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

Sermon LXXXII

deos, qui colebantur in Troja. Inducitur a poeta ipsorum Juno irascens Aeneae et Trojanis fugientibus, et dicit,

the gods who were worshipped at Troy. Juno is brought on by their own poet, angry at Aeneas and the fleeing Trojans, and she says,

Gens inimica mihi Tyrrhenum navigat aequor, Ilium in Italiam portans victosque Penates: (Virgil., Aeneid., lib. 1, vers. 67, 68.)

A race hostile to me sails the Tyrrhenian sea, carrying Ilium into Italy and its conquered Penates: (Virgil, Aeneid 1.67-68.)

id est, deos victos portans secum in Italiam. Jam quando dii in Italiam victi portabantur, numen erat, an omen? Diligite ergo legem Dei, et non sit vobis scandalum. Rogamus vos, obsecramus vos, exhortamur vos, estote mites, compatimini patientibus, suscipite infirmos: et in ista occasione multorum peregrinorum, egentium, laborantium, abundet hospitalitas vestra, abundent bona opera vestra. Quod jubet Christus, faciant Christiani, et tantum suo malo blasphemant Pagani.

that is, carrying conquered gods with it into Italy. Now when conquered gods were being carried into Italy, was that a divine power, or an omen? Love therefore the law of God, and let it not be a stumbling-block to you. We ask you, we beseech you, we exhort you: be gentle, suffer with those who suffer, take up the weak; and on this occasion of many strangers, needy, labouring, let your hospitality abound, let your good works abound. What Christ commands, let Christians do; and the pagans blaspheme only to their own harm.

SERMO LXXXII. De verbis Evangelii Matthaei, cap. XVIII, 15 18, Si peccaverit in te frater tuus, corripe eum inter te et ipsum solum, etc. Et de verbis Salomonis, Annuens oculis cum dolo, congerit hominibus moestitiam: qui autem arguit palam, pacem facit. Prov. cap. X, ℣ 10, sec. LXX.

Sermon 82. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18:15-18, If your brother sins against you, rebuke him between you and him alone, etc. And on the words of Solomon, He who winks with the eyes deceitfully heaps up sorrow for men; but he who reproves openly makes peace. Prov. 10:10, according to the Septuagint.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Observatio praevia. Festuca, ira; trabes, odium. Admonet nos Dominus noster non negligere invicem nostra peccata, non quaerendo quid reprehendas, sed videndo quid corrigas. Ejus quippe dixit acutum oculum ad ejiciendam festucam de oculo fratris sui, qui trabem in oculo suo non habet. Quid autem hoc sit, breviter insinuo Charitati vestrae. Festuca in oculo, ira est: trabes in oculo, odium est. Quando ergo qui odit reprehendit irascentem, festucam vult de oculo fratris sui tollere: sed trabe impeditur, quam ipse portat in oculo suo (Matth. VII, 3-5). Festuca initium trabis est. Nam trabes quando nascitur, prius festuca est. Rigando festucam, perducis ad trabem: alendo iram malis suspicionibus, perducis ad odium.

Chapter I. — 1. A preliminary observation. The mote, anger; the beam, hatred. Our Lord admonishes us not to neglect one another's sins, not by seeking what you may reprove, but by seeing what you may correct. For He said that the eye is sharp for casting the mote out of his brother's eye in him who has no beam in his own eye. What this means I briefly suggest to your Charity. A mote in the eye is anger; a beam in the eye is hatred. When therefore one who hates reproves one who is angry, he wishes to take the mote out of his brother's eye, but he is hindered by the beam which he himself carries in his own eye (Matt. 7:3–5). The mote is the beginning of the beam. For a beam, when it is born, is first a mote. By watering the mote, you bring it on to a beam; by feeding anger with evil suspicions, you bring it on to hatred.

CAPUT II. — 2. Peccatum irascentis: crudelitas odio habentis. Multum autem interest inter peccatum irascentis, et crudelitatem odio habentis. Nam et filiis nostris irascimur: odisse filios quis invenitur? In ipsis quoque pecoribus mater aliquando bucula sugentem vitulum taedio quodam avertit irascens: sed visceribus amplectitur matris. Quasi taedium facit, cum impingit: quaeritur tamen, si deest. Nec damus aliter filiis disciplinam, nisi aliquantum irascendo et indignando: nec tamen daremus disciplinam, nisi amando. Usque adeo non omnis qui irascitur, odit; ut aliquando magis odisse convincatur, si non irascitur.

Chapter II. — 2. The sin of one who is angry: the cruelty of one who holds [another] in hatred. But there is a great difference between the sin of one who is angry and the cruelty of one who holds [another] in hatred. For we are angry even with our children: who is found to hate his children? Even among the cattle themselves, a mother heifer sometimes, being angry, turns away the sucking calf out of a certain weariness; yet she embraces it with a mother's inmost affection. She seems to be weary of it when she pushes it away; yet it is looked for if it is missing. Nor do we give discipline to our children otherwise than by being somewhat angry and indignant; and yet we would not give discipline except by loving. So true is it that not everyone who is angry hates, that sometimes one is rather convicted of hating if one is not angry.

Editors' notes and page, col. 506

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Colbertinus Ms., condiderunt Romam, et constituerunt ibi colendos deos.

The Colbertine manuscript: condiderunt Romam, et constituerunt ibi colendos deos ("they founded Rome, and set up gods there to be worshipped").

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Sirmondus : nomen erat ** omen. Resarcitur hic locus per Colbertinum Ms.

Sirmond: nomen erat omen ("the name was an omen"). This passage is made good by means of the Colbertine manuscript.

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Apud Sirm., et tantum suo malo blasphement Pagani. M.

In Sirm.: et tantum suo malo blasphement Pagani ("and let the Pagans blaspheme only to their own harm"). M.

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(4) ‹anchor: cum impingit : quaeritur› · call in col 506

Aliquot Mss., queritur.

Some manuscripts: queritur ("she complains").

(*) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 506 (note printed under col 506; call not seen) Serm. 82, 83 et 84 recensiti sunt ad tres bn et quatuor cl. ad a. cb. f. fl. g. lr. m. pr. rm. vd. Am. Er. Par. Lov.

Sermons 82, 83 and 84 have been revised against three bn. and four cl. [manuscripts], against a. cb. f. fl. g. lr. m. pr. rm. vd. [manuscripts], and against Am. Er. Par. Lov. [the editions of Amerbach, Erasmus, Paris and Louvain].

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(a) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 506 (note printed under col 506; call not seen)

Alias, de Verbis Domini 16.

Formerly, On the Words of the Lord, 16.

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(b) ‹anchor: sec. LXX› · call in col 506

Meminit Possidius in Indiculo, cap. 8, et Florus variis locis.

