · call in col 153 Quomodo Rhen. Seml. Oberth. Pam. quo modo Jun.

"Quomodo": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür, Pamelius; "quo modo": Junius.

[var. 80] ‹illis si› · call in col 153 Si illis Rhen. Pam. Seml. Oberth. nisi illis Latin.

"Si illis": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler, Oberthür; "nisi illis": Latinius.

[var. 81] ‹In alium› · call in col 153 Nec Latin.

"Nec": Latinius.

[var. 82] ‹Deum qui› · call in col 153 Quis Pam. Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Quis": Pamelius, Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 83] ‹bonus voluit› · call in col 153 Bonum non nisi bonus voluit, alii.

"Bonum non nisi bonus voluit": others.

[var. 84] ‹a quo› · call in col 153 Et abj. Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

Rhenanus, Semler and Oberthür drop "et".

[var. 85] ‹et adversari› · call in col 153 Observari Fran.

"Observari": the Franeker edition.

[var. 86] ‹aliqua militia› · call in col 153 Militia Pam. Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Militia": Pamelius, Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 87] ‹de sua gratia› · call in col 154 Cum Venet. Seml.

"Cum": the Venice edition, Semler.

[var. 88] ‹adversatio› · call in col 154 Adversario Rhen. Seml. Venet.

"Adversario": Rhenanus, Semler, the Venice edition.

[var. 89] ‹quantum mors› · call in col 154 In quantum Latin.

"In quantum": Latinius.

[var. 90] ‹mors idololatriae› · call in col 154 Quantum morti idololatria Rhen. Pam. Venet. Seml. Oberth.

"Quantum morti idololatria": Rhenanus, Pamelius, the Venice edition, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 91] ‹periculosa quaerere› · call in col 154 Quaeque Seml.

"Quaeque": Semler.

[var. 92] ‹praesidium plures› · call in col 154 Qui inserit Seml.

Semler inserts "qui".

[var. 93] ‹plures enim› · call in col 154 Enim abj. Seml.

Semler drops "enim".

[var. 94] ‹saevitia medicinae› · call in col 154 Medicina Seml.

"Medicina": Semler.

[var. 95, printed "85"] ‹et inuri› · call in col 154 Et abjic. Seml.

Semler drops "et".

[var. 96] ‹et extendi› · call in col 154 Morderique add. Rhen. Pam. Seml. Oberth.

Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler and Oberthür add "morderique".

[var. 97] ‹Sic et› · call in col 154 Et si Seml.

"Et si": Semler.

[var. 98] ‹medicum quidem› · call in col 154 Quoque Seml.

"Quoque": Semler.

[var. 99] ‹restinguit› · call in col 154 Restringit Rhen. Pam. Seml. Oberth.

"Restringit": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 1] ‹potiunculis› · call in col 154 Potionibus Rhen. Pam. Seml. Oberth.

"Potionibus": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 2] ‹colligit› · call in col 154 Corrigit Latin.

"Corrigit": Latinius.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 81)

(44) ‹sua gratia› · call in col 154

(printed under page 81) (44) Martyrium enim non de communi aliqua militia certat cum idololatria, sed cum sua gratia. In exemplari legitur, malitia, dein vero in vulgatis editionibus, sed de sua gratia; itaque emendationis partem debebimus antiquis illis Agobardi membranis, partem libris vulgatis. Sic enim exsistet vera lectio si legimus: « Martyrium enim non de communi aliqua militia certat cum idololatria, sed de sua gratia: liberat enim ab idololatria. » Ait Tertullianus, martyrium esse bonum, quia malo, quod est idololatria, adversatur, nec adversari malo possit, nisi bonum. Non quasi neget adversationem seu pugnam aemulationemque esse vitiorum seu malorum inter se: quippe interdum experimur, rapacitatem certare cum crudelitate, gulam cum libidine, nam tunc utrinque sunt mala et vitia. Sed aliam esse ait conditionem sermonis quem instituit de certamine martyrii cum idololatria. Etenim martyrium non certare cum idololatria de communi aliqua malitia, quasi esset certamen inter duo mala, utrum sit potentius, imo certare de sua gratia, de suo bono, quod ab idololatria liberat. RIG.

"For martyrdom does not contend with idolatry over some common warfare, but with its own grace." The exemplar reads "malitia" (wickedness), and then in the common editions "sed de sua gratia"; so we shall owe part of the emendation to those old parchments of Agobard and part to the common books. For the true reading will emerge if we read: "For martyrdom does not contend with idolatry over some common warfare, but over its own grace: for it frees from idolatry." Tertullian says that martyrdom is good because it opposes an evil, which is idolatry, and nothing can oppose an evil except a good. Not that he denies there is opposition, or fighting and rivalry, of vices or evils among themselves: indeed we sometimes find greed contending with cruelty, gluttony with lust, for then both sides are evils and vices. But he says the case of the argument he has set out about the contest of martyrdom with idolatry is different. For martyrdom does not contend with idolatry over some common wickedness, as though it were a contest between two evils over which is the stronger; rather it contends over its own grace, its own good, which frees from idolatry. Rigault.

(printed under page 81)

(45) ‹mors idololatriae› · call in col 154, printed "(49)" in the text

(printed under page 81) (45) Quantum morti idololatria. Sic est in libro Agobardi; at in libro Ursini, « Quantum mors idololatriae. » RIG.

"As much as idolatry to death." So it is in Agobard's book; but in Orsini's book, "as much as death to idolatry." Rigault.

(printed under page 81)

(46) ‹sinapis incendio› · call in col 154

(printed under page 81) (46) De sinapis incendio. Describitur a Plinio sinapis ignei effectus, saluberrimum corpori. Eidem tribuitur vis caustica et urigo. RIG.

"From the burning of mustard." Pliny describes the fiery effects of mustard, most wholesome to the body. A caustic and burning power is ascribed to it as well. Rigault.

(printed under page 81)

Page

  • running head: 153 ADV. GNOSTICOS SCORPIACE. 154 (running head; right part cut off in the image)
  • marginal letters: A ‹tero observare praeceptum› (and ‹tat cum id…› in col. 154); B ‹Habes igitur Dei mei voluntatem›; C ‹bonus voluit. Bonum contendo›; D ‹(44) Martyrium enim non de communi› (commentary)
  • old-edition numerals: 131 after ‹occursum est›
  • other: the column opens with "tero", the tail of a word broken from col. 152; the word stands whole at the end of col. 152, so the tail is not set here. The last word, "cer-", is set whole ("certat"); its tail "tat" opens col. 154 and is not set there.
  • other (QA Q1a, 2026-10-18): the page foot (Variae lectiones; Commentarius (44)–(46)) is editors' apparatus for pass 2 and is carried here only; the earlier part's setting of Commentarius (44) inside the source column was removed.
PL 2:154
cum idololatria, sed de sua gratia; liberat enim ab idololatria. Quod a malo liberat, quis non bonum pronuntiabit? quid aliud est adversatio idololatriae atque martyrii, quam mortis et vitae? In tantum vita martyrio deputabitur, quantum mors idololatriae. Vitam qui malum dixerit, habet mortem quam bonum dicat. Est et haec perversitas hominum, salutaria excutere, exitiosa suscipere, periculosa quaerere, medica male vitare; mori denique citi⟨u⟩s, quam curari desiderare. Nam et medicinae praesidium plures refugiunt: plures enim stulti, plures timidi et male verecundi. Et est plane quasi saevitia medicinae, de scalpello, deque cauterio, de sinapis incendio; non tamen secari, et inuri, et extendi, idcirco malum, quia dolores utiles affert: nec quia tantummodo contristat, recusabitur; sed quia necessario contristat, adhibebitur. Horrorem operis fructus excusat. Ululans denique ille, et gemens, et mugiens inter manus medici, postmodum easdem mercede cumulabit, artifices optimas praedicabit, et saevas jam negabit. Sic et martyria desaeviunt, sed in salutem; licebit et Deo in vitam aeternam per ignes et gladios et acerba quaeque curare. Sed medicum quidem miraberis otiam in illo, quod ferme pares adhibet qualitates medelarum adversus qualitates querelarum: cum quasi de perverso auxiliatur, per ea subveniens per quae laboratur. Nam et calores caloribus amplius onerando compescit, et ardores siti potius macerando restinguit, et fellis excessus amaris quibusque potiunculis colligit, et sanguinis fluxus defusa insuper venula revocat. Deum vero, et quidem zelotem, culpandum existimabis, si voluit certasse cum causa, et injuriae aemulando prodesse, mortem morte dissolvere, occisionem occisione dispargere, tormentis tormenta discutere,
with idolatry, but about its own grace; for it frees from idolatry. What frees from evil, who will not pronounce good? What else is the opposition of idolatry and martyrdom than that of death and life? Life will be reckoned to martyrdom in the same measure as death to idolatry. He who calls life an evil has death, which he must call good. There is also this perversity of men: to shake off things that save, to take up things that destroy, to seek things that endanger, wrongly to avoid things that heal; in short, to desire to die sooner than to be cured. For many flee even the help of medicine: many from folly, many from timidity and misplaced shame. And there is plainly, as it were, a cruelty in medicine, from the scalpel, and from the cautery, and from the burning of mustard; yet to be cut, and burned, and stretched is not for that reason an evil, because it brings useful pains: nor will it be refused because it merely grieves, but because it grieves of necessity it will be applied. The fruit excuses the horror of the operation. In short, that man who howls, and groans, and bellows between the hands of the physician will afterwards load those same [hands] with a fee, will proclaim them the best of craftsmen, and will now deny that they are cruel. So too martyrdoms rage, but unto salvation; it will be permitted to God also to cure unto eternal life through fires and swords and every harsh thing. But you will admire the physician even in this, that he applies qualities of remedies nearly equal to the qualities of the complaints: when he helps as if by contraries, bringing relief through the very things by which one suffers. For he both checks heats by burdening them further with heats, and quenches burnings rather by wasting with thirst, and draws off the excess of bile by any bitter little potions, and recalls a flow of blood by opening a little vein besides. Yet will you think God, and He a jealous God, worthy of blame, if He has willed to contend with the cause, and to do good by rivalling the injury, to dissolve death by death, to scatter slaughter by slaughter, to dispel torments by torments,
Editors' notes and page, col. 154

Footnotes

[var. 87] ‹de sua gratia› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 88] ‹adversatio› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 89] ‹quantum mors› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 90] ‹mors idololatriae› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 91] ‹periculosa quaerere› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 92] ‹praesidium plures› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 93] ‹plures enim› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 94] ‹saevitia medicinae› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 95, printed "85" in the foot] ‹et inuri› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 96] ‹et extendi› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 97] ‹Sic et› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 98] ‹medicum quidem› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 99] ‹restinguit› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 1] ‹potiunculis› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81) [var. 2] ‹colligit› · call in col 154 (printed under page 81)

(44) ‹sua gratia› · call in col 154

(printed under page 81)

(45) ‹mors idololatriae› · call in col 154, printed "(49)"

(printed under page 81)

(46) ‹sinapis incendio› · call in col 154

(printed under page 81)

Misprints kept as printed

- "otiam" (for etiam), in "miraberis otiam in illo"

Page

  • running head: [ADVERSUS GNO]STICOS SCORPIACE. 154 (left part cut off at image edge)
  • marginal letters: A ‹tat cum idololatria›; B ‹les affert : nec quia›; C ‹caloribus amplius onerando›; D ‹libidine, nam tunc› (in the commentary, not the text)
  • old-edition numerals: 132 after ‹idcirco›
  • other: the column opens with "tat", the tail of "cer-tat" broken from col. 153; the word is set whole ("certat") at the end of col. 153, so the tail is not set here. The last word, "discute-", is broken at the column end and is set whole ("discutere"). "citi⟨u⟩s" has a damaged letter. The Variae lectiones and the Rigault Commentarius (editors' notes) at the page foot are not set in the source; their texts are in n153. The headings "[Varia]e lectiones" and "[Com]mentarius" are full-width lines, cut off at the left edge, and are not set.
  • other: the Commentarius call after "mors" is printed "(49)"; the note it calls is printed (45) ("Quantum morti idololatria").
PL 2:155
supplicia suppliciis evaporare, vitam auferendo conferre, carnem laedendo juvare, animam eripiendo servare. Perversitas quam putas, ratio est; quod saevitiam existimas, gratia est: ita Deo de momentaneis aeterna medicante. Magnifica bono tuo Deum tetrum: incidisti in manus ejus, sed feliciter incidisti; incidit et ille in aegritudines tuas. Homo semper medico prior negotium facit: denique sibi metipse periculum mortis attraxit. Acceperat a Domino suo, ut a medico, satis utilem disciplinam secundum legem vivendi, ut omnia quidem ederet, ab una solummodo arbuscula temperaret, quam ipse medicus importunam interim noverat: audiit ille quem maluit, et abstinentiam rupit, edit illicitum, et transgressione saturatus, in mortem cruditavit, dignissimus bona fide in totum perire, qui voluit. Sed Dominus sustentata fervura delicti, donec tempore medicina temperaretur, paulatim remedia composuit, omnes fid⟨e⟩i disciplinas, et ipsas aemulas vitio, verbum mortis verbo vitae rescindentes, auditum transgressionis auditu devotionis limantes, ita et cum mori praecipit medicus ille, veternum mortis excludit. Quid gravatur pati nunc homo ex remedio, quod non est tunc gravatus pati ex vitio? displicet occidi in salutem, cui non displicuit occidi in perditionem? nauseabit ad antidotum, qui hiavit ad venenum?
to make punishments evaporate by punishments, to confer life by taking it away, to help the flesh by injuring it, to save the soul by snatching it away. What you think perversity is reason; what you reckon cruelty is grace: thus God, as physician, procures eternal things by means of momentary ones. Magnify God, harsh for your own good: you have fallen into His hands, but you have fallen happily; He too has fallen into your sicknesses. Man always makes work for the physician first: in short, he drew the danger of death upon himself by himself. He had received from his Lord, as from a physician, a quite useful discipline of living according to law, that he should eat of all things indeed, and abstain only from one little tree, which the Physician Himself knew to be meanwhile unsuitable: he listened to the one he preferred, and broke his abstinence, ate what was forbidden, and, glutted with transgression, suffered indigestion unto death, most worthy in good faith to perish entirely, since he willed it. But the Lord, having borne with the fever of the offence until the medicine should be tempered in due time, gradually compounded remedies, all the disciplines of faith, these too being rivals of the vice, cancelling the word of death by the word of life, filing away the hearing of transgression by the hearing of devotion; so also, when that Physician commands death, He shuts out the lethargy of death. Why does man now find it burdensome to suffer from the remedy, what he did not then find burdensome to suffer from the vice? Is he displeased to be slain unto salvation, who was not displeased to be slain unto perdition? Will he feel nausea at the antidote, who gaped for the poison?
CAPUT VI.
Chapter VI.
Sed si certaminis nomine Deus nobis martyria
But if, under the name of a contest, God had for us martyrdoms
Editors' notes and page, col. 155

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 2*] ‹call not on this foot› Meditante Rhen. Pam. Seml. Oberth.

"Meditante": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 3] ‹call not on this foot› Eructavit Rhen. Pam. Seml.

"Eructavit": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler.

[var. 4] ‹call not on this foot› Perisse Pam. Seml.

"Perisse": Pamelius, Semler.

[var. 5] ‹call not on this foot› Sustentato fervore Seml.

"Sustentato fervore": Semler.

[var. 6] ‹call not on this foot› Temperatur Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Temperatur": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 7] ‹Sed si› · call in col 155 Et Pam. Seml.

"Et": Pamelius, Semler.

[var. 8] ‹call not on this foot› Proponit Pam. Seml.

"Proponit": Pamelius, Semler.

[var. 9] ‹call not on this foot› Devicisset Pam. Seml.

"Devicisset": Pamelius, Semler.

[var. 10] ‹call not on this foot› Quae Pam. Seml. quos Latin.

"Quae": Pamelius, Semler; "quos": Latinius.

[var. 11] ‹call not on this foot› Ut qui gaudeamus Pam. Seml. gaudemus Jun.

"Ut qui gaudeamus": Pamelius, Semler; "gaudemus": Junius.

[var. 12] ‹call not on this foot› Licuit Seml.

"Licuit": Semler.

[var. 13] ‹call not on this foot› Studiorum Rhen. Pam. Seml.

"Studiorum": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler.

[var. 14] ‹call not on this foot› Expendere Rhen. Pam. Seml. Oberth.

"Expendere": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 15] ‹call not on this foot› Sunt inserit Seml.

Semler inserts "sunt".

[var. 16] ‹quantum livores› · call in col 156 Livoris Seml.

"Livoris": Semler.

[var. 17] ‹negociantur intendet› · call in col 156 Intendis Rhen. Pam. Seml. Oberth.

"Intendis": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 18] ‹stipendia civica› · call in col 156 Stipendia, civitatem Latin.

"Stipendia, civitatem": Latinius.

[var. 19] ‹nam vult;› · call in col 156 Non Rhen. Seml.

"Non": Rhenanus, Semler.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 82) (47) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 82) (47) Deo de momentaneis aeterna medicante. Sic vetus exemplar. Ait Tertullianus Deum bono nostro crudelem atque tetrum, qui homines etiam per martyriorum cruciatus ad felicitatis aeternae gloriam evadere velit, nobis esse colendum amandumque, multo magis quam medicum, qui corporis nostri valetudinem nonnisi urendo secandoque restituit. Dein explicat et emollit, quod alias durum ac tetrum videbatur. Hunc locum imitari voluit Lucifer Calaritanus lib. de Contem. morte pro Christo: « Quod enim licet medicus secet, cauterio urat, sinapis incendio ad omnem dolorem aegrum deducat; tamen nec secari, inuri, exedi, morderique esse inimicum, » etc. Sed longa est inter artifices differentia. RIG.

"God healing eternal things out of momentary ones." So the old exemplar. Tertullian says that God, harsh and grim for our good, who wills that men should come through even the torments of martyrdom to the glory of eternal happiness, is to be worshipped and loved by us much more than the physician, who restores our body's health only by burning and cutting. Then he explains and softens what otherwise seemed hard and grim. Lucifer of Cagliari meant to imitate this passage in the book On Despising Death for Christ: "For though the physician cuts, burns with the cautery, and brings the sick man to every pain with the burning of mustard, yet to be cut, burned, eaten away and bitten is not hostile," etc. But there is a long difference between the craftsmen. Rigault.

(printed under page 82) (48) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 82) (48) In mortem cruditavit. Post pabulum illicitum laboravit mortifera cruditate. Eodem verbo utitur lib. de Jejuniis, « usque ad choleram ortygometras cruditando. » RIG.

"He fell into indigestion unto death." After the forbidden food he suffered a deadly indigestion. He uses the same verb in the book On Fasting: "suffering indigestion from quails to the point of cholera." Rigault.

(printed under page 82) (49) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 82) (49) De diaboli gula. Sic lib. de Spectac.: « Diaboli ex alto praecipitati gula, » et libro de Pudicitia: « Cui etiam conditio gratior quaeque de gula erepta est. » RIG.

"From the devil's gullet." So in the book On the Shows: "the gullet of the devil cast down from on high"; and in the book On Modesty: "to whom even every more welcome condition was snatched from the gullet." Rigault.

(printed under page 82) (50) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 82) (50) Adhuc Carthaginem, etc., donatam Pythico agone, etc. Hinc occasionem accepisse videtur auctor scribendi libri de Spect. quod indictus esset Carthagini « Pythicus agon, » idque « post stadii senectutem, » id est, postquam stadium, id est locus ad agones deputatus, jam senectutem quamdam passus esset, utpote a multis annis minime frequentatus. Atqui Pythicum agonem vocat eum qui in ludis Pythicis, id est Apollini Pythio dedicatis celebrabatur. Pyctes enim, pro pugile, notior vox est quam ut pluribus sit opus. PAM.

