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Augustine, Sermones 76-82 (Classis I, de Scripturis)

Sermon LXXXI

SERMO LXXXI. De verbis Evangelii Matthaei, ubi admonemur ab scandalis mundi cavere. Cap. XVIII, ℣ 7-9.

Sermon 81. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, where we are warned to beware of the scandals of the world. Ch. 18, vv. 7-9.

1. Contra scandala quomodo munimur. Divinae lectiones, quas modo, cum recitarentur, audivimus, admonent nos adversus scandala, quae futura praedicta sunt, robur percipere virtutum, pectus munire christianum, et hoc a misericordia Domini. Quid est enim homo, ait, nisi quod memor es ejus (Psal. VIII, 5)? Vae mundo ab scandalis, Dominus dicit, Veritas dicit: terret et monet, non vult esse nos incautos; nam non fecit utique desperatos. Contra hoc Vae, id est contra hoc malum metuendum, tremendum, cavendum, consolatur nos, et hortatur, et instruit illo loco Scriptura, ubi dicitur: Pax multa diligentibus legem tuam, et non est eis scandalum (Psal. CXVIII, 165). Ostendit hostem cavendum, sed non cessavit ostendere murum munitum. Cogitabas tu audiens, Vae mundo ab scandalis, quo ires extra mundum, ne scandala patereris. Ergo propter cavenda scandala, quo ibis extra mundum, nisi fugias ad eum qui fecit mundum? Quomodo autem ad eum qui fecit mundum, confugere poterimus, nisi legem ejus, quae ubique praedicatur, audiamus? Parum est audiamus, nisi diligamus. Securum te enim faciens Scriptura divina contra scandala non ait, Pax multa audientibus legem tuam. Non enim auditores legis justi sunt apud Deum. Sed quia factores legis justificabuntur (Rom. II, 13), et fides per dilectionem operatur (Galat. V, 6): Pax multa, inquit, diligentibus legem tuam, et non est eis scandalum. Concinit huic sententiae etiam quod audiendo et respondendo cantavimus: Mites autem haereditate possidebunt terram, et delectabuntur in multitudine pacis (Psal. XXXVI, 11). Quia, Pax multa diligentibus legem tuam. Ipsi enim mites, qui diligunt legem Dei. Beatus enim vir, quem tu erudieris, Domine, et ex lege tua docueris eum; ut mitiges eum a diebus malignis, donec fodiatur peccatori fovea (Psal. XCIII, 12, 13). Quam diversae videntur Scripturae voces, et in unam sententiam sic confluunt atque concurrunt, ut quidquid audire potueris de fonte illo uberrimo, acquiescas et tu, concordes veritati amicus, pace plenus, charitate fervidus, contra scandala† munitus.

1. How we are fortified against scandals. The divine readings which we heard just now, when they were being read aloud, admonish us, against the scandals which have been foretold as coming, to receive the strength of the virtues, to fortify the Christian breast, and this from the mercy of the Lord. For what is man, it says, except that Thou remember him (Ps. 8:5)? Woe to the world because of scandals, the Lord says, the Truth says: He frightens and warns, He does not want us to be unwary; for He has certainly not made us desperate. Against this Woe, that is, against this evil which is to be feared, trembled at, guarded against, Scripture consoles us, and exhorts, and instructs in that place where it is said: Great peace to those who love Thy law, and there is no scandal for them (Ps. 118:165). It has shown the enemy to be guarded against, but it has not ceased to show the fortified wall. You were thinking, as you heard Woe to the world because of scandals, where you might go outside the world, so as not to suffer scandals. So then, to guard against scandals, where will you go outside the world, unless you flee to Him Who made the world? But how shall we be able to take refuge with Him Who made the world, unless we hear His law, which is preached everywhere? It is little that we hear, unless we love. For divine Scripture, making you secure against scandals, does not say, Great peace to those who hear Thy law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are just before God. But because the doers of the law will be justified (Rom. 2:13), and faith works through love (Gal. 5:6): Great peace, it says, to those who love Thy law, and there is no scandal for them. With this sentence there also harmonizes what we sang in hearing and responding: But the meek shall possess the land by inheritance, and shall delight in the abundance of peace (Ps. 36:11). Because, Great peace to those who love Thy law. For the meek are those who love the law of God. For blessed is the man whom Thou shall instruct, O Lord, and shall teach out of Thy law; that Thou may make him gentle against the evil days, until a pit is dug for the sinner (Ps. 93:12–13). How different the voices of Scripture seem, and yet they so flow together and concur in one sentence, that whatever you have been able to hear from that most abundant fountain, you too may assent and be in accord with the truth as a friend, full of peace, fervent in charity, fortified against scandals.

2. Mites in pressura, contra scandalum securi. Propositum est ergo videre, vel quaerere, vel discere, quomodo mites esse debemus: et ex hoc quod modo de Scripturis commemoravi, admonemur invenire quod quaerimus. Intenta sit paululum Charitas vestra; magna res agitur, ut mites simus: necessaria res in adversis. Neque enim res adversae saeculi hujus vocantur scandala: scandala quae sint, advertite. Nescio quis, verbi gratia, in necessitate aliqua constitutus urgetur pressura. Non est hoc scandalum, quia pressura

2. The meek, in affliction, are secure against scandal. Our purpose, then, is to see, or to seek, or to learn, how we ought to be meek: and from what I have just recalled from the Scriptures, we are prompted to find what we are seeking. Let your Charity attend a little; a great matter is at stake, that we be meek: a matter necessary in adversities. For the adversities of this world are not called scandals: pay attention to what scandals are. Someone, for example, placed in some necessity, is pressed hard by affliction. This is not a scandal, because by affliction

Editors' notes and page, col. 499

Footnotes

(*) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 499 (note printed under col 499; call not seen) Correctus ad Petavianum et Colbertinum MSS., et ad Sirm.

Corrected against the Petavian and Colbertine manuscripts, and against Sirm. [Sirmond's edition].