Possidius mentions it in his Indiculus, ch. 8, and Florus in various places.

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Fac enim puerum velle in aqua fluminis ludere, cujus impetu pereat: tu si vides, et patienter permittis, odisti; tua patientia, illius mors est. Quanto melius est si irasceris et corrigis, quam non irascendo interire permittis? Odium ergo ante omnia vitandum est, trabes de oculo ejicienda est. Multum quippe aliud est, quando quisque irascens in aliquo verbi modum excedit, quod postea deleat poenitendo; et aliud est, servare insidias inclusas in corde. Multum postremo interest inter haec verba Scripturae, Turbatus est prae ira oculus meus (Psal. VI, 8). De illo autem quid dictum est? Qui odit fratrem suum, homicida est (I Joan. III, 15). Multum interest inter turbatum oculum, et exstinctum. Festuca turbat, trabes exstinguit.

For suppose a boy wants to play in the water of a river by whose current he would perish: if you see it and patiently permit it, you hate [him]; your patience is his death. How much better is it if you grow angry and correct him, than if, by not growing angry, you permit him to perish? Hatred, then, is to be avoided before all things; the beam is to be cast out of the eye. For it is a very different thing when someone, being angry, exceeds measure in some word, which he afterwards blots out by repenting; and another thing to keep snares shut up in the heart. Lastly, there is a great difference between these words of Scripture: My eye is troubled because of anger (Ps. 6:8). But of the other, what has been said? Whoever hates his brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15). There is a great difference between a troubled eye and an extinguished one. A mote troubles, a beam extinguishes.

3. Odium ei qui odit gravius nocet, quam alteri. Hoc ergo primum nobis persuadeamus, ut quod hodie admoniti sumus, bene facere atque implere possimus, ante omnia non odisse. Tunc enim quando trabes non est in oculo tuo, vides recte quidquid fuerit in oculo fratris tui; et vim pateris, donec ejicias de oculo fratris tui, quod vides nocere oculo fratris tui. Lumen quod in te est, non te permittit negligere lumen fratris tui. Nam si odisti, et vis corripere, quomodo emendas lumen, qui perdidisti lumen? Dixit enim et hoc aperte eadem Scriptura, ubi scriptum est, Qui odit fratrem suum, homicida est. Qui odit, inquit, fratrem suum, in tenebris est usque adhuc (Id. II, 9). Odium, tenebrae sunt. Non potest autem fieri ut qui odit alterum, non sibi prius noceat. Illum enim laedere conatur extrinsecus, se vastat intrinsecus. Quantum autem animus noster corpore major est, tantum ei prospicere debemus, ne ipse laedatur. Laedit autem animum suum, qui odit alterum. Et quid facturus est ei quem odit? quid facturus? Tollit pecuniam, numquid fidem? Laedit famam, numquid conscientiam? Quidquid nocet, forinsecus nocet: sibi attende quid noceat. Intus enim sibi ipse inimicus est, qui odit alterum. Sed quia non sentit quid sibi mali faciat, in alterum saevit, eo periculosius vivens, quo non sentit quid secum mali agit; quia et saeviendo sensum perdidit. Saevisti in inimicum tuum: te saeviente ille nudatus est, tu iniquus es. Multum interest inter nudum et iniquum. Ille perdidit pecuniam, tu innocentiam. Quaere quis gravius damnum perpessus est. Ille perdidit rem perituram, tu factus es periturus.

3. Hatred harms the one who hates more gravely than the other. Let us therefore first persuade ourselves of this, so that we may be able to do well and fulfil what we have been admonished today: before all things, not to hate. For then, when there is no beam in your eye, you see rightly whatever may be in your brother's eye; and you are under constraint until you cast out of your brother's eye what you see harming your brother's eye. The light that is in you does not permit you to neglect your brother's light. For if you hate, and wish to rebuke, how do you set right the light, you who have lost the light? For the same Scripture has also said this plainly, where it is written: Whoever hates his brother is a murderer. Whoever hates, it says, his brother, is in darkness even until now (1 John 2:9). Hatred is darkness. Now it cannot happen that one who hates another does not harm himself first. For he tries to injure the other outwardly; he lays himself waste inwardly. And as much as our soul is greater than the body, so much ought we to provide for it, lest it be injured. But he who hates another injures his own soul. And what will he do to the one he hates? What will he do? He takes away his money: does he take his faith? He injures his reputation: does he injure his conscience? Whatever he harms, he harms outwardly: consider what he harms in himself. For inwardly he is himself his own enemy, who hates another. But because he does not perceive what evil he does to himself, he rages against the other, living all the more dangerously in that he does not perceive what evil he works upon himself; for by raging he has also lost his perception. You have raged against your enemy: through your raging he has been stripped bare, you are unjust. There is a great difference between the stripped and the unjust. He has lost his money, you your innocence. Ask which has suffered the graver loss. He has lost a thing that will perish; you have become one who will perish.

CAPUT III. — 4. Quo animo frater corripiendus. Peccatum in hominem non contemnendum. Ideo debemus amando corripere; non nocendi aviditate, sed studio corrigendi. Tales si fuerimus, optime facimus quod hodie admoniti sumus: Si peccaverit in te frater tuus, corripe illum inter te et ipsum solum. Quare illum corripis? Quia te doles, quod peccaverit in te? Absit. Si amore tui id facis, nihil facis. Si amore illius facis, optime facis. Denique in ipsis verbis attende, cujus amore id facere debeas, utrum tui, an illius. Si te audierit, inquit, lucratus es fratrem tuum. Ergo propter illum fac, ut lucreris illum. Si faciendo lucraris,

Chapter III. — 4. In what spirit a brother is to be rebuked. Sin against a man is not to be disregarded. Therefore we ought to rebuke by loving; not with eagerness to harm, but with zeal to correct. If we are such, we do excellently what we have been admonished today: If your brother sins against you, rebuke him between you and him alone. Why do you rebuke him? Because you grieve that he has sinned against you? Far from it. If you do it out of love of yourself, you do nothing. If you do it out of love of him, you do excellently. Finally, attend in the very words for love of whom you ought to do it, whether of yourself or of him. If he hears you, it says, you have gained your brother. Do it therefore for his sake, that you may gain him. If by doing so you gain,

Editors' notes and page, col. 507

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Er. Lugd. et Ven., quia tu doles. M.

Er. Lugd. and Ven. [the editions of Erasmus, Lyons and Venice]: quia tu doles ("because you are grieved"). M.