"Carthage still, etc., granted the Pythian contest, etc." The author seems to have taken from this the occasion of writing the book On the Shows, because a "Pythian contest" had been proclaimed at Carthage, and that "after the old age of the stadium," that is, after the stadium, the place set aside for contests, had already suffered a kind of old age, being little frequented for many years. Now he calls Pythian the contest that was held at the Pythian games, those dedicated to Pythian Apollo. As for "pyctes" for boxer, the word is too well known to need more. Pamelius.

(printed under page 82) (51) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 82) (51) Qua nulla sunt praelia. Etenim agones celebrantur etiam in alta pace. Sic libro de Spectaculis, athletas dixit homines altiles propter otium Graeciae. RIG.

"Where there are no battles." For contests are held even in deep peace. So in the book On the Shows he called athletes men fattened for the idleness of Greece. Rigault.

(printed under page 82) (52) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 82) (52) Nonnulla vulnera. Haec ita sunt distinguenda: nam hoc ait: Nulla sunt praelia, quia nullus hostis; sed tamen non sunt nulla vulnera, quia strenue ac fortiter decertant et vulnerantur. RIG.

"Some wounds." These words are to be punctuated so; for he says this: there are no battles, because there is no enemy; yet there are wounds, because they fight it out vigorously and bravely and are wounded. Rigault.

(printed under page 82) (53) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 82) (53) Calces arietant. Faber, Agonist. lib. II, c. 9. legi vult, calvae. Nihil mutandum censeo. Vox vero, arietant, aliis etiam usitata. Plinius lib. II, cap. 82, de aedificiis terrae motu sese collidentibus: « Innoxium, et cum concurrentia tecta contrario ictu arietant, quoniam alter motus alteri renititur. » Etsi vero de arietibus, ex vocis etymo, id intelligi tantum videatur, de tauris tamen Virgilius lib. XII: Cum quo conversis inimica in praelia tauri Frontibus incurrunt.

"Heels butt like rams." Faber, Agonisticon book II, ch. 9, would read "calvae" (skulls). I think nothing should be changed. The word "arietant" is used by others too. Pliny book II, ch. 82, of buildings colliding in an earthquake: "It is harmless also when roofs running together butt with opposite blows, since one movement resists the other." And though from the etymology of the word it might seem to be understood only of rams, yet Virgil uses it of bulls in book XII: "as when bulls, their brows turned to hostile battle, charge together."

(printed under page 82)

Page

  • running head: 155 TERTULLIANI OPERUM PARS II. — S (cut off at the image edge)
  • marginal letters: A ‹re, supplicia suppliciis›; B ‹saturatus, in mortem›; C ‹Sed si certaminis nomine›; D ‹cat; tamen nec secari› (in the commentary, not set)
  • old-edition numerals: 133 after ‹temperaret,›
PL 2:156
proposuisset, per quae cum adversario experiremur, ut a quo libenter homo elisus est, eum jam constanter elidat, hic quoque liberalitas magis, quam acerbitas Dei praeest. Evulsum enim hominem de diaboli gula per fidem, jam et inculcatorem ejus voluit efficere per virtutem; ne solummodo evasisset, verum etiam evicisset inimicum. Amavit, qui vocaverat in salutem, invitare et ad gloriam; ut gaudeamus liberati, exsultemus etiam coronati. Agonas istos, contentiosa solemnia et superstitiosa certamina Graecarum et religionum et voluptatum, quanta gratia saeculum celebret, etiam Africae liquit. Adhuc Carthaginem singulae civitates gratulando inquietant, donatam Pythico agone post stadii senectutem. Ita ab aevo dignissimum creditum est stadiorum experimentum, committere artes, corporum et vocum praestantiam exprimere, praemio indice, spectaculo judice, sententia voluptate: qua nulla sunt praelia, non multa vulnera, pugni quassant, calces arietant, cestus dilaniant, flagella dilacerant: nemo tamen agonis praesidem suggillaverit, quod homines violentiae objectat, injuriarum actiones extra stadium, sed quantum livores illi et cruores et vibices negociantur intendet: coronas scilicet, et gloriam, et dotem, privilegia publica, stipendia civica, imagines, statuas, et qualem potest praestare saeculum de fama aeternitatem, de memoria resurrectionem. Pyctes ipse non queritur dolere se; nam vult; corona premit vulnera,
set forth, through which we might make trial with the adversary, so that man might now steadfastly crush him by whom man was willingly crushed, here too it is the generosity rather than the harshness of God that presides. For man, plucked out of the devil's throat through faith, He willed now also to make into his trampler through virtue, so that he should not only have escaped but also have vanquished the enemy. He Who had called to salvation was pleased to invite also to glory, so that we may rejoice as freed and exult also as crowned. With what favour the world celebrates those contests, the contentious solemnities and superstitious competitions of Greek religions and pleasures, has become plain even to Africa. Even now the several cities trouble Carthage with congratulations, as having been granted the Pythian contest after the old age of its stadium. Thus from of old it has been believed a most worthy test of the stadia to match arts against one another, to bring out the excellence of bodies and voices, with the prize as informer, the spectacle as judge, pleasure as the verdict: wherein there are no battles, not many wounds; fists shake, heels butt like rams, gloves tear, whips lacerate: yet no one will reproach the president of the contest because he exposes men to violence; actions for injuries [lie] outside the stadium; but as much as those bruises and gore and weals trade for, he will hold out: crowns, to wit, and glory, and a dowry, public privileges, civic stipends, images, statues, and such eternity from fame as the world is able to provide, a resurrection from memory. The boxer himself does not complain that he is in pain; for he wills it; the crown presses down the wounds,
Editors' notes and page, col. 156

Page

  • running head: PARS II. — SERIES I, POLEMICA. 156 (left part of head cut off at image edge)
  • marginal letters: A ‹proposuisset, per quae›; B ‹dignissimum creditum est›; C ‹ritur dolere se›; D ‹nam hoc ait› (in the Commentarius below the text)
  • old-edition numerals: 134 after praestantiam
  • other: damaged type read as magis, Dei, Evulsum, inculcatorem, elidat, cestus; liquit, Graecarum, intendet, negociantur kept as printed; Variae lectiones and Commentarius (editors' notes, Pam., Rig.) at page foot not set; left-column fragments belong to col. 155 and are not set
PL 2:157
palma sanguinem obscurat; plus victoria tumet quam injuria. Hunc tu laesum existimabis quem vides laetum? Sed ne⟨c⟩ victus ipse de agonotheta casum suum exprobrabit. Deum dedecebit artes et disciplinas suas educere in medium, in hoc saeculi spatium, in spectaculum hominibus et angelis et universis potestatibus? carnem atque animam probare de constantia atque tolerantia? dare huic palmam, huic honorem, illi civitatem, illi stipendia? etiam quosdam reprobare, et castigatos cum ignominia submovere? Nimirum praescribes Deo, quibus temporibus, aut modis, aut locis de familia sua judicet, quasi non et praejudicare judici congruat. Quid nunc, si non certaminis nomine in martyria fidem exposuisset, sed et proprii profectus; nonne oportebat illam habere aliquem spei cumulum, cui studium suum cogeret, votumque suspenderet, quo eniteretur ascendere, cum terrena quoque officia in gradus aestuent? aut quomodo multae mansiones apud Patrem, si non pro varietate meritorum? quomodo et stella a stella distabit in gloria (I Cor. XV), nisi pro diversitate radiorum? Porro, et si fidei propterea congruebat sublimitatis et claritatis aliqua prolatio, tale quid esse oportuerat illud emolumenti; quod magno constaret labore, cruciatu, tormento, mort⟨e⟩. Sed respice compensationem: cum caro et anima dependitur, quibus in homine carius nihil est; alterum manus Dei, alterum flatus; ipsa dependi in profectu, quorum est profectus; ipsa erogari, quae lucrifiant; eadem pretia, quae et merces. Prospexerat et has Deus imbecillitates conditionis humanae, adversarii insidias, rerum fallacias, saeculi retia, etiam post lavacrum periclitaturam fidem, perituros plerosque rursum post salutem, qui vestitum obsoletassent nuptialem, qui faculis oleum non praeparassent, qui requirendi, per montes et saltus, et humeris essent reportandi. Posuit igitur secunda solatia, extrema praesi⟨d⟩ia, dimicationem martyrii, et lavacrum sanguinis exinde securum. De cujus felicitate David: Beati quorum dimissa sunt delicta, et quorum opertae sunt iniquitates (Psal. XXXII, 1). Beatus vir cui non imputaverit Deus delictum. Proprie enim martyribus
the palm obscures the blood; he swells more with the victory than with the injury. Will you think him hurt whom you see glad? But not even the vanquished man himself will reproach the president of the games with his fall. Will it be unbecoming for God to bring His arts and disciplines out into the open, into this space of the age, as a spectacle to men and angels and all the powers? to test flesh and soul in respect of constancy and endurance? to give to this one the palm, to this one honour, to that one citizenship, to that one pay? even to reject some, and to remove them, chastised, with ignominy? Doubtless you will prescribe to God at what times, or in what ways, or in what places He is to judge concerning His household, as though it did not befit the judge also to judge beforehand. What now, if He had exposed faith to martyrdoms not in the name of a contest, but also for its own advancement; ought it not to have some crowning of hope, towards which it might bend its zeal, and on which it might hang its vow, by which it might strive to ascend, since even earthly offices seethe after ranks? or how are there many mansions with the Father, if not for the variety of merits? how also will star differ from star in glory (1 Cor. 15:41), except by the diversity of their rays? Further, even if for that reason some bestowal of sublimity and brightness befitted faith, such ought that gain to have been, that it should cost great labour, torture, torment, death. But consider the compensation: when flesh and soul are spent, than which nothing in man is dearer, the one the hand of God, the other His breath; that those very things are spent on advancement whose advancement it is; that those very things are paid out which are gained; that the same things are the prices which are also the reward. God had foreseen these weaknesses too of the human condition, the snares of the adversary, the deceptions of things, the nets of the world, faith endangered even after the washing, very many about to perish again after salvation, those who would have soiled the wedding garment, who would not have prepared oil for their torches, who would have to be sought out through mountains and woodlands and carried back on shoulders. He therefore set up second consolations, last defences, the combat of martyrdom and the washing of blood, secure from then on. Of whose happiness David [says]: Blessed are they whose sins are forgiven, and whose iniquities are covered (Ps. 31:1). Blessed is the man to whom God will not have imputed sin. For properly to martyrs
Editors' notes and page, col. 157

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 20] ‹call not on this foot› Plus victoriarum est quam injuriarum Lat. Jun. plus victoriatum est quam injuriatum Rhen. Pam. Seml.

"Plus victoriarum est quam injuriarum": Latinius, Junius; "plus victoriatum est quam injuriatum": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler.

[var. 21] ‹call not on this foot› Qui si non Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Qui si non": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 22] ‹call not on this foot› Et abj. Seml.

Semler drops "et".

[var. 23] ‹et claritatis› · call in col 157 Sublimitati et claritati Rhen. Pam. Seml. Oberth.

"Sublimitati et claritati": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 24] ‹magno constaret› · call in col 157 Constare Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Constare": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 25] ‹alterum flatus› · call in col 157 Adflatus Rhen. Pam. Seml.

"Adflatus": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler.

[var. 26] ‹dependi in profectu› · call in col 157 Praefectum Jun.

"Praefectum": Junius.

[var. 27] ‹quae lucrifiant› · call in col 157 Lucrificant Rhen. Seml Oberth.

"Lucrificant": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 28] ‹vestitum obsoletassent› · call in col 157 Oboleta Jun.

"Oboleta": Junius.

[var. 29] ‹call not on this foot› Indicabis Jun. vocabis Vet. Exempl.

"Indicabis": Junius; "vocabis": the old exemplar.

[var. 30] ‹call not on this foot› Et abj. Seml. Nulla cod. Wouw.

Semler drops "et". "Nulla": Wouwer's manuscript.

[var. 32] ‹exitibus cantatur hymnis› · call in col 158 Canitur Rhen. Pam. Seml.

"Canitur": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler.

[var. 33] ‹de constantia› · call in col 158 Constantiam Pam. Fran.

"Constantiam": Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 34] ‹alius scribit› · call in col 158 Inscribit Rhen. Pam. Seml.

"Inscribit": Rhenanus, Pamelius, Semler.

[var. 35] ‹uritur argentum› · call in col 158 Aurum Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Aurum": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 36] ‹probatur aurum› · call in col 158 Argentum Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Argentum": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 83) (54) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 83) (54) Plus victoria tumet, quam injuria. Sic legendum suasit liber Agobardi. Nec dubito, quin Tertullianus ipsissima scripserit. RIG.

"It swells more with victory than with injury." Agobard's book persuaded me to read so. Nor do I doubt that Tertullian wrote these very words. Rigault.

(printed under page 83) (55) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 83) (55) Terrena quoque officia in gradus aestuent. Hoc est, contendant pro dignitate gradus, ut primum obtineant locum. RIG.

"Earthly offices too seethe for rank": that is, they contend for the dignity of rank, to obtain the first place. Rigault.

(printed under page 83) (56) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 83) (56) Proprie enim martyribus nihil reputari potest. Is et etiam locus pertinet ad purgatorii assertionem et eam differentiam (de qua supra etiam apud hunc auctorem lib. de Anima, cap. 35), quam apertiorem ponit B. Cyprianus epist. 52, ad Antonian. Aliud, inquit, missum in carcerem non exire inde, donec solvat novissimum quadrantem, et pro peccatis longo dolore cruciatum emundari et purgari diu igne, et pendere in die judicii ad sententiam judicis; aliud statim ad gloriam pervenire, fidei et virtutis accipere mercedem, peccata omnia passione purgasse, et Domino coronari. PAM.

"For nothing can properly be reckoned against martyrs." This passage too bears on the assertion of purgatory and on that distinction (of which see above in this author, book On the Soul, ch. 35) which blessed Cyprian sets out more plainly, epistle 52, to Antonianus: "It is one thing," he says, "to be sent to prison and not to come out until one has paid the last farthing, and, tormented for one's sins with long pain, to be cleansed and purged a long while by fire, and to hang on the judge's sentence on the day of judgement; another to come at once to glory, to receive the reward of faith and virtue, to have purged all sins by suffering, and to be crowned by the Lord." Pamelius.

(printed under page 83) (57) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 83) (57) Etiam Dei atrocitatem judicabis? Vetus exemplar, vocabis. RIG.

"Will you judge it cruelty even in God?" The old exemplar has "vocabis" (will you call it). Rigault.

(printed under page 83)

Page

  • running head: 157 ADV. GNOSTICOS SCOR[PIACE] (cut off at the image edge)
  • marginal letters: A palma sanguinem obscurat; B fectus; nonne oportebat; C est; alterum manus Dei; D (beside the Commentarius, line "(54) Plus victoria tumet")
  • old-edition numerals: 135 after pro
PL 2:158
nihil jam reputari potest, quibus in lavacro ipsa vita deponitur. Sic dilectio operit multitudinem delictorum (I Petr. IV, 8), quae Deum scilicet diligens ex totis viribus suis, quibus in martyrio decertat, ex tota anima sua (Matth. XXII, 37), quam pro Deo ponit, hominem martyrem excudit. Haec tu remedia, consilia, ju⟨d⟩icia, spectacula etiam Dei atrocitatem judicabis? sanguinem hominis Deus concupiscit? Et tamen ausim dicere, si et homo regnum Dei, si homo certam salutem, si et homo secundam regenerationem. Nulli compensatio invidiosa est, in qua aut gratiae, aut injuriae communis est ratio.
nothing can any longer be reckoned, since for them, in the washing, life itself is laid down. Thus love covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8). Love, namely loving God with all its strength (with which it contends to the end in martyrdom) and with all its soul (Matt. 22:37) (which it lays down for God), forges a man into a martyr. Will you judge these remedies, counsels, judgements, even spectacles, to be God's cruelty? Does God lust after the blood of man? And yet I would dare to say [He does], if man too [lusts after] the kingdom of God, if man [lusts after] sure salvation, if man too [lusts after] a second regeneration. To no one is an exchange odious in which the reckoning, whether of favour or of injury, is shared.
CAPUT VII.
Chapter VII.
Incutiat adhuc scorpius, homicidam Deum ventilans: horrebo plane spurcum blasphemiae statum de haeretico ore foetentem; sed et talem Deum de fiducia rationis amplectar, qua ratione etiam ipse se plus quam homicidam pronuntiavit ex Sophiae suae persona, voce Salomouis: Sophia, inquit (Prov. IX, 2), jugulavit filios suos. Sophia, sapientia est. Sapienter utique jugulavit, dum in vitam, et rationaliter, dum in gloriam. O parricidii ingenium! o sceleris artificium! o argumentum crudelitatis, quae idcirco occidit, ne moriatur quem occiderit! Et ideo quid sequitur? Sophia in exitibus cantatur hymnis (Prov. I, 20); cantatur enim et exitus martyrum. Sophia in plateis de constantia agit, bene enim filios suos jugulat. Super summos autem muros confisa dicit, cum quidem secundum Isaiam hic exclamat: Ego Dei sum: et hic vociferatur: In nomine Jacob; et alius scribit, In nomine Israelis (Isa. XLIV, 5). O bonam matrem! Opto et ipse in filios ejus redigi, ut ab ea occidar. Opto occidi ut filius fiam. Solum autem jugulat filios suos; an et torquet? Audio enim et alibi dicentem Deum: Uram illos sicuti uritur argentum, et probabo illos sicuti probatur aurum (Zach. XIII, 19). Utique per tormenta iguium et suppliciorum, per martyria fidei examinatoria. Scit et Apostolus qualem Deum adscripserit, cum scribit: Si Deus Filio suo non pepercit, sed pro nobis tradidit illum, quomodo non et cum illo omnia condonavit nobis? (Rom. VIII, 32.)
Let the scorpion strike still, brandishing [the charge of] a murderous God. I shall indeed shudder at the foul exhalation of blasphemy reeking from the heretic's mouth; but I shall embrace even such a God out of confidence in reason, by which reason He Himself also declared Himself more than a murderer, in the person of His Wisdom, by the voice of Solomon: Wisdom, he says (Prov. 9:2), has slaughtered her children. Sophia is wisdom. Wisely indeed did she slaughter them, since it was into life, and reasonably, since it was into glory. O ingenuity of parricide! O artistry of crime! O proof of cruelty, which kills for this reason, that the one it has killed may not die! And therefore what follows? Wisdom is sung with hymns at the departures (Prov. 1:20); for the departure of martyrs too is sung. Wisdom acts with constancy in the streets, for well does she slaughter her children. And upon the tops of the walls she speaks with confidence, when indeed, according to Isaiah, this one cries out: I am God's; and this one shouts: In the name of Jacob; and another writes: In the name of Israel (Isa. 44:5). O good mother! I myself also wish to be brought among her children, that I may be killed by her. I wish to be killed that I may become a son. But does she only slaughter her children, or does she also torture them? For I hear God saying elsewhere too: I will burn them as silver is burned, and I will test them as gold is tested (Zech. 13:9). Surely through the torments of fires and of punishments, through martyrdoms that put faith to the test. The Apostle too knows what sort of God he has described, when he writes: If God did not spare His Son, but delivered Him up for us, how has He not also given us all things with Him? (Rom. 8:32.)
Editors' notes and page, col. 158

