PL 38 · cols. 23–31

Augustine, Sermones 1-18 (Classis I, de Scripturis: de Vetere Testamento)

Sermons I–II

S. AURELII AUGUSTINI HIPPONENSIS EPISCOPI SERMONES AD POPULUM OMNES CLASSIBUS QUATUOR NUNC PRIMUM COMPREHENSI.

THE SERMONS TO THE PEOPLE OF SAINT AURELIUS AUGUSTINE, BISHOP OF HIPPO, ALL NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME GATHERED INTO FOUR CLASSES.

PRIMA CLASSE CONTINENTUR SERMONES DE SCRIPTURIS VETERIS ET NOVI TESTAMENTI. SECUNDA, SERMONES DE TEMPORE. TERTIA, SERMONES DE SANCTIS. QUARTA, SERMONES DE DIVERSIS.

IN THE FIRST CLASS ARE CONTAINED THE SERMONS ON THE SCRIPTURES OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT. IN THE SECOND, THE SERMONS ON THE SEASONS. IN THE THIRD, THE SERMONS ON THE SAINTS. IN THE FOURTH, THE SERMONS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS.

His in quinta Classe succedunt Sermones dubii, qui scilicet non certo habendi videntur pro Augustinianis. In Appendice demum Sermones supposititii.

After these there follow, in a fifth Class, the doubtful Sermons, those namely which do not seem to be held with certainty as Augustine's. Lastly, in the Appendix, the spurious Sermons.

CLASSIS PRIMA. DE SCRIPTURIS.

FIRST CLASS. ON THE SCRIPTURES.

SERMO PRIMUS. De eo quod scriptum est, Gen. I, 1, In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram; et Joan. I, 1, In principio erat Verbum: contra Manichaeos.

SERMON ONE. On that which is written, Genesis 1:1, In the beginning God made heaven and earth; and John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word: against the Manichaeans.

Manichaeorum in veterem Legem calumniae.

The slanders of the Manichaeans against the old Law.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Qui meminit debiti sui, sententiaeque apostolicae, qua dictum est, Nemini quidquam debeatis, nisi ut invicem diligatis (Rom. XIII, 8), se ipsum debet ad reddendum ipse compellere. Et revera quantolibet fremitu debitoribus exactorum terror incumbat; multo vehementius exigit charitas, quae aufert ab exactione pondus timoris, et verecundiae majus imponit. Memini me fuisse pollicitum Charitati vestrae, adversus Manichaeorum stultas perniciosasque calumnias, quibus Veteri Testamento insidiantur, responsionem per nos non defuturam, quantum Dominus donare dignatur. Advertite igitur, et videte laqueos serpentinos, atque inde subtracta jugo Christi colla supponite. Audent quippe illi hujuscemodi dolos praetendere incautis, ut dicant adversari sibi Scripturas Novi et Veteris Testamenti, ita ut una fide retineri utrumque non possit: et ipsa principia libri Geneseos et Evangelii κατὰ Joannem sibimet inimica persuadere molientes, quasi ex adversa fronte committunt.

CHAPTER I. — 1. He who remembers his debt, and the apostolic saying in which it was said, Owe no one anything, except to love one another (Rom. 13:8), ought himself to compel himself to repay. And indeed, with however great a roar the terror of collectors may press upon debtors, charity exacts far more forcefully, which takes away from the exaction the weight of fear and lays on the greater weight of shame. I remember that I promised your Charity that, against the foolish and pernicious slanders of the Manichaeans, with which they lie in wait for the Old Testament, a reply through us would not be wanting, so far as the Lord deigns to grant. Give heed, therefore, and see the serpent's snares, and, withdrawing your necks from them, put them under the yoke of Christ. For those men dare to hold out deceits of this kind before the unwary, so as to say that the Scriptures of the New and of the Old Testament are opposed to each other, in such a way that both cannot be held by one faith; and, striving to persuade that the very beginnings of the book of Genesis and of the Gospel according to John are hostile to each other, they set them, as it were, front against front in battle.

Editors' notes and page, col. 23

Footnotes

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO PRIMUS› · call in col 23 Recognitus est ad cb. et ad Ulim. Par. Lov.

Revised against cb. [the Corbie manuscript] and against Ulim., Par., Lov. [the editions of Ulimmerius, of Paris and of Louvain].

(printed under page 16)

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO PRIMUS› · call in col 23

Alias, de Diversis 14.

Elsewhere, de Diversis 14.

(printed under page 16)

(b) ‹anchor: contra Manichaeos› · call in col 23

A Possidio notatur sermonis hujus titulus in Indiculo, cap. 2.

The title of this sermon is recorded by Possidius in the Indiculus, ch. 2.

(printed under page 16)

Editors' prose

‹position: head of col 23, above the full-width general title› · end of the editors' list of manuscripts and editions v. S. Victoris apud Parisios. vd. Vindocinensis Abbatiae. Alii quidam codices suis locis indicantur. EDITI CODICES. Am. Sermonum Augustinianorum libri per Joannem de Amerbach excusi Basileae, an. 1494 et 1495. Er. Libri a Desiderio Erasmo recensiti et apud Basileam rursum editi Frobenianis typis, an. 1529. Ulim. Volumen Sermonum de Diversis Joannis Ulimmerii

v. [The manuscript] of Saint-Victor at Paris. vd. Of the Abbey of Vendôme. Certain other codices are indicated in their own places. PRINTED CODICES. Am. The books of Augustine's Sermons printed by Johann Amerbach at Basel, in the years 1494 and 1495. Er. The books revised by Desiderius Erasmus and published again at Basel in Froben's type, in the year 1529. Ulim. The volume of Sermons de Diversis, by the care of Joannes Ulimmerius

(printed at the head of page 16; added by QA Q1a; the entry Ulim. runs on into col 24 and is not completed here; the full-width line beginning Comparavimus praeterea, the full-width general title with its table of the four classes and the caption CLASSIS PRIMA. DE SCRIPTURIS stand across both columns - the Comparavimus line is set with its English under Page apparatus below, the general title block is set as layer 1 in the part)

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other: Editors' prose, full-width line closing that list, for the notes of col 23 after the list tail: Comparavimus praeterea eas omnes editiones initio Retract. et Confess. t. 1, memoratas. M. | English: We have besides collated all those editions mentioned at the beginning of the Retractations and the Confessions, vol. I. M.
other: The full-width line "His in quinta Classe ... supposititii" under the table of the four classes is set as layer 1 as part of the general title block; it is the editors' statement and stands with the title block as layer 1 (settle round 2).