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nisi fecisses perierat. Quid est ergo quod plerique homines ista peccata contemnunt, et dicunt, Quid magnum feci? in hominem peccavi. Noli contemnere. In hominem peccasti: vis nosse quia in hominem peccando peristi? Si te ille in quem peccasti, corripuerit inter te et ipsum solum, et audieris illum, lucratus est te. Quid est, lucratus est te; nisi quia perieras, si non lucraretur te? Nam si non perieras, quomodo te lucratus est? Nemo ergo contemnat, quando peccat in fratrem. Ait enim quodam loco Apostolus, Sic autem peccantes in fratres, et percutientes conscientiam eorum infirmam, in Christum peccatis (I Cor. VIII, 12): ideo quia membra Christi omnes facti sumus. Quomodo non peccas in Christum, qui peccas in membrum Christi?

had you not done it, he had perished. Why is it, then, that most men think lightly of these sins and say, "What great thing have I done? I have sinned against a man." Do not think lightly of it. You have sinned against a man: do you wish to know that by sinning against a man you have perished? If he against whom you have sinned rebukes you between you and him alone, and you listen to him, he has gained you. What does "he has gained you" mean, except that you had perished if he had not gained you? For if you had not perished, how has he gained you? Let no one, then, think lightly of it when he sins against a brother. For the Apostle says in a certain place, But when you sin thus against the brethren and strike their weak conscience, you sin against Christ (1 Cor. 8:12): for this reason, that we have all been made members of Christ. How do you not sin against Christ, you who sin against a member of Christ?

5. Hujus peccati remedium. Nemo ergo dicat, quia non peccavi in Deum, sed peccavi in fratrem, in hominem peccavi: leve peccatum est, vel nullum peccatum est. Forte inde dicis, Leve est, quia cito curatur. Peccasti in fratrem: fac satis, et sanatus es. Cito fecisti mortiferam rem, sed remedium cito invenisti. Quis nostrum speret regnum coelorum, fratres mei, quando dicit Evangelium, Qui dixerit fratri suo, Fatue, reus erit gehennae ignis? Magnus terror; sed vide ibi remedium: Si obtuleris munus tuum ad altare, et ibi recordatus fueris, quia frater tuus habet aliquid adversum te; relinque ibi munus tuum ante altare. Non irascitur Deus quia differs imponere munus tuum: te quaerit Deus magis quam munus tuum. Nam si malum animum gerens adversus fratrem tuum, adveneris cum munere ad Deum tuum, respondet tibi: Tu peristi, mihi quid attulisti? Offers munus tuum, et tu non es munus Dei. Plus quaerit Christus quem redemit sanguine suo, quam quod tu invenisti in horreo tuo. Ergo relinque ibi munus tuum ante altare, et vade prius reconciliari fratri tuo; et sic veniens offeres munus tuum (Matth. V, 22-24). Ecce ille reatus gehennae quam cito solutus est. Nondum reconciliatus, eras gehennae reus: reconciliatus, securus offers munus tuum ad altare.

5. The remedy for this sin. Let no one, then, say: "I have not sinned against God, but I have sinned against a brother, I have sinned against a man: it is a light sin, or no sin at all." Perhaps you say it is light for this reason, that it is quickly cured. You have sinned against a brother: make satisfaction, and you are healed. Quickly you did a deadly thing, but quickly you have found the remedy. Which of us could hope for the kingdom of heaven, my brethren, when the Gospel says, Whoever says to his brother, Fool, shall be liable to the gehenna of fire? A great terror; but see the remedy there: If you offer your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar. God is not angry because you put off laying down your gift: God seeks you rather than your gift. For if, bearing an ill mind against your brother, you come with a gift to your God, He answers you: "You have perished; what have you brought Me?" You offer your gift, and you yourself are not the gift of God. Christ seeks the one whom He redeemed with His blood more than what you have found in your barn. Therefore leave your gift there before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to your brother; and so, coming, you shall offer your gift (Matt. 5:22–24). See how quickly that liability to gehenna is loosed. While not yet reconciled, you were liable to gehenna; reconciled, you offer your gift at the altar free from care.

CAPUT IV. — 6. Quid agere debeat, qui injuriam passus est. Homines autem faciles sunt ad irrogandas injurias, et difficiles ad concordiam requirendam. Pete, inquit, veniam ab homine quem offendisti, ab homine quem laesisti. Respondet: Non me humiliabo. Vel Deum tuum audi, si fratrem tuum contemnis: Qui se humiliat, exaltabitur (Luc. XIV, 11). Non vis te humiliare qui cecidisti? Multum interest inter se humiliantem et inter jacentem. Jam jaces, et humiliare te non vis? Bene diceres, Nolo descendere; si noluisses ruere.

Chapter IV. — 6. What he ought to do who has suffered a wrong. But men are quick to inflict wrongs, and slow to seek concord. Ask pardon, someone says, of the man whom you have offended, of the man whom you have hurt. He answers: "I will not humble myself." At least listen to your God, if you think lightly of your brother: He who humbles himself shall be exalted (Luke 14:11). You who have fallen, are you unwilling to humble yourself? There is a great difference between one humbling himself and one lying prostrate. You are already lying prostrate, and you are unwilling to humble yourself? You would rightly say, "I will not come down," if you had been unwilling to fall.

7. Idem tractatur argumentum. Hoc ergo debet facere, qui fecit injuriam. Qui autem passus est, quid debet? Quod audivimus hodie: Si peccaverit in te frater tuus, corripe eum inter te et ipsum solum. Si neglexeris, pejor es. Ille injuriam fecit, et injuriam faciendo gravi se ipsum vulnere percussit: tu vulnus fratris tui contemnis? Tu eum vides perire, vel perisse, et negligis? Pejor es tacendo, quam ille

7. The same subject is treated. This, then, is what he who has done the wrong ought to do. But what ought he to do who has suffered it? What we heard today: If your brother sins against you, rebuke him between you and him alone. If you neglect it, you are worse. He did a wrong, and in doing the wrong struck himself with a grievous wound: do you think lightly of your brother's wound? Do you see him perishing, or perished, and neglect it? You are worse by keeping silent than he