Page

  • running head: GNOSTICOS SCORPIACE. (left part of the running head cut off at the image edge; column number 158)
  • marginal letters: A ‹nihil jam reputari potest›; B ‹Incutiat adhuc scorpius›; C ‹tyrum. Sophia in plateis›; D ‹tiorem ponit B. Cyprianus› (in the commentary)
  • old-edition numerals: 136 after ideo
PL 2:159
Vides quomodo etiam proprium suum Filium primogenitum et unigenitum Sophia divina jugulaverit; utique victurum, imo et caeteros in vitam redacturum. Po⟨s⟩sum dicere cum Sophia Dei : Christus est qui se tradidit pro delictis nostris. Jam et semetipsam Sophia trucidavit. Verba non sono solo sapiunt, sed et sensu : nec auribus tantummodo audienda sunt, sed et mentibus. Crudelem Deum, qui non intelligit, credit. Quanquam et non intelligenti posita sententia est, quae temeritatem cohibeat aliter intelligendi. Quis enim, inquit (Rom. XI, 32), cognovit sensum Dei? aut quis illi consiliarius fuit, qui eum instruat? aut viam intelligentiae quis demonstravit illi? Sedenim Scytharum Dianam, aut Gallorum Mercurium, aut Afrorum Saturnum, hominum victima placari apud saeculum licuit. Et Latio ad hodiernum Jovi media in urbe humanus sanguis ingustatur; nec quisquam retractat, aut non rationem praesumit aliquam, aut inaestimabilem Dei sui voluntatem. Si noster quoque Deus propriae hostiae nomine martyria sibi depostulasset, quis illi exprobrasset funestam religionem, et lugubres ritus, et aram rogum, et pollinctorem sacerdotem? et non beatum amplius reputasset, quem Deus comedisset?
You see how divine Wisdom slew even her own Son, firstborn and only-begotten; One certainly destined to live, nay more, to bring the others back into life. I can say with the Wisdom of God: It is Christ Who gave Himself up for our offences. Already Wisdom has slaughtered even herself. Words have their savour not in sound alone but also in sense: nor are they to be heard with the ears only, but also with the minds. He who does not understand believes God to be cruel. And yet even for him who does not understand a sentence has been laid down, to restrain the rashness of understanding otherwise. For who, it says (Rom. 11:32), has known the mind of God? or who has been His counsellor, to instruct Him? or who has shown Him the way of understanding? But it was permitted in the world for the Diana of the Scythians, or the Mercury of the Gauls, or the Saturn of the Africans, to be appeased with a victim of men. And in Latium to this day human blood is tasted for Jupiter in the midst of the city; and no one questions it, or fails to presume some reason, or the inestimable will of his god. If our God too had demanded martyrdoms for Himself under the name of His own sacrificial victim, who would have reproached Him with a deadly religion, and mournful rites, and an altar that is a pyre, and a priest who is an undertaker? and who would not rather have reckoned him blessed whom God had devoured?
CAPUT VIII.
Chapter VIII.
Unum igitur gradum insistimus, et in hoc solum provocamus, an praecepta sint a Deo martyria, ut credas ratione praecepta, si praecepta cognoveris, quia nihil Deus non ratione praeceperit. Siquidem honorata est apud illum mors religiosorum ipsius, ut canit David (Psal. CXV, 15) : non opinor ista communis et omnium deb⟨i⟩tum; atqui justa, etiam ignominiosa est ex elogio transgressionis et merito damnationis; sed illa quae in ipso aditur ex testimonio religionis, et praelio confessionis, pro justitia et sacramento; sicut Isaias (LVII, 1): Videte, inquit, quomodo perit justus, et nemo excipit corde, et viri justi auferuntur, et nemo animadvertit : a facie enim injustitiae perit justus,
We therefore press on one step, and on this point alone make our challenge: whether martyrdoms are commanded by God, so that you may believe them commanded with reason, if you recognize that they are commanded, since God has commanded nothing without reason. For indeed honoured in His sight is the death of His religious ones, as David sings (Ps. 115:15): not, I think, that common death which is the debt of all; that one, though just, is even ignominious by the charge of transgression and the desert of damnation; but that which is entered upon in Him by the testimony of religion and the battle of confession, for justice and the sacrament; as Isaiah (Isa. 57:1): See, he says, how the just man perishes, and no one takes it to heart, and just men are taken away, and no one pays heed: for from the face of injustice the just man perishes,
Editors' notes and page, col. 159

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 37] ‹call not on this foot› Verbo Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Verbo": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 38] ‹call not on this foot› Liquit, Pam. Fran.

"Liquit": Pamelius, the Franeker edition.

[var. 39] ‹call not on this foot› In Pam.

"In": Pamelius.

[var. 40] ‹credas ratione› · call in col 159 Natione Venet.

"Natione": the Venice edition.

[var. 41] ‹ex elogio› · call in col 159 Ellogio Jun.

"Ellogio": Junius.

[var. 42] ‹in ipso aditur› · call in col 159 Auditur Seml.

"Auditur": Semler.

[var. 43] ‹Videte› · call in col 159 Vide Seml.

"Vide": Semler.

[var. 44] ‹call not on this foot› Sepulturae Pam. Rhen. Seml.

"Sepulturae": Pamelius, Rhenanus, Semler.

[var. 45] ‹call not on this foot› Insectaretur Seml.

"Insectaretur": Semler.

[var. 46] ‹call not on this foot› Insectata inserit Seml.

Semler inserts "insectata".

[var. 47] ‹call not on this foot› Salticae Seml.

"Salticae": Semler.

[var. 48] ‹call not on this foot› Etiam Seml.

"Etiam": Semler.

[var. 49] ‹call not on this foot› Turbam Jun.

"Turbam": Junius.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 84)

(58) ‹elogio transgressionis› · call in col 159

(printed under page 84) (58) Atquin ista etiam ignominiosa est ex elogio transgressionis. Hoc dicit ex sententia Catholicorum omnium, ex perpetua traditione et Scripturae testimonio existimantium ideo mori homines, quia adversus vetitum de arbore gustaverant, quam in medio paradisi positam Deus exceperat. RIG. emendant. EDD.

"But this is even shameful, by the charge of transgression." He says this according to the judgement of all Catholics, who hold from constant tradition and the witness of Scripture that men die because, against the prohibition, they tasted of the tree set in the midst of paradise which God had excepted. Rigault, as emended by the editors.

(printed under page 84) (59) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 84) (59) In puellae psalticae lucar. Mittit Dn. Latinius ad Festum. Ubi Josephus Scaliger hunc Tertulliani locum citans, lucar appellari dicit mercedem saltatorum quam θεατρικὸν appellant Charisius et Glossographi; qua significatione etiam Tacitus, Annal. lib. I, dixerit Lucar histrionum coercitum temporibus Tiberianis, et Livius, lib. III Lucaris meriti donum, quod Pythio Apollini mitti jubebatur. Idque eleganter, utpote cum caput B. Joannis Bapt. datum sit in puellae saltatricis (quam salticam sua voce nuncupat) praemium. PAM.

"As the fee of a dancing girl." Master Latinius refers to Festus. There Joseph Scaliger, citing this passage of Tertullian, says that "lucar" is the name for the pay of dancers, which Charisius and the glossographers call θεατρικόν (theatre money); in which sense Tacitus too, Annals book I, spoke of the actors' "lucar" being restricted in the times of Tiberius, and Livy, book III, of the gift of the "lucar" earned, which was ordered to be sent to Pythian Apollo. And it is elegantly said, since the head of blessed John the Baptist was given as the prize of a dancing girl (whom he calls "saltica" in his own word). Pamelius.

(printed under page 84) (60) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 84) (60) Meminerant enim et Jeremiae, etc. Jeremiae olim adscriptum a Patribus quidquid hodie libro Baruch continetur, atque adeo etiam de ejus Scripturae auctoritate canonica, quibus consentit hic auctor, citans Jeremiae nomine, quod invenitur Baruch. VI. PAM.

"For they remembered Jeremiah too, etc." Whatever is today contained in the book of Baruch was formerly ascribed by the Fathers to Jeremiah, and so too on the canonical authority of that Scripture; with them this author agrees, citing under Jeremiah's name what is found in Baruch 6. Pamelius.

(printed under page 84) (61) Danielem nullius praeter Dei supplicem. Historium hanc attigit cap. 5 de Idololatria, qui locus non adeo cum hoc consonat. Nam hic dicitur Daniel nullius nisi Dei supplex, ibi vero caetera Dario subnixus, hoc est morigerus: Quod tamen obtemperandi genus saeculare fuit, cum hic de religione et veri Dei cultu agatur. LE PR.

"Daniel, a suppliant of none but God." He touches on this story in ch. 5 of On Idolatry, a passage that does not quite agree with this one. For here Daniel is said to be a suppliant of none but God, but there "in other things submissive to Darius," that is, compliant: yet that kind of obedience was a worldly one, whereas here the matter is religion and the worship of the true God. Le Prieur.

(printed under page 84)

Page

  • running head: 159 TERTULLIANI OPERUM PARS II. — S[...] (cut off at right edge)
  • marginal letters: A ‹Vides quomodo etiam proprium suum Filium›; B ‹Saturnum, hominum victima placari›; C ‹credas ratione praecepta, si praecepta›; D ‹(58) Atquin ista etiam ignominiosa (commentary)›
  • old-edition numerals: 137 after ‹canit›
  • other: "Po·sum" has a damaged letter, set Po⟨s⟩sum; "deb·tum" damaged, set deb⟨i⟩tum; "Siquidem" has a damaged q; "atqui justa" printed, but the commentary lemma reads "Atquin ista", UNSURE whether this is a misprint; reference Rom. XI, 32 kept as printed (the passage is Rom. 11:34); Variae lectiones and Commentarius (notes 58-59) at page foot not set; the headings "Variae lectiones." and "Commentarius." are full-width and cut off at right, not set
PL 2:160
et erit honor sepultura ejus. Habes hic quoque et praedicationem et remunerationem martyriorum. A primordio enim justitia vim patitur. Statim ut coli Deus coepit, invidiam religio sortita est: qui Deo placuerat, occiditur, et quidem a fratre; quo proclivius impietas alienum sanguinem sectaretur, a suo auspicata est. Denique, non modo justorum, verum etiam et prophetarum. David exagitatur, Elias fugatur, Jeremias lapidatur, Isaias secatur, Zacharias inter altare et aedem trucidatur, perennes cruoris sui maculas silicibus adsignans. Ipse clausula Legis et prophetarum, nec prophetes, sed angelus dictus, contumeliosa caede truncatur in puellae psalticae lucar. Et utique qui Spiritu Dei agebantur, ab ipso in martyria dirigebantur, ut et jam patiendo quae et praedicassent. Proinde et trina fraternitas, cum dedicatio imaginis regiae urbem urgeret officio, non ignoraverunt quid fides; quae sola in illis captiva non fuerat, exigeret; moriendum scilicet adversus idololatriam. Meminerant enim et Jeremiae scribentis ad eos (Baruch. VI), quibus illa captivitas imminebat: Et nunc videbitis deos Babyloniorum aureos et argenteos et ligneos portari super humeros, ostentantes nationibus timorem. Cavete igitur ne et vos consimiles sitis allophylis, et timore capiamini, dum aspicitis turbas adorantes retro eos et ante; sed dicite in animo vestro: Te, Domine, adorare debemus. Itaque dixerunt a Deo concepta fiducia, quando vigore animi conditionales minas regis excutiunt (Dan. III, 16): Non habemus necessitatem respondendi huic tuo imperio. Est enim Deus noster quem colimus, potens eruere nos de fornace ignis, et ex manibus tuis; et tunc manifestum fiet tibi, quod neque idolo tuo famulabimur, nec imaginem tuam auream, quam statuisti, adorabimus. O martyrium et sine passione perfectum! Satis passi, satis exusti sunt, quos propterea Deus texit, ne potestatem ejus mentiri viderentur. Nam et Danielem nullius praeter Dei supplicem, et idcirco a Chaldaeis delatum ac depostulatum statim utique conclusa et usitata
and his burial shall be honour. Here too you have both the proclamation and the reward of martyrdoms. For from the beginning righteousness suffers violence. As soon as God began to be worshipped, religion received envy as its lot: he who had pleased God is slain, and that by a brother; so that impiety might the more readily pursue the blood of others, it made its beginning with its own. In short, not only [the blood] of the righteous, but also that of the prophets. David is harried, Elijah is put to flight, Jeremiah is stoned, Isaiah is sawn asunder, Zechariah is slaughtered between the altar and the temple, marking the stones with the lasting stains of his own gore. He himself, the close of the Law and the prophets, called not a prophet but an angel, is beheaded in an ignominious slaughter as the fee of a girl who played the harp. And certainly those who were moved by the Spirit of God were directed by Him into martyrdoms, so that by suffering they might now also [undergo] the things which they had also proclaimed. Accordingly the threefold brotherhood too, when the dedication of the royal image was pressing upon the city with its observance, did not fail to know what faith, which alone in them had not been captive, demanded: namely, that they must die in opposition to idolatry. For they remembered also Jeremiah writing to those over whom that captivity was impending (Bar. 6): And now you will see gods of the Babylonians, of gold and of silver and of wood, carried upon shoulders, displaying fear to the nations. Beware therefore lest you also become like the foreigners, and be seized with fear while you behold the crowds worshipping behind them and before; but say in your mind: Thee, O Lord, we ought to worship. Accordingly, with confidence conceived from God, they said, when with vigour of mind they shook off the king's conditional threats (Dan. 3:16): We have no need to answer this command of yours. For our God whom we worship is able to deliver us out of the furnace of fire and out of your hands; and then it will become manifest to you that we will neither serve your idol nor worship your golden image which you have set up. O martyrdom perfected even without suffering! Enough did they suffer, enough were they burnt, whom God shielded for this reason, lest they should seem to have lied about His power. For Daniel too, a suppliant of no one but God, and therefore denounced by the Chaldeans and demanded [for punishment], at once, certainly, the shut-up and accustomed
Editors' notes and page, col. 160

Footnotes

(61) ‹Dei supplicem› · call in col 160

(printed under page 84)

Page

  • running head: PARS II. — SERIES I, POLEMICA. 160
  • marginal letters: A et erit honor sepultura; B jam patiendo quae; C nales minas regis excutiunt; D sit in puellae saltatricis (in the editors' commentary, not set)
  • old-edition numerals: 138 after imperio.
PL 2:161
feritas leonum devorasset, si Darii digna praesumptio de Deo falli debuisset. Caeterum, pati oportebat omnem Dei praedicatorem atque cultorem qui ad idololatriam provocatus negasset obsequium, secundum illius quoque rationis statum, qua et praesentibus tunc et posteris deinceps commendari veritatem oportebat, pro qua fidem diceret passio ipsorum defensorum ejus; quia nemo voluisset occidi, nisi compos veritatis. Talia a primordio et praecepta et exempla debitricem martyrii fidem ostendunt.
ferocity of the lions would have devoured, if Darius' worthy presumption about God had been bound to be disappointed. For the rest, every preacher and worshipper of God who, when challenged to idolatry, had refused compliance had to suffer, in accordance also with the standing of that principle by which the truth had to be commended both to those then present and to posterity thereafter, the truth for which the suffering of its very defenders would speak credibility; since no one would have wished to be killed unless he were in possession of the truth. Such precepts and examples, from the beginning, show faith to be a debtor to martyrdom.
CAPUT IX.
Chapter IX.
Superest, ne antiquitas suum quoque habuerit sacramentum, novitatem Christianam recensere, quasi et de Deo aliam, ac proinde disciplina quoque aemulam, cujus sophia filios jugulare non norit. Plane alia in Christo et divinitas et voluntas et schola, martyria aut nulla in totum, aut aliter intelligenda mandarit, qui neminem ad hujusmodi discrimen hortetur, qui pro eo passis nihil repromittat, quia pati eos nolit. Et ideo praeceptorum principia deducens: Beati, inquit (Matth. V, 10), qui persecutionem patiuntur ob justitiam, quoniam illorum est regnum caelorum. Hoc quidem absolute ad omnes, dehinc proprie ad apostolos ipsos: Beati eritis cum vos dedecoraverint, et persecuti fuerint, et dixerint adversus vos omnia mala propter me; gaudete et exsultate, quoniam merces vestra plurima in caelo: sic enim faciebant et prophetis patres eorum (ibid. 11). Ut etiam prophetaret quod et ipsi occidi haberent ad exemplum prophetarum. Quanquam etsi omnem hanc persecutionem conditionalem in solos tunc apostolos destinasset, utique per illos cum toto sacramento, cum propagine nominis, cum traduce Spiritus sancti in nos quoque spectasset etiam persecutionis obeundae disciplina, ut in haereditarios discipulos et apostolici seminis frutices. Nam et rursus ad apostolos dirigit (Matth. X, 16): Ecce ego mitto vos tanquam oves in medio luporum; et (v. 17): Cavete ab hominibus; tradent enim vos in consessus, et in synagogis suis flagellabunt vos, et ad praesides et reges perducemini, mei causa, in testimonium illis et nationibus, etc. Cum autem subjicit (v. 21): Tradet autem frater fratrem, et pater filium in mortem, et insurgent filii in parentes, et mortificabunt eos; manifeste iniquitatem istam in caeteros pronuntiavit, quam in apostolis non invenimus. Nemo enim eorum aut fratrem aut patrem passus est traditorem,
It remains, lest antiquity should have had its own mystery as well, to review the Christian novelty, as though it were different also concerning God, and accordingly a rival in discipline too, whose wisdom would not know how to slaughter its sons. Clearly, in Christ there is another divinity and will and school; He has enjoined martyrdoms either not at all or to be understood otherwise, He Who urges no one to a danger of this kind, Who promises nothing in return to those who have suffered for Him, because He does not want them to suffer. And so, laying out the first principles of His precepts, He says (Matt. 5:10): Blessed are those who suffer persecution on account of righteousness, since theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This indeed absolutely to all; thereafter specifically to the apostles themselves: Blessed will you be when they have dishonoured you, and have persecuted you, and have said all evil things against you on account of Me; rejoice and exult, since your reward is very great in heaven: for so their fathers used to do to the prophets also (ibid. 11). So that He also foretold that they themselves were to be killed after the example of the prophets. Although, even if He had destined all this conditional persecution for the apostles alone at that time, assuredly through them, together with the whole mystery, with the propagation of the name, with the transmission of the Holy Spirit, the discipline of undergoing persecution also would have looked towards us too, as towards hereditary disciples and shoots of the apostolic seed. For again He directs to the apostles (Matt. 10:16): Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves; and (v. 17): Beware of men; for they will hand you over to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you, and you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations, etc. But when He adds (v. 21): And brother will hand over brother, and father son, to death, and sons will rise up against parents, and will put them to death; He manifestly declared this iniquity against the others, which we do not find among the apostles. For none of them suffered either a brother or a father as betrayer,
Editors' notes and page, col. 161

Footnotes

(62) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 85) (62) Ne antiquitas suum quoque habuerit sacramentum. Hoc est, Ne quis putet Veteri Testamento ordinata fuisse martyria, non Novo, Lege non Evangelio. Itaque sacramentum martyrii dicit. RIG.

"Lest antiquity too had its own sacrament." That is, lest anyone think that martyrdoms were ordained in the Old Testament and not in the New, by the Law and not by the Gospel. So he speaks of the sacrament of martyrdom. Rigault.

(62, second lemma) ‹call not on this foot› — Suum sacramentum. Hoc est proprium et peculiare antiquitati, nimirum Judaeis, non etiam communicandum novitati Christianae. RIG.

"Its own sacrament": that is, proper and peculiar to antiquity, namely to the Jews, not to be shared also with the Christian newness. Rigault.

