PL 38 · cols. 814–818

Augustine, Sermones 146-153 (Classis I, de Scripturis)

Sermon CLI

quamvis in igne victuri sint: vitam non finiu⟨n⟩t, ne poenam finiant: Vermis enim eorum non morietur, et ignis eorum non extinguetur (Isai. LXVI, 24): tamen eam noluit appellare vitam, sed hanc appellavit vitam quae beata et aeterna est (Matth. XXV, 41, 46). Unde interrogante illo divite Dominum, Quid boni faciam, ut vitam aeternam consequar? et ipse quidem vitam aeternam non nominabat, nisi beatam. Nam habebunt impii aeternam, sed non beatam vitam, quia cruciatibus plenam. Ergo ille ait, Domine, quid boni faciam, ut vitam aeternam consequar? Respondit illi Dominus de mandatis. Ait ille, Haec omnia feci. Sed quando respondit de mandatis, quid ait? Si vis venire ad vitam (Id. XIX, 16, 17). Non ei dixit beatam; quia misera nec vita dicenda est. Non ei dixit aeternam; quia ubi mortis timor est, nec vita dicenda est. Ergo vita, quae hoc nomine digna est, ut vita dicatur, non est nisi beata; et beata non est, nisi aeterna. Hanc volunt omnes, hanc volumus omnes, veritatem et vitam: sed ad tam magnam possessionem, ad tam grandem felicitatem qua itur? Instruxerunt sibi vias erroris philosophi: alii dixerunt, Hac; alii, Non hac, sed hac. Latuit eos via, quia Deus superbis resistit (Jacobi IV, 6). Lateret et nos, nisi venisset ad nos. Ideo Dominus: Ego, inquit, sum via. Piger viator, venire nolebas ad viam; ad te venit via. Quaerebas qua ires: Ego sum via. Quaerebas quo ires: Ego sum veritas et vita (Joan. XIV, 6). Non errabis quando is ad illum, per illum. Haec est doctrina Christianorum, non plane conferenda, sed incomparabiliter praeferenda doctrinis philosophorum, immunditiae Epicureorum, superbiae Stoicorum.

although they will live in fire: they do not end their life, lest they end their punishment: For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished (Isa. 66:24): yet He would not call that life, but He called this life which is blessed and eternal (Matt. 25:41, 46). Hence, when that rich man asked the Lord, What good shall I do, that I may obtain eternal life? he too was naming as eternal life only the blessed one. For the ungodly will have an eternal, but not a blessed, life, because it is full of torments. So he says, Lord, what good shall I do, that I may obtain eternal life? The Lord answered him concerning the commandments. He said, All these I have done. But when He answered concerning the commandments, what did He say? If you will to come to life (ibid. 19:16–17). He did not say to him blessed; because a miserable life is not even to be called life. He did not say to him eternal; because where there is fear of death, it is not even to be called life. Therefore the life which is worthy of this name, so as to be called life, is none but the blessed one; and it is not blessed unless it is eternal. This all men want, this we all want, truth and life: but to so great a possession, to so great a felicity, by what way does one go? The philosophers built for themselves ways of error: some said, This way; others, Not this way, but this. The way lay hidden from them, because God resists the proud (Jas. 4:6). It would lie hidden from us too, had it not come to us. Therefore the Lord says: I, He says, am the way. Sluggish traveller, you did not want to come to the way; the way has come to you. You were asking by what way you should go: I am the way. You were asking where you should go: I am the truth and the life (John 14:6). You will not go astray when you go to Him, through Him. This is the doctrine of Christians, not at all to be compared with, but incomparably to be preferred to, the doctrines of the philosophers, the impurity of the Epicureans, the pride of the Stoics.

SERMO CLI. De verbis Apostolis, Non enim quod volo, ⟨f⟩acio bonum; sed quod nolo malum, hoc ago, etc., Rom. cap. VII, ℣. 15-25.

Sermon 151. On the words of the Apostle, For I do not do the good that I will; but the evil that I do not will, that I do, etc. (Rom. 7:15–25).

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Locus Apostoli male intelligentibus periculosus. Lectio divina quae de apostoli Pauli Epistola recitata est, quotiescumque legitur, timendum est ne male intellecta det hominibus occasionem quaerentibus occasionem. Proclives sunt quippe homines ad peccandum, et vix se tenent. Ubi ergo audierint Apostolum dicentem, Non enim quod volo, facio bonum; sed quod odi malum, hoc ago; agunt malum, et quasi displicentes sibi quia agunt malum, putant se Apostolo esse similes, qui dixit: Non enim quod volo, facio bonum; sed quod nolo malum, hoc ago. Nonnunquam ergo legitur, et tunc nobis ingerit necessitatem disputandi, ne homines male sumentes salubrem cibum vertant in venenum. Sit ergo intenta Charitas vestra, donec quod Dominus donaverit, dicam vobis ut ubi me forte laborare videritis in difficultate alicujus obscuritatis, adjuvetis me affectu pietatis.

Chapter I. — 1. A passage of the Apostle dangerous to those who understand it wrongly. The divine reading which has been recited from the Epistle of the apostle Paul, whenever it is read, there is cause to fear lest, wrongly understood, it give an occasion to men who are seeking an occasion. For men are prone to sinning, and scarcely restrain themselves. So when they hear the Apostle saying, For I do not do the good that I will; but the evil that I hate, that I do; they do evil, and, as though displeased with themselves because they do evil, they think themselves like the Apostle, who said: For I do not do the good that I will; but the evil that I do not will, that I do. It is read from time to time, then, and on such occasions it lays upon us the necessity of discussing it, lest men, taking wholesome food wrongly, turn it into poison. Let your Charity therefore be attentive, while I tell you what the Lord shall have granted, so that wherever you see me perhaps labouring in the difficulty of some obscurity, you may help me with the affection of piety.

2. Justi vita hic bellum, nondum triumphus. Vox

2. The life of the just man here is a war, not yet a triumph. The voice

Editors' notes and page, col. 814

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: et tunc› · call in col 814

In quibusdam Mss., et nunc.

In some manuscripts: "et nunc" [and now].

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CLI› · call in col 814 Emendatus ad duos cl. ad bn. f. gr. Am. Er. Par. Lov.

Corrected against two cl., and bn. f. gr. [manuscript sigla; "f." uncertain in the scan], and the Amerbach, Erasmus, Paris and Louvain [editions].

(printed under page 413)

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CLI› · call in col 814

Alias, de Tempore 43.

Elsewhere numbered: On the Season 43.

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(b) ‹anchor: cap. vii, 15-25› · call in col 814

Hunc Florus totum fere exscripsit ad Rom. VII, sub hocce titulo : « Ex sermone primo. » Paulo ante subsequentem dictus est, eadem in urbe, quod postea intelliges, Carthaginensi.

Florus copied out almost the whole of this sermon on Rom. 7, under this title: "From the first sermon." It was preached a little before the one that follows, in the same city, as you will see later: Carthage.

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triumphi. Prius ergo recolite, quod Deo propitio soletis audire, vitam justi in isto corpore adhuc bellum esse, nondum triumphum. Hujus autem belli aliquando erit triumphus. Ideo Apostolus dixit, et voces belli, et voces triumphi. Voces belli modo audivimus: Non enim quod volo, ago; sed quod odi, illud facio. Si autem quod odi, illud facio, consentio