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conviciando. Quando ergo in nos aliquis peccat, habeamus magnam curam, non pro nobis; nam gloriosum est injurias oblivisci: sed obliviscere injuriam tuam, non vulnus fratris tui. Ergo corripe eum inter te et ipsum solum, intendens correctioni, parcens pudori. Forte enim prae verecundia incipit defendere peccatum suum, et quem vis facere correctiorem, facis pejorem. Corripe ergo eum inter te et ipsum solum. Si te audierit, lucratus es fratrem tuum: quia perierat, nisi faceres. Si autem non te audierit, id est, peccatum suum quasi justitiam defenderit, adhibe tecum duos vel tres; quia in ore duorum vel trium testium stat omne verbum. Si nec ipsos audierit, refer ad Ecclesiam: si nec Ecclesiam audierit, sit tibi sicut ethnicus et publicanus. Noli illum deputare jam in numero fratrum tuorum. Nec ideo tamen salus ejus negligenda est. Nam et ipsos Ethnicos, id est, Gentiles et Paganos in numero quidem fratrum non deputamus; sed tamen eorum salutem semper inquirimus. Hoc ergo audivimus Dominum ita monentem, et tanta cura praecipientem, ut etiam hoc adderet continuo: Amen dico vobis, quaecumque ligaveritis super terram, ligata erunt et in coelo; et quaecumque solveritis in terra, soluta erunt et in coelo. Coepisti habere fratrem tuum tanquam publicanum, ligas illum in terra: sed ut juste alliges, vide. Nam injusta vincula disrumpit justitia. Cum autem correxeris, et concordaveris cum fratre tuo, solvisti illum in terra. Cum solveris in terra, solutus erit et in coelo. Multum praestas, non tibi, sed illi; quia multum nocuit, non tibi, sed sibi.

by reproaching. When, therefore, someone sins against us, let us take great care, not for ourselves; for it is glorious to forget injuries: but forget your own injury, not your brother's wound. Therefore rebuke him between you and him alone, intent on correction, sparing his shame. For perhaps out of embarrassment he begins to defend his sin, and the one you wish to make better, you make worse. Rebuke him, therefore, between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother: for he would have perished had you not done so. But if he does not hear you, that is, if he defends his sin as though it were righteousness, take with you two or three; for in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word stands. If he does not hear even them, refer it to the Church: if he does not hear even the Church, let him be to you as a heathen and a publican. Do not reckon him any longer in the number of your brothers. Yet his salvation is not on that account to be neglected. For the heathens themselves too, that is, the Gentiles and pagans, we do not indeed reckon in the number of brothers; but yet we always seek their salvation. This, then, we heard the Lord thus admonishing, and enjoining with such great care that He even added this at once: Amen I say to you, whatever you bind upon earth will be bound also in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed also in heaven. You have begun to hold your brother as a publican; you bind him on earth: but see that you bind justly. For justice breaks unjust bonds. But when you have corrected him and come to concord with your brother, you have loosed him on earth. When you have loosed him on earth, he will be loosed also in heaven. You do much good, not to yourself, but to him; because he did much harm, not to you, but to himself.

CAPUT V. — 8. Conciliatur Evangelium cum Salomone. Haec cum ita sint, quid est quod ait Salomon, quod hodie ex alia lectione primitus audivimus: Annuens oculis cum dolo, congerit hominibus maestitiam: qui autem arguit palam, pacem facit? Si ergo qui arguit palam, pacem facit; quomodo, Corripe illum inter te et ipsum solum? Metuendum est, ne sibi contraria sint praecepta divina. Sed intelligamus esse ibi summam concordiam, non quemadmodum quidam vani sapiamus, qui errantes opinantur contraria sibi esse duo Testamenta in Libris veteribus et novis: ut ideo putemus hoc esse contrarium, quoniam illud est in Salomonis libro, hoc in Evangelio. Si enim aliquis imperitus et calumniator divinarum Scripturarum diceret, Ecce ubi sibi contradicunt duo Testamenta. Dominus dicit, Corripe illum inter te et ipsum solum. Salomon dicit, Qui arguit palam, pacem facit. Ergo nescit Dominus quid praecepit? Salomon vult contundi ⟨fr⟩ontem peccantis: Christus parcit pudori erube⟨s⟩centis. Ibi enim scriptum est, Qui arguit palam, pacem facit: hic autem, Corripe illum inter te et ipsum solum; non palam, sed in secreto et occulte. Vis nosse, quisquis talia cogitas, non sibi repugnare duo Testamenta, quia illud in libro Salomonis, hoc in Evangelio reperitur? Apostolum audi. Certe Apostolus minister est Novi Testamenti. Audi ergo apostolum Paulum Timotheo praecipientem et dicentem,

Chapter V. — 8. The Gospel is reconciled with Solomon. Since these things are so, what is it that Solomon says, which we heard first today in another reading: He who winks with the eyes deceitfully heaps up sorrow for men: but he who reproves openly makes peace? If, then, he who reproves openly makes peace, how [can it be], Rebuke him between you and him alone? It is to be feared lest the divine precepts be contrary to one another. But let us understand that there is the highest concord there, and let us not think as certain foolish men do, who in their error suppose that the two Testaments, in the old and the new Books, are contrary to one another: so that we should think this contrary because the one is in the book of Solomon, the other in the Gospel. For suppose some unlearned man and slanderer of the divine Scriptures were to say, See where the two Testaments contradict each other. The Lord says, Rebuke him between you and him alone. Solomon says, He who reproves openly makes peace. Does the Lord, then, not know what He commanded? Solomon wants the brow of the sinner to be crushed: Christ spares the shame of the one who blushes. For there it is written, He who reproves openly makes peace: here, however, Rebuke him between you and him alone; not openly, but in secret and privately. Do you wish to know, whoever you are who think such things, that the two Testaments do not conflict with one another because the one is found in the book of Solomon, the other in the Gospel? Hear the Apostle. Surely the Apostle is a minister of the New Testament. Hear, then, the apostle Paul enjoining Timothy and saying,

Editors' notes and page, col. 509

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 509 (note printed under col 509; call not seen)

Editi Am. Er. et omnes Mss., intuens correctioni.

The printed editions Am. Er. [Amerbach, Erasmus] and all the manuscripts: intuens correctioni ("looking to correction").

(printed under page 261)

(a) ‹anchor: quidam vani› · call in col 509

Manichaei.

The Manichaeans.

(printed under page 261)

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Peccantes coram omnibus argue, ut et caeteri timorem habeant (I Tim. V, 20). Jam non Salomonis liber cum Evangelio, sed Pauli apostoli Epistola videtur confligere. Salomonem paululum sine injuria seponamus: Christum Dominum et Paulum servum ejus audiamus. Quid dicis, Domine? Si peccaverit in te frater tuus, corripe illum inter te et ipsum solum. Quid dicis, Apostole? Peccantes coram omnibus argue, ut et caeteri timorem habeant. Quid facimus? Controversiam istam velut judices audimus? Absit. Imo sub judice constituti pulsemus, uti nobis aperiri impetremus: fugiamus sub alas Domini Dei nostri. Non enim Apostolo suo contrarium locutus est, quia et in illo ipse locutus est, sicut dicit: An vultis experimentum ejus accipere, qui in me loquitur Christus (II Cor. XIII, 3)? Christus in Evangelio, Christus in Apostolo: Christus ergo utrumque dixit; unum ore suo, alterum ore praeconis sui. Quia quando praeco de tribunali aliquid dicit, non scribitur in Gestis, Praeco dixit: sed ille dixisse scribitur, qui praeconi quod diceret imperavit.