PL 38:24

CAPUT II. — 2. Moyses enim dicit, inquiunt, In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram, nec nominat Filium, per quem facta sunt omnia: cum Joannes dicat, In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil. Hoccine contrarium est, an potius sibimetipsi contrarii sunt, qui ea quae non intelligunt, caecitate reprehendere, quam pietate quaerere maluerunt? Quid enim dicturi sunt, cum ipsum principium Filium Dei esse respondero, in quo Deum fecisse coelum et terram, Genesis loquitur? An forte hoc probare non potero, cum de ipso Novo Testamento, cui velint nolint, fracta superbiae cervice subduntur, testes mihi praesto esse cognoscam? Ait enim Dominus incredulis Judaeis: Si crederetis Moysi, crederetis et mihi: ille enim de me scripsit (Joan. V, 46). Cur ergo non ipsum Dominum intelligam, in quo principio fecit Deus Pater coelum et terram? Nam, In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram, Moyses utique scripsit, quem de Domino scripsisse, ipsius Domini voce firmatur. An forte non est etiam ipse principium? Neque hinc dubitare oportebit, loquente Evangelio, ubi Judaei cum a Domino quaesissent quis esset, ipse respondit, Principium, quia et loquor vobis (Joan. VIII, 25). Ecce in quo principio fecit Deus coelum et terram. Coelum ergo et terram fecit Deus

CHAPTER II. — 2. For Moses says, they say, In the beginning God made heaven and earth, and does not name the Son, through Whom all things were made; whereas John says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made. Is this a contradiction, or is it not rather they who are in contradiction with themselves, who have preferred to censure in blindness the things they do not understand rather than to inquire into them in piety? For what are they going to say, when I answer that the beginning itself, in which Genesis says that God made heaven and earth, is the Son of God? Or shall I perhaps be unable to prove this, when I know that witnesses are at hand for me from the New Testament itself, to which, whether they will or not, they are made subject with the neck of their pride broken? For the Lord says to the unbelieving Jews: If you believed Moses, you would believe Me also; for he wrote of Me (John 5:46). Why then should I not understand the Lord Himself as the beginning in which God the Father made heaven and earth? For, In the beginning God made heaven and earth, Moses certainly wrote, and that he wrote of the Lord is confirmed by the voice of the Lord Himself. Or is He perhaps not Himself also the beginning? Nor will it be right to doubt of this, since the Gospel speaks, where, when the Jews had asked of the Lord who He was, He Himself answered, The Beginning, because I also speak to you (John 8:25). Behold in what beginning God made heaven and earth. Heaven and earth, therefore, God made

Editors' notes and page, col. 24

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: Principium, quia› · call in col 24

Editi, qui. At vetus Ms. Corb., quia, juxta graec., hoti.

The printed editions have qui. But the old Corbie manuscript has quia, in accordance with the Greek, hoti.

(printed under page 16)

Editors' prose

cura publicatum Lovanii, an. 1564.

published at Louvain, in the year 1564.

Par. Parisiensis editio nonnullis sermonibus aucta an. 1571.

Par. The Paris edition, enlarged by some sermons, in the year 1571.

Lov. Editio Lovaniensium Theologorum opera longe auctior et castigatior e prelo Plantiniano profecta, an. 1576.

Lov. The edition far fuller and more correct by the labour of the Louvain Theologians, issued from the Plantin press, in the year 1576.

Sirm. Codex Sermonum additorum a Jacobo Sirmondo, an. 1631.

Sirm. The volume of Sermons added by Jacques Sirmond, in the year 1631.

Vign. Supplementum a Hieronymo Vignerio procuratum et altera vice castigatius paulo excusum, an. 1655.

Vign. The Supplement procured by Jérôme Vignier and printed a second time somewhat more correctly, in the year 1655.

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PL 38:25

in Filio, per quem facta sunt omnia, et sine quo factum est nihil: ut etiam Evangelio concordante cum Genesi, secundum Testamenti utriusque consensum teneamus haereditatem, litigiosasque calumnias exhaeredatis haereticis relinquamus.

in the Son, through Whom all things were made, and without Whom nothing was made: so that, with the Gospel also agreeing with Genesis, we may hold the inheritance according to the consensus of both Testaments, and leave the quarrelsome slanders to the disinherited heretics.

CAPUT III. — 3. Nullo modo autem vestram prudentiam movere debet, quod cum Joannes evangelista non dixerit, Omnia in ipso facta sunt, sed, Omnia per ipsum facta sunt; non legamus in Genesi, Per principium fecit Deus coelum et terram, sed, In principio fecit Deus caelum et terram. Dicit enim Apostolus, Ut ostenderet nobis mysterium voluntatis suae secundum bonam voluntatem suam, quam proposuit in illo in dispositione plenitudinis temporum, instaurare omnia in Christo, quae in caelis sunt, et quae in terris, in ipso (Ephes. I, 9 et 10). Quemadmodum itaque hic sic audis quod ait, in ipso, ut intelligas et, per ipsum; sic in eo quod dicit Joannes, Omnia per ipsum, etiam in ipso intelligere cogeris. Et quemadmodum hic non mihi aufertur intellectus, quo intelligo in ipso facta esse omnia, cum per ipsum legam; sic in Genesi cum legam in ipso factum esse coelum et terram, quis me intelligere prohibet et per ipsum? Nisi forte e duobus Testamentis Manichaei transferunt litem, et eam inter beatissimos testes Novi Testamenti, hoc est, inter Paulum Joannemque constituunt: quia ille ait, in ipso; ille, Et per ipsum. Sed nos, sicut Paulum et Joannem contrarios sibi esse non credimus; ita de Moysi et Pauli concordia etiam ipsos cogimus confiteri.

Chapter III. — 3. But it ought in no way to disturb your prudence that, whereas John the evangelist did not say, All things were made in Him, but, All things were made through Him, we do not read in Genesis, Through the beginning God made heaven and earth, but, In the beginning God made heaven and earth. For the Apostle says, That He might show us the mystery of His will according to His good will, which He purposed in Him in the dispensation of the fullness of times, to restore all things in Christ, which are in the heavens and which are on earth, in Him (Eph. 1:9–10). Just as, then, you hear here what he says, in Him, in such a way that you understand also, through Him; so in what John says, All things through Him, you are compelled to understand also in Him. And just as here the understanding is not taken from me by which I understand that all things were made in Him, although I read through Him; so in Genesis, when I read that heaven and earth were made in Him, who forbids me to understand also through Him? Unless perhaps the Manichaeans transfer the dispute from the two Testaments, and set it up between the most blessed witnesses of the New Testament, that is, between Paul and John: because the one says, in Him; the other, And through Him. But just as we do not believe that Paul and John are contrary to each other, so we compel them too to acknowledge the concord of Moses and Paul.

4. Et quoniam sicut isti duo sibi, sic etiam Joannes consentit ambobus; quia ita dixit, per ipsum, ut in ipso intelligi non prohibeat.

4. And since, as these two agree with each other, so John also agrees with both; because he said, through Him, in such a way that he does not forbid in Him to be understood.

CAPUT IV. — Omnia divina scripta inter se pacata consistunt. Sed quemadmodum solet accidere, ut quando transeuntes nubes per obscura noctis intuemur, earum caligine sic acies nostra turbetur, ut in contrarium nobis sidera currere videantur; sic isti haeretici, quia in sui erroris nubilo pacem non inveniunt, videtur eis potius divina Scriptura rixari.

Chapter IV. — All the divine writings stand at peace among themselves. But just as it commonly happens that, when we gaze at clouds passing through the darkness of night, our sight is so disturbed by their gloom that the stars seem to us to run in the opposite direction; so these heretics, because in the cloud of their error they find no peace, think rather that divine Scripture is quarrelling.