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(a) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 499 (note printed under col 499; call not seen)

Alias, ex Sirmondianis 33.

Formerly, 33 among those published by Sirmond. [The digits are blurred in the scan; 33 is the likely reading.]

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Citatur a Floro ad Rom. III. Habitus a Sirmondo notatur anno Christi 410, post urbem captam a Gothis cum allato in Africam ejus cladis nuntio, Roma funditus eversa periisse diceretur.

It is cited by Florus on Rom. 3. Sirmond marks it as delivered in the year of Christ 410, after the city had been taken by the Goths, when, the news of that disaster having been brought to Africa, Rome was being said to have perished, utterly overthrown.

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urgetur. Pressura et martyres pressi sunt, sed non oppressi. Scandalum cave, non valde pressuram. Pressura premit te, scandalum opprimit te. Quid ergo interest inter pressuram et scandalum? In pressura parabas servare patientiam, tenere constantiam, non relinquere fidem, non consentire peccato. Hoc si servas, aut si servaveris, pressura tibi ruina non erit: sed ad hoc valebit illa pressura, ad quod valet in torculari, non ut oliva opprimatur, sed ut oleum liquetur. Denique si in ista pressura laudes Deo dicas, quam utile prelum, unde a te liquor emanat? Sedebant in pressura Apostoli catenati, atque in illa pressura cantabant hymnum Deo. Quid premebatur? quid eliquabatur? Sedebat sub magna pressura Job in stercore, inops, sine ope, sine substantia, sine filiis; plenus, sed vermibus, quod quidem ad hominem pertinet exteriorem. Sed quia et intus Deo plenus erat, laudabat Deum, et pressura illa non illi erat scandalum. Ubi ergo scandalum? Quando accessit ei uxor, et ait, Dic aliquid in D⟨e⟩um, et morere. Omnibus quippe ablatis a diabolo, exercitato Eva servata est, non ad consolationem, sed ad tentationem viri. Ecce ubi scandalum. Exaggeravit miserias ejus, miserias etiam suas cum illius, et coepit persuadere blasphemiam. Illi autem, qui erat mitis, quia Deus ex lege sua docuerat eum, et mitigaverat a diebus malignis, pax multa erat in corde ejus diligentis legem Dei, et non erat illi scandalum. Illa scandalum erat, sed illi non erat. Denique vide mitem, vide eruditum in lege Dei, lege Dei dico aeterna. Nam lex illa in tabulis data Judaeis nondum erat temporibus Job, sed manebat adhuc lex aeterna in cordibus piorum, unde illa descripta est quae populo data est. Quia ergo mitigatus erat lege Dei a diebus malignis, et pax ei multa erat diligenti legem Dei, vide quam sit mitis, quid respondet. Hic disce quod proposui, qui sint mites. Locuta es, inquit, tanquam una ex insipientibus mulieribus. Si bona percepimus de manu Domini, mala non sustinemus (Job II, 9, 10)?

he is pressed hard. The martyrs too were pressed by pressure, but not oppressed. Beware of scandal, not so much of pressure. Pressure presses you, scandal oppresses you. What then is the difference between pressure and scandal? In pressure you were preparing to keep patience, to hold to constancy, not to abandon faith, not to consent to sin. If you keep this, or if you shall have kept it, pressure will not be ruin to you: rather, that pressure will avail for the same thing for which it avails in the press, not that the olive may be crushed, but that the oil may be made to flow. Finally, if in that pressure you speak praises to God, how useful is the press, from which the liquid flows out from you? The Apostles sat in pressure, in chains, and in that pressure they sang a hymn to God. What was being pressed? What was being strained out? Job sat under great pressure on the dunghill, destitute, without help, without substance, without sons; full, but of worms, which indeed pertains to the outer man. But because within too he was full of God, he praised God, and that pressure was not a scandal to him. Where then is the scandal? When his wife came to him and said, Say something against God, and die. For when everything had been taken away by the devil from the man thus tried, Eve was kept, not for the consolation, but for the temptation of the man. See where the scandal is. She magnified his miseries, her own miseries too together with his, and began to urge blasphemy. But to him, who was meek, because God had taught him out of His law and had soothed him from the evil days, there was great peace in the heart of him who loved the law of God, and there was no scandal to him. She was a scandal, but not to him. Finally, see the meek man, see the man learned in the law of God, the law of God, I say, the eternal one. For that law given to the Jews on tablets did not yet exist in the times of Job, but the eternal law still abode in the hearts of the godly, from which was copied that which was given to the people. Since, then, he had been soothed by the law of God from the evil days, and there was great peace for him who loved the law of God, see how meek he is, what he answers. Learn here what I set forth, who the meek are. You have spoken, he says, as one of the foolish women. If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, do we not endure evil things? (Job 2:9–10)

3. Mites quinam sint. Mundus bonus et mundus malus. Audivimus exemplo qui sint mites: definiamus eos verbis, si possumus. Mites sunt, quibus in factis omnibus bonis, in omnibus quae bene faciunt, non placet nisi Deus; in omnibus quae mala patiuntur, non displicet Deus. Eia, fratres, attendite ad hanc regulam, ad hanc normam; extendamus nos ad illam, quaeramus incrementum, ut impleamus illam. Quid enim prodest, quia plantamus et rigamus, nisi Deus incrementum dederit? Neque qui plantat est aliquid, neque qui rigat; sed qui incrementum dat Deus (I Cor. III, 7). Audi, qui vis mitis esse, qui vis mitigari a diebus malignis, qui diligis legem Dei; ut non sit in te scandalum, et sit tibi pax multa, ut possideas terram, et delecteris in multitudine pacis: audi, qui vis mitis esse. Quidquid boni facis, non tibi placeas. Deus

3. Who the meek are. The good world and the evil world. We have heard by example who the meek are: let us define them in words, if we can. The meek are those to whom, in all good deeds, in all the things that they do well, nothing is pleasing but God; in all the evils that they suffer, God is not displeasing. Come, brothers, attend to this rule, to this standard; let us stretch ourselves out towards it, let us seek growth, that we may fulfil it. For what does it profit that we plant and water, unless God gives the growth? Neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters; but God, Who gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:7). Hear, you who wish to be meek, you who wish to be soothed from the evil days, you who love the law of God; that there may be no scandal in you, and that there may be great peace for you, that you may possess the land and delight in the abundance of peace: hear, you who wish to be meek. Whatever good you do, do not be pleasing to yourself. For God

Editors' notes and page, col. 500

Footnotes

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Sic Mss. At Sirm., Scandalum cave, non valet pressura.