Those who sin rebuke before all, that the rest also may have fear (1 Tim. 5:20). Now it is not the book of Solomon but the Epistle of the apostle Paul that seems to be in conflict with the Gospel. Let us set Solomon aside for a little, without doing him wrong: let us hear Christ the Lord and Paul His servant. What do You say, Lord? If your brother sins against you, rebuke him between you and him alone. What do you say, Apostle? Those who sin rebuke before all, that the rest also may have fear. What are we to do? Are we hearing this controversy as judges? Far from it. Rather, placed under a judge, let us knock, so that we may obtain its being opened to us: let us flee under the wings of the Lord our God. For He did not speak contrary to His Apostle, since He Himself also spoke in him, as he says: Do you wish to have proof of Him, Christ, Who speaks in me (2 Cor. 13:3)? Christ in the Gospel, Christ in the Apostle: Christ therefore said both; the one with His own mouth, the other with the mouth of His herald. For when a herald says something from the tribunal, it is not written in the Records, "The herald said": rather, he is written to have said it who commanded the herald what to say.

CAPUT VI. — 9. Correptio alias secreta, alias publica esse debet. Duo ergo ista praecepta, fratres, sic audiamus, ut intelligamus, et inter utraque praecepta pacati constituamur. Cum corde nostro nos concordemus, et Scriptura sancta in nulla parte discordat. Verum est omnino, utrumque verum est: sed discernere debemus, aliquando illud, aliquando illud esse faciendum; aliquando corripiendum fratrem inter te et ipsum solum, aliquando corripiendum fratrem coram omnibus, ut et caeteri timorem habeant. Si aliquando illud, aliquando illud fecerimus; concordiam Scripturarum tenebimus, et in faciendo atque obtemperando non errabimus. Sed dicit mihi aliquis: Quando facio illud, quando illud: ne tunc corripiam inter me et ipsum solum, quando debeo coram omnibus corripere; aut tunc corripiam coram omnibus, quando debeo in secreto corripere?

Chapter VI. — 9. Rebuke ought sometimes to be secret, sometimes public. Let us, then, brethren, so hear these two precepts that we may understand them, and be set at peace between both precepts. Let us be in agreement with our own heart, and holy Scripture is in no part at discord. It is altogether true, both are true: but we must discern that sometimes this, sometimes that is to be done; sometimes a brother is to be rebuked between you and him alone, sometimes a brother is to be rebuked before all, that the rest also may have fear. If we do sometimes this, sometimes that, we shall keep the concord of the Scriptures, and in doing and obeying we shall not go astray. But someone says to me: When am I to do this, when that? Lest I rebuke between myself and him alone when I ought to rebuke before all; or rebuke before all when I ought to rebuke in secret?

CAPUT VII. — 10. Quando secreta esse debet, quando publica. Cito videbit Charitas vestra, quid quando facere debeamus: sed utinam facere pigri non simus. Intendite, et videte: Si peccaverit, inquit, in te frater tuus, corripe eum inter te et ipsum solum. Quare? Quia peccavit in te. Quid est, in te peccavit? Tu scis quia peccavit. Quia enim secretum fuit, quando in te peccavit; secretum quaere, cum corrigis quod peccavit. Nam si solus nosti quia peccavit in te, et eum vis coram omnibus arguere; non es correptor, sed proditor. Attende quemadmodum vir justus, Joseph, tanto flagitio quod de uxore fuerat suspicatus, tanta benignitate pepercit, antequam sciret unde illa conceperat: quia gravidam senserat, et se ad illam non accessisse noverat. Restabat itaque certa adulterii suspicio: et tamen quia ipse solus senserat, ipse solus sciebat, quid de illo ait Evangelium? Joseph autem cum esset vir justus, et nollet eam divulgare. Mariti dolor non vindictam quaesivit: voluit prodesse peccanti, non punire peccantem. Cum, inquit, nollet eam divulgare, voluit eam occulte dimittere. Haec† eo cogitante,

Chapter VII. — 10. When it ought to be secret, when public. Your Charity will quickly see what we ought to do and when: but would that we be not slothful in doing it. Attend, and see: If your brother sins against you, He says, rebuke him between you and him alone. Why? Because he has sinned against you. What is "he has sinned against you"? You know that he has sinned. For since it was secret when he sinned against you, seek secrecy when you correct what he has sinned. For if you alone know that he has sinned against you, and you wish to rebuke him before all, you are not a corrector but a betrayer. Consider how the just man, Joseph, spared with so great kindness so great a crime as he had suspected of his wife, before he knew whence she had conceived: for he had perceived that she was pregnant, and knew that he had not gone in to her. There remained therefore a certain suspicion of adultery: and yet, because he alone had perceived it, he alone knew it, what does the Gospel say of him? But Joseph, since he was a just man and did not wish to expose her. The husband's grief did not seek vengeance: he wished to do good to the sinner, not to punish the sinner. Since, it says, he did not wish to expose her, he wished to put her away secretly. As he was thinking on these things,

Editors' notes and page, col. 510

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ecce angelus Domini apparuit ei in somnis; et indicavit quid esset, quia non violavit viri torum, quia de Spiritu sancto conceperat Dominum amborum (Matth. I, 19, 20). Peccavit ergo in te frater tuus; si tu solus nosti, tunc vere in te solum peccavit. Nam si multis audientibus tibi fecit injuriam, et in illos peccavit, quos testes suae iniquitatis effecit. Dico enim, fratres charissimi, qnod et vos ipsi in vobis ipsis potestis agnoscere. Quando me audiente, fratri meo quisque injuriam facit, absit ut a me injuriam illam alienam putem. Prorsus et mihi fecit: imo et mihi plus fecit, cui putavit placere quod fecit. Ergo ipsa corripienda sunt coram omnibus, quae peccantur coram omnibus: ipsa corripienda sunt secretius, quae peccantur secretius. Distribuite tempora, et concordat Scriptura.

behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in sleep, and showed him what it was: that she had not violated her husband's bed, because she had conceived by the Holy Spirit the Lord of them both (Matt. 1:19–20). So your brother has sinned against you; if you alone know it, then he has truly sinned against you alone. For if he did you an injury with many listening, he has sinned against them too, whom he made witnesses of his iniquity. For I say, dearest brethren, what you yourselves can also recognize in yourselves. When anyone does an injury to my brother while I am listening, far be it from me to think that injury foreign to me. He has done it to me as well; indeed, he has done it more to me, whom he thought he was pleasing by what he did. Therefore those sins are to be rebuked before all which are committed before all; those are to be rebuked more privately which are committed more privately. Distinguish the occasions, and Scripture is in agreement.