CAPUT V. — 5. Fortassis dicant, non de Verbo Dei dictum esse, In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram. Fac esse, non in principio, quod est unicus ⟨F⟩ilius Dei; sed in principio temporis dictum intelli⟨g⟩atur quod scriptum est, In principio fecit Deus ⟨c⟩aelum et terram: non quia jam erat tempus, ante⟨q⟩uam esset ulla creatura (non enim vel tempus esse ⟨co⟩aeternum quisquam dixerit Deo, qui est conditor temporum), sed ut cum coelo et terra esse coeperit tempus. Si ergo quisque sic intelligat, cognoscens duntaxat creaturae Creatorisque distantiam, ne coaeternum Deo qui fecit, dicat esse quod fecit; certe vel in illo verbo elucebit numerus personarum, ubi dictum est, Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram; et, Fecit Deus hominem ad imaginem Dei (Gen. I, 26, 27). Quanquam etiamsi non appareret, et sub unitatis appellatione Trinitas intelligentibus

Chapter V. — 5. Perhaps they may say that In the beginning God made heaven and earth was not said of the Word of God. Suppose it so: let what is written, In the beginning God made heaven and earth, be understood as said not in the beginning which is the only Son of God, but in the beginning of time: not because time already existed before there was any creature (for no one would say that even time is coeternal with God, Who is the founder of times), but in the sense that time began to be together with heaven and earth. If, then, anyone understands it so, recognizing at least the distance between the creature and the Creator, so as not to say that what He made is coeternal with God Who made it; certainly the number of persons will shine forth at least in that word where it is said, Let Us make man to Our image and likeness; and, God made man to the image of God (Gen. 1:26–27). Although, even if it did not appear, even under the designation of unity the Trinity in-

Editors' notes and page, col. 25

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: Et quoniam› · call in col 25

Editi, quomodo. Locum ad Ms. Corb. castigavimus.

The printed editions have quomodo. We have corrected the passage by the Corbie manuscript.

(printed under page 17)

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other: ligature doubt raised by the check (text not changed): Deus caelum (Caput III, italic) | Deus coelum
other: ligature doubt raised by the check (text not changed): in caelis sunt | in coelis sunt
other: ligature doubt raised by the check (text not changed): Deus ⟨c⟩aelum (Caput V) | Deus ⟨c⟩oelum

PL 38:26

insinuaretur; non ideo contrarium principio Geneseos, Evangelii principium videri debuit prudentibus: non enim videri nisi imprudentibus potuit. Habemus enim talium in Scripturis locutionum innumera exempla. Ipse Dominus loquens ait: Ego autem dico vobis, non jurare omnino, neque per coelum, quia sedes Dei est; neque per terram, quia scabellum est pedum ejus (Matth. V, 34 et 35). Numquid propterea quia ibi se non nominat, fortasse negaturi sunt quod sedeat Christus in coelo? Item dicit Apostolus, O altitudo divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei! quam inscrutabilia sunt judicia ejus, et investigabiles viae ipsius! Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini? aut quis consiliarius illi fuit? aut quis prior dedit ei, et retribuetur ei? Quoniam ex ipso, et per ipsum, et in ipso sunt omnia: ipsi gloria in saecula saeculorum (Rom. XI, 33-36). Etiam hic Filii mentio nominatim non facta est. Unum dicit esse Apostolus Deum et Dominum, ex quo omnia, per quem omnia, in quo omnia. Cur ergo isti Moysen sibi elegerunt, quem Joanni evangelistae opponerent, Paulum autem apostolum ei opponere noluerunt? Quia scilicet imperitis hominibus duo Testamenta persuadere voluerunt esse contraria; ut uno teste utantur, alterum respuant. Hoc enim profitetur error ipsorum. Nam si esset alius, cujus item dementissimus furor ipsum Novum Testamentum sibi contrarium apud imperitos conaretur ostendere; quid aliud ageret, nisi quemadmodum isti Moysen et Joannem, ita ille Paulum et Joannem, tanquam inimicos rixantesque proponeret? Sicut autem sincerissima et verissima fides commendat Pauli Joannisque concordiam; et in eo quod beatus Paulus ait, Ex ipso, et per ipsum, et in ipso sunt omnia, non solum Patrem, sed et Filium et Spiritum sanctum docet intelligi: sic Moysi et Joannis pacem intuens, in eo quod Moyses dixit, In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram, si principium accipit temporis, nihil aliud in eo quod dictum est, Deus, nisi Trinitatis unitatem agnoscit; aut principium in quo fecit Deus coelum et terram, ipsum Filium incunctanter amplectitur. Multa sunt alia quae secundum has regulas locutionis divinarum Scripturarum commemorare possimus: sed ne oneremus memoriam Sanctitatis vestrae, ista commemorasse suffecerit. Caetera vos ipsos quaerere, vel cum Scripturae leguntur, advertere, atque inter vos considerare concorditer et pertractare adhortamur. Conversi, etc.

understand it was being instilled; the beginning of the Gospel ought not on that account to have seemed to the prudent contrary to the beginning of Genesis: for it could not have seemed so except to the imprudent. For we have innumerable examples of such expressions in the Scriptures. The Lord Himself, speaking, says: But I say to you, not to swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet (Matt. 5:34–35). Are they perhaps going to deny, because He does not name Himself there, that Christ sits in heaven? Again the Apostle says, O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgements, and His ways past tracing out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who has been His counsellor? or who has first given to Him, and it shall be repaid to him? For from Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things: to Him be glory for ages of ages (Rom. 11:33–36). Here too no mention of the Son has been made by name. The Apostle says that there is one God and Lord, from Whom are all things, through Whom are all things, in Whom are all things. Why then did these men choose Moses for themselves, to set against John the Evangelist, but were unwilling to set the apostle Paul against him? Clearly because they wished to persuade unskilled people that the two Testaments are contrary, so that they may use the one witness and reject the other. For this is what their error professes. For if there were someone else, whose likewise most insane frenzy tried to show among the unskilled that the New Testament itself is contrary to itself, what else would he do but set forth Paul and John as enemies and quarrellers, just as these men set forth Moses and John? But just as the most sincere and most true faith commends the concord of Paul and John, and in what the blessed Paul says, From Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things, teaches that not only the Father but also the Son and the Holy Spirit are to be understood: so, beholding the peace of Moses and John, in what Moses said, In the beginning God made heaven and earth, if it takes it as the beginning of time, it recognizes in what is said, God, nothing other than the unity of the Trinity; or if [it takes it as] the beginning in which God made heaven and earth, it embraces without hesitation the Son Himself. There are many other things which we could recall according to these rules of expression of the divine Scriptures: but so as not to burden the memory of Your Holiness, let it suffice to have recalled these. The rest we exhort you to seek out yourselves, or to notice when the Scriptures are read, and to consider and treat thoroughly among yourselves in concord. Turning, etc.

SERMO II. De tentatione Abrahae a Deo.