So the manuscripts. But Sirm.: Scandalum cave, non valet pressura ("Beware of the stumbling-block; the affliction has no power").

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Sirm., cantabant in Deum. Melius Mss., cantabant hymnum Deo.

Sirm.: cantabant in Deum ("they were singing unto God"). Better the manuscripts: cantabant hymnum Deo ("they were singing a hymn to God").

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Colbertinus Ms., quando accessit Eva.

The Colbertine manuscript: quando accessit Eva ("when Eve approached"). [The variant is faint in the scan; the reading is the likely one.]

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(4) ‹anchor: manebat adhuc lex› · call in col 500

Sic Colbertinus Ms. At Sirm., sed manebat apud Deum lex.

So the Colbertine manuscript. But Sirm.: sed manebat apud Deum lex ("but the law remained with God").

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enim superbis resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam (Jacobi IV, 6). Ergo quidquid boni facis, non tibi placeat nisi Deus: quidquid mali pateris, non tibi displiceat Deus. Quid plura? Hoc fac, et vives. Non te absorbebunt dies maligni; evades quod dictum est, Vae mundo ab scandalis. Cui mundo enim Vae ab scandalis, nisi de quo dictum est, Et mundus eum non cognovit (Joan. I, 10)? Non illi mundo, de quo dictum est, Deus erat in Christo mundum reconcilians sibi (II Cor. V, 19). Mundus malus, mundus bonus: mundus malus, omnes in mundo mali; et mundus bonus, omnes in mundo boni. Sicut attendimus plerumque agrum. Plenus est ager iste: quo fructu? Tritico. Itemque dicimus, et verum dicimus, Plenus est ager iste palea. Arbor est, plena est fructu. Alter dicit, Plena est foliis. Et qui dicit, Plena est fructu, verum dicit: et qui dicit, Plena est foliis, verum dicit. Nec plenitudo foliorum abstulit fructui locum, nec plenitudo fructuum turbam expulit foliorum. Utroque plena est: sed aliud quaerit ventus, aliud cultor colligit. Sic ergo, cum audis, Vae mundo ab scandalis, noli terreri; dilige legem Dei, non tibi erit scandalum.

resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Jas. 4:6). Therefore whatever good you do, let nothing please you but God; whatever evil you suffer, let God not displease you. What more [need I say]? Do this, and you will live. The evil days will not swallow you up; you will escape what was said, Woe to the world because of scandals. For to which world [is it said], Woe because of scandals, if not to that of which it was said, And the world did not know Him (John 1:10)? Not to that world of which it was said, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19). An evil world, a good world: an evil world, all in the world evil; and a good world, all in the world good. Just as we often look at a field. This field is full: with what crop? With wheat. And again we say, and we say truly, This field is full of chaff. There is a tree, it is full of fruit. Another says, It is full of leaves. Both he who says, It is full of fruit, speaks truly; and he who says, It is full of leaves, speaks truly. Neither has the fullness of leaves taken away room from the fruit, nor has the fullness of fruits driven out the crowd of leaves. It is full of both: but the wind seeks the one, the husbandman gathers the other. So then, when you hear, Woe to the world because of scandals, do not be terrified; love the law of God, and there will be no scandal for you.

4. Scandalum ab oculo, a manu et a pede. Sed occurrit uxor, nescio quid mali persuadens. Diligis eam, sicut oportet diligi uxorem: membrum tuum est. Sed si oculus tuus scandalizat te, si manus tua scandalizat te, si pes tuus scandalizat te, modo audisti Evangelium, amputa, projice abs te. Quisquis tibi charus est, quisquis tibi pro magno habetur a te, tamdiu magnus sit, tamdiu dilectum membrum tuum sit, quamdiu non coeperit scandalizare, id est, mali aliquid suadere. Audite quia hoc est scandalum. Constituimus exemplum de Job et uxore ejus: sed ibi non est nominatum scandalum. Audi Evangelium: Dominus cum de passione sua praedicaret, Petrus coepit illi suadere ne pateretur. Redi retro, satanas, scandalum mihi es. Prorsus docuit te Dominus, qui tibi vivendi exemplum praebuit, et quid sit scandalum, et quomodo caveatur scandalum. Cui dixerat paulo ante, Beatus es, Simon Bar-Jona (Matth. XVI, 23, 17), ostenderat illum membrum suum esse. At ubi coepit scandalum esse, praecidit membrum: refecit membrum, reposuit membrum. Scandalum ergo tibi ille erit, qui tibi mali aliquid suadere coeperit. Et intendat Charitas vestra: fit hoc plerumque, non malevolentia, sed perversa benevolentia. Videt enim te amicus tuus, qui te diligit, vicissimque a te diligitur, pater tuus, frater tuus, filius tuus, conjux tua, videt te in malo, et vult te facere malum. Quid est, videt te in malo? Videt te in aliqua pressura. Pressuram ipsam propter justitiam forsitan pateris: ideo pateris pressuram, quia non vis dicere falsum testimonium. Verbi gratia dixerim. Abundant exempla, quia Vae mundo ab scandalis. Ecce, verbi gratia, potens aliquis quaerit a te, propter praedam suam, propter rapinam suam, ministerium falsi testimonii. Negas tu: negas