(printed under page 85)

Page

  • running head: 161 ADV. GNOSTICOS SCO (cut off at the image edge)
  • marginal letters: A feritas leonum devorasset; B quoque aemulam, cujus sophia; C tres eorum (ibid. 11). Ut; D autem frater fratrem
  • old-edition numerals: 139 after Ut
  • other: ligature doubt raised by the check (text not changed): caelorum | coelorum
  • other: ligature doubt raised by the check (text not changed): caelo | coelo
PL 2:162
quod plerique jam nostri. Dehinc ad apostolos revocat (v. 22): Et eritis odio omnibus propter nomen meum. Quanto magis nos, quos a parentibus quoque tradi oportet? Ita, ipsa hac permistione nunc ad apostolos, nunc ad omnes disponendo, eumdem in universos nominis exitum effudit, in quibus consederit nomen cum odii sui lege. Qui autem sustinuerit usque in finem, iste salvus fiet (ibid). Quid sustinendo, nisi persecutionem, nisi traditionem, nisi occisionem? Nec enim aliud est sustinere in finem, quam pati finem. Et ideo: Non est discipulus super magistrum (ibid. 25). Statim sequitur: Nec servus super dominum suum; quia cum Magister et Dominus ipse perpessus sit persecutionem et traditionem et occisionem, multo magis servi et discipuli eamdem expendere debebunt, ne quasi superiores exempti de iniquitate videantur; quando hoc ipsum sufficere eis ad gloriam debeat, aequari passionibus Domini et Magistri ad quarum tolerantiam aedificans monet (ibid. 28), non eos timendos, qui solum corpus occidant, animam autem interficere non valeant; sed illi potius metum consecrandum, qui et corpus et animam occidere et perdere possit in gehenna. Quinam hi solius corporis interemptores, nisi praesides et reges supradicti? homines opinor. Quis etiam animae dominator, nisi Deus solus? Quis iste ignium comminator, nisi is, sine cujus voluntate nec passerum alter in terram cadit, id est, nec altera ex duabus substantiis hominis caro aut anima? quia et capillorum apud eum regestus est numerus (ibid. 31). Nolite ergo metuere cum super dicit, multis passeribus antistatis; non frustra, id est, non sine emolumento casuros in terram repromittit, si magis ab hominibus quam a Deo occidi eligamus. Omnis igitur qui in me confessus fuerit coram hominibus, et ego confitebor in illo coram Patre meo qui in coelis est. Et omnis qui negaverit me coram hominibus, et ego negabo illum coram Patre meo qui in coelis est (ibid. 33). Manifesta, ut opinor, definitio et ratio est tam confessionis quam negationis, etsi dispositio diversa est. Qui se Christianum confitetur, Christi esse testatur. Qui Christi est, in Christo sit necesse est. Si in Christo est, in Christo utique confitetur, cum se Christianum confitetur. Hoc enim non potest esse, nisi sit in Christo. Porro, in Christo confitendo, Christum quoque confitetur qui sit in Christo, dum et ipse in illo est, utpote Christianus. Nam et si diem dixeris, lucis rem ostendis quae diem praestat, licet non dixeris
which most of ours already [do]. Then He turns back to the apostles (Matt. 10:22): And you will be hated by all because of My name. How much more we, who must be handed over even by our parents? Thus, by this very intermingling, directing [His words] now to the apostles, now to all, He has poured out the same outcome of the name upon all in whom the name shall have settled together with the law of its hatred. But he who has endured to the end, he will be saved (ibid.). By enduring what, if not persecution, if not betrayal, if not slaughter? For to endure to the end is nothing other than to suffer the end. And therefore: The disciple is not above the master (ibid. 25). Immediately there follows: Nor the servant above his lord; because, since the Master and Lord Himself suffered persecution and betrayal and slaughter, much more will the servants and disciples be bound to pay out the same, lest they seem, as if superior, exempt from injustice; since this very thing ought to suffice them for glory, to be made equal to the sufferings of the Lord and Master, to the endurance of which He admonishes them, building them up (ibid. 28), that those are not to be feared who kill the body only but are not able to slay the soul; but rather that fear is to be devoted to Him Who is able both to kill and to destroy both body and soul in Gehenna. Who then are these slayers of the body alone, if not the governors and kings mentioned above? Men, I suppose. Who, moreover, is the ruler of the soul, if not God alone? Who is that threatener of fires, if not He without Whose will not one of two sparrows falls to the ground, that is, not one of the two substances of man, flesh or soul? Because also the number of the hairs is recorded with Him (ibid. 31). Do not therefore fear, when He says further, you surpass many sparrows; not in vain, that is, not without profit, does He promise that we shall fall to the ground, if we choose to be killed by men rather than by God. Everyone therefore who shall have confessed in Me before men, I also will confess in him before My Father Who is in heaven. And everyone who shall have denied Me before men, I also will deny him before My Father Who is in heaven (ibid. 33). Plain, as I think, is the definition and reasoning both of confession and of denial, although the arrangement is different. He who confesses himself a Christian bears witness that he is Christ's. He who is Christ's must be in Christ. If he is in Christ, he certainly confesses in Christ when he confesses himself a Christian. For he cannot be this unless he is in Christ. Moreover, by confessing in Christ, he who is in Christ confesses Christ also, while he himself too is in Him, as being a Christian. For even if you say "day", you point to the reality of the light which furnishes the day, though you have not said
Editors' notes and page, col. 162

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 50] ‹call not on this foot› Quia Seml.

"Quia": Semler.

[var. 51] ‹call not on this foot› Et demit Seml.

Semler removes "et".

[var. 52] ‹call not on this foot› Et addit. Seml. qui cod. Wouw.

Semler adds "et"; "qui": Wouwer's manuscript.

[var. 53] ‹ratio est› · call in col 162 Est et definitio et ratio Seml.

"Est et definitio et ratio": Semler.

[var. 54] ‹et si› · call in col 162 Ut si cod. Wouw.

"Ut si": Wouwer's manuscript.

[var. 55] ‹lucis rem ostendis› · call in col 162 Ostendisti Seml.

"Ostendisti": Semler.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 85)

Page

  • running head: GNOSTICOS SCORPIACE. 162 (left part of head cut off at image edge; presumably ADVERSUS GNOSTICOS SCORPIACE.)
  • marginal letters: A ‹quod plerique jam nostri›; B ‹ne quasi superiores exempti›; C ‹eum regestus est numerus›; D ‹que confitetur, cum se›
  • old-edition numerals: 140 after ‹Nolite›
PL 2:163
lucem; ita, etsi non directo pronuntiavit, « Qui me confessus fuerit, » non est diversus actus quotidianae confessionis, a sensu Dominicae pronuntiationis. Quod enim est qui se confitetur, id est Christianum, ⟨e⟩tiam id per quod est confitetur, id est Christum. Proinde qui se negavit Christianum, in Christo negavit, negando se in Christo esse dum negat se Christianum, et Christum autem in se negando, dum se in Christo negat, Christum quoque negabit. Ita et qui in Christo negaverit, Christum negabit. Et qui in Christo confessus fuerit, Christum confitebitur. Suffecisset igitur etsi de confitendo tantummodo Dominus pronuntiasset. Ex forma enim confessionis, contrario quoque ejus praejudicaretur, id est negationi; perinde negationi negationem rependi a Domino, quemadmodum confessioni confessionem. Et ideo cum in forma confessionis, etiam negationis conditio intelligatur, apparet ad alium modum negationis pertinere, quod de ea aliter Dominus pronuntiavit, quam de confessione, dicendo: Qui me negaverit, non, qui in me. Prospexerat enim et hanc vim plerumque in expugnatione nominis subsecuturam, ut qui se Christianum negasset, ipsum quoque Christum compelleretur blasphemando negare. Sicut non olim pro... spice cum tota fide quorumdam colluctatum hoc modo horruimus. Itaque frustra erit dicere: « Etsi me negavero Christianum, non negabor a Christo; non enim ipsum negavi. » Ex illa enim negatione tantumdem tenebitur, qua se Christianum negando, Christum in se negans, etiam ipsum negavit. Plus autem, quod et confusioni confusionem comminatur: Qui me confusus fuerit coram hominibus, et ego confundar eum coram Patre meo qui in coelis est (Luc. IX, 26). Sciebat enim a confusione vel maxime formari negationem: mentis statum in fronte consistere; priorem esse pudoris, quam corporis plagam.
light; so, although He did not pronounce directly, "Whoever has confessed Me," the act of daily confession is not different from the sense of the Lord's pronouncement. For what he is who confesses himself, that is, a Christian, he also confesses that through which he is so, that is, Christ. Accordingly, he who has denied that he is a Christian has denied in Christ, by denying that he is in Christ while he denies that he is a Christian; and moreover, by denying Christ in himself while he denies himself in Christ, he will deny Christ too. So also he who has denied in Christ will deny Christ. And he who has confessed in Christ will confess Christ. It would therefore have sufficed even if the Lord had pronounced only about confessing. For from the form of confession its contrary also would be prejudged, that is, denial: that denial is likewise repaid by the Lord with denial, just as confession with confession. And therefore, since in the form of confession the condition of denial is also understood, it is evident that it pertains to another mode of denial that the Lord pronounced otherwise about it than about confession, saying: Whoever has denied Me, not "in Me". For He had foreseen that this violence too would for the most part follow in the assault upon the name, so that whoever had denied that he was a Christian would be compelled, by blaspheming, to deny Christ Himself too. Just as not long ago at pro... spice we shuddered that the whole faith of certain persons was wrestled with in this manner. Therefore it will be in vain to say: "Even if I deny that I am a Christian, I shall not be denied by Christ; for I have not denied Him Himself." For he will be held just as much by that denial by which, in denying himself a Christian, denying Christ in himself, he has denied Him Himself too. But more than this, He also threatens shame for shame: Whoever has been ashamed of Me before men, I too shall be ashamed of him before My Father Who is in heaven (Luke 9:26). For He knew that denial is formed above all from shame; that the state of the mind stands in the face; that the wound of modesty comes before that of the body.
Editors' notes and page, col. 163

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 56] ‹call not on this foot› Cum Seml.

"Cum": Semler.

[var. 57] ‹call not on this foot› Negatione Seml.

"Negatione": Semler.

[var. 58] ‹call not on this foot› Confessione Seml.

"Confessione": Semler.

[var. 59] ‹pro... spice› · call in col 163 Auspice Pam. at vero desunt quaedam litterae in cod. Agobardi.

"Auspice": Pamelius; but some letters are missing in the Agobard codex.

[var. 60] ‹spice cum› · call in col 163 In add. Pam.

Pamelius adds "in".

[var. 61] ‹call not on this foot› Recepto Rig. respecto vet. exempl. receptu Latin.

"Recepto": Rigault; "respecto": the old exemplar; "receptu": Latinius.

[var. 62, printed "63"] ‹call not on this foot› Aginetos Seml. Aegratos cod. Wouw. Rig.

"Aginetos": Semler; "Aegratos": Wouwer's manuscript, Rigault.

[var. 63] ‹call not on this foot› Ipsi eadem jurgiis constantes homines probabit Seml.

"Ipsi eadem jurgiis constantes homines probabit": Semler.

[var. 64] ‹call not on this foot› Quod Seml.

"Quod": Semler.

[var. 65] ‹call not on this foot› Esse e comparatione Seml.

"Esse e comparatione": Semler.

[var. 66] ‹faciendam manifeste› · call in col 164 Manifeste demit Seml.

Semler removes "manifeste".

[var. 67] ‹vit? ut ita› · call in col 164 At ita Jun.

"At ita": Junius.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 86)

(63) ‹blasphemando negare› · call in col 163

(printed under page 86) (63) Ut qui se Christianum negasset, ipsum quoque Christum compelleretur blasphemando negare. Tale quiddam narratur a Plinio, nominatos ab indice qui se Christianos dicerent, comprehensos negasse, tandem et Christo maledixisse. RIG.

"So that whoever had denied he was a Christian would be forced to deny Christ himself too by blaspheming." Something of the kind is related by Pliny: that people named by an informer as calling themselves Christians, when arrested, denied it, and at last even cursed Christ. Rigault.

(printed under page 86)

(64) ‹modo horruimus› · call in col 163

(printed under page 86) (64) Sicut non olim pro.... spice cum tota fide quorumdam colluctatum hoc modo horruimus. In codice Agobardino litterae aliquot intercidere. Non placet quod in vulgatis editionibus legitur: « Pro auspice cum in tota fide quorumdam. » Certe nihil hic deesse videtur nisi nomen loci. RIG.

"As not long ago at ... spice we shuddered at a struggle of this kind with the whole faith of certain people." In the Agobard codex some letters have perished. The reading of the common editions does not please me: "Pro auspice cum in tota fide quorumdam." Certainly nothing seems to be missing here but the name of a place. Rigault.

(printed under page 86) (65) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 86) (65) De prcepto dispici coeperint. De praecepto dispici, est inquiri et examinari an praecepto Christi paruerimus, an fuerimus constantes in confessione nominis Christi coram potestatibus. RIG.

"When they have begun to be examined on the precept." To be examined on the precept is to be inquired into and tested whether we have obeyed Christ's precept, whether we have been steadfast in confessing the name of Christ before the authorities. Rigault.

(printed under page 86) (66) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 86) (66) Veros homines, Teletos scilicet et Abascantos et Acinetos Valentini. In Agobardino haec ita se habent: « Veros homines... lectos scilicet et aginetos et abascantos Valentini. » In Ursini libro legitur, ageratos; ejusmodi autem vocabula reperiuntur inter nugas Valentinianorum, quibus significabant homines veros, perfectos, infascinabiles, constantes, τελείους, ἀβασκάντους, ἀκινήτους. RIG.

"True men, that is, Valentinus's Teleti, Abascanti and Acineti." In the Agobard codex the passage runs: "True men ... that is, lecti and agineti and abascanti of Valentinus." Orsini's book reads "ageratos." Words of this kind are found among the trifles of the Valentinians, by which they meant true men, perfect, proof against the evil eye, steadfast: τελείους, ἀβασκάντους, ἀκινήτους. Rigault.

(printed under page 86) (67) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 86) (67) Comparatione potuit induere. Sic liber Agobardi. Liber Ursini, innuere. RIG.

"He could put on by comparison." So Agobard's book. Orsini's book has "innuere" (hint). Rigault.

(printed under page 86) (68) Aratus Persea, et Cephea, et Erigonem, etc. Videantur Arati Phaenomena, quem sequitur etiam Cicero, lib. II, de Nat. Deor., ubi Cepheum et Perseum post minorem Septentrionem collocat. De Erigone sic Arnobius, lib. VII: « Erigone suspensa de laqueo est, ut virgo inter astra ignita sit. » De Perseo et Ariadne denique (quem imitari solet Auctor), Justinus Martyr, Apolog. I, ubi postquam illum inter Jovis liberos recensuit: « Quid dicamus, inquit, Ariadnem, et quos itidem atque illum inter sidera receptos esse aiunt? PAM.

"Aratus will draw Perseus and Cepheus and Erigone, etc." See the Phaenomena of Aratus, whom Cicero also follows, book II On the Nature of the Gods, where he places Cepheus and Perseus after the Lesser Bear. Of Erigone, Arnobius book VII: "Erigone hanged herself in a noose, so that as a virgin she might blaze among the stars." Finally of Perseus and Ariadne, Justin Martyr (whom the author is wont to imitate), Apology I, where, after listing him among the children of Jupiter, he says: "What shall we say of Ariadne, and of those who, like him, they say were received among the stars?" Pamelius.

(printed under page 86)

Page

  • running head: 163 TERTULLIANI OPERUM PARS II. — (cut off at image edge)
  • marginal letters: A lucem; ita, etsi non directo; B negationem rependi a Domino; C illa enim negatione tantumdem tenebitur; D beside commentary note (63) Ut qui se Christianum negasset (not set)
  • old-edition numerals: 141 after tenebitur
PL 2:164
CAPUT X.
Chapter X.
Qui vero non hic, id est, non intra hunc ambitum terrae, nec per hunc commeatum vitae, nec apud homines hujus naturae communis confessionem putant constitutam, quanta praesumptio est adversus omnem ordinem rerum in terris istis, et in vita ista, et sub humanis potestatibus experiundarum? Nimirum cum animae de corporibus excesserint, et per singula tabulata coelorum de praecepto dispici coeperint, et interrogari arcana illa haereticorum sacramenta, tunc confitendum apud veras potestates et veros homines, Teletos scilicet et Abascantos et Acinetos Valentini. Nostrates enim, inquiunt, nec ipse Demiurgus constanter homines probabat veros esse, quos stillicidium situlae et pulverem areae et sputamen et locustas deputavit etiam irrationalibus jumentis adaequavit. Plane ita scriptum. Non tamen idcirco aliud hominis genus intelligendum praeter nos: quos quia constat esse, et comparatione potuit induere, salva et proprietate generis, et singularitate. Neque enim si vita vitiata est, ut despectui judicata despectis compararetur, statim natura sublata est, ut alia in nomine ejus deputaretur. Atquin servatur natura, etsi suffunditur vita, nec alios novit Christus homines, quam de quibus dicit: Quem me aiunt esse homines? et: Quomodo vultis ut faciant vobis homines, et ita vos facite illis (Matt. VII, 12). Vide an servaverit genus, a quibus et testimonium sui exspectet, et in quos justitiae vicem mandat. Illos autem coelestes homines si expostulem mihi ostendi, facilius Aratus Persea, et Cepha, et Erigonem, et Ariadnam inter sidera delineabit. Qui autem prohibuit Dominum illic etiam confessionem hominum faciendam manifeste determinare, ubi suam futuram aperte pronuntiavit? ut ita esset positum: « Qui in me confessus fuerit coram hominibus in coelis, et ego in illo
But as for those who think that confession is appointed not here, that is, not within this compass of the earth, nor during this passage of life, nor before men of this common nature: what presumption it is against the whole order of things that are to be undergone in these lands, and in this life, and under human powers! Doubtless, when souls have departed from their bodies, and have begun to be examined by command through each of the storeys of the heavens, and to be questioned on those secret sacraments of the heretics, then confession is to be made before the true powers and the true men, namely the Teletoi and Abaskantoi and Akinetoi of Valentinus. For, they say, not even the Demiurge Himself consistently approved our people as true men, whom He reckoned as a drop from a bucket and the dust of a threshing-floor and spittle and locusts, [and] even likened to irrational beasts. Plainly it is so written. Yet not on that account is some other kind of man to be understood besides us: whom, because it is established that they exist, He could also clothe in a comparison, with both the property of their kind and its singularity preserved. For if life has been corrupted, so that, judged worthy of contempt, it was compared to contemptible things, nature has not at once been taken away, so that another should be reckoned under its name. On the contrary, nature is preserved, even though life is overcast, and Christ knows no other men than those of whom He says: Who do men say that I am? and: As you wish that men should do to you, so also do you to them (Matt. 7:12). See whether He has preserved the kind, from whom He both expects testimony of Himself, and towards whom He enjoins the requital of justice. But if I were to demand that those heavenly men be shown to me, Aratus will more easily trace out Perseus, and Cepheus, and Erigone, and Ariadne among the stars. But who prevented the Lord from plainly determining that the confession of men too was to be made there, where He openly declared that His own would be? so that it would have been put thus: « Whoever shall have confessed Me before men in the heavens, I also in him
Editors' notes and page, col. 164

Footnotes

[var. 61] ‹de praecepto› · call in col 164 (printed under page 86) [var. 62] ‹et Acinetos› · call in col 164 (printed under page 86) [var. 63] ‹homines probabat› · call in col 164 (printed under page 86) [var. 64] ‹quos quia› · call in col 164 (printed under page 86) [var. 65] ‹et comparatione› · call in col 164 (printed under page 86) [var. 66] ‹faciendam manifeste› · call in col 164 (printed under page 86) [var. 67] ‹ut ita› · call in col 164 (printed under page 86)

(65) ‹dispici coeperint› · call in col 164

(printed under page 86)

(66) ‹Acinetos Valentini› · call in col 164

(printed under page 86)