Sermon II. On the testing of Abraham by God.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Abrahae fides et pietas. Notissima pietas patris nostri Abrahae reddita nobis est in memoriam per recentem lectionem: et

Chapter I. — 1. The faith and piety of Abraham. The very well-known piety of our father Abraham has been brought back to our memory by the recent reading: and

Editors' notes and page, col. 26

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: Conversi, etc.› · call in col 26

Ms. Corb. non addit, Conversi, etc.

The Corbie manuscript does not add Conversi, etc.

(printed under page 17)

(2) ‹anchor: Notissima pietas› · call in col 26

Remigiensis Ms., potissima pietas. Regius Ms., notissima fides.

The manuscript of Saint-Remi has potissima pietas. The Royal manuscript has notissima fides.

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO II› · call in col 26 Recognitus est ad bd. cs. cl. cb. fl. r. rm. Am. Er. Ulim. Par. Lov.

Revised against bd. cs. cl. cb. fl. r. rm. [manuscripts] and Am. Er. Ulim. Par. Lov. [the editions of Amerbach, Erasmus, Ulimmerius, Paris and Louvain].

(printed under page 17)

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO II› · call in col 26

Alias, de Tempore 72.

Elsewhere, de Tempore 72.

(printed under page 17)

(b) ‹anchor: Abrahae a Deo› · call in col 26

In Possidii Indiculo, cap. 8, titulus habetur, « De filio Abrahae ducto ad sacrificium. » Citatur idem sermo a Beda et Floro.

In the Indiculus of Possidius, ch. 8, the title is given as "On the son of Abraham led to sacrifice." The same sermon is cited by Bede and Florus.

(printed under page 17)

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PL 38:27

est quidem ita mirabilis, ut nullum cor arbitrandum sit tam obliviosum, ut inde aliquando elabi possit. Veruntamen nescio quomodo, quotiescumque legitur, quasi tunc fiat, ita afficit mentes audientium. Magna fides, magna pietas, non solum in Deum, sed etiam in ipsum unicum filium, cui nihil mali esse pater credidit, quidquid de illo jusserat qui creavit. Pater enim filii sui esse poterat Abraham, secundum operationem carnis; non autem creator et conditor, secundum operationem majestatis. Et quidem, sicut dicit Apostolus, non secundum carnem natus est Isaac Abrahae, sed ex promissione (Galat. IV, 23): non quia eum carne non erat operatus, sed quia de summa desperatione susceperat; et nisi adesset promittens Deus, nihil tam senex de visceribus aniculae conjugis sperare audebat posteritatis. Sed credidit nasciturum, et non plangit moriturum. Ejus dextera eligitur ad sacrificium, ut moreretur; cujus cor electum est ad fidem, ut nasceretur. Non trepidavit Abraham credere, quando promittebatur; non trepidavit offerre, quando exigebatur: nec fuit religio credentis contraria devotioni obedientis. Hoc dico, non sibi dixit Abraham, Deus mihi locutus est: quando promisit filium, credidi quia mihi daturus esset Deus posteritatem; et qualem posteritatem? Ut diceret mihi, In Isaac vocabitur tibi semen (Gen. XXI, 12): et ne forte sic vocaretur mihi semen in Isaac, ut ante me meus filius moreretur, In semine tuo, inquit, benedicentur omnes gentes (Id. XXII, 18). Ipse mihi ergo loquens promisit filium, et ipse exigit ut occidam? Non sibi fecit quaestionem quasi de contrariis et sibi adversantibus verbis Dei promittentis filium nasciturum, et postea dicentis, Occide mihi filium tuum: sed erat in corde ejus fides semper inconcussa, et nullo modo deficiens. Cogitavit enim Abraham, Deum qui dedit ut ille de senibus nasceretur qui non erat, posse etiam de morte reparare. Amplius enim est quod jam fecerat Deus, cum qui non erat post tantam desperationem videbat sibi datum filium, et si humanam infirmitatem consulas, impossibile. Adjecit itaque animum ad fidem; non credidit aliquid impossibile esse Creatori. Qui, quemadmodum crediderat, suscepit filium, credidit postea jubenti Deo: jam in suscepto filio probaverat Deum. Credidit filium suscepturus, credidit occisurus. Ubique fidelis, nusquam crudelis. Omnino perduxit filium ad locum victim⟨ae⟩: armavit etiam dexteram cultro. Attendis quis feriat, et quem feriat: attende quis jubeat. Pius ergo Abraham obtemperando: quid Deus jubendo? Ne forte infirmis, non dicam sacrilegis animis, ipse displiceat qui jubebat. Sed si placet qui obtemperabat, quomodo displiceat qui jubebat?

is indeed so wonderful that no heart should be thought so forgetful that it could ever slip from it. Yet, I know not how, whenever it is read, it so affects the minds of the hearers as if it were happening then. Great faith, great piety, not only towards God but also towards his only son himself, for whom the father believed there was nothing evil in whatever He Who created him had commanded concerning him. For Abraham could be the father of his son according to the working of the flesh, but not his creator and maker according to the working of majesty. And indeed, as the Apostle says, Isaac was born to Abraham not according to the flesh but from the promise (Gal. 4:23): not because he had not wrought him by the flesh, but because he had received him out of the utmost despair; and unless God had been present promising, so old a man dared hope for no posterity from the womb of his aged wife. But he believed that he would be born, and he does not lament him as about to die. His right hand is chosen for the sacrifice, that [the son] might die, whose heart was chosen for faith, that [the son] might be born. Abraham did not tremble to believe when it was promised; he did not tremble to offer when it was demanded: nor was the faithfulness of the believer contrary to the devotion of the obedient. I say this: Abraham did not say to himself, God has spoken to me: when He promised a son, I believed that God would give me posterity; and what sort of posterity? That He should say to me, In Isaac shall seed be called for you (Gen. 21:12): and lest perhaps seed should be called for me in Isaac in such a way that my son should die before me, In your seed, He said, shall all nations be blessed (Gen. 22:18). So He Himself, speaking to me, promised a son, and does He Himself demand that I kill him? He did not raise a question for himself as though about contrary and mutually opposing words of God, Who promised a son to be born and afterwards said, Kill your son for Me: but there was in his heart a faith ever unshaken and in no way failing. For Abraham reckoned that God, Who granted that he who did not exist should be born of old people, could also restore him from death. For what God had already done was greater, when after such great despair he saw given to him a son who had not existed, a thing impossible if you consult human weakness. So he applied his mind to faith; he did not believe that anything was impossible to the Creator. He who, as he had believed, received a son, afterwards believed God when He commanded: already in the son he had received he had put God to the proof. He believed when about to receive his son, he believed when about to kill him. Everywhere faithful, nowhere cruel. He fully led his son to the place of the victim: he even armed his right hand with a knife. You consider who strikes and whom he strikes: consider Who commands. Abraham, then, was dutiful in obeying: what of God in commanding? Lest perhaps to weak, I will not say sacrilegious, minds He Who commanded should Himself be displeasing. But if he who obeyed is pleasing, how can He Who commanded be displeasing?