4. Scandal from the eye, from the hand and from the foot. But your wife comes to meet you, urging something or other that is evil. You love her, as a wife ought to be loved: she is your member. But if your eye scandalizes you, if your hand scandalizes you, if your foot scandalizes you, you have just heard the Gospel: cut it off, cast it from you. Whoever is dear to you, whoever is held by you as of great account, let him be great so long, let him be your beloved member so long, as he has not begun to scandalize, that is, to urge something evil. Hear that this is scandal. We have set forth the example of Job and his wife: but there scandal is not named. Hear the Gospel: when the Lord was foretelling His passion, Peter began to urge Him not to suffer. Get behind, Satan, you are a scandal to me. The Lord, Who gave you an example of living, has fully taught you both what scandal is and how scandal is to be guarded against. To him He had said a little before, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona (Matt. 16:23, 17); He had shown him to be His member. But when he began to be a scandal, He cut off the member: He restored the member, He put the member back. He, then, will be a scandal to you who has begun to urge something evil upon you. And let your Charity attend: this often happens not from malevolence, but from perverse benevolence. For your friend, who loves you and is loved by you in turn, your father, your brother, your son, your wife, sees you in evil, and wishes you to do evil. What does it mean, sees you in evil? He sees you in some affliction. Perhaps you suffer that very affliction for righteousness' sake: you suffer affliction precisely because you will not bear false witness. I say this by way of example. Examples abound, for Woe to the world because of scandals. See, for example, some powerful man seeks from you, for the sake of his plunder, for the sake of his robbery, the service of false witness. You refuse: you refuse

Editors' notes and page, col. 501

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 501 (note printed under col 501; call not seen)

In Colbertino Ms., Non te absorbeant dies maligni evadas, etc.

In the Colbertine manuscript: Non te absorbeant dies maligni evadas ("Let the evil days not swallow you up; may you escape"), etc.

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(2) ‹anchor: tamdiu magnus sit› · call in col 501

Colbertinus Ms., tamdiu agnitus sit.

The Colbertine manuscript: tamdiu agnitus sit ("let him be acknowledged so long"). [UNSURE: the variant is badly blurred in the scan; "agnitus" and the last word (sit or fuit) are the likely readings, not certain ones.]

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Videtur nonnihil deesse.

Something appears to be missing.

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falsum, ne neges verum. Ne multis immorer, ille irascitur, potens est, premit. Accedit amicus, qui non vult te esse in pressura, non vult te esse in malo: Rogo te, fac quod tibi dicitur; quid magnum est? Jam forte quomodo et Satanas Domino, Scriptum est de te, quia Angelis suis mandavit de te, ne offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum (Matth. IV, 6). Forte et iste amicus tuus, quia videt te christianum, de lege tibi vult persuadere, quod putat te debere facere. Fac quod dicit. Quid? Hoc quod vult ille. Sed mendacium est, falsum est. Non legisti, Omnis homo mendax (Psal. CXV, 11)? Jam iste scandalum est. Amicus est, quid facturus es? Oculus est, manus est: Amputa, et projice abs te. Quid est, Amputa, et projice abs te? Noli consentire. Hoc significat, Amputa, et projice abs te, noli consentire. Membra enim nostra in corpore nostro consensione faciunt unitatem, consensione vivunt, consensione invicem connectuntur. Ubi dissensio, ibi morbus aut vulnus est. Ergo membrum tuum est: diliges eum. Sed scandalizat te; Amputa eum, et projice abs te. Noli consentire; averte illum ab auribus tuis, forte correctus rediet.

the false, lest you deny the true. Not to dwell on many things: that man is angry, he is powerful, he presses you hard. A friend comes up who does not want you to be in distress, does not want you to be in trouble: "I beg you, do what you are told; what great matter is it?" Now perhaps, just as Satan also [said] to the Lord, "It is written of You that He has commanded His angels concerning You, lest You strike Your foot against a stone" (Matt. 4:6). Perhaps this friend of yours too, because he sees you are a Christian, wants to persuade you from the law of what he thinks you ought to do. "Do what he says." What? "What that man wants." But it is a lie, it is false. "Have you not read, Every man is a liar (Ps. 115:11)?" Now this man is a stumbling-block. He is a friend; what are you going to do? He is an eye, he is a hand: Cut it off, and cast it from you. What is "Cut it off, and cast it from you"? Do not consent. This is what "Cut it off, and cast it from you" means: do not consent. For our members in our body make a unity by consent, live by consent, are joined to one another by consent. Where there is dissent, there is disease or a wound. So he is your member: you will love him. But he causes you to stumble; Cut him off, and cast him from you. Do not consent; turn him away from your ears; perhaps, corrected, he will come back.

5. Mendacium divina lege vetitum. Quomodo facturus es hoc quod dico, amputaturus, et abjecturus, et eo fortasse correcturus? Quomodo facturus es, responde. De Lege voluit suadere mendacium. Ille enim ait, Dic. Et forte non ausus est dicere, Dic mendacium: sed sic, Dic quod vult. Tu dicis, Sed mendacium est. Et ille, ut excuset, Omnis homo mendax. Et tu contra, frater, Os quod mentitur, occidit animam (Sap. I, 11). Attende, non est leve quod audisti, Os quod mentitur, occidit animam. Quid mihi facit inimicus iste potens, qui me premit, quia miseraris me, et miseret conditionis in me, et non vis me esse in malo; cum velis me esse malum? Quid mihi facit potens iste? Quid premit? Carnem. Corpus, dicis tu, premit: dico ego, perimit. Quanto mitius mecum agit ille, quam ego si mentitus fuero? Ille occidit carnem meam: ego occido animam meam. Iratus potens occidit corpus: Os quod mentitur, occidit animam. Corpus occidit; moriturum erat, etsi non occideretur: animam vero quam non occidit iniquitas, in aeternum excipit veritas. Serva ergo quod servare potes: pereat quod quandoque periturum est. Respondisti; et tamen Omnis homo mendax non solvisti. Responde illi et ad hoc, ne videatur sibi aliquid dixisse ad suadendum mendacium, testimonium de Lege proferens, urgens te de Lege contra Legem. In Lege enim scriptum est, Falsum Testimonium ne dicas (Deut. V, 20): et in Lege scriptum est, Omnis homo mendax. Respice ad illud quod paulo ante commonui, quando mitem hominem verbis quibus potui, terminavi. Mitis est, cui in omnibus quae bene facit, non placet nisi Deus; in omnibus quae male patitur, non displicet Deus. Hoc ergo ei responde, qui dicit, Mentire, quia scriptum est, Omnis homo mendax: Non mentior, quia scriptum est, Os quod mentitur, occidit animam. Non