(67) ‹potuit induere› · call in col 164

(printed under page 86)

(68) ‹et Erigonem› · call in col 164

(printed under page 86)

Page

  • running head: [...]UM PARS II. — SERIES I, POLEMICA. 164
  • marginal letters: A ‹CAPUT X.›; B ‹cidium situlae et pulverem›; C ‹timonium sui exspectet›; D ‹et abascantos Valentini› (in the commentary)
  • old-edition numerals: 142 after ‹facilius›
  • other: CAPUT X. printed centred on its own line; full-width headings "Variae lectiones." and "Commentarius." at page foot, cut at left edge, not set; variant readings and commentary (Rig., Pam.) at foot not set; "Cepha" as printed, the commentary reads Cephea (UNSURE whether a misprint); "excesserint" looks like "excesseriut" in the image, probably worn type (UNSURE); column ends mid-sentence at "in illo"
  • other (QA Q1a, 2026-10-18): for n163 (not written here): the lemma of Commentarius (65) is printed "De prcepto dispici coeperint" (misprint for praecepto), to be kept as printed and listed there.
PL 2:165
confitebor coram Patre meo qui in coelis est? » Eripere me debuit ex isto terrenae confessionis errore, quam suscipi noluit, si coelestem praecepisset, quia nullos alios homines noveram praeter incolas terrae, ne ipso quidem adhuc tunc in coelis homine conspecto. Quae porro fides rerum, ut post excessum ad superna sublevatus, illic probarer, quo non nisi jam probatus imponerer? illic de praecepto examinarer, quo nisi admittendus pervenire non possem? Christiano coelum ante patet quam via; quia nulla via in coelum, nisi cui patet coelum; quod qui attigerit, intrabit. Quas mihi potestates janitrices affirmas juxta Romanam superstitionem Janum quemdam et Forculum et Limentinum? quas a cancellis ordinas potestates? Si unquam legisti apud David (Psal. XXIV, 7), Auferte portas, principes, vestras, et subleventur portae aeternae, et intrabit rex gloriae. Si item audisti apud Amos (IX, 6): Qui ascensum illum suum aedificat in coelos, et profusionem suam fundat in terras; scito et ascensum illum exinde complanatum vestigiis Domini, et introitum exinde reseratum viribus Christi, nec ullam moram aut quaestionem in limine Christianis occursuram, qui non dignosci habeant illic, sed agnosci, nec interrogari, sed admitti. Nam et si adhuc clausum putas coelum, memento claves ejus hic Dominum Petro, et per eum, Ecclesiae reliquisse, quas hic unusquisque interrogatus atque confessus feret secum. Sed asseverat diabolus illic confitendum, ut suadeat hic negandum. Pulchra videlicet documenta praemittam, bonas mecum claves feram, timorem eorum, qui solum corpus occidunt, animae autem nihil faciunt: commendatus ero hujus praecepti desertione; honeste in coelestibus stabo, qui in terrenis stare non
will confess before My Father Who is in heaven?» He ought to have rescued me from this error of an earthly confession, which He did not wish to be undertaken, if He had commanded a heavenly one, since I knew of no other men besides the inhabitants of the earth, not even man himself having as yet been seen in heaven at that time. Moreover, what credibility of things is there, that after my departure, lifted up to the regions above, I should be tested there, where I could not be placed unless already tested? that I should be examined there concerning the commandment, where I could not arrive unless I were to be admitted? For the Christian, heaven lies open before the way does; because there is no way into heaven except for him to whom heaven lies open; and whoever reaches it will enter. What gatekeeping powers do you assert to me, after the Roman superstition, a certain Janus and Forculus and Limentinus? what powers do you station at the barriers? If you have ever read in David (Ps. 23:7), "Take away your gates, O princes, and let the eternal gates be raised up, and the King of glory shall enter." If likewise you have heard in Amos (9:6): "Who builds that ascent of His into the heavens, and founds His outpouring upon the earth"; know also that that ascent has from then on been levelled by the footsteps of the Lord, and the entrance from then on unbarred by the might of Christ, and that no delay or questioning will meet Christians at the threshold, who have there not to be sifted but recognized, not to be interrogated but admitted. For even if you think heaven still closed, remember that the Lord left its keys here to Peter, and through him to the Church, which keys each one, having been interrogated and having confessed here, will carry with him. But the devil asserts that one must confess there, in order to persuade that one should deny here. Fine credentials, to be sure, I shall send ahead, good keys I shall carry with me: fear of those who kill only the body but do nothing to the soul; I shall be commended by the desertion of this commandment; honourably shall I stand in the heavenly places, I who in the earthly ones was not
Editors' notes and page, col. 165

Footnotes

(69) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 87) (69) Illic de praecepto examinarer. Sic habet vetus exemplar: quae scriptura confirmat quod supra notavimus, de praecepto dispici. RIG.

"There I should be examined on the precept." So the old exemplar has it; this reading confirms what we noted above, "to be examined on the precept." Rigault.

(printed under page 87) (70) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 87) (70) Janum quemdam et Forculum et Limentinum. In exemplari legitur, Barnum quemdam. RIG.

"Some Janus and Forculus and Limentinus." The exemplar reads "Barnum quemdam." Rigault.

(printed under page 87)

(71) ‹Pulchra videlicet documenta› · call in col 165

(printed under page 87) (71) Pulchra documenta. Quasi causae nostrae instrumenta. Sic lib. XXIX, c. de Donationibus, Documenta idonea. RIG.

"Fine documents": as it were the instruments of our case. So in book 29 of the Code, title On Gifts, "suitable documents." Rigault.

(printed under page 87)

(72) ‹claves feram› · call in col 165

(printed under page 87) (72) Bonas claves mecum feram. Fidei Christianae constantiam. Nam quod sequitur de timore, per derisum adjicitur. Ipse Tertullianus lib. de Anima: « Tota paradisi clavis tuus sanguis est. » RIG.

"Good keys I shall carry with me": the steadfastness of Christian faith. For what follows about fear is added in mockery. Tertullian himself, book On the Soul: "Your blood is the whole key of paradise." Rigault.

(printed under page 87)

(73) ‹nihil faciunt› · call in col 165

(printed under page 87) (73) Animae autem nihil faciunt. Sic loqui solet Tertullianus, ut jam observavimus libro adversus Valentin. RIG.

"But do nothing to the soul." So Tertullian is wont to speak, as we have already observed on the book against the Valentinians. Rigault.

(printed under page 87) (74) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 87) (74) Qui in terrenis stare non potui. Dejectus scilicet de fide. RIG.

"I who could not stand on earth": thrown down, that is, from the faith. Rigault.

(printed under page 87) (75) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 87) (75) Usquequo genus tertium. Liber Ursini, tetrum. At exemplar Agobardi, tertium. Quod rectissimum esse docet ipse Tertullianus, lib. I ad Nat. « Plane inquit, tertium genus dicimur. Si qua apud vos saltem ratio est, edatis velim primum et secundum genus, ut ita de tertio constet. » RIG.

"How long, the third race?" Orsini's book has "tetrum" (foul). But Agobard's exemplar has "tertium" (third). That this is quite right Tertullian himself shows, book I To the Nations: "Plainly," he says, "we are called the third race. If there is at least any reason among you, I should like you to name the first and the second race, so that the third may then be settled." Rigault.

(printed under page 87) (76) Bestiis finiendus. Cui scilicet ad bestias damnato mors obeunda, vita finienda. Dies finitionis, inscriptione quadam inter collectanea Gruteri, ex Apiano: Si permanserit usque in idem finitionis suae, quod de vidua dicitur. Finiendus, consumendus. Fabius declamat. 19: « Filium verberibus ignibusque consumpsi. » Ulpianus, lib. VI, § Sed et si quis: Non tunc cum consumptus est, sed cum sententiam passus est. Et lib III de Poenis. « Praegnantis mulieris consumendae poena differtur, » quod vulgo adjicitur, damnatae interpretamentum est. RIG.

"To be finished by the beasts": one condemned to the beasts, that is, who must meet death and have his life finished. "Day of finishing" occurs in an inscription among Gruter's collections, from Apianus: "If she remains until the same [day] of her finishing," which is said of a widow. "Finiendus" means "to be consumed." Fabius, Declamation 19: "I consumed my son with lashes and fire." Ulpian, book VI, § "Sed et si quis": "Not when he was consumed, but when he underwent sentence." And book III On Punishments: "The punishment of a pregnant woman to be consumed is deferred"; the word "damnatae" (condemned) commonly added there is a gloss. Rigault.

(printed under page 87)

(77) Ursas Septentrio emittet. Expendit diligenter signa illa quae mathemathici tantopere observant. Ursas hic vocat quae Septentriones dicuntur. Duae sunt, major et minor, quae ob dispositionem stellarum triones et Septentriones appellantur, Graecis plaustra ἅμαξαι. Sic Aratus in Phaenom. Ἄρκτοι ἅμα τροχόωσι, τὸ δὴ καλέονται Ἅμαξαι· LE PR.

"The north will send out the Bears." He weighs carefully those signs which the astrologers watch so closely. By "Bears" he here means the constellations called the Septentriones. There are two, the Great and the Little, which from the arrangement of their stars are called "triones" and Septentriones, and by the Greeks "wagons," ἅμαξαι. So Aratus in the Phaenomena: "The Bears wheel together, which are called the Wagons." Le Prieur.

(printed under page 87)

Page

  • running head: 165 ADV. GNOSTICOS SCO (cut off at image edge)
  • marginal letters: A ‹confitebor coram Patre meo›; B ‹legisti apud David›; C ‹confitendum, ut suadeat›; D ‹in the footnote area beside note (70), between the columns›
  • old-edition numerals: 143 after ‹timorem›
PL 2:166
potui; sustinebo majores potestates, qui minoribus cessi; merebor denique admitti, jam exclusus. Suppetit adhuc dicere: Si in coelestibus confitendum, et hic negandum est; nam ubi alterum, ibi utrumque; aemula enim quaeque concurrunt. Etiam persecutionem in coelis agitari oportebit, quae confessionis negationisve materia est. Quid itaque cessas, audacissime haeretice, totum ordinem Christianae concussionis in superna transferre, et in primis, ipsum nominis odium illic collocare, ubi ad Patris dexteram praesidet Christus? Illic constitues et synagogas Judaeorum, fontes persecutionum, apud quas apostoli flagella perpessi sunt, et populos nationum cum suo quidem circo, ubi facile conclamant, « Usquequo genus tertium? » Sed et fratres nostros et patres et filios et socrus et nurus et domesticos nostros ibidem exhibere debebis, per quos traditio disposita est: item reges et praesides et armatas potestates, apud quos causa purganda est. Erit certe etiam carcer in coelo, carens sole, aut ingratis luminosus, et vincula fortasse de zonis, et equuleus axis ipse qui torquet: tum si lapidandus Christianus, grandines aderunt; si urendus, fulmina prae manu sunt; si trucidandus, Orionis armati manus operabitur; si bestiis finiendus, ursas septentrio emittet, zodiacus tauros et leones. Haec qui sustinuerit in finem, iste erit salvus. Ergone et finis in coelis, et passio, et occisio, et prima confessio? Et ubi caro, omnibus istis necessaria? ubi corpus? quod solum ab hominibus habet occidi. Haec nobis etiam ludicrum in modum certa ratio mandavit, nec ullus obicem praescriptionis istius extrudet, ut non omnem ordinem persecutionis, omnem ejus causae firmam paraturam illuc transferre
able to stand; I shall endure the greater powers, I who gave way to the lesser; I shall in short deserve to be admitted, having already been shut out. It remains further to say: if confession must be made in the heavenly places, there too denial must be made; for where the one is, there are both; for all rival things run together. Persecution too will have to be carried on in the heavens, which is the matter of confession or denial. Why then do you hold back, most audacious heretic, from transferring the whole order of the Christian harassment to the regions above, and first of all from placing there the very hatred of the Name, where Christ presides at the right hand of the Father? There you will set up also the synagogues of the Jews, fountains of persecutions, at which the apostles suffered scourgings, and the peoples of the nations with their own circus, to be sure, where they readily shout together, "How long the third race?" But you will also have to produce there our brothers and fathers and sons and mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law and our household members, through whom the betrayal has been arranged; likewise kings and governors and armed powers, before whom the case is to be cleared. There will surely also be a prison in heaven, lacking the sun, or lit against its will, and chains perhaps made from the zones, and as the rack the very axis which turns; then, if a Christian is to be stoned, hailstones will be at hand; if he is to be burned, thunderbolts are close at hand; if he is to be slaughtered, the hand of armed Orion will do the work; if he is to be finished off by beasts, the North will send out the Bears, the zodiac bulls and lions. He who has endured these things to the end, he shall be saved. Is there then both an end in the heavens, and suffering, and slaying, and the first confession? And where is the flesh, necessary for all these things? where the body? which alone is capable of being killed by men. These things sure reason has enjoined on us, even in a playful manner, and no one will thrust aside the barrier of this plea, so as not to transfer thither the whole order of persecution, the whole firm apparatus of its cause,
Editors' notes and page, col. 166

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 68] ‹call not on this foot› Noluisset Seml.

"Noluisset": Semler.

[var. 69] ‹call not on this foot› Sublatus Seml.

"Sublatus": Semler.

[var. 70] ‹call not on this foot› Prober Seml.

"Prober": Semler.

[var. 71] ‹call not on this foot› Recepto Venet. receptu Seml.

"Recepto": the Venice edition; "receptu": Semler.

[var. 72] ‹call not on this foot› Cardum quemdam Seml. Cardeam quamdam Fran.

"Cardum quemdam": Semler; "Cardeam quamdam": the Franeker edition.

[var. 73] ‹call not on this foot› Vestri Rig. Venet.

"Vestri": Rigault, the Venice edition.

[var. 74] ‹call not on this foot› Vel Seml.

"Vel": Semler.

[var. 75] ‹call not on this foot› Nae Seml.

"Nae": Semler.

[var. 76] ‹call not on this foot› Ibidem cod. Wouw. Jun.

"Ibidem": Wouwer's manuscript, Junius.

[var. 77] ‹call not on this foot› Constituas Seml.

"Constituas": Semler.

[var. 78] ‹call not on this foot› Debetis Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Debetis": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 79] ‹call not on this foot› Pugnanda Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Pugnanda": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 80] ‹armati manus› · call in col 166 Munus Seml. Jun.

"Munus": Semler, Junius.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 87)

(76) ‹bestiis finiendus› · call in col 166

(printed under page 87)

(77) ‹septentrio emittet› · call in col 166

(printed under page 87)

Page

  • running head: GNOSTICOS SCORPIACE. 166 (left part cut off at image edge; final letter of SCORPIACE printed indistinctly)
  • marginal letters: A ‹potui (74); sustinebo majores›; B ‹tertium (75)? » Sed et fratres›; C ‹fessio? Et ubi caro›; D ‹tionis, inscriptione quadam (in the Commentarius at the page foot)›
  • old-edition numerals: (none)
  • other: column ends with transferre broken at the column break (trans-); "haeretice" and several "et" look like "c" for "e" through poor type, set as e; Variae lectiones and Commentarius (notes 70-80, (74)-(77)) at page foot not set; parts of column 165 visible at left edge not set
PL 2:167
cogatur, ubi confessioni forum dederit. Siquidem confessio a persecutione deducitur, et persecutio in confessione finitur. Nec possunt non una sequi, quae et aditum et exitum, id est, initium finemque disponunt. Porro et odium nominis hic erit, et persecutio hic erumpit, et tradi⟨t⟩io hic producit, et interrogatio hic compellit, et ⟨c⟩arnificina hic desaevit, et totum hunc ordinem in terris confessio vel negatio expungit. Igitur si caetera hic, nec confessio alibi; si confessio alibi, nec caetera hic. Euimvero non alibi caetera; itaque nec confessio in coelo. Aut si aliam volunt esse rationem interrogationis et confessionis coelestis, utique et ordinem suum illi struere debebunt alium longe, et ab ista dispositione diversum, quae Scripturis notatur, et possumus dicere. Viderint, dum hic ordo terrenae interrogationis et confessionis, ex materia decurrens persecutionis et discordiae publicae in nomen, salvus sit suae fidei, ut ita credendum sit sicut et scribitur, ita intelligendum sit sicuti auditur. Hic omnem ordinem sustineo, ipso Domino non aliam regionem mundi destinante. Quid enim post confessionis et negationis terminum subjungit? Ne putaveritis venisse me uti pacem mittam in terram; non veni, sed ut machaeram, certe in terram. Veni enim dividere hominem adversus patrem suum, et filiam adversus matrem suam, et socrum adversus nurum suam: et inimici homini domestici sui. Si enim efficitur, ut tradat frater fratrem in mortem, et pater filium, et insurgant filii in parentes, et mori eos faciant. Et qui sustinuerit in finem, hic salvus erit (Matth. X, 34 et seq.). Adeo totus hic ordo Dominicae machaerae, non in coelum missae, sed in terram, illic constituit etiam confessionem, quae in finem sustinendo passura est mortem.
being compelled, where he has given confession its court. For confession is drawn out of persecution, and persecution is ended in confession. Nor can those things fail to follow together which arrange both the entrance and the exit, that is, the beginning and the end. Moreover, both hatred of the name will be here, and persecution breaks out here, and betrayal brings forward here, and interrogation compels here, and the torturer's work rages here, and confession or denial completes this whole sequence on earth. Therefore, if the other things are here, neither is confession elsewhere; if confession is elsewhere, neither are the other things here. But in fact the other things are not elsewhere; therefore neither is confession in heaven. Or if they wish there to be another manner of heavenly interrogation and confession, they will certainly have to construct for it an order of its own, far different and diverse from this arrangement which is marked out in the Scriptures and which we are able to recount. Let them see to it, so long as this order of earthly interrogation and confession, running its course from the matter of persecution and of public discord against the name, remains secure in its own credibility, so that just as it is to be believed as it is also written, so it is to be understood as it is heard. Here I uphold the whole order, the Lord Himself appointing no other region of the world. For what does He add after the limit of confession and denial? Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth; I have not come [for that], but [to send] a sword, assuredly upon the earth. For I have come to divide a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law: and a man's enemies [will be] those of his own household. For if it comes about that brother hands over brother to death, and father son, and children rise up against parents and cause them to die. And he who has endured to the end, this one will be saved (Matt. 10:34 ff.). So far does this whole order of the Lord's sword, sent not into heaven but upon the earth, establish there also the confession which by enduring to the end is to suffer death.
CAPUT XI.
Chapter XI.
Eadem igitur forma, caetera quoque ad martyrii pertinere defendimus: Qui pluris, inquit (Luc. XVI), fecerit etiam animam suam quam me, non est me dignus; id est, qui maluerit vi⟨v⟩ere me negando, quam mori confitendo. Qui animam suam invenerit perdet illam; qui vero perdiderit mei causa, inveniet illam. Proinde enim invenit eam, qui negarit
In the same manner, therefore, we maintain that the other sayings too pertain to martyrdom: Whoever, He says (Luke 16), has held even his own soul of more account than Me is not worthy of Me; that is, whoever would rather live by denying Me than die by confessing. Whoever has found his soul will lose it; but whoever has lost it for My sake will find it. For accordingly he finds it who has denied
Editors' notes and page, col. 167

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 81] ‹call not on this foot› Quae demit Seml. post Rhen.

Semler, following Rhenanus, removes "quae".

[var. 82] ‹call not on this foot› Possimus Rig.

"Possimus": Rigault.

[var. 83] ‹call not on this foot› Ut demit Seml. ex Rhen.

Semler, from Rhenanus, removes "ut".

[var. 84] ‹Ne putaveritis› · call in col 167 Putaverit Seml. post Rhen.

"Putaverit": Semler, following Rhenanus.

[var. 85] ‹enim invenit› · call in col 167 Inveniet Fran.