Editors' notes and page, col. 27

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: ita mirabilis› · call in col 27

Am. Er. et Par., et est quidem ita mirabile. Mss. Regius et Remig., et est quiddam ita mirabile.

Am., Er. and Par. have et est quidem ita mirabile. The Royal and Saint-Remi manuscripts have et est quiddam ita mirabile.

(printed under page 18)

(2) ‹anchor: pater credidit› · call in col 27

Sic Am. Er. Par. et Ms. Regius. At Lov., cum nihil mali credidit esse, etc. Ulim., cum nihil mali esse crediderit, etc.

So Am., Er., Par. and the Royal manuscript. But Lov. has cum nihil mali credidit esse, etc.; Ulim., cum nihil mali esse crediderit, etc.

(printed under page 18)

(3) ‹anchor: Et quidem› · call in col 27

Sic Am. Er. Par. et Mss. At Ulim. et Lov., si quidem.

So Am., Er., Par. and the manuscripts. But Ulim. and Lov. have si quidem.

(printed under page 18)

(4) ‹anchor: electum est› · call in col 27

Ita Mss. At editi, erectum est. Et sic Florus, qui tamen solus in priore parte sententiae habet, erigitur.

So the manuscripts. But the printed editions have erectum est. And so Florus, who nevertheless alone has erigitur in the first part of the sentence.

(printed under page 18)

(5) ‹anchor: cum qui non erat› · call in col 27

Mss., cum qui non erat. Post tantam desperationem, etc.

The manuscripts have cum qui non erat. Post tantam desperationem, etc. [so punctuated].

(printed under page 18)

(a) ‹anchor: de morte reparare› · call in col 27

II Retract. cap. 22. n. 2.

Retractations, Book II, ch. 22, n. 2.

(printed under page 18)

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running head: 27 S. AUGUSTINI EPISC[...] (cut off at image edge)
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PL 38:28

Quia si Abraham bene fecit obtemperando; multo melius, et longe melius, incomparabili modo, Deus jubendo.

Because if Abraham did well by obeying, much better, and far better, in an incomparable manner, did God [do well] by commanding.

CAPUT II. — 2. Deus tentans Abraham Manichaeis immerito displicet. Fortasse sacramentum quaeratur. Non enim frustra hoc Deus juberet, aut carnaliter accipiendum est, quod lectum fortasse nonnullorum minus intelligentium corda commovit. Tentavit, inquit, Deus Abraham (Gen. XXII, 1). Sic ergo ignarus est Deus rerum, sic nescius cordis humani, ut tentando hominem inveniat? Absit: sed ut ipse homo se inveniat. Primo itaque, fratres, propter illos qui adversantur Legi veteri, Scripturae sanctae; quia nonnulli non intelligentes citius volunt exagitare quod non intelligunt, quam quaerere ut intelligant; et non fiunt humiles inquisitores, sed superbi calumniatores: propter hos ergo qui Evangelium volunt accipere, et Legem veterem respuere; putantes in via Dei posse se esse, et recte uno pede ambulare; quoniam non sunt Scribae eruditi in regno Dei, qui proferunt de thesauro suo nova et vetera (Matth. XIII, 52): propter hos ergo tales, ne qui forte hic lateant, aut etsi hic non sunt, habeant qui adsunt, quid talibus respondeant, breviter solvenda est ista quaestio. Dicimus talibus, Evangelium accipitis, Legem non accipitis: nos autem dicimus, eumdem esse Evangelii misericordissimum largitorem, qui exstitit etiam Legis terribilis lator. Lege enim terruit, Evangelio conversos sanavit, quos ut converterentur Lege terruerat. Imperator dedit legem, et multa commissa sunt contra legem; lex quam dedit imperator, non noverat nisi punire peccantes: restabat ergo, ut ad solvenda delicta eorum, ipse cum indulgentia veniret, qui legem praemiserat. Sed quid dicit perversum cor, quia dicit accipere se Evangelium, Legem vero respuere? Quare respuit? Quia scriptum est, inquit, Tentavit Deus Abraham. Ego Deum colam qui tentat? Christum cole, quem habes in Evangelio. Ipse te revocat ad intelligendam Legem. Sed quia non transierunt ad Christum, in suo phantasmate remanserunt. Non enim colunt Christum, qualis praedicatur in Evangelio; sed qualem ipsi sibi finxerunt. Propterea super velamen stultitiae suae naturalis, addunt alterum velamen perversae opinionis. Et quando per duplex velamen poterit videri quod lucet in Evangelio?

Chapter II. — 2. God tempting Abraham displeases the Manichaeans undeservedly. Perhaps the mystery may be asked about. For God would not command this in vain, nor is it to be taken carnally, this thing which, when read, has perhaps troubled the hearts of some of the less understanding. God tempted Abraham, it says (Gen. 22:1). Is God then so ignorant of things, so unknowing of the human heart, that by tempting He finds the man out? Far from it: but so that the man himself might find himself out. First, therefore, brethren, on account of those who oppose the old Law, the holy Scripture; because some, not understanding, would sooner assail what they do not understand than seek to understand it; and they do not become humble inquirers but proud slanderers: on account of these, then, who wish to accept the Gospel and reject the old Law, thinking that they can be on the way of God and walk rightly on one foot, since they are not scribes instructed in the kingdom of God, who bring forth from their treasure things new and old (Matt. 13:52): on account of such as these, then, lest perhaps any be hiding here, or, even if they are not here, so that those who are present may have something to answer to such people, this question must be briefly resolved. We say to such people: You accept the Gospel, you do not accept the Law; but we say that the same One is the most merciful bestower of the Gospel Who was also the terrible giver of the Law. For by the Law He terrified, by the Gospel He healed those converted, whom He had terrified by the Law so that they might be converted. An emperor gave a law, and many things were committed against the law; the law which the emperor gave knew nothing but to punish those who sin: it remained, then, that to loose their offences he himself who had sent the law ahead should come with pardon. But what does the perverse heart say, in that it says it accepts the Gospel but rejects the Law? Why does it reject it? Because it is written, it says, God tempted Abraham. Shall I worship a God Who tempts? Worship Christ, Whom you have in the Gospel. He Himself calls you back to understanding the Law. But because they have not passed over to Christ, they have remained in their own phantasm. For they do not worship Christ such as He is preached in the Gospel, but such as they have fashioned for themselves. Therefore upon the veil of their natural folly they add another veil of perverse opinion. And when, through a double veil, will that which shines in the Gospel be able to be seen?

CAPUT III. — Displicet tibi tentans Deus, displiceat tibi tentans Christus. Sed cum placuerit tibi tentans Christus, placeat tibi tentans Deus. Et Christus enim Filius Dei Deus, et cum Patre Christus unus Deus. Ubi igitur legimus tentantem Christum? Evangelium loquitur: ait enim Philippo, Unde ememus panes, ut manducent hi? Et sequitur Evangelista: Hoc autem dicebat, tentans eum: ipse enim sciebat quid esset facturus (Joan. VI, 5 et 6). Refer nunc animum ad Deum tentantem Abraham. Hoc enim dicebat et Deus, tentans

Chapter III. — If God tempting displeases you, let Christ tempting displease you. But when Christ tempting has pleased you, let God tempting please you. For Christ too, the Son of God, is God, and with the Father Christ is one God. Where then do we read of Christ tempting? The Gospel speaks: for He says to Philip, Whence shall we buy loaves, that these may eat? And the Evangelist follows: But this He said tempting him; for He Himself knew what He would do (John 6:5–6). Now turn your mind back to God tempting Abraham. For God too was saying this, tempting

Editors' notes and page, col. 28

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 28

Quaeritur, juxta Er. M.