CAPUT VIII. — 11. Correptionis modus, curve secreto fiat. Peccata carnis mortifera. Sic agamus et sic agendum est, non solum quando in nos peccatur, sed quando peccatur ab aliquo, ut ab altero nesciatur. In secreto debemus corripere, in secreto arguere; ne volentes publice arguere, prodamus hominem. Nos volumus corripere et corrigere: quid, si inimicus quaerit audire quod puniat? Novit enim nescio quem homicidam episcopus, et alius illum nemo novit. Ego volo publice corripere, at tu quaeris inscribere. Prorsus nec prodo, nec negligo: corripio in secreto; pono ante oculos Dei judicium; terreo cruentam conscientiam; persuadeo poenitentiam. Hac charitate praediti esse debemus. Unde aliquando homines reprehendunt nos, quod quasi non corripiamus: aut putant nos scire quod nescimus, aut putant nos tacere quod scimus. Sed forte quod scis, et ego scio: sed non coram te corripio; quia curare volo, non accusare. Sunt homines adulteri in domibus suis, in secreto peccant; aliquando nobis produntur ab uxoribus suis plerumque zelantibus, aliquando maritorum salutem quaerentibus: nos non prodimus palam, sed in secreto arguimus. Ubi contigit malum, ibi moriatur malum. Non tamen vulnus illud negligimus; ante omnia ostendentes homini in tali peccato constituto sauciamque gerenti conscientiam, illud vulnus esse mortiferum: quod aliquando qui committunt, nescio qua perversitate contemnunt; et nescio unde sibi testimonia nulla et vana conquirunt, dicentes, Peccata carnis Deus non curat. Ubi est quod hodie audivimus: Fornicatores et adulteros judicat Deus? Ecce attende, quisquis tali morbo laboras. Quod dicit Deus audi: non quod tibi dicit favens peccatis tuis animus tuus, aut eadem tecum iniquitatis catena ligatus amicus tuus, vel potius inimicus tuus et suus. Audi ergo quod dicit Apostolus: Honorabiles, inquit, nuptiae in omnibus, et torus immaculatus. Fornicatores autem et adulteros judicat Deus (Hebr. XIII, 4).

Chapter VIII. — 11. The manner of rebuke, or why it should be done in secret. The sins of the flesh are deadly. Let us act thus, and thus must one act, not only when sin is committed against us, but when a sin is committed by someone in such a way that it is unknown to another. We ought to rebuke in secret, to reprove in secret, lest, wishing to reprove publicly, we betray the man. We wish to rebuke and to correct: what if an enemy seeks to hear something to punish? For the bishop knows some murderer or other, and no one else knows him. I want to rebuke him publicly, but you seek to bring a charge against him. So I neither betray nor neglect: I rebuke in secret; I set the judgement of God before his eyes; I terrify the bloodstained conscience; I urge him to penitence. With this charity we ought to be endowed. Hence people sometimes find fault with us, as though we did not rebuke: either they think that we know what we do not know, or they think that we keep silent about what we know. But perhaps what you know, I also know; yet I do not rebuke in your presence, because I wish to heal, not to accuse. There are men who are adulterers in their own houses; they sin in secret; sometimes they are betrayed to us by their wives, mostly out of jealousy, sometimes out of concern for their husbands' salvation: we do not betray them openly, but we reprove them in secret. Where the evil happened, there let the evil die. Yet we do not neglect that wound; above all showing the man who is set in such a sin and bears a wounded conscience that this wound is deadly: which those who commit it sometimes despise with I know not what perversity; and from I know not where they gather for themselves testimonies that are worthless and empty, saying, God does not care about sins of the flesh. Where then is what we heard today: Fornicators and adulterers God judges? Behold, pay attention, whoever you are that suffer from such a disease. Hear what God says: not what your own mind says to you in favour of your sins, or your friend, bound with you by the same chain of iniquity, or rather the enemy of you and of himself. Hear then what the Apostle says: Honourable, he says, is marriage in all, and the bed undefiled. But fornicators and adulterers God judges (Heb. 13:4).

CAPUT IX. — 12. Vita cito emendanda. Age ergo, frater, esto correctus. Times ne te inscribat inimicus; et non times ne te judicet Deus? Ubi est fides?

Chapter IX. — 12. Life must be amended quickly. Come then, brother, be corrected. You fear lest an enemy should bring a charge against you; and do you not fear lest God should judge you? Where is faith?

Editors' notes and page, col. 511

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: nulla et vana› · call in col 511

Aliquot Mss., nonnulla et vana.

Some manuscripts: nonnulla et vana ("some, and empty ones").

(printed under page 262)

(2) ‹anchor: animus tuus› · call in col 511

Am. Er. et Mss., amicus tuus.

Am. Er. [the editions of Amerbach and Erasmus] and the manuscripts: amicus tuus ("your friend").

(printed under page 262)

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Time cum est quando timeas. Longe est quidem dies judicii: sed uniuscujusque hominis dies ultimus longe esse non potest; quia brevis est vita. Et quia ipsa brevitas semper incerta, quando sit dies tuus ultimus, nescis. Corrige te hodie, propter cras. Prosit tibi et modo in secreto correptio. Palam enim loquor, et in secreto arguo. Aures omnium pulso: sed conscientias quorumdam convenio. Si dicerem, Tu, adulter, corrige te: primo forte dicerem quod nescirem; forte quod temere audieram, suspicarer. Non dico, Tu, adulter, corrige te; sed, quisquis in hoc populo adulter es, corrige te. Publica est correptio, sed secreta correctio. Scio quia ille qui timuerit, corrigit se.

Fear while there is a time when you may fear. The day of judgement is indeed far off: but the last day of each man cannot be far off, because life is short. And because that very shortness is always uncertain, you do not know when your last day may be. Correct yourself today, for the sake of tomorrow. Let the rebuke in secret also profit you now. For I speak openly, and I reprove in secret. I knock at the ears of all, but I confront the consciences of some. If I were to say, You, adulterer, correct yourself, in the first place I would perhaps be saying what I did not know; perhaps I would be suspecting what I had rashly heard. I do not say, You, adulterer, correct yourself; but, whoever among this people is an adulterer, correct yourself. The rebuke is public, but the correction is secret. I know that he who fears corrects himself.