"Inveniet": the Franeker edition.

[var. 86] ‹invenit eam› · call in col 167 Illo Seml. illam Fran.

"Illo": Semler; "illam": the Franeker edition.

[var. 87] ‹call not on this foot› Ut Jun.

"Ut": Junius.

[var. 88] ‹call not on this foot› Lucrifacere Seml.

"Lucrifacere": Semler.

[var. 89] ‹call not on this foot› Cohortantur Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Cohortantur": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 90] ‹call not on this foot› Quomodo alii.

"Quomodo": others.

[var. 91] ‹call not on this foot› Quomodo Rig. Seml.

"Quomodo": Rigault, Semler.

[var. 92] ‹call not on this foot› Tractatur alii.

"Tractatur": others.

[var. 93] ‹call not on this foot› Sermonis Rig.

"Sermonis": Rigault.

[var. 94] ‹call not on this foot› In persecutione Rig. e libro veteri.

"In persecutione": Rigault, from the old book.

[var. 95] ‹call not on this foot› Quodcumque igitur conceperint venenum Jun.

"Quodcumque igitur conceperint venenum": Junius.

[var. 96] ‹quod est› · call in col 168 Et Seml

"Et": Semler.

[var. 97] ‹non aliud› · call in col 168 Aliter Seml.

"Aliter": Semler.

[var. 98] ‹eveniunt, quam› · call in col 168 Quae Jun.

"Quae": Junius.

[var. 99] ‹eveniunt, ita› · call in col 168 Ergo sicut eveniunt, ita demit Venet. et substituit vero et sicut.

The Venice edition removes "ergo sicut eveniunt, ita" and puts "vero et sicut" in its place.

[var. 1] ‹Scripturae› · call in col 168 Istae add. Seml.

Semler adds "istae".

[var. 2] ‹Aut› · call in col 168 At Seml.

"At": Semler.

[var. 3] ‹haec aguntur› · call in col 168 Aguntur demit Seml. post Rhen.

Semler, following Rhenanus, removes "aguntur".

[var. 4] ‹nunc, quia› · call in col 168 Cum Ciacc.

"Cum": Chacón.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 88) (78) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 88) (78) Serva animam tuam. Consimiles Paterni proconsulis ad Cyprianum voces occurrunt in historia passionis fortissimi martyris, quas et Augustinus exagitat serm. de eodem Cypr. RIG.

"Save your life." Very similar words of the proconsul Paternus to Cyprian occur in the account of the passion of that bravest of martyrs; Augustine too censures them in his sermon on the same Cyprian. Rigault.

(printed under page 88) (79) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 88) (79) In parabola seminis post cespitem arefacti. In exemplari legitur: « In parabola sermonis post cespitem arefacti in persecutionum figurat ardorem. » RIG.

"In the parable of the seed withered after sprouting." The exemplar reads: "In the parable of the word, [the seed] withered after sprouting figures the heat of persecutions." Rigault.

(printed under page 88) (80) Nominis causa. Istud satis excussum est in Apolog., ubi ostendimus ex antiquis responsum esse, e nomine neque laudem, neque vituperium sperari debere. LE PR.

"For the sake of the Name." This has been examined enough on the Apology, where we showed from the ancients the answer that neither praise nor blame ought to be expected from a name. Le Prieur.

(printed under page 88)

Page

  • running head: TERTULLIANI OPERUM PARS II. — (cut off at right edge)
  • marginal letters: A ferre cogatur, ubi confessioni; B tatur, et possumus dicere; C fratrem in mortem, et pater; D illam. Proinde enim invenit
  • old-edition numerals: 144 after Nec
PL 2:168
lucrifaciendo vitam; sed perdet in gehennam, qui se putat negando lucrifacere eam. Perdet autem eam ad praesens, qui confessus occiditur, sed inventurus eam in vitam aeternam. Ipsi denique praesides, cum hortantur negationi, Serva animam tuam, dicunt, et noli animam tuam perdere. Quo modo loqueretur Christus, nisi quo modo tractaretur Christianus? Sed cum prohibet meditari responsionem ad tribunal, famulos suos instruit, Spiritum sanctum responsurum repromittit (Matth. X, 20): et cum in carcere fratrem vult visitari (Matth. XXV), confessoris imperat curam; et cum Deum vindictam facturum electorum suorum affirmat (Matth. XV), passiones consolatur illorum: etiam in parabola seminis post cespitem arefacti persecutionum figurat ardorem. Haec si non ita accipiuntur, sine dubio praeterquam sonant sapiunt; et aliud in vocibus erit, aliud in sensibus, ut allegoriae, ut parabolae, ut aenigmata. Quemcunque igitur conceperint ventum argumentationis scorpii isti, quocunque se acumine impegerint, una jam linea est: ad ipsas res provocabuntur, an secundum Scripturas transigantur. Siquidem tunc aliud significabitur in Scripturis, si non idipsum reperiatur in rebus. Quod enim scriptum est, hoc evenire oportebit. Porro, tunc eveniet quod est scriptum, si non aliud eveniet. Ecce autem et odio habemur ab omnibus hominibus, nominis causa, quomodo et scriptum est; et tradimur etiam a proximis, quomodo et scriptum est; et perducimur ad potestates, et interrogamur, et torquemur, et confitemur, et trucidamur, quomodo et scriptum est (Matth. X). Sic Dominus edixit. Si aliter edixit haec, cur non aliter eveniunt, quam edixit, id est, quemadmodum edixit? Atquin non aliter eveniunt quam edixit: ergo sicut eveniunt, ita edixit, ita eveniunt. Nam nec licuisset aliter evenire, quam edixit; nec ipse aliter edixisset, quam evenire voluisset. Ita, non aliud significabunt Scripturae, quam in rebus recognoscimus. Aut si nondum aguntur illa quae praedicantur, quomodo haec aguntur quae prae⟨d⟩icta non sunt? Non sunt enim haec praedicata quae aguntur, si alia sunt quae praedicantur, et non haec quae aguntur. At nunc, quia ipsa sunt in rebus,
by gaining life; but he will lose it into Gehenna who thinks that by denying he gains it. Moreover, he will lose it for the present who, having confessed, is slain, but he is to find it unto eternal life. The governors themselves, finally, when they urge [men] to denial, say, "Save your soul," and, "Do not lose your soul." In what way would Christ speak, if not in the way the Christian would be treated? But when He forbids them to premeditate a reply at the tribunal, He is instructing His servants, He promises that the Holy Spirit will reply (Matt. 10:20); and when He wishes a brother in prison to be visited (Matt. 25), He commands care for the confessor; and when He affirms that God will execute vindication for His elect (Matt. 15), He consoles their sufferings; also in the parable of the seed, after the turf has dried up, He figures the heat of persecutions. If these things are not taken thus, without doubt they mean something other than they sound; and there will be one thing in the words, another in the sense, as with allegories, as with parables, as with riddles. Whatever wind of argumentation, then, these scorpions may have caught, with whatever sharpness they may have struck, there is now a single line: they will be challenged to the facts themselves, whether they are carried out according to the Scriptures. For only then will something else be signified in the Scriptures, if that very thing is not found in the facts. For what is written, this will have to come to pass. Further, what is written will then come to pass, if nothing else comes to pass. But behold, we are both hated by all men for the name's sake, just as it is written; and we are delivered up even by those nearest to us, just as it is written; and we are brought before the authorities, and we are interrogated, and we are tortured, and we confess, and we are slaughtered, just as it is written (Matt. 10). Thus the Lord decreed. If He decreed these things otherwise, why do they not come to pass otherwise than He decreed, that is, in the manner in which He decreed? But in fact they do not come to pass otherwise than He decreed: therefore, as they come to pass, so He decreed; as He decreed, so they come to pass. For neither would it have been permitted to come to pass otherwise than He decreed, nor would He Himself have decreed otherwise than He wished to come to pass. Thus the Scriptures will signify nothing other than what we recognize in the facts. Or, if those things which are foretold are not yet being done, how are these things being done which were not foretold? For these things which are being done have not been foretold, if those which are foretold are other things, and not these which are being done. But now, since the very same things are in the facts,
Editors' notes and page, col. 168

Footnotes

(80) ‹nominis causa› · call in col 168

(printed under page 88)

Page

  • running head: …UM PARS II. — SERIES I, POLEMICA. (left part cut off at the image edge)
  • marginal letters: A lucrifaciendo vitam; sed perdet; B arefacti (79) persecutionum figurat; C est; et tradimur etiam a proximis; D quae aguntur, si alia sunt
  • old-edition numerals: 145 after lucrifaciendo; 146 after quomodo
PL 2:169
quae in vocibus, aliter dicta creduntur; quid fieret si aliter facta invenirentur? Sed haec est perversitas fidei, probata non credere, non probata praesumere. Cui perversitati illud quoque opponam, ut si haec quae sic aguntur quemadmodum scripta sunt, non erunt ipsa quae praedicantur, illa quae non debeant sic agi quemadmodum scripta sunt, ne et ipsa horum exemplo periclitentur, excludi siquidem aliud in vocibus, aliud in rebus est; et relinquitur nec praedicata videri cum evenerint, si aliter praedicantur quam evenire habent. Et quomodo credentur quae non erunt praedicata, quia non ita erunt praedicata quomodo eveniunt? Ita haeretici quae praedicantur non ut probata sunt credendo, ea quae nec praedicata sunt, credunt.
which [are] in the words, they are believed to be said otherwise; what would happen if they were found to be done otherwise? But this is the perversity of faith: not to believe things proved, and to presume things not proved. To this perversity I will also oppose this: that if these things which are done just as they are written are not the very things which are foretold, then those things which ought not to be done just as they are written [are] to be excluded, lest they too be imperilled by the example of these, since in that case there is one thing in the words and another in the facts; and it remains that things foretold are not seen [as such] when they have come to pass, if they are foretold otherwise than they are to come to pass. And how will things be believed which will not have been foretold, because they will not have been foretold as they come to pass? Thus the heretics, by not believing the things that are foretold in the way they have been proved, believe the things that have not even been foretold.
CAPUT XII.
Chapter XII.
Quis nunc medullas Scripturarum magis nosset, quam ipsa Christi schola? quos et sibi discipulos Dominus adoptavit, omnia utique edocendos; et nobis magistros adornavit, omnia utique docturos. Cui potius figuram vocis suae declarasset quam cui effigiem gloriae suae revelavit, Petro, Jacobo, Joanni, et postea Paulo, quem paradisi quoque compotem fecit ante martyrium? An et illi aliter quam sentiunt scribunt, fallaciae magistri, non veritatis? Petrus quidem ad Ponticos: Quanta enim, inquit, (I Petr. II), gloria, si non ut delinquentes puniamini, sustinetis! Haec enim gratia est, in hoc et vocati estis, quoniam et Christus passus est pro nobis, relinquens vobis exemplum semetipsum, ut assequamini vestigia ipsius. Et rursus (I Petr. IV): Dilecti, ne expavescatis ustionem, quae agitur in vobis in tentationem, quasi novum accidat vobis: etenim secundum quod communicatis passionibus Christi, gaudete, ut et in revelatione gloriae ejus gaudeatis exsultantes. Si dedecoramini in nomine Christi, beati estis, quoniam gloria et Dei Spiritus requiescit in vobis, dum ne quis vestrum patiatur, ut homicida, aut fur, aut maleficus, aut alieni speculator. Si autem ut Christianus, ne erubescat; glorificet autem Dominum in nomine isto. Joannes vero, ut etiam pro fratribus nostris animas ponamus, hortatur, negans timorem esse in dilectione (I Joan. IV, 18): Perfecta enim dilectio
Who now would know the marrow of the Scriptures better than the very school of Christ? those whom the Lord both adopted as disciples for Himself, to be taught all things without doubt, and appointed as masters for us, to teach all things without doubt. To whom would He rather have declared the figure of His speech than to those to whom He revealed the likeness of His glory, to Peter, James, John, and afterwards Paul, whom He made a partaker even of paradise before his martyrdom? Or do they too write otherwise than they think, masters of deceit, not of truth? Peter indeed, to those of Pontus: "For how great," he says (1 Pet. 2), "is the glory, if you endure, not as being punished as wrongdoers! For this is grace, to this also you were called, since Christ too suffered for us, leaving you Himself as an example, that you might follow His footsteps." And again (1 Pet. 4): "Beloved, do not be terrified at the burning which is taking place among you for a trial, as though something new were happening to you: for inasmuch as you share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, that in the revelation of His glory also you may rejoice exulting. If you are dishonoured in the name of Christ, you are blessed, since the glory and the Spirit of God rest upon you, provided that none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or an overseer of another's affairs. But if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify the Lord in this name." John, moreover, exhorts that we should lay down our lives even for our brethren, denying that there is fear in love (1 John 4:18): "For perfect love
Editors' notes and page, col. 169

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 5] ‹call not on this foot› Et add. Seml.

Semler adds "et".

[var. 6] ‹call not on this foot› Acta Sem.

"Acta": Semler.

[var. 7] ‹call not on this foot› Erit Seml.

"Erit": Semler.

[var. 8] ‹call not on this foot› Ita Jun.

"Ita": Junius.

[var. 9] ‹dedecoramini in› · call in col 169 In demit. Seml.

Semler removes "in".

[var. 10] ‹Spiritus requiescit› · call in col 169 Requiescet Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Requiescet": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 11] ‹call not on this foot› Gehennam Seml.

"Gehennam": Semler.

[var. 12] ‹call not on this foot› Conjicit Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Conjicit": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 13] ‹stolis (86), candidam› · call in col 170 Animae patientiam pascunt, et indutae stolis candidae alii, fiducia ultionis candidam Seml. pluribus demptis.

"Animae patientiam pascunt, et indutae stolis candidae": others; "fiducia ultionis candidam": Semler, with several words removed.

[var. 14] ‹Antichristo triumphantes› · call in col 170 Triumphales Seml.

"Triumphales": Semler.

[var. 15] ‹ex russeo› · call in col 170 Rufo Seml.

"Rufo": Semler.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 89) (81) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 89) (81) Cui potius figuram vocis suae declarasset. Sermonis sui mysteria, sacramenta, cum scilicet recedunt a litteris suis sensus, ut ipse loquitur hoc ipso opere, cap. 15. RIG.

"To whom rather would he have made plain the figure of his saying": the mysteries, the sacraments of his speech, when the sense departs from the letter, as he himself puts it in this very work, ch. 15. Rigault.

(printed under page 89)

(82) ‹martyrium› · call in col 169

(printed under page 89) (82) Paradisi quoque compotem facit ante martyrium. Dum scilicet raptus ad usque tertium coelum, ea vidit quae nullus narrare potest aut exprimere, aut etiam cogitatione comprehendere. LE PR.

"He made him a partaker even of paradise before martyrdom": when, caught up to the third heaven, he saw things that no one can tell or express, or even grasp in thought. Le Prieur.

(printed under page 89)

(83) ‹alieni speculator› · call in col 169

(printed under page 89) (83) Alieni speculator. Alienas scilicet agens curas. LE PR.

"A spy on what is another's": that is, a busybody in others' affairs. Le Prieur.

(printed under page 89) (84) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 89) (84) Domini nomen non negarat. Ex Apoc. (III, 10) et I Cor. (X, 13) conferendum; et alibi, tempus diaboli breve. SEML.

"He had not denied the Lord's name." To be compared with Revelation 3:10 and 1 Corinthians 10:13; and elsewhere, "the devil's time is short." Semler.

(printed under page 89) (85) Sub altari martyrum animae placidum quiescunt. Altaris vocabulo significari videtur terra, quae fuit instar altaris martyrum immolationi. RIG.

"Beneath the altar the souls of the martyrs rest quietly." By the word "altar" the earth seems to be meant, which served as an altar for the sacrifice of the martyrs. Rigault.

(printed under page 89) (86) Et fiducia ultionis patientiam pascunt et indutae stolis. Haec supplevimus ex membranis Agobardi. Eleganter ait, martyrum animas sub altari depositas in spem resurrectionis placidum quiescere, ac velut in refrigerii prato fiducia ultionis patientiam pascere. RIG.

"And feed their patience on the confidence of vengeance, and clothed in robes." We have supplied these words from the Agobard parchments. He says elegantly that the souls of the martyrs, laid beneath the altar in hope of the resurrection, rest quietly and, as if in a meadow of refreshment, feed their patience on the confidence of vengeance. Rigault.

(printed under page 89)

Page

  • running head: 169 ADV. GNOSTICOS SCOR (cut off at image edge)
  • marginal letters: A ‹bus, quae in vocibus›; B ‹ea quae nec praedicata sunt, credunt›; C ‹ni, sustinetis! Haec enim gratia est›; D ‹(81) Cui potius figuram vocis suae (in Commentarius)›
  • old-edition numerals: 147 after ‹fur›
  • other: column begins with word fragment "bus," from previous column; last word "di-" hyphenated across column break; "ut si" read where type looks like "nt si" (worn type), UNSURE; "evenire" has a blotted final letter; Variae lectiones and Commentarius notes (81)-(84) at page foot not set; full-width headings "Variae lectiones" and "Commentarius" cut off at right edge, not set; "Patrol. II." printer's signature not set
PL 2:170
foras abjicit timorem: quoniam timor poenam habet, et qui timet, non est perfectus in dilectione. Quem timorem intelligi praestat, nisi negationis auctorem? Quam dilectionem perfectam affirmat, nisi fugatricem timoris, et animatricem confessionis? Quam poenam timore puniat, nisi quam negator relaturus est, cum corpore et anima occidendus in gehenna? Quod si pro fratribus, quanto magis pro Domino moriendum docet, satis de Apocalypsi quoque sua instructus haec suadere! Mandaverat etenim, Spiritus ad angelum Ecclesiae Smyrnaeorum (Apoc. II, 10): Ecce diabolus ex numero tuo conjiciet in carcerem, ut tentemini diebus decem. Esto fidelis ad mortem usque, et dabo tibi vitae coronam. Item ad Pergamenorum de Antipa fidelissimo martyre interfecto in habitatione Satanae. Item ad Philadelphenorum, quod a tentatione ultima liberaretur, qui Domini nomen non negarat. Exinde victori cuique promittit nunc arborem vitae, et mortis veniam secundae: nunc latens manna cum calculo candido, et nomine ignoto: nunc ferreae virgae potestatem et stellae matutinae claritatem: nunc albam vestiri, nec deleri de libro vitae, et columnam fieri in Dei templo, in nomine Dei et Domini, et Jerusalem coelestis inscripta, nunc residere cum Domino in throno ejus, quod aliquando Zebedaei filiis negabatur. Quinam isti tam beati victores, nisi proprie martyres? Illorum etenim victoriae, quorum et pugnae; eorum vero pugnae, quorum et sanguis. Sed et interim sub altari martyrum animae placidum quiescunt, et fiducia ultionis patientiam pascunt, et indutae stclis, candidam claritatis usurpant, donec et alii consortium illarum gloriae impleant. Nam et rursus innumera multitudo albati et palmis victoriae insignes revelantur; scilicet de Antichristo triumphantes, sicut unus ex presbyteris: Hi sunt, ait (Apoc. VII, 14), qui veniunt ex illa pressura magna, et laverunt vestimentum suum, et candidaverunt ipsum in sanguine Agni. Vestitus enim animae, caro. Sordes quidem baptismate abluuntur, maculae vero martyrio candidantur. Quia et Isaias (Isa. I, 18) ex russeo et coccino niveum et laneum repromittit. Magna etiam Babylon cum describitur ebria sanctorum cruore, sine dubio ebrietas ejus
casts fear out of doors: since fear has punishment, and he who fears is not perfect in love." What fear is it better to understand, if not the author of denial? What love does he declare perfect, if not that which puts fear to flight and gives life to confession? What punishment would he punish by fear, if not that which the denier is to bear away, when he is to be slain in body and soul in Gehenna? But if he teaches that one must die for the brethren, how much more for the Lord, being sufficiently instructed by his Apocalypse also to urge these things! For the Spirit had commanded the angel of the Church of the Smyrnaeans (Rev. 2:10): Behold, the devil will cast some of your number into prison, that you may be tried ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Likewise to the [angel] of the Pergamenes concerning Antipas, a most faithful martyr slain in the dwelling-place of Satan. Likewise to the [angel] of the Philadelphians, that he would be delivered from the last trial, as one who had not denied the name of the Lord. Thereafter He promises to every victor now the tree of life, and exemption from the second death; now the hidden manna with the white pebble, and an unknown name; now the power of the rod of iron and the brightness of the morning star; now to be clothed in white, and not to be blotted out of the book of life, and to be made a pillar in the temple of God, inscribed with the name of God and of the Lord and of the heavenly Jerusalem; now to sit with the Lord on His throne, which was once refused to the sons of Zebedee. Who are these so blessed victors, if not properly martyrs? For the victories are theirs whose the fights also are; but the fights are theirs whose the blood also is. But meanwhile also the souls of the martyrs rest peacefully under the altar, and feed their patience with confidence of vengeance, and, clothed in robes, they take on the white [garment] of brightness, until others too fill up the fellowship of their glory. For again an innumerable multitude, clothed in white and distinguished by palms of victory, is revealed; namely those triumphing over Antichrist, as one of the elders [says]: These are, he says (Rev. 7:14), those who come out of that great tribulation, and have washed their garment, and made it white in the blood of the Lamb. For the clothing of the soul is the flesh. Filth indeed is washed away by baptism, but stains are made white by martyrdom. For Isaiah too (Isa. 1:18) promises snow-white and wool-white out of russet and scarlet. Also, when great Babylon is described as drunk with the blood of the saints, without doubt her drunkenness
Editors' notes and page, col. 170