5. Lying forbidden by the divine law. How are you going to do what I say: cut off, and cast away, and perhaps by that correct? How are you going to do it, answer. He wanted to urge a lie from the Law. For he says, "Say." And perhaps he did not dare to say, "Tell a lie," but thus: "Say what he wants." You say, "But it is a lie." And he, to excuse it, "Every man is a liar." And you against him, brother: The mouth that lies kills the soul (Wis. 1:11). Pay attention: what you have heard is no light thing, The mouth that lies kills the soul. What does this powerful enemy who presses me do to me, since you pity me, and feel pity for my condition, and do not want me to be in trouble, when you want me to be bad? What does this powerful man do to me? What does he press? The flesh. "The body," you say, "he presses": I say, "he destroys." How much more gently does he deal with me than I would if I lied? He kills my flesh: I kill my soul. The angry powerful man kills the body: The mouth that lies kills the soul. He kills the body; it was going to die even if it were not killed: but the soul which iniquity has not killed, truth receives into eternity. Keep therefore what you can keep: let that perish which is going to perish at some time. You have answered; and yet you have not resolved "Every man is a liar." Answer him on this too, lest he think he has said something towards urging a lie, bringing forward testimony from the Law, pressing you from the Law against the Law. For in the Law it is written, Do not speak false testimony (Deut. 5:20): and in the Law it is written, Every man is a liar. Look back to what I reminded you of a little before, when I defined the meek man in such words as I could. He is meek to whom, in all the things that he does well, nothing is pleasing but God; in all the evils that he suffers, God is not displeasing. So give this answer to him who says, "Lie, because it is written, Every man is a liar": I do not lie, because it is written, The mouth that lies kills the soul. I do not

Editors' notes and page, col. 502

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 502 (note printed under col 502; call not seen)

Sic Florus et Colbertinus Ms. At Sirm., Fac, quid? dic, quid? hoc quod ille.

So Florus and the Colbertine manuscript. But Sirm.: Fac, quid? dic, quid? hoc quod ille ("Do it. What? Say it. What? That which he [wants]"). [The first words of the variant are faint in the scan.]

(printed under page 257)

(2) ‹anchor: conditionis in me› · call in col 502

Colbertinus Ms., et misericordiam ponis in me.

The Colbertine manuscript: et misericordiam ponis in me ("and you set your pity upon me").

(printed under page 257)

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mentior, quia scriptum est, Perdes omnes qui loquuntur mendacium (Psal. V, 7). Non mentior, quia scriptum est, Falsum testimonium non dices. Urgeat licet pressuris carnem meam cui displiceo in veritate: audio Dominum meum, Nolite timere eos qui corpus occidunt (Matth. X, 28).

lie, because it is written, Thou wilt destroy all who speak a lie (Ps. 5:7). I do not lie, because it is written, You shall not bear false witness. Let him whom I displease in the truth press my flesh with afflictions as he may: I hear my Lord, Do not fear those who kill the body (Matt. 10:28).

6. Homines agant, non ut homines, sed ut filii Dei. Quomodo ergo omnis homo mendax? An forte non es homo? Responde cito, et verum, Et homo non sim, ne mendax sim. Videte enim: Deus de coelo prospexit super filios hominum, ut videret si est intelligens et requirens Deum. Omnes declinaverunt, simul inutiles facti sunt: non est qui faciat bonum, non est usque ad unum (Psal. XIII, 2, 3). Quare? Quia filii hominum esse voluerunt. Ut autem eos ab his iniquitatibus tolleret, redimeret, curaret, sanaret, mutaret filios hominum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri (Joan. I, 12). Quid ergo mirum? Homines eratis, si eratis filii hominum: omnes homines eratis, mendaces eratis; omnis enim homo mendax. Accedit vobis gratia Dei, dedit vobis potestatem filios Dei fieri. Audite vocem Patris mei dicentis, Ego dixi, Dii estis, et filii Altissimi omnes (Psal. LXXXI, 6). Quoniam homines filii hominum, si non filii Altissimi, mendaces; quia omnis homo mendax. Si filii Dei, si gratia Salvatoris redempti, si pretioso sanguine comparati, si aqua et Spiritu renati, si ad haereditatem coelorum praedestinati, utique filii Dei. Ergo jam dii. Quid ad te vult mendacium? Adam enim purus homo, Christus homo Deus, creator omnis creaturae Deus. Adam homo, Christus homo mediator Dei, Filius unicus Patris, Deus homo. Ecce tu longe a Deo homo, et Deus sursum longe ab homine: in medio se posuit Deus homo. Agnosce Christum, et per hominem ascende ad Deum.

6. Let men act, not as men, but as sons of God. How then is every man a liar? Or are you perhaps not a man? Answer quickly, and truly: Then let me not be a man, so that I may not be a liar. For see: God looked forth from heaven upon the sons of men, to see whether there is anyone who understands and seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become useless: there is none who does good, there is not even one (Ps. 13:2–3). Why? Because they wished to be sons of men. But in order to take them away from these iniquities, to redeem, cure, heal and change the sons of men, He gave them power to become sons of God (John 1:12). What wonder then? You were men, if you were sons of men: you were all men, you were liars; for every man is a liar. The grace of God comes to you; He has given you power to become sons of God. Hear the voice of my Father saying, I have said, You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High (Ps. 81:6). For men, sons of men, if not sons of the Most High, are liars; because every man is a liar. If sons of God, if redeemed by the grace of the Saviour, if purchased with precious blood, if reborn of water and the Spirit, if predestined to the inheritance of the heavens, then assuredly sons of God. Therefore now gods. What does a lie want with you? For Adam was mere man; Christ is man and God, God the creator of every creature. Adam was man; Christ is man, the mediator of God, the only Son of the Father, God and man. Behold, you, a man, are far from God, and God on high is far from man: in the middle God-man placed Himself. Acknowledge Christ, and through the man ascend to God.