CAPUT X. — 13. Peccata carnis non contemnenda. Non dicat in corde suo, Peccata carnis non curat Deus. Nescitis, inquit Apostolus, quia templum Dei estis, et Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis? Quisquis templum Dei violaverit, disperdet illum Deus (I Cor. III, 16, 17). Nemo se fallat. Sed forte ait aliquis, Templum Dei animus meus est, non corpus meum: adjecit etiam testimonium, Omnis caro fenum, et omnis claritas carnis ut flos feni (I Petr. I, 24). Infelix interpretatio! punienda cogitatio! Fenum dicta est caro, quia moritur: sed quod ad tempus moritur, non resurgat cum crimine. Vis nosse apertam etiam inde sententiam? Nescitis, inquit idem apostolus, quia corpora vestra templum in vobis est Spiritus sancti, quem habetis a Deo? (Jam non contemnatis corporalia peccata: ecce quia et corpora vestra templum in vobis sunt Spiritus sancti, quem habetis a Deo.) Contemnebas corporale peccatum, contemnis quod peccas in templum? Ipsum corpus tuum templum in te est Spiritus Dei. Jam vide quid facias de templo Dei. Si eligeres in ecclesia facere adulterium intra istos parietes, quid te esset sceleratius? Modo autem tu ipse es templum Dei. Templum intras, templum exis, templum in domo tua manes, templum surgis. Vide quid agas, vide ne offendas templi habitatorem, ne deserat te, et in ruinam vertaris. Nescitis, inquit, quia corpora vestra (et hoc de fornicatione loquebatur Apostolus, ne contemnerent corporalia peccata) templum in vobis est Spiritus sancti, quem habetis a Deo, et non estis vestri? Empti enim estis pretio magno (I Cor. VI, 19, 20). Si contemnis corpus tuum, considera pretium tuum.

Chapter X. — 13. Sins of the flesh are not to be despised. Let no one say in his heart, God does not care about sins of the flesh. Do you not know, says the Apostle, that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? Whoever violates the temple of God, God will destroy him (1 Cor. 3:16–17). Let no one deceive himself. But perhaps someone says, My soul is the temple of God, not my body; and he has added a testimony too: All flesh is hay, and all the glory of the flesh is as the flower of hay (1 Pet. 1:24). Unhappy interpretation! A thought deserving punishment! The flesh has been called hay because it dies: but what dies for a time, let it not rise again with its crime. Do you wish to know a plain statement on this point too? Do you not know, says the same apostle, that your bodies are a temple in you of the Holy Spirit, Whom you have from God? (Do not now despise bodily sins: see, your bodies too are a temple in you of the Holy Spirit, Whom you have from God.) You used to despise bodily sin; do you despise the fact that you sin against the temple? Your very body is the temple in you of the Spirit of God. Now see what you do with the temple of God. If you chose to commit adultery in the church, within these walls, what would be more wicked than you? But now you yourself are the temple of God. A temple you go in, a temple you go out, a temple you remain in your house, a temple you rise. See what you are doing; see that you do not offend the dweller in the temple, lest He desert you and you be turned to ruin. Do you not know, he says, that your bodies (and the Apostle was speaking of fornication, so that they should not despise bodily sins) are a temple in you of the Holy Spirit, Whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you have been bought at a great price (1 Cor. 6:19–20). If you despise your body, consider your price.

CAPUT XI. — 14. Correctio non procrastinanda. Vox corvina. Homines bona volunt habere omnia praeter vitam. Scio ego, et mecum omnis homo qui paulo attentius consideraverit, neminem Deum timentem sub verbis ejus non se corrigere, nisi qui putat, quia plus habet vivere. Ipsa res est quae multos occidit, cum dicunt, Cras, cras: et subito ostium clauditur. Remansit foris cum voce corvina, quia non habuit gemitum columbinum. Cras, cras; corvi vox. Geme ut columbus, et tunde pectus: sed plagas tibi

Chapter XI. — 14. Correction is not to be put off. The raven's voice. Men wish to have all things good except their life. I know, and with me every man who has considered a little more attentively, that no one who fears God fails to correct himself under His words, except one who thinks that he has longer to live. This very thing is what kills many, when they say, Tomorrow, tomorrow (cras, cras): and suddenly the door is shut. He remained outside with the raven's voice, because he did not have the dove's moaning. Cras, cras: the raven's voice. Moan like the dove, and beat your breast: but, giving yourself blows

Editors' notes and page, col. 512

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: non resurgat› · call in col 512

Am. et Er., non resurgit. Tres Mss., vide ut non resurgat.

Am. and Er.: non resurgit ("does not rise again"). Three manuscripts: vide ut non resurgat ("see that it does not rise again").

(printed under page 262)

(2) ‹anchor: habetis a Deo› · call in col 512

Verba parenthesi hic inclusa absunt ab Am. Er. et Mss.

The words enclosed here in parentheses are absent from Am. Er. and the manuscripts.

(printed under page 262)

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dando in pectus, caesus correctus esto; ne non videaris conscientiam caedere, sed malam conscientiam pugnis pavimentare, solidiorem reddere, non correctiorem. Geme non inani gemitu. Forte enim dicis tibi: Promisit mihi Deus indulgentiam, quando me correxero; securus sum: lego divinam Scripturam, Iniquus in qua die conversus fuerit ab iniquitatibus suis, et fecerit justitiam, omnes iniquitates ejus obliviscar (Ezech. XVIII, 21 et 22). Securus sum; quando me correxero, dat mihi Deus indulgentiam de malis meis. Et quid ego dicturus sum? Contra Deum reclamaturus? Dicturus sum Deo: Noli illi dare indulgentiam? Dicturus sum hoc scriptum non esse, hoc Deum non promisisse? Si ista dixero, omnia falsa dico. Bene dicis, verum dicis: indulgentiam correctioni tuae promisit Deus, negare non possum: sed dic mihi, rogo te; ecce ego consentio et concedo et cognosco quia indulgentiam Deus promisit tibi; crastinum enim diem quis tibi promisit? Ubi mihi legis indulgentiam te accepturum, si te correxeris; lege ibi mihi quantum victurus sis. Non lego, inquis. Nescis ergo quantum victurus sis. Esto correctus et semper paratus. Noli timere diem ultimum, tanquam furem qui te dormiente effodiat parietem: sed vigila, et corrige te hodie. Quid differs in crastinum? Longa vita erit. Ipsa longa, bona sit. Prandium bonum longum nemo differt, et vitam malam longam vis habere? Utique si longa erit, melius bona erit: si brevis erit, bene factum est, ut bona produceretur. Sic autem homines negligunt vitam suam, ut nolint habere malam, nisi ipsam. Villam emis, bonam quaeris; uxorem vis ducere, bonam eligis; filios tibi vis nasci, bonos optas; caligas locas, et non vis malas: et vitam amas malam! Quid te offendit vita tua, quam solam vis malam, ut inter omnia bona tua tu solus sis malus?