Footnotes

(85) ‹placidum quiescunt› · call in col 170

(printed under page 89)

(86) ‹indutae stolis› · call in col 170

(printed under page 89)

Page

  • running head: NOSTICOS SCORPIACE. (cut at left edge; column number 170)
  • marginal letters: A lectio foras abjicit timorem; B ad Pergamenorum de Antipa; C gnae; eorum vero pugnae; D 10) et I Cor. (x, 13) conferendum (commentary, not set)
  • old-edition numerals: 148 after martyrio
PL 2:171
martyriorum poculis ministratur, quorum formido quid relatura sit, aeque ostenditur. Inter omnes enim reprobos; imo ante omnes. Timidis autem, inquit, dchinc caeteris, particula in stagno ignis et sulphuris. Sic timor ejus in Epistola ejus (I Joan. IV, 18) quem dilectio foras abjicit, habet poenam.
is served out in the cups of martyrdoms, and what the fear of them will bring is equally shown. For among all the reprobate; nay, before all. But to the fearful, he says, and thereafter to the rest, a portion in the lake of fire and sulphur. Thus his fear, which in his Epistle (1 John 4:18) love casts out, has punishment.
CAPUT XIII.
Chapter XIII.
Paulus vero, apostolus de persecutore (Act. IX), qui primus Ecclesiae sanguinem fudit, postea gladium stylo mutans, et convertens machaeram in aratrum; lupus rapax Benjamin, dehinc ipse afferens escam secundum Jacob, qualiter martyria, jam et sibi optabilia, commendat! cum de Thessalonicensibus gaudens: Uti, inquit, (II Thess. I, 3. 4), gloriemur in vobis in Ecclesiis Dei pro tolerantia vestra et fide, in omnibus persecutionibus et pressuris, quibus sustinetis ostentamen justi judicii Dei, ut digni habeamini regno ejus, pro quo et patimini. Sicut et ad Romanos (Rom. V, 11): Non solum autem, verum etiam exsultantes in pressuris; certi quod pressura tolerantiam perficit, tolerantia vero probationem, probatio autem spem, spes vero non confundit. Et rursus (Rom. VII, 17): Quod si filii, et haeredes; haeredes quidem Dei, cohaeredes vero Christi: siquidem compatimur, uti et cum illo glorificemur. Reputo enim passiones hujus temporis non esse dignas ad gloriam, quae in nobis revelabitur. Et ideo postmodum: Quis, inquit (Rom. VIII, 35), separabit nos a dilectione Christi? pressura, an angustia, an fames, an nuditas, an periculum, an machaera, secundum quod scriptum est: Tui causa mortificamur tota die, deputati sumus ut pecora jugulationis: sed in omnibus istis supervincimus pro eo qui nos dilexit. Persuasum enim habemus, quod neque mors, neque vita, neque virtus, neque sublimitas, neque profundum, neque alia conditio poterit nos a dilectione Dei separare, quae est in Christo Jesu Domino nostro. Sed et Corinthiis passiones suas enumerans (II Cor. XI, 33), patiendum utique praefinivit: In laboribus abundantius, in carceribus plurimum, in mortibus saepius; a Judaeis quinquies quadragenas citra unam accepi, ter virgis caesus, semel lapidatus, et reliqua. Quae si magis incommoda quam martyria videbuntur, tamen rursus: Propter quod, inquit (II Cor. XII. 10),
But Paul, an apostle made out of a persecutor (Acts 9), who first shed the blood of the Church, afterwards exchanging the sword for the pen, and turning the sabre into a plough; the ravening wolf of Benjamin, then himself bringing food according to Jacob, how he commends martyrdoms, now desirable to himself too! when, rejoicing over the Thessalonians, he says (2 Thess. 1:3–4): So that we glory in you in the churches of God for your endurance and faith, in all the persecutions and tribulations in which you endure, a manifestation of the just judgement of God, that you may be held worthy of His kingdom, for which you also suffer. Just as also to the Romans (Rom. 5:11): And not only so, but also exulting in tribulations; being sure that tribulation brings endurance to perfection, and endurance proof, and proof hope, and hope does not put to shame. And again (Rom. 7:17): But if sons, then heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ: if indeed we suffer with [Him], so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy [to be compared] to the glory which will be revealed in us. And therefore afterwards: Who, he says (Rom. 8:35), shall separate us from the love of Christ? tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword, according as it is written: For Thy sake we are put to death all the day long, we are counted as sheep for slaughter: but in all these things we more than conquer for Him Who loved us. For we are persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor any other condition will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And moreover, enumerating his sufferings to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 11:33), he certainly determined beforehand that one must suffer: In labours more abundantly, in prisons very often, in deaths more frequently; from the Jews five times I received forty [stripes] save one, thrice I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, and the rest. If these shall seem hardships rather than martyrdoms, yet again: For which reason, he says (2 Cor. 12:10),
Editors' notes and page, col. 171

Footnotes

Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 16] ‹call not on this foot› Ipse etiam escam Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Ipse etiam escam": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 17] ‹call not on this foot› De abest Venet.

"De" is absent: the Venice edition.

[var. 18] ‹call not on this foot› Arte Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Arte": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 19] ‹siquidem compatimur› · call in col 171 Compatiamur alii.

"Compatiamur": others.

[var. 20] ‹in nobis revelabitur› · call in col 171 Habeat revelari Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Habeat revelari": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 21] ‹est: Tui› · call in col 171 Tua cod. Agobardi.

"Tua": the Agobard codex.

[var. 22] ‹call not on this foot› Qui etiam Jun.

"Qui etiam": Junius.

[var. 23] ‹call not on this foot› Insuper Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Insuper": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 24] ‹call not on this foot› Perficiet alii.

"Perficiet": others.

[var. 25] ‹call not on this foot› Promissis cod. Agobardi.

"Promissis": the Agobard codex.

[var. 26] ‹call not on this foot› Philippensibus Fran.

"Philippensibus": the Franeker edition.

[var. 27] ‹call not on this foot› Auditis Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Auditis": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 28] ‹Timotheo scribit› · call in col 172 Exsultat dicens Timotheo Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Exsultat dicens Timotheo": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 29] ‹disjunctionis instat› · call in col 172 Deversionis insistit Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Deversionis insistit": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 90) (87) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 90) (87) Sustinetis ostentamen justi judicii. Exspectatis adventum, exhibitionem judicii. RIG.

"You endure, a token of the just judgement": you await the coming, the display of the judgement. Rigault.

(printed under page 90) (88) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 90) (88) Thessalonicensibus vero de vinculis scribens. Castigandus hic locus et leg. Philippensibus, tum quia additur de vinculis e quibus scripta est prior illa, neutra vero ad Thessalonicenses; tum quod inveniantur Philipp. I, 7, et quae sequuntur Scripturae testimonia; in quorum priori ex Graeco retinuit vocem agonem; in posteriori confirmat lectionem latinorum emendatiorum codicum, qui legunt immolor supra sacrificium, pro eo quod alii aemulor. PAM.

"Writing to the Thessalonians from his chains." This passage must be corrected to read "to the Philippians": both because "from his chains" is added, and the former letter was written from chains, whereas neither letter to the Thessalonians was; and because the scriptural testimonies that follow are found at Philippians 1:7 and after. In the first of them he kept the word "agon" from the Greek; in the second he confirms the reading of the more correct Latin codices, which read "immolor supra sacrificium" (I am offered upon the sacrifice) where others have "aemulor." Pamelius.

(printed under page 90) (89) Quid ei magis quam martyria praevellit? Ait Tertullianus: Sicubi homines Deus ab idololatria divellit, quid magis idololatriae praevellit, quod praevulsum statim ipsi opponat, quam martyria fortium Christianorum? RIG.

"What does he pluck away from it more than martyrdoms?" Tertullian says: wherever God tears men away from idolatry, what does he pluck from idolatry beforehand, to set at once against it once plucked, more than the martyrdoms of brave Christians? Rigault.

(printed under page 90)

Page

  • running head: 171 TERTULLIANI OPERUM PARS II. — (cut off at the right edge)
  • marginal letters: A martyriorum poculis ministratur; B nibus persecutionibus et pressuris, quibus sustine-; C Christi? pressura, an angustia; D magis incommoda quam martyria videbuntur
  • old-edition numerals: 149 after citra
PL 2:172
boni duco in infirmitatibus, in injuriis, in necessitatibus, in persecutionibus, in angustiis pro Christo. Etiam in superioribus (II Cor. IV, 8): Qui in omnibus tribulemur, sed non coangustemur; et indigeamus, sed non perindigeamus; quoniam persecutionibus agitemur, sed non derelinquamur; qui dejiciamur, sed non pereamus: semper mortificationem Christi Jesu in corpore nostro circumferentes. Sed etsi, inquit, exterior homo noster vitiatur, caro scilicet, vi persecutionum; sed interior renovatur die et die; anima scilicet, spe promissionum. Nam quod ad praesens, temporale et leve pressurae nostrae per supergressum in supergressum aeternum pondus gloriae perficit nobis, non intuentibus quae videntur, sed quae non videntur. Quae enim videntur, temporalia, de incommodis dicens; quae vero non videntur, aeterna, de praemiis spondens. Thessalonicensibus vero de vinculis scribens utique beatos affirmavit (Philipp. I, 29), quibus donatum esset non tantum credere in Christum, sed etiam pro ipso pati: Eumdem, inquit, agonem habentes quem in me vidistis, et nunc audistis. Nam et si libor super sacrificium, gaudeo et congaudeo omnibus vobis, perinde et vos gaudete et congaudete mihi (Philipp. II, 17). Vides quam martyrii definiat felicitatem, cui de gaudio mutuo acquirit solemnitatem. Ut proximus denique voti sui factus est, qualiter de prospectu ejus exsultans Timotheo scribit? (II Tim. IV, 6, 7): Ego enim jam libor, et tempus disjunctionis instat. Agonem bonum decertavi, cursum consummavi, fidem custodivi; superest corona, quam mihi Dominus illa die reddet, scilicet passionis. Satis et ipse supra allocutus (II Tim. II, 11; II Tim. 1, 8) Fidelis sermo: si enim commortui sumus Christo, et convivemus; si sufferimus, et conregnabimus; si negaverimus, et ille nos negabit; si non credimus, ille fidelis est, negare se non potest. Ne ergo confundaris martyrio Domini nostri, neque me vinctum ejus; quia praedixerat: Non enim dedit nobis Deus spiritum timoris, sed virtutis et dilectionis et sanae mentis. Virtute enim patimur ex dilectione in Deum, et sana mente, cum ob innocentiam patimur. Sed et sicubi tolerantiam praecipit, quibus magis eam quam passionibus prospicit? sicubi ab idololatria divellit, quid ei magis quam martyria praevellit?
I count [it] good in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits for Christ. Also in the earlier passages (2 Cor. 4:8): We who are afflicted in all things, but not hemmed in; and are in want, but not in utter want; since we are harried by persecutions, but not forsaken; who are cast down, but do not perish: always carrying about in our body the putting to death of Christ Jesus. But although, he says, our outer man is impaired, that is, the flesh, by the force of persecutions; yet the inner is renewed day by day; that is, the soul, by the hope of the promises. For what is at present the temporal and light [weight] of our affliction works for us, from excess to excess, an eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporal, speaking of hardships; but the things that are not seen are eternal, promising of rewards. And writing to the Thessalonians about his bonds, he certainly declared them blessed (Phil. 1:29), to whom it had been granted not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for Him: Having, he says, the same contest which you saw in me, and now have heard. For even if I am poured out as a libation upon the sacrifice, I rejoice and rejoice together with you all; in like manner do you also rejoice and rejoice together with me (Phil. 2:17). You see how he defines the happiness of martyrdom, for which he procures a festival out of mutual joy. When at last he had come near to his wish, how exultantly at the prospect of it does he write to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:6–7): For I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good contest, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; there remains the crown, which the Lord will render to me on that day, namely [the crown] of suffering. He himself had sufficiently said above (2 Tim. 2:11; 2 Tim. 1:8): Faithful is the saying: for if we have died together with Christ, we shall also live together [with Him]; if we endure, we shall also reign together; if we deny [Him], He too will deny us; if we do not believe, He is faithful, He cannot deny Himself. Be not therefore ashamed of the martyrdom of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner; for he had said beforehand: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. For we suffer by power, out of love towards God, and with a sound mind, when we suffer on account of innocence. But also, wherever he enjoins endurance, for what does he provide it more than for sufferings? wherever he tears [us] away from idolatry, what more than martyrdoms tears it away beforehand?
Editors' notes and page, col. 172

Footnotes

(89) ‹martyria praevellit› · call in col 172

(printed under page 90)

Page

  • running head: [...]M PARS II. — SERIES I, POLEMICA. 172 (left part cut off at image edge)
  • marginal letters: A boni duco in infirmitatibus; B dis dicens; quae vero; C ctionis instat; D passionibus prospicit
  • old-edition numerals: 150 after conregnabimus;
PL 2:173
CAPUT XIV.
Chapter XIV.
Plane monet Romanos (Rom. XIII, 4-7) omnibus potestatibus subjici, quia non sit potestas nisi a Deo, quia non sine causa gladium gestet, et quia ministerium sit Dei; sed et ultrix, inquit, in iram ei qui malum fecerit. Nam et praemiserat: Principes enim non sunt timori bono operi, sed malo. Vis autem non timere potestatem? fac bonum, et laudem ab ea referes. Dei ergo ministra est tibi in bonum. Si vero malum facias, time. Ita, non in occasione frustrandi martyrii jubet te subjici potestatibus, sed in provocatione bene vivendi, etiam sub illarum respectu, quasi adjutricum justitiae, quasi ministrarum divini judicii, hic etiam de nocentibus praejudicantis. Dehinc et exsequitur quomodo velit te subjici potestatibus, reddere jubens, cui tributum, tributum; cui vectigal, vectigal; id est (Matth. XXII, 21) quae sunt Caesaris, Caesari, et quae Dei, Deo; solius autem Dei homo. Condixerat scilicet Petrus, regem quidem honorandum; ut tamen
Plainly he admonishes the Romans (Rom. 13:4–7) to be subject to all powers, because there is no power except from God, because it does not bear the sword without cause, and because it is the ministry of God; but also an avenger, he says, unto wrath upon him who has done evil. For he had also said beforehand: For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you wish, then, not to fear the power? Do good, and you will receive praise from it. Therefore it is the minister of God to you for good. But if you do evil, fear. Thus he orders you to be subject to the powers not as an occasion for evading martyrdom, but as an incitement to living well, even out of regard for them, as helpers of justice, as ministers of the divine judgement, which even here passes judgement beforehand on the guilty. Then he also goes on to set out how he wishes you to be subject to the powers, ordering you to render tribute to whom tribute [is due], revenue to whom revenue; that is (Matt. 22:21), the things that are Caesar's to Caesar, and the things that are God's to God; but man belongs to God alone. Peter, namely, had said in agreement that the king indeed is to be honoured; yet in such a way that
Editors' notes and page, col. 173

Footnotes

NOTE: the foot images begin inside the Variae lectiones; only their last line is visible. Variants 30 and 31, cut off above that crop, are set below from the column images (c173_1, c173_2); variants 32 and 33 are set in n174. The author's text is not visible on the foot images, so anchors for 34 and 35 are not given. Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 30] ‹ministerium› · call in col 173 Ministra Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Ministra" (handmaid): Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 31] ‹solius› · call in col 173 Solus Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Solus" (alone): Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 33?, partly cropped] ‹call not on this foot› ... nubilae Jun.

... "nubilae" (clouded, obscure): Junius.

[var. 34] ‹call not on this foot› Ellogia Jun.

"Ellogia": Junius.

[var. 35] ‹call not on this foot› Editur (ὑψοῦται) Rig.

"Editur" (Greek "is lifted up"): Rigault.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls) (printed under page 91)

(90) ‹ministra est› · call in col 173

(printed under page 91) (90) Dei ergo ministra est. In Agobardino, Dei ergo minister... Ex quibus vestigiis apparet scriptum fuisse: Dei ergo ministerium est, ut supra. RIG.

"So it is God's handmaid." In the Agobard codex, "Dei ergo minister...". From these traces it appears that the text was "Dei ergo ministerium est" (so it is God's ministry), as above. Rigault.

(printed under page 91)

(91) ‹scilicet Petrus› · call in col 173

(printed under page 91) (91) Condixerat scilicet Petrus. Condixerat, hoc est, cum Paulo dixerat, consentanea Paulo dixerat Petrus. Sic lib. de Corona: « Quod aeque fides pagana condixit. » RIG.

"Peter, that is, had said the same." "Condixerat": that is, Peter had spoken with Paul, had said things agreeing with Paul. So in the book On the Crown: "which pagan faith likewise agreed in saying." Rigault.

(printed under page 91) (92) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 91) (92) Apostolorum litterae mobiles. Haec scriptura est exemplaris Ursini, quam secuti sumus editione prima, quasi litteras mobiles Septimius dixisset, quae saperent praeterquam sonarent, et aliud esset in vocibus, aliud in sensibus. Nunc mutare sententiam nobiscum liceat, quibus non aliud erit studium quam veri. In Agobardi libro Septimius ait: « Num ergo et apostolorum litterae nobiles? » Quae lectio retinenda est. Etenim posteaquam probavit auctoritate prophetarum et Evangelii, martyria fortiter obeunda esse Christianis, atque hoc esse praeceptum sive mandatum a Domino, id etiam probat citatis apostolorum litteris, et subjungit: « Num ergo et apostolorum litterae nobiles? » Hoc est: Nonne sunt omnibus notae, clarae, manifestae? Et sane sunt. Mox ingerit: Ita vero sit, ut recedant a litteris suis sensus; nec tam clarae illae sint et manifestae, quin admittant interpretationis alicujus benignitatem. Veniamus ad res ipsas. Videamus quid ipsimet apostoli, suarum litterarum interpretes, fecerint. Vitam certe ipsi suam martyrio impendere non dubitaverunt, de Dominico scilicet praecepto nihil ambigentes. RIG.