7. Paganorum scandalum ex pressuris mundi. Jam ergo correcti, et si aliquid egimus, mites, teneamus indeclinabilem confessionem. Diligamus legem Dei, ut evadamus quod dictum est. Vae mundo ab scandalis. Loquamur aliquid de scandalis, quibus mundus plenus est, et quomodo crebrescant scandala, abundent pressurae. Vastatur mundus, calcatur torcular. Eia, christiane, coeleste germen, peregrinis in terra, qui civitatem in coelo quaeritis, qui Angelis sanctis sociari desideratis, intelligite vos sic venisse ut discedatis. Transitis per mundum, conantes ad eum qui creavit mundum. Non vos perturbent amatores mundi, qui volunt in mundo remanere, et velint nolint, coguntur migrare: non vos decipiant, non seducant. Pressurae istae non sunt scandala. Justi estote, et exercitationes erunt. Tribulatio venit: quod volueris erit, aut exercitatio, aut damnatio. Qualem te invenerit, talis erit. Tribulatio ignis est: aurum te

7. The scandal of the pagans arising from the afflictions of the world. Now then, being corrected, and, if we have done anything, being meek, let us hold to an unswerving confession. Let us love the law of God, that we may escape what was said. Woe to the world because of scandals. Let us say something about scandals, of which the world is full, and about how scandals multiply and afflictions abound. The world is laid waste, the winepress is trodden. Come now, Christian, heavenly seed, pilgrims on earth, you who seek a city in heaven, who desire to be joined with the holy angels, understand that you have come in such a way as to depart. You pass through the world, striving towards Him Who created the world. Let not the lovers of the world trouble you, who wish to remain in the world and, willing or unwilling, are compelled to depart: let them not deceive you, let them not lead you astray. These afflictions are not scandals. Be just, and they will be exercises. Tribulation comes: it will be what you will, either exercise or damnation. Such as it finds you, such will it be. Tribulation is fire: is it you as gold

Editors' notes and page, col. 503

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: filii Altissimi, mendaces› · call in col 503

Ubi nos ex Colbertino veteri codice, filii Altissimi omnes. Quoniam homines, etc., sic habet Sirm., Filii Altissimi omnes. Filii hominum, filii hominum, non filii Altissimi, mendaces, quia, etc.

Where we, from the old Colbertine codex, give filii Altissimi omnes. Quoniam homines ("all sons of the Most High. Since men"), etc., Sirm. has thus: Filii Altissimi omnes. Filii hominum, filii hominum, non filii Altissimi, mendaces, quia ("All sons of the Most High. Sons of men, sons of men, not sons of the Most High, are liars, because"), etc.

(printed under page 258)

(2) ‹anchor: Ergo jam dii› · call in col 503

Sirm., Ergo audi. Emendatur ope Colbertini manuscripti, qui paulo post habet sic : Adam homo, homo Christus, homo Deus, creator omnis creaturae Deus. Adam homo, homo mediator Dei Filius unicus Patris Dei homo. Ecce, etc.

Sirm.: Ergo audi ("Therefore listen"). It is emended with the help of the Colbertine manuscript, which a little further on has thus: Adam homo, homo Christus, homo Deus, creator omnis creaturae Deus. Adam homo, homo mediator Dei Filius unicus Patris Dei homo. Ecce ("Adam a man, Christ a man, a man who is God, God the creator of every creature. Adam a man, the man who is mediator, the only Son of God the Father, God's man. Behold"), etc. [The quoted words are faint in the scan in places.]

(printed under page 258)

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PL 38:504

invenit? sordes tollit: paleam te invenit? in cinerem vertit. Ergo pressurae quae abundant, non sunt scandala. Sed quae sunt scandala? Locutiones illae, verba illa, quibus nobis dicitur: Ecce quid faciunt tempora christiana, ecce quae sunt scandala. Ad hoc enim tibi dicitur, ut tu, si amas mundum, blasphemes Christum. Et dicit tibi hoc amicus tuus, consiliarius tuus: ergo oculus tuus. Dicit tibi hoc minister tuus, cooperarius tuus: ergo manus tua. Dicit tibi hoc forte qui te sustentat, qui te ab humilitate terrena sublevat: ergo pes tuus. Abjice, amputa, projice abs te, noli consentire. Responde talibus, quomodo respondebat ille, cui suadebatur falsum testimonium. Responde, et tu: dic homini dicenti tibi, Ecce temporibus christianis tantae pressurae sunt, vastatur mundus: responde tu, Hoc mihi antequam eveniret, praedixit Christus.

that it finds? it removes the dross: does it find you chaff? it turns [you] into ash. Therefore the pressures which abound are not stumbling-blocks. But what are the stumbling-blocks? Those sayings, those words by which we are told: See what Christian times are doing, see what the stumbling-blocks are. For this is said to you so that you, if you love the world, may blaspheme Christ. And your friend, your counsellor, says this to you: then he is your eye. Your servant, your fellow-worker, says this to you: then he is your hand. Perhaps the one who supports you, who raises you up from earthly lowliness, says this to you: then he is your foot. Cast away, cut off, throw from you, do not consent. Answer such people as that man answered who was being urged to give false testimony. Answer, you too: say to the man who says to you, See, in Christian times there are such great pressures, the world is being laid waste: answer, This Christ foretold to me before it happened.