Quaeritur, according to Er. M.

(printed under page 18)

(2) ‹anchor: ut converterentur› · call in col 28

Sic Mss. Editi vero, ut converteret.

So the manuscripts. The printed editions, however, have ut converteret.

(printed under page 18)

(3) ‹anchor: accipere se Evangelium› · call in col 28

Codices Mss., quid dicit? Accipere se, etc.

The manuscript codices have quid dicit? Accipere se, etc.

(printed under page 18)

(4) ‹anchor: ut manducent hi› · call in col 28

Sic Mss. Editi autem, Habentes panes, date illis manducare.

So the manuscripts. The printed editions, however, have Habentes panes, date illis manducare.

(printed under page 18)

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running head: …GUSTINI EPISCOPI 28 (left part of the head cut off at the image edge)
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PL 38:29

Abraham: ipse enim sciebat quid esset facturus. Agnoscitur tentator Christus, agnoscitur tentator Deus: corrigatur tentator haereticus. Non enim sic tentat haereticus, quomodo tentat Deus. Deus enim tentat, ut aperiat homini: haereticus tentat, ut Deum sibi claudat.

Abraham: for He Himself knew what he was going to do. Christ is acknowledged as a tester, God is acknowledged as a tester: let the heretic as tester be corrected. For the heretic does not test in the way that God tests. For God tests in order to open [a man] to the man himself: the heretic tests in order to shut God out from himself.

3. Tentare Dei, quo spectat. Ergo noverit Charitas vestra, tentatione Deum non id agere, ut ipse aliquid cognoscat quod ante nesciebat; sed ut ipso tentante, id est interrogante, quod est in homine occultum prodatur. Non enim sibi homo ita notus est, ut Creatori; nec sic aeger sibi notus est, ut medico. Aegrotat homo; ipse patitur, medicus non patitur; et ab illo qui non patitur, exspectat audire qui patitur. Ideo in Psalmo clamat homo: Ab occultis meis munda me, Domine (Psal. XVIII, 13). Quia sunt in homine occulta ipsi homini in quo sunt; et non procedunt, neque aperiuntur, neque inveniuntur, nisi in tentationibus. Si Deus cessat tentare, magister cessat docere. Sed Deus tentat, ut doceat; diabolus tentat, ut decipiat. Cui tamen nisi ille qui tentatur dederit locum, inanis tentatio et irridenda rep⟨e⟩llitur. Ideo Apostolus: Neque detis, ait, locum diabolo (Ephes. IV, 27). Dant autem locum homines diabolo ex concupiscentiis suis. Non enim vident homines diabolum, cum quo pugnant: sed facile habent remedium. Se ⟨i⟩psos interius vincant, et de illo foris triumphant. Quare hoc dicimus? Quia nescit se homo, nisi in tentatione discat se. Cum autem didicerit se, non se negligat. Si enim se negligebat latentem, non se negligat notum.

3. The testing by God, what it aims at. Therefore let your Charity know that by testing God does not bring it about that He Himself comes to know something which He did not know before; but that, by His testing, that is, His questioning, what is hidden in a man may be brought to light. For a man is not so well known to himself as he is to his Creator; nor is a sick man so well known to himself as he is to the physician. A man is sick; he himself suffers, the physician does not suffer; and the one who suffers waits to hear from him who does not suffer. Therefore in the Psalm a man cries out: From my hidden things cleanse me, O Lord (Ps. 18:13). For there are things in a man hidden from the very man in whom they are; and they do not come forth, nor are they opened, nor are they found, except in temptations. If God ceases to test, the master ceases to teach. But God tests in order to teach; the devil tempts in order to deceive. Yet unless he who is tempted gives him room, the temptation is repelled as empty and laughable. Therefore the Apostle says: Neither give room to the devil (Eph. 4:27). Now men give room to the devil out of their own desires. For men do not see the devil with whom they fight: but they have an easy remedy. Let them conquer themselves inwardly, and they triumph over him outwardly. Why do we say this? Because a man does not know himself unless he learns himself in temptation. But when he has learned himself, let him not neglect himself. For if he used to neglect himself while hidden, let him not neglect himself once known.

4. Quid ergo dicimus, fratres? Etsi sciebat se Abraham, nos non noveramus Abraham. Aut sibi, aut certe nobis prodendus erat: sibi, ut sciret unde gratias ageret; nobis, ut sciremus vel quid a Domino deprecaremur, vel quid in homine imitaremur.

4. What then do we say, brethren? Even if Abraham knew himself, we did not know Abraham. He had to be disclosed either to himself, or at any rate to us: to himself, so that he might know for what to give thanks; to us, so that we might know either what to entreat from the Lord, or what to imitate in a man.

CAPUT IV. — Quid ergo nos docet Abraham? Ut breviter dicam, ut Deo non prae⟨ponam⟩us quod dat Deus. Interim ad litteram rerum gestarum, antequam tractetur latebra sacramenti, id est quid lateat in hoc mysterio, quo jussus est Abraham occidere unicum filium. Ergo nec illud quod tibi pro magno praestat Deus, praeponas illi qui praestitit; et cum tibi voluerit subtrahere, non tibi vilescat: quia gratis amandus est Deus. Quod enim dulcius a Deo praemium, quam ipse Deus?

Chapter IV. — What then does Abraham teach us? To put it briefly, that we should not set what God gives before God. [This] meanwhile according to the letter of the events, before the hidden meaning of the sacrament is treated, that is, what lies hidden in this mystery, in which Abraham was commanded to kill his only son. Therefore you should not set even that which God bestows on you as something great before Him Who bestowed it; and when He wishes to take it away from you, let Him not become cheap in your eyes: for God is to be loved freely. For what sweeter reward is there from God than God Himself?

5. Deus discere dicitur, cum facit ut discamus. ⟨E⟩rgo impleta Abraham devotionis obedientia, audit a Deo, Nunc cognovi quoniam tu times Deum (Gen. XXII, 12). Quod ita intelligitur, quod Abraham fecerit Deus ut sibi innotesceret. Sicut quando loquitur propheta (Christianis loquor, vel proficientibus in schola Dei; non sunt rudia nec nova quae dico, sed vestrae Sanctitati nobiscum usitatissima et manifestissima) quando propheta loquitur, quid dicimus? Dixit Deus, plane dicimus. Dicimus etiam, Dixit propheta.

5. God is said to learn when He makes us learn. Therefore, when Abraham had fulfilled the obedience of his devotion, he hears from God: Now I have come to know that you fear God (Gen. 22:12). Which is understood thus: that God made Abraham become known to himself. Just as when a prophet speaks (I speak to Christians, or to those making progress in the school of God; the things I say are not crude nor new, but most familiar and most evident to your Holiness as to us), when a prophet speaks, what do we say? God said, we plainly say. We also say, The prophet said.