"The letters of the apostles are shifting." This is the reading of Orsini's exemplar, which we followed in the first edition, as though Septimius had called the letters "shifting," meaning other than they sound, one thing in the words and another in the sense. Now let us be allowed to change our opinion, since we shall have no aim but the truth. In Agobard's book Septimius says: "Are the letters of the apostles, then, also well known?" This reading must be kept. For after he has proved by the authority of the prophets and the Gospel that martyrdoms must be bravely met by Christians, and that this is a precept or command of the Lord, he proves it also by citing the letters of the apostles, and adds: "Are the letters of the apostles, then, also well known?" That is: are they not known, clear and plain to all? And indeed they are. Then he presses on: be it so, that the sense departs from their letter; and that they are not so clear and plain as not to admit the kindness of some interpretation. Let us come to the facts themselves. Let us see what the apostles themselves, interpreters of their own letters, did. They certainly did not hesitate to spend their lives in martyrdom, having no doubt, that is, about the Lord's precept. Rigault.

(printed under page 91) (93) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 91) (93) Et nos usquequaque simplices animae. Haec sunt dicta, vel potius aculei scorpiorum, cujusmodi supra. RIG.

"And we, utterly simple souls." These are the sayings, or rather the stings, of the scorpions, of the kind given above. Rigault.

(printed under page 91) (94) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 91) (94) Et solummodo columbae. Non etiam prudentia serpentes, alludit ad illud Christi apud Matth. (X, 16): Estote prudentes sicut serpentes, et simplices sicut columbae. RIG.

"And doves only": not serpents too in prudence. He alludes to Christ's saying in Matthew 10:16: Be wise as serpents and simple as doves. Rigault.

(printed under page 91) (95) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 91) (95) Libenter errantes. Incauta simplicitate aberrantes, et avolantes ab Dominicis aedibus. RIG.

"Gladly wandering": straying in unwary simplicity and flying away from the Lord's house. Rigault.

(printed under page 91) (96) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 91) (96) Petrus caeditur. Sic habet vetus exemplar Agobardi. Verumtamen cum hoc loco mortes apostolorum per suppliciorum genera designentur, Petri passionem significantiore verbo descriptam fuisse arbitramur, et mendosum esse quod hic legimus, caeditur. Itaque legendum editur, quod est, sustollitur et suspenditur, et edita et erecta cruce, ὑψοῦται, quod vulgata versio dixit, exaltatur. Joan. XII: ἐὰν ὑψωθῶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς; verba sunt Christi significantis qua morte esset moriturus: Si exaltatus fuero a terra. Sulpitius Severus: « Petrus in crucem sublatus est. » RIG.

"Peter is struck down." So the old exemplar of Agobard has it. But since in this passage the deaths of the apostles are marked by kinds of punishment, we think Peter's passion was described by a more expressive word, and that what we read here, "caeditur," is corrupt. So read "editur," that is, he is lifted up and hung, and on a cross set up and raised: ὑψοῦται, which the Vulgate rendered "exaltatur." John 12: "if I be lifted up from the earth"; the words are Christ's, signifying by what death He would die: If I be lifted up from the earth. Sulpicius Severus: "Peter was raised up on a cross." Rigault.

(printed under page 91) (97) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 91) (97) Stephanus opprimitur. Impetu saxorum, lapidatione. RIG.

"Stephen is overwhelmed": by the onset of stones, by stoning. Rigault.

(printed under page 91) (98) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 91) (98) Jacobus immolatur. Frater Domini, an frater Joannis? Fratrem Joannis Herodes interemit gladio; Lucas, Act. XII: Ἀνεῖλε δὲ Ἰάκωβον, τὸν ἀδελφὸν Κυρίου, μαχαίρᾳ; quod in Martyrologiis accipitur pro decollatione, et minime convenit immolationi. Itaque dicendum hic designari Jacobum fratrem Domini, quem Eusebius, Epiphanius, Hieronymus, fuste fullonis in cerebro percussum interiisse tradunt; sed ex Hegesippi narratione, satis inepta et futili, quae tamen, quantum ad genus mortis, firmari videatur, hisce Septimii nostri verbis: ut Jacobum fratrem Domini immolatum fuisse dixerit, fuste fullonis, tanquam popae malleo seu clava, mactatum. RIG.

"James is sacrificed." The brother of the Lord, or the brother of John? Herod killed John's brother with the sword; Luke, Acts 12: "He killed James, the brother of the Lord [so printed], with the sword"; which in the martyrologies is taken to mean beheading and does not suit sacrifice at all. So we must say that James the brother of the Lord is meant here, who, as Eusebius, Epiphanius and Jerome relate, died struck on the head with a fuller's club; but this rests on the account of Hegesippus, foolish and trifling enough, which nonetheless, as to the manner of death, seems to be confirmed by these words of our Septimius: so that he would have said James the brother of the Lord was sacrificed, slaughtered with a fuller's club as with the sacrificer's mallet or cudgel. Rigault.

(printed under page 91) (99) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 91) (99) Paulus distrahitur. Capite separato et ab cervice reciso. Separationem opus esse machaerae ait Septimius, lib. IV, advers. Marc. et Lucas διαμερισμὸν dixit quod Matth. μάχαιραν. Itaque distrahitur Paulus decollatione, principalem corporis partem auferente. Nam hoc accidit iis qui tali supplicio plectuntur, ut non cadant integri, nec jaceant cadavere toto. Etenim decollatorum capita pilo fere aut hastae praefixa. RIG. — Caeditur, opprimitur, immolatur, distrahitur. Ludit Septimius in antithetis. Petro Stephanum opponit. Etenim Petrus in cruce editus et sublimis, at Stephanus acervo saxorum obrutus. Jacobum vero opponit Paulo. Etenim Paulus truncato capite duas in partes distractus est; at Jacobus immolatus, ictu fustis afflictus terrae, concidit integer. Victimariorum disciplina erat, hostias ita caedere et exanimare, ut non reluctarent, sed quasi sponte procumberent. RIG.

"Paul is torn apart": his head severed and cut from the neck. Septimius says, book IV against Marcion, that separation is the work of the sword, and Luke said "division" where Matthew said "sword." So Paul is torn apart by beheading, which takes away the chief part of the body. For this happens to those punished in this way: they do not fall whole, nor lie as an entire corpse. For the heads of the beheaded were usually fixed on a javelin or spear. Rigault. — "Struck down, overwhelmed, sacrificed, torn apart." Septimius plays in antitheses. He sets Stephen against Peter: for Peter was lifted up high on a cross, but Stephen buried under a heap of stones. And he sets James against Paul: for Paul, his head cut off, was torn into two parts; but James, sacrificed, dashed to the ground by the blow of a club, fell whole. It was the practice of the sacrificial attendants to strike and kill the victims so that they did not struggle but sank down as if of their own accord. Rigault.

(printed under page 91)

Page

  • running head: 173 ADV. GNOSTIGOS SCO (cut off at the image edge; presumably ADV. GNOSTICOS SCORPIACE.)
  • marginal letters: A CAPUT XIV. / Plane monet Romanos; B subjici potestatibus, reddere jubens; C est, cum Paulo dixerat (in the Commentarius); D sane sunt. Mox ingerit (in the Commentarius)
  • old-edition numerals: (none)
  • other: "gestet" printed with an italic g resembling y, read as gestet; "potestatibus" in line 2 has a damaged t. Full-width headings "Variae lectiones" and "Commentarius" are cut off at the image edge and not set.
  • misprints kept as printed (QA Q2): running head "GNOSTIGOS" (for GNOSTICOS)
PL 2:174
tunc rex honoretur, cum suis rebus insistit, cum a divinis honoribus longe est; quia et pater et mater diligentur, cum Deo non comparabuntur. Caeterum, super Deum diligi nec animam licebit.
the king is honoured then, when he keeps to his own affairs, when he is far from divine honours; because both father and mother will be loved, when they are not compared with God. Moreover, it will not be lawful for even one's own soul to be loved above God.
CAPUT XV.
Chapter XV.
Num ergo et apostolorum litterae mobiles? et nos usquequaque simplices animae, et solummodo columbae, libenter errantes? credo vivendi cupiditate. Ita vero sit, ut recedant a litteris suis sensus. Quae tamen passos apostolos scimus, manifesta doctrina est; hanc intelligo solam Acta decurrens; nihil quaero; carceres illic, et vincula, et flagella, et saxa, et gladii, et impetus Judaeorum, et coetus nationum, et tribunorum elogia, et regum auditoria, et proconsulum tribunalia, et Caesaris nomen interpretem non habent. Quod Petrus caeditur, quod Stephanus opprimitur, quod Jacobus immolatur, quod Paulus distrahitur, ipsorum sanguine scripta
Are the letters of the apostles also changeable, then? And are we in every respect simple souls, and doves only, gladly going astray? From a desire to live, I suppose. Let it indeed be so, that their meanings depart from their letters. Yet the teaching by which we know that the apostles suffered is plain; this alone I understand when running through the Acts; I seek nothing further; there the prisons, and the chains, and the scourges, and the stones, and the swords, and the onslaughts of the Jews, and the gatherings of the nations, and the reports of the tribunes, and the hearings of kings, and the judgement-seats of proconsuls, and the name of Caesar have no need of an interpreter. That Peter is struck, that Stephen is overwhelmed, that James is sacrificed, that Paul is torn apart, these things are written in their own blood.
Editors' notes and page, col. 174

Footnotes

NOTE (Q1b): the Commentarius (92)–(99) and variants 34–35, called in this column, are set with page 91's notes in n173. Variants 32 and 33, also called here, are printed on the column image (c174_2) and were not set there; they are set below. Variant 33 runs over a line: its head ("Nobiles Pam.") ends the first line, its tail ("nobilae Jun.") begins the next, which n173 sets as a cropped entry. Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 32] ‹diligentur› Diligenter Fran. Pam.

"Diligenter" (carefully): the Franeker edition, Pamelius.

[var. 33] ‹mobiles› Nobiles Pam. nobilae Jun.

"Nobiles" (well known): Pamelius; "nobilae" [so printed]: Junius.

Page

  • running head: GNOSTIGOS SCORPIACE. 174 (beginning cut off at left edge of image)
  • marginal letters: A tunc rex honoretur; B gia, et regum auditoria (Tertullian text); C ἐὰν ὑψωθῶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς (commentary); D rit, fuste fullonis (commentary)
  • old-edition numerals: 151 after nos
  • other (Q1b): "simplices" in line 6 may be printed "simplicces" (a doubled c is possible at this resolution); kept as simplices, UNSURE.
PL 2:175
sunt. Et si fidem Commentarii voluerit haereticus, instrumenta imperii loquentur, ut lapides Jerusalem. Vitas Caesarum legimus; orientem fidem Romae primus Nero cruentavit. Tunc Petrus ab altero cingitur, cum cruci astringitur. Tunc Paulus civitatis romanae consequitur nativitatem, cum illic martyrii renascitur generositate. Haec ubicumque jam legero, pati disco; nec mea interest quos sequar martyrii magistros, sensusne an exitus Apostolorum; nisi quod et sensus in exitibus recognosco. Nihil enim passi fuissent, quod non prius patiendum esse sensissent. Cum vincula Paulo Agabus gestu quoque prophetasset, discipuli flentes et orantes ne se Jerosolyma committeret, frustra oraverunt. Ille enim, quod semper docuerat animatus: Quid fletis, inquit, et contristatis cor meum? At ego non modo vincula Jerosolymis pati optaverim, verum etiam mori pro nomine Domini mei Jesu Christi. Atque ita cesserunt, dicendo: Fiat voluntas Domini
And if the heretic wants the warrant of a record, the documents of the empire will speak, as would the stones of Jerusalem. We read the Lives of the Caesars: Nero was the first at Rome to stain the rising faith with blood. Then is Peter girded by another, when he is bound to the cross. Then does Paul obtain the birthright of Roman citizenship, when he is reborn there by the nobility of martyrdom. Wherever I read these things, I learn to suffer; and it makes no difference to me which teachers of martyrdom I follow, the convictions or the deaths of the apostles, except that in their deaths I recognize their convictions as well. For they would have suffered nothing which they had not first perceived was to be suffered. When Agabus had prophesied bonds for Paul, by a gesture as well, the disciples, weeping and praying that he would not entrust himself to Jerusalem, prayed in vain. For he, animated by what he had always taught, said: "Why do you weep and grieve my heart? But I would choose not only to suffer bonds at Jerusalem, but even to die for the name of my Lord Jesus Christ." And so they yielded, saying: "Let the will of the Lord be done"
Editors' notes and page, col. 175

Footnotes

NOTE: the foot images begin at the very end of the Variae lectiones; the variants themselves stand above the crop, but are printed in full on the column images (c175_2, c176_2). Q1b: variants 36 and 37, called in this column, are set below from those images; variants 38–43, called in col. 176, are set in n176 (the closing "Fran." on the foot images is the tail of variant 43). Below the notes, the page carries the title and Argumentum of Adversus Praxeam: that is editor's matter belonging to the next unit, not footnotes, so it is not set here. Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 36] ‹Commentarii› Commentari Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Commentari": Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 37] ‹sensissent› Scissent cod. Agobard.

"Scissent" (they had known): the Agobard codex.

Commentarius (bracketed numeral calls; the numbering starts again at 1) (printed under page 92) (1) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 92) (1) Et si fidem commentarii voluerit haereticus. Hoc est, si ex publicorum etiam archivorum fide doceri voluerit. Sic lib. de Idololatria: « Volunt scilicet tempus persecutionis, et locum tribunalis, etc. » RIG.

"And if the heretic wants the evidence of the record": that is, if he wants to be shown even from the evidence of the public archives. So in the book On Idolatry: "They want, of course, the time of the persecution and the place of the tribunal, etc." Rigault.

(printed under page 92) (2) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 92) (2) Non in terris esse confitendum apud homines. Hi quoque sunt aculei scorpiorum, ut supra.

"That confession is not to be made on earth before men." These too are stings of the scorpions, as above.

(printed under page 92) (3) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 92)

(3) Quod audierat a Domino diabolus. Imo, ipse Petrus, Matth. XVI, 23. Sed aliquis erga Petrum affectu Matthaei narrationem sic accipi voluit, quasi ea verba, propter quae Petrum Christus increpat, non tam ipse Petrus protulisset, quam per os Petri diabolus. Enimvero Chrysostomus, ut in manifesta re, aperte contradicit: Οὐκ εἶπεν, Ὁ Σατανᾶς ἐφθέγξατο διὰ σοῦ, ἀλλ' Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, Σατανᾶ· καὶ γὰρ ἐπιθυμία ἦν τοῦ ἀντικειμένου, τὸ μὴ παθεῖν τὸν Χριστόν. RIG.

"What the devil had heard from the Lord." Rather, Peter himself, Matthew 16:23. But someone, out of affection for Peter, wanted Matthew's account to be taken as though the words for which Christ rebukes Peter were uttered not so much by Peter himself as by the devil through Peter's mouth. But Chrysostom, as in a plain matter, openly contradicts this: "He did not say, 'Satan spoke through you,' but 'Get behind me, Satan'; for it was the adversary's desire that Christ should not suffer." Rigault.

(printed under page 92) (4) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 92) (4) Scriptum est: Dominum Deum tuum adorabis, etc. Haec ita se habent in exemplari, quae tamen haud faciunt quidquam ad Tertulliani propositum, et opinamur insita fuisse eadem manu, qua praecedens increpatio detorta in diabolum, ablato nomine Petri. RIG.

"It is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, etc." So these words stand in the exemplar; yet they contribute nothing to Tertullian's purpose, and we think they were inserted by the same hand by which the preceding rebuke was twisted onto the devil and Peter's name removed. Rigault.

(printed under page 92) (5) ‹call not on this foot› (printed under page 92) (5) Nulli infirmorum facile nisi nocitura. Nulli facile nisi, pro, Nulli non facile nocitura. Sic loqui placuit Septimio. RIG.

"To none of the weak easily, except to harm." "Nulli facile nisi" stands for "nulli non facile nocitura" (likely to harm every one of them easily). So it pleased Septimius to speak. Rigault.

(printed under page 92)

Page

  • running head: 175 TERTULLIANI OPERUM PARS II. — SERIES I, POLEMICA. 176 (spread across the page; column numbers 175 and 176)
  • marginal letters: A ‹sunt. Et si fidem›; B ‹oraverunt. Ille enim›; C (none); D (none)
  • old-edition numerals: 152 after ‹an›
PL 2:176
(Act. XXI, 13, 14); fidentes scilicet, passiones ad voluntatem Dei pertinere. Non enim dehortationis consilio, sed dilectionis retinere tentaverant, ut Apostolum desiderantes, non ut martyrium dissuadentes. Quod si jam tunc Prodicus aut Valentinus assisteret, suggerens, non in terris esse confitendum apud homines; minus vero, ne Deus humanum sanguinem sitiat, nec Christus vicem passionis, quasi et ipse de ea salutem consecuturus exposcat; statim audisset a servo Dei, quod audierat a Domino diabolus: Recede, Satana, scandalum mihi es; scriptum est: Dominum Deum tuum adorabis, et illi soli servies (Matth. XXVI, 23; IV, 10). Sed et nunc audire debebit, quatenus multo post, venena ista suffudit, nulli infirmorum facile nisi nocitura, si qui non hanc nostram ex fide praebiberit, vel etiam superbiberit potionem.
(Acts 21:13, 14); trusting, that is, that sufferings belong to the will of God. For they had tried to hold him back by the counsel not of dissuasion but of love, as men longing for the apostle, not as men dissuading him from martyrdom. But if even then Prodicus or Valentinus had stood by, suggesting that one is not to confess on earth before men, and still less [is one to do so] lest God thirst for human blood, or Christ demand a return for His passion, as though He too were to obtain salvation from it, he would at once have heard from the servant of God what the devil had heard from the Lord: "Withdraw, Satan, you are a stumbling block to me; it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve" (Matt. 16:23; 4:10). And now too he will have to hear it, inasmuch as, long afterwards, he has poured out these poisons, which will readily harm every one of the weak, if anyone has not drunk this our draught from the faith beforehand, or even drunk it afterwards.
Editors' notes and page, col. 176

Footnotes

NOTE (Q1b): the Commentarius (2)–(5), called in this column, is set with page 92's notes in n175. Variants 38–43, called here, are printed on the column image (c176_2) and were not set; they are set below. Variae lectiones (numeral calls) [var. 38] ‹tentaverant› Tentaverunt Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Tentaverunt" (they tried): Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 39] ‹confitendum› Conandum Rhen. Seml. Oberth.

"Conandum" (to be attempted): Rhenanus, Semler, Oberthür.

[var. 40] ‹ne› Homines, quod nec Seml.

"Homines, quod nec" (men, which not even): Semler.

[var. 41] ‹ista› Illa Fran.

"Illa" (those): the Franeker edition.

[var. 42] ‹nisi› Nisi inser. Rig.

"Nisi" (except) is inserted by Rigault.

[var. 43] ‹ex› Ea Fran.

"Ea" (that): the Franeker edition.

Page

  • running head: 175 TERTULLIANI OPERUM PARS II. — SERIES I, POLEMICA. 176 (spread across the page; column numbers 175 and 176)
  • marginal letters: A ‹mini (Act. XXI, 13, 14)›; B ‹multo post, venena ista›; C (none); D (none)
  • old-edition numerals: 153 after ‹scandalum›; 154 after ‹ista›
  • misprint kept as printed (Q1b): "Matth. XXVI, 23" for XVI, 23 (the rebuke of Peter is Matt. 16:23, as the Commentarius (3) gives it); the English gives Matt. 16:23.