8. Pressurae deficientis mundi praedictae. Quare enim turbaris? Pressuris mundi turbatur cor tuum, quomodo navis illa, ubi dormiebat Christus. Ecce quae causa est, homo cordate, ut turbetur cor tuum: ecce quae causa est. Navis ista, in qua Christus dormit, cor est ubi fides dormit. Quid enim tibi novi dicitur, christiane? quid enim tibi novi dicitur? Temporibus christianis vastatur mundus, deficit mundus. Non tibi dixit Dominus tuus, Vastabitur mundus? Non tibi dixit Dominus tuus, Deficiet mundus? Quare credebas quando promittebatur, et turbaris quando completur? Ergo tempestas saevit in cor tuum: cave naufragium, excita Christum. Habitare, inquit Apostolus, Christum per fidem in cordibus vestris (Ephes. III, 17). Per fidom habitat in te Christus. Fides praesens, praesens est Christus: fides vigilans, vigilans est Christus: fides oblita, dormiens est Christus. Excitare, commovere, dic: Domine, perimus (Matth. VIII, 24-26)! Ecce quae nobis dicunt Pagani: quae nobis dicunt, quod est gravius, mali Christiani. Exsurge, Domine, perimus. Evigilet fides tua, incipit tibi loqui Christus. Quid perturbaris? Haec omnia praedixi tibi. Ideo praedixi, ut cum venissent mala, sperares bona, ut non deficeres in malis. Miraris quia deficit mundus? mirare quia senuit mundus. Homo est, nascitur, crescit, senescit. Querelae multae in senecta: tussis, pituita, lippitudo, anxietudo, lassitudo inest. Ergo senuit homo; querelis plenus est: senuit mundus; pressuris plenus est. Parum tibi praestitit Deus, quia in senectute mundi misit tibi Christum, ut tunc te reficiat, quando cuncta deficiunt? Nescis hoc significasse in semine Abrahae? Nam semen Abrahae ait Apostolus, quod est Christus. Non dicit, Et seminibus, tanquam in multis; sed tanquam in uno, Et semini tuo, quod est Christus (Galat. III, 16). Ideo seni Abrahae natus est filius, quia erat utique Christus in ipsius mundi senectute venturus. Venit cum omnia veterascerent, et novum te fecit. Res facta, res condita, res peritura jam vergebat in occasum. Necesse erat ut abundaret laboribus: venit ille et consolari te inter labores, et

8. The pressures of a failing world foretold. Why then are you troubled? Your heart is troubled by the pressures of the world, like that ship in which Christ was sleeping. See what the cause is, man of sense, that your heart is troubled: see what the cause is. That ship in which Christ sleeps is the heart in which faith sleeps. For what new thing is said to you, Christian? what new thing indeed is said to you? In Christian times the world is laid waste, the world fails. Did not your Lord tell you, The world will be laid waste? Did not your Lord tell you, The world will fail? Why did you believe when it was promised, and are troubled when it is fulfilled? So the storm rages in your heart: beware of shipwreck, wake Christ. That Christ may dwell, says the Apostle, through faith in your hearts (Eph. 3:17). Through faith Christ dwells in you. Faith present, Christ is present: faith watchful, Christ is watchful: faith forgetful, Christ is sleeping. Rouse yourself, stir yourself, say: Lord, we are perishing (Matt. 8:24–26)! See what the pagans say to us: what, which is graver, bad Christians say to us. Arise, Lord, we are perishing. Let your faith awake, Christ begins to speak to you. Why are you disturbed? All these things I foretold to you. I foretold them so that when evils came you might hope for good things, so that you might not fail in the midst of evils. Do you wonder that the world is failing? Wonder that the world has grown old. [The world] is a man: it is born, it grows, it grows old. Many are the complaints in old age: cough, phlegm, bleary eyes, anxiety, weariness are present. So the man has grown old; he is full of complaints: the world has grown old; it is full of pressures. Has God granted you little, in that in the old age of the world He sent you Christ, to restore you then, when all things are failing? Do you not know that this was signified in the seed of Abraham? For the seed of Abraham, says the Apostle, which is Christ. He does not say, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to your seed, which is Christ (Gal. 3:16). Therefore a son was born to Abraham in his old age, because Christ was indeed to come in the old age of the world itself. He came when all things were growing old, and He made you new. A thing made, a thing created, a thing destined to perish was already sinking towards its setting. It had to abound in troubles: He came both to console you in the midst of troubles and

Editors' notes and page, col. 504

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: Excitare, commovere› · call in col 504

In Colbertino Ms., commonere.

In the Colbertine manuscript: commonere ("to admonish").

(printed under page 258)

(2) ‹anchor: Homo est› · call in col 504

Sirm., quia senuit mundus. Mundus homo est, etc. Vox, mundus, non repetitur in manuscriptis.

Sirm.: quia senuit mundus. Mundus homo est ("because the world has grown old. The world is a man"), etc. The word mundus is not repeated in the manuscripts.

(printed under page 258)

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promittere tibi in sempiternum quietem. Noli adhaerere velle seni mundo, et nolle juvenescere in Christo, qui tibi dicit: Perit mundus, senescit mundus, deficit mundus, laborat anhelitu senectutis. Noli timere, renovabitur juventus tua sicut aquilae (Psal. CII, 5).

to promise you rest for ever. Do not be willing to cling to an old world, and unwilling to grow young in Christ, Who says to you: The world is perishing, the world is growing old, the world is failing, it labours with the gasping breath of old age. Do not be afraid, your youth shall be renewed like the eagle's (Ps. 102:5).