Editors' notes and page, col. 29

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 29

Hic Mss., praetermisso, non enim sic tentat haereticus, subjungunt, Quomodo tentat Deus? Deus tentat, etc.

Here the manuscripts, omitting non enim sic tentat haereticus, go on: Quomodo tentat Deus? Deus tentat, etc.

(printed under page 19)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 29

Er. Par. et Mss., inanis et irridendus repellitur.

Er., Par. and the manuscripts have inanis et irridendus repellitur.

(printed under page 19)

(3) ‹anchor: vilescat: quia› · call in col 29

Mss. Regius et Remig., qui.

The Royal and Saint-Remi manuscripts have qui.

(printed under page 19)

(4) ‹anchor: plane dicimus› · call in col 29

Mss., bene dicimus.

The manuscripts have bene dicimus.

(printed under page 19)

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PL 38:30

Et utrumque recte dicimus, et utrumque in auctoritate invenimus. Et Apostoli sic intellexerunt Prophetas, ut dicerent, Dixit Deus. Et alio loco, Dixit Isaias. Utrumque verum est, quia utrumque invenimus in Scripturis. Solvat mihi christianus quaestionem, quam modo proposui; et solvet sibi, quam paulo ante proposui. Quomodo? Quia quod homo dicit de dono Dei, Deus dicit: secundum illud, Non enim vos estis qui loquimini (Matth. X, 20), et caetera; et iterum, Ecc⟨e⟩ ego Paulus loquor vobis (Galat. V, 2); et iterum, Christus qui in me loquitur (II Cor. XIII, 3).

And we say both rightly, and we find both in authority. And the Apostles understood the Prophets in such a way that they said, God said. And in another place, Isaiah said. Both are true, because we find both in the Scriptures. Let a Christian solve for me the question which I have just put; and he will solve for himself the one which I put a little before. How? Because what a man says by the gift of God, God says: according to that [saying], For it is not you who speak (Matt. 10:20), and the rest; and again, Behold, I Paul speak to you (Gal. 5:2); and again, Christ Who speaks in me (2 Cor. 13:3).

CAPUT V. — Ergo istam regulam, fratres, transferte ad illud quod aliquando tortuosum videbatur, et rectum erit.

Chapter V. — Therefore, brethren, carry this rule over to that which once seemed crooked, and it will be straight.

6. Expectatio ad Deum. Illum ergo omnes intueamur, ut esurientes animas nostras ille pascat, qui esurivit propter nos; qui pauper factus est, cum dives esset, ut ipsius paupertate nos ditaremur (II Cor. VIII, 9). Opportune ad eum paulo ante cantavimus: Omnia a te exspectant, ut des illis escam in tempore opportuno (Psal. CIII, 27). Si omnia, omnes: si omnes, et nos. Non ergo si quid boni in sermone daturi sumus, nos dabimus, sed ille a quo omnes accipimus; quia omnes ad eum exspectamus. Tempus est, det: sed faciamus quod dixit, ut det; id est, exspectemus ad eum, ipsum corde intueamur: quia sicut oculi corporis et aures ad nos, ita oculi cordis et aures ad illum. Patente aure cordis audite magnum sacramentum. Omnia quidem sacramenta divinarum Scripturarum utique magna atque divina sunt: sunt tamen insigniora, magisque praecipua, quae maxime intentos nos desiderant, et quae prae caeteris aedificant lapsos, satiant esurientes: qui non ita satiantur, ut fastidiant; sed ut sit satietas sine fastidio, pellens inopiam, non assumens contemptum. Quem non moveat jussus immolari unicus filius ei, a quo promissus est? Et maxime res ita gesta, ut audivimus, intentos animos facit ad quaerendum exponi sacramentum.

6. Waiting upon God. Let us all, then, look to Him, that He may feed our hungry souls, He Who hungered for our sake; Who became poor, though He was rich, that by His poverty we might be made rich (2 Cor. 8:9). Fittingly did we sing to Him a little while ago: All things wait for Thee, that Thou may give them food in due season (Ps. 103:27). If all things, then all men: if all men, then we too. So if we are to give anything good in the sermon, it is not we who shall give it, but He from Whom we all receive; for we all wait upon Him. It is time, let Him give: but let us do what it said, so that He may give; that is, let us wait upon Him, let us look upon Him with the heart: for as the eyes and ears of the body are turned towards us, so the eyes and ears of the heart are turned towards Him. With the ear of the heart open, hear a great mystery. All the mysteries of the divine Scriptures are indeed great and divine: yet there are some more notable and more eminent, which require us to be most attentive, and which above the rest build up the fallen and satisfy the hungry: who are not so satisfied that they feel disgust; but so that there is satiety without disgust, driving out want, not taking on contempt. Whom would it not move that an only son was ordered to be sacrificed to Him by Whom he had been promised? And above all, the thing having been done in this way, as we have heard, makes minds intent on seeking to have the mystery expounded.

CAPUT VI. — 7. Scripturarum figurae rebus vere gestis inhaerent. Ante omnia tamen, fratres, hoc in nomine Domini et admonemus, quantum possumus, et praecipimus, ut quando auditis exponi sacramentum Scripturae narrantis quae gesta sunt, prius illud quod lectum est credatis sic gestum, quomodo lectum est; ne subtracto fundamento rei gestae, quasi in aere quaeratis aedificare. Abraham pater noster homo erat illis temporibus fidelis, credens Deo, justificatus ex fide, sicut Scriptura dicit, et vetus et nova (Gen. XV, 6; Rom. IV, 3, et Galat. III, 6). Suscepit filium de Sara uxore, jam in senectute utrisque constitutis, ex magna desperatione, sed secundum hominem. Quid autem de Deo non sperandum, cui difficile nihil est: qui sic facit magna, quomodo parva; sic suscitat mortuos, quomodo creat vivos? Si pictor eadem arte facit

Chapter VI. — 7. The figures of the Scriptures are bound up with things truly done. Before all else, however, brethren, in the name of the Lord we both admonish, as much as we can, and enjoin this: that when you hear expounded a mystery of Scripture narrating things that were done, you first believe that what was read was done just as it was read; lest, with the foundation of the thing done taken away, you seek to build as it were in the air. Abraham our father was a faithful man in those times, believing God, justified by faith, as Scripture says, both the old and the new (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3, and Gal. 3:6). He received a son from Sara his wife, when both were already set in old age, out of great despair, but [despair] according to man. But what is not to be hoped for from God, to Whom nothing is difficult: Who makes great things just as He makes small ones; raises the dead just as He creates the living? If a painter by the same art makes

Editors' notes and page, col. 30

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 30

Forte, ad te.

Perhaps, ad te.

(printed under page 19)

(2) ‹anchor: Patente aure› · call in col 30

Forte, ad illum patent. Aure, etc.

Perhaps, ad illum patent. Aure, etc.