on the breast, once beaten be corrected; lest you seem not to beat your conscience, but to pound a bad conscience flat with your fists like a pavement, to make it more solid, not more corrected. Groan with no empty groaning. For perhaps you say to yourself: God has promised me pardon when I correct myself; I am secure: I read the divine Scripture, The wicked man, on whatever day he turns from his iniquities and does justice, all his iniquities I will forget (Ezek. 18:21–22). I am secure; when I correct myself, God gives me pardon for my evil deeds. And what am I going to say? Am I going to cry out against God? Am I going to say to God: Do not give him pardon? Am I going to say that this is not written, that God did not promise this? If I said these things, I would be saying nothing but falsehoods. You speak well, you speak truly: God has promised pardon to your correction, I cannot deny it: but tell me, I ask you; see, I agree and grant and acknowledge that God has promised you pardon; but who has promised you tomorrow? Where you read to me that you will receive pardon if you correct yourself, read me there how long you are going to live. I do not read that, you say. So you do not know how long you are going to live. Be corrected and always ready. Do not fear the last day as you would a thief who might dig through the wall while you sleep: but keep watch, and correct yourself today. Why do you put it off until tomorrow? Life will be long. If it is long, let it be good. No one puts off a good long dinner, and do you want to have a long bad life? Surely if it is to be long, all the better that it be good: if it is to be short, it is well done that a good one should be prolonged. But men so neglect their life that they are unwilling to have anything bad except it. You buy an estate, you look for a good one; you want to marry a wife, you choose a good one; you want children born to you, you wish for good ones; you order boots, and you do not want bad ones: and you love a bad life! What has your life done to offend you, that it alone you want bad, so that among all your good things you yourself alone are bad?

CAPUT XII. — 15. Pastoris onus non abjiciendum. Ergo, fratres mei, si aliquem vestrum vellem in parte corripere, forte audiret me: multos vestrum publice corripio; omnes me laudant; audiat me aliquis. Non amo in voce laudatorem, et in corde contemptorem. Cum enim laudas, et non te corrigis, contra te testis es. Si malus es, et quod dico placet tibi, displice tibi: quia si malus displicueris tibi, correctus placebis tibi, quod nudiustertius, nisi fallor, dixi. In omnibus verbis meis speculum propono. Nec mea ista sunt verba: sed Domino jubente loquor, quo terrente non taceo. Nam quis non eligeret tacere, et rationem de vobis non reddere? Sed jam suscepimus onus, quod ab humeris nostris excutere non possumus, nec debemus. Audistis, fratres mei, cum Epistola ad Hebraeos legeretur: Obedite praepositis vestris, et subditi estote; quia ipsi vigilant pro animabus vestris, tanquam rationem reddituri pro vobis: ut cum gaudio hoc faciant, et non cum tristitia; non enim expedit vobis (Hebr. XIII, 17). Quando facimus ista cum gaudio? Quando videmus

Chapter XII. — 15. The pastor's burden is not to be cast off. So, my brothers, if I wished to rebuke one of you privately, perhaps he would listen to me: I rebuke many of you publicly; all praise me; let someone listen to me. I do not love one who praises with his voice and despises in his heart. For when you praise and do not correct yourself, you are a witness against yourself. If you are bad, and what I say pleases you, be displeasing to yourself: because if, being bad, you are displeasing to yourself, once corrected you will be pleasing to yourself, as I said, unless I am mistaken, the day before yesterday. In all my words I set up a mirror. Nor are these words mine: but I speak at the Lord's command, and since He terrifies me I do not keep silent. For who would not choose to keep silent and not render account for you? But we have already taken up a burden which we cannot shake off from our shoulders, nor ought we to. You heard, my brothers, when the Epistle to the Hebrews was read: Obey those set over you and be subject to them; for they keep watch for your souls, as men who will render account for you: so that they may do this with joy and not with sorrow; for that is not expedient for you (Heb. 13:17). When do we do these things with joy? When we see

Editors' notes and page, col. 513

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: solidiorem reddere› · call in col 513 (call seen in the column image; the note's own numeral is lost at the scan edge)

Er. Lugd. et Ven., sed malam conscientiam pugnis pavimento solidiorem reddere. M.

Er. Lugd. and Ven. [the editions of Erasmus, Lyons and Venice]: sed malam conscientiam pugnis pavimento solidiorem reddere ("but to make a bad conscience, by blows of the fists, harder than the pavement"). M.

(printed under page 263)

(2) ‹anchor: correctus placebis tibi› · call in col 513

Lov. placebis Deo; dissentientibus caeteris libris.

Lov. [the Louvain edition]: placebis Deo ("you will please God"); the other books disagreeing.

(printed under page 263)

Page

running head: 513 SERMO LXXXIII.
marginal letters: (none)
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: the word videmus was split at the column break and stands whole here (joined on receipt); the English was read across the break into col 514 by Q1b and mended (the verb of videmus was missing; it now closes this column's English)

PL 38:514

homines proficere in verbis Dei. Quando laborat cum gaudio operarius in agro? Quando attendit arborem, et fructum videt; quando attendit segetem, et frugum in area prospicit ubertatem: non sine causa laboravit, non sine causa dorsum curvavit, non sine causa manus attrivit, non sine causa frigus et aestum toleravit. Hoc est quod ait, Ut cum gaudio hoc faciant, et non cum tristitia; non enim expedit vobis. Numquid dixit, Non illis expedit. Non; sed dixit, Non expedit vobis. Nam illi praepositi quando contristantur de malis vestris, expedit illis; ipsa tristitia prodest illis: sed non expedit vobis. Nihil autem nobis volumus expedire, quod non expedit vobis. Simul ergo in Dominico agro, fratres, bonum operemur; ut simul de mercede gaudeamus.

men making progress in the words of God. When does the labourer toil with joy in the field? When he looks at the tree and sees fruit; when he looks at the standing crop and beholds the abundance of grain on the threshing-floor: not without cause has he laboured, not without cause has he bent his back, not without cause has he worn down his hands, not without cause has he endured cold and heat. This is what he says, That they may do this with joy, and not with sadness; for this is not expedient for you. Did he say, It is not expedient for them? No; but he said, It is not expedient for you. For those set over you, when they are saddened over your evils, it is expedient for them; that very sadness profits them: but it is not expedient for you. And we wish nothing to be expedient for us which is not expedient for you. Together, therefore, in the Lord's field, brethren, let us work what is good, so that together we may rejoice over the reward.

Editors' notes and page, col. 514

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: frugum in area› · call in col 514 (call seen in the column image)

Am. et Er., et fructu areae. Lov., et ex fructu areae. Florus in excusis, et fluctuare. Plures Mss., et fructum areae. Sed melius quidam, et frugum in area.

Am. and Er.: et fructu areae ("and by the fruit of the threshing-floor"). Lov.: et ex fructu areae ("and from the fruit of the threshing-floor"). Florus in the printed copies: et fluctuare ("and to waver"). Several manuscripts: et fructum areae ("and the fruit of the threshing-floor"). But some, better: et frugum in area ("and of the grain on the threshing-floor").

(printed under page 263)