9. Paganorum in Christianam religionem querelae ex vastatione Romae. Ecce, inquit, christianis temporibus Roma perit. Forte Roma non perit: forte flagellata est, non interempta: forte castigata est, non deleta. Forte Roma non perit, si Romani non pereant. Non enim peribunt, si Deum laudabunt: peribunt, si blasphemabunt. Roma enim quid est, nisi Romani? Non enim de lapidibus et lignis agitur, de excelsis insulis et amplissimis moenibus. Hoc sic erat factum, ut esset aliquando ruiturum. Homo cum aedificaret, posuit lapidem super lapidem; et homo cum destrueret, expulit lapidem a lapide. Homo illud fecit, homo illud destruxit. Injuria fit Romae, quia dicitur, Cadit? Non Romae, sed forte artifici ejus. Conditori ejus facimus injuriam, quia dicimus, Roma ruit, quam condidit Romulus? Mundus arsurus est, quem condidit Deus. Sed nec quod fecit homo, ruit, nisi quando voluerit Deus; nec quod fecit Deus, ruit, nisi quando voluerit Deus. Si enim hominis opus non cadit, sine voluntate Dei; opus Dei quando potest cadere per voluntatem hominis? Tamen et mundum fecit tibi Deus casurum; et ideo te condidit moriturum. Ipse homo ornamentum civitatis, ipse homo inhabitator, rector, gubernator civitatis, sic venit ut eat, sic est natus ut moriatur, sic est ingressus ut transeat. Coelum et terra transibunt (Matth. XXIV, 35): quid ergo mirum, si aliquando finis est civitati? Et forte non modo finis est civitati: tamen aliquando finis erit civitati. Sed quare inter sacrificia Christianorum perit Roma? Quare inter sacrificia Paganorum arsit mater ejus Troja? Dii, in quibus spem suam Romani posuerunt, omnino Romani dii, in quibus spem Pagani Romani posuerunt, ad Romam condendam de Troja incensa migraverunt. Dii Romani ipsi fuerunt primo dii Trojani. Arsit Troja, tulit Aeneas deos fugitivos: imo tulit deos fugiens stolidos. Portari enim a fugiente potuerunt: fugere ipsi non potuerunt. Et cum ipsis diis veniens in Italiam, cum diis falsis condidit Romam. Longum est caetera persequi: breviter tamen quod ipsorum litterae habent commemorem. Auctor ipsorum omnibus notus sic loquitur: «Urbem Romam, sicut ego accepi, condidere atque habuere initio Trojani, qui, Aenea duce profugi, sedibus incertis vagabantur» (Sallust. Bell. Catil. cap. 4.) Habebant ergo deos secum, condiderunt Romam in Latio, posuerunt ibi colendos

9. The complaints of the pagans against the Christian religion arising from the sacking of Rome. "Look," he says, "in Christian times Rome is perishing." Perhaps Rome is not perishing: perhaps it has been scourged, not slain; perhaps it has been chastised, not destroyed. Perhaps Rome is not perishing, if the Romans do not perish. For they will not perish if they praise God; they will perish if they blaspheme. For what is Rome, if not the Romans? For it is not a matter of stones and timbers, of lofty tenement-blocks and very spacious walls. This was so made that it would one day fall. When man was building, he set stone upon stone; and when man was destroying, he thrust stone from stone. Man made it, man destroyed it. Is wrong done to Rome because it is said, "It is falling"? Not to Rome, but perhaps to its builder. Do we do wrong to its founder because we say, "Rome, which Romulus founded, is falling"? The world, which God founded, is going to burn. But neither does what man has made fall, except when God wills; nor does what God has made fall, except when God wills. For if the work of man does not fall without the will of God, when can the work of God fall through the will of man? Yet God has also made the world for you destined to fall; and therefore He has created you destined to die. Man himself, the ornament of the city, man himself, the inhabitant, ruler and governor of the city, comes in such a way that he may go, is born in such a way that he may die, has entered in such a way that he may pass on. Heaven and earth shall pass away (Matt. 24:35): what wonder then if at some time there is an end for a city? And perhaps the end is not now for the city; yet at some time there will be an end for the city. But why does Rome perish amid the sacrifices of the Christians? Why did her mother Troy burn amid the sacrifices of the pagans? The gods in whom the Romans placed their hope, the very Roman gods in whom the pagan Romans placed their hope, migrated from burnt Troy to found Rome. The Roman gods themselves were first Trojan gods. Troy burned; Aeneas carried off the fugitive gods: rather, fleeing, he carried off senseless gods. For they could be carried by one fleeing: they themselves could not flee. And coming into Italy with those very gods, with false gods he founded Rome. It is long to go through the rest; yet let me briefly recall what their own writings contain. Their author, known to all, speaks thus: "The city of Rome, as I have received it, was founded and held in the beginning by the Trojans, who, refugees under the leadership of Aeneas, were wandering without fixed abode" (Sallust, Catiline 4). So they had the gods with them; they founded Rome in Latium; they set up there to be worshipped

Editors' notes and page, col. 505

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 505 (note printed under col 505; call not seen)

Apud Sirm. omissa est vox, insulis, quae hic in manuscriptis exstat, ad significanda aedificia praecipua, quae insularum instar separata a caeteris constant proprio murorum ambitu, undique vicos habentia.

In Sirm. the word insulis ("tenement-blocks") is omitted, which stands here in the manuscripts, to denote the principal buildings which, like islands, stand apart from the rest within their own circuit of walls, having streets on every side.

(printed under page 259)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 505 (note printed under col 505; call not seen)

Petavianus MS., casurus est. Hinc Colbertinus corrupte, carus est.

The Petavian manuscript: casurus est ("is going to fall"). Hence the Colbertine, corruptly: carus est ("is dear").

(printed under page 259)

(3) ‹anchor: te condidit moriturum› · call in col 505

Sic Colbertinus Ms. At Sirm. : Tamen mundum tibi casurum condidit. Ipse homo, etc., omissis verbis, et ideo te, etc.

So the Colbertine manuscript. But Sirm.: Tamen mundum tibi casurum condidit. Ipse homo ("Yet he founded for you a world that would fall. Man himself"), etc., with the words et ideo te ("and therefore you"), etc., omitted.

(printed under page 259)

(4) ‹anchor: tulit deos fugiens› · call in col 505

Sirm. hoc iterum loco, fugitivos; ubi Mss., fugiens.

Sirm. at this place again: fugitivos ("fugitive"); where the manuscripts have fugiens ("fleeing").

(printed under page 259)