(printed under page 19)

(3) ‹anchor: satietas sine fastidio› · call in col 30

Sic Regius Ms. At Remigiensis cum Ulim. et Lov., non ita satientur, ut fastidiant, sed sit satietas sine fastidio. Er. et Par., non ita satientur, ut fastidiant, sed non sit satietas fastidio.

So the Royal manuscript. But the Saint-Remi manuscript, with Ulim. and Lov., has non ita satientur, ut fastidiant, sed sit satietas sine fastidio. Er. and Par. have non ita satientur, ut fastidiant, sed non sit satietas fastidio.

(printed under page 19)

Page

running head: SERMO II. 30
marginal letters: (none)
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 38:31

murem, qua elephantem (diversa opera, sed ars una); quanto magis Deus qui dixit, et facta sunt; mandavit, et creata sunt (Psal. CXLVIII, 5)? Quid difficile facit, qui verbo facit? Qua facilitate creavit Angelos ultra coelos, ea facilitate luminaria in coelis, ea facilitate pisces in mari, ea facilitate arbores et animalia in terra: ea facilitate magna, qua parva. Cui ergo cuncta facillimum fuit facere de nihilo, mirandum est quia dedit senibus filium? Tales ergo illos viros vel illos homines habebat Deus, et illo tempore tales fecerat praecones Filio venturo, ut non solum in his quae dicebant, sed etiam in his quae faciebant, vel in his quae illis accidebant, Christus quaeratur, Christus inveniatur. Quidquid Scriptura dicit de Abraham, et factum est, et prophetia est: sicut Apostolus quodam loco dicit, Scriptum est enim quod Abraham duos filios habuit; unum de ancilla, et alterum de libera: quae sunt in allegoria. Haec ergo sunt duo Testamenta (Galat. IV, 22, 24).

a mouse as an elephant (different works, but one art); how much more God, Who spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created (Ps. 148:5)? What does He do with difficulty, Who acts by a word? With the same ease with which He created the angels beyond the heavens, with that ease He created the lights in the heavens, with that ease the fish in the sea, with that ease the trees and animals on the earth: with that ease the great things with which He created the small. Is it then to be wondered at that He for Whom it was most easy to make all things from nothing gave a son to the aged? Such, then, were those men, or those human beings, whom God had, and at that time He had made them such heralds of the Son Who was to come, that not only in the things which they said, but also in the things which they did, or in the things which befell them, Christ should be sought, Christ should be found. Whatever Scripture says about Abraham is both a fact and a prophecy: as the Apostle says in a certain place, For it is written that Abraham had two sons; one from the bondwoman, and the other from the free woman: which things are an allegory. These, then, are the two Testaments (Gal. 4:22, 24).

CAPUT VII. — 8. Isaaci historia et vera est et figurativa. Jam ergo non imprudenter dicimus quia Isaac et natus est Abrahae, et aliquid significavit. Sicut et immolare filium jussus obtemperat Deo, perducit ad locum, pervenit triduo, dimittit duos servos suos cum jumento, pergit ipse quo Deus praeceperat; levat lignum in altare, levat filium super lignum. Antequam veniat filius ad locum sacrificii, portat lignum quo levandus est. Deinde cum jam pene feriretur, sonat vox, ut parcatur: et non tamen sine sacrificio et sine sanguine fuso receditur. Apparet aries in vepre inhaerens cornibus, immolatur, peragitur sacrificium. Peracto sacrificio dicitur ad Abraham: Facio semen tuum, sicut stellas coeli et arenam maris; et obtinebit semen tuum civitates adversariorum; et benedicentur in semine tuo omnes gentes terrae, eo quod exaudisti vocem meam (Gen. XXII, 17 et 18). Vide ergo quando factum est, et quando fit commemoratio facti ipsius. Quando dicit ille Aries, Foderunt manus meas et pedes meos, et caetera. Quando peractum est illud in Psalmo sacrificium, tunc in ipso Psalmo dictum est, Commemorabuntur et convertentur ad Dominum universi fines terrae; et adorabunt in conspectu ejus universae patriae gentium: quoniam ipsius est regnum, et ipse dominabitur gentium (Psal. XXI, 17, 28 et 29). Si commemorabuntur, dictum est, praesignatum est aliquando, quod fieri jam videmus.

Chapter VII. — 8. The story of Isaac is both true and figurative. Not unwisely, then, do we say that Isaac was both born to Abraham and signified something. Thus also, when ordered to sacrifice his son, he obeys God, leads him to the place, arrives on the third day, sends away his two servants with the beast of burden, goes on himself to where God had commanded; he lifts the wood onto the altar, he lifts the son onto the wood. Before the son comes to the place of sacrifice, he carries the wood on which he is to be lifted up. Then, when he was now almost being struck, a voice sounds, that he be spared: and yet they do not depart without a sacrifice and without blood shed. A ram appears, caught by its horns in a thicket; it is sacrificed, the sacrifice is completed. When the sacrifice has been completed, it is said to Abraham: I make your seed as the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea; and your seed shall possess the cities of the adversaries; and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have hearkened to my voice (Gen. 22:17–18). See, then, when it was done, and when the commemoration of that very deed takes place. When that Ram says, They have dug my hands and my feet, and the rest. When that sacrifice in the Psalm had been completed, then in that same Psalm it was said, All the ends of the earth shall remember and shall be turned to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship in His sight: for the kingdom is His, and He shall rule over the nations (Ps. 21:17, 28–29). If it was said, they shall remember, then what we now see being done was signified beforehand at some time.

CAPUT VIII. — 9. Justificatio ex fide sine operibus. Videamus ergo quomodo impletum sit, et unde impletum, quo praecedente sacrificio impletum, quod dictum est Abrahae, In semine tuo benedicentur omnes gentes. Felices gentes, quae illud non audierunt, et nunc legentes crediderunt, quod credidit ille qui audivit. Credidit enim Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam, et amicus Dei appellatus est (Jacobi II, 23). Quod credidit Deo, intus in

Chapter VIII. — 9. Justification by faith without works. Let us see, then, how it was fulfilled, and whence it was fulfilled, by what preceding sacrifice it was fulfilled, what was said to Abraham, In your seed shall all nations be blessed. Happy the nations, which did not hear it, and now, reading, have believed what he who heard it believed. For Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God (Jas. 2:23). That he believed God, within in

Editors' notes and page, col. 31

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 31

Sic Am. Er. Par. et Mss. At Ulim. et Lov., diverso opere, sed arte una.

So Am., Er., Par. and the manuscripts. But Ulim. and Lov. have diverso opere, sed arte una.

(printed under page 20)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 31

Ulim. et Lov. addunt, Christus intelligatur; quod abest a caeteris libris.

Ulim. and Lov. add Christus intelligatur, which is absent from the other books.

(printed under page 20)

(3) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 31

Mss., non impudenter.

The manuscripts have non impudenter.

(printed under page 20)

(4) ‹anchor: praesignatum est aliquando› · call in col 31

Lov., aliquando futurum. Vox, futurum, abest a caeteris libris.

Lov. has aliquando futurum. The word futurum is absent from the other books.

(printed under page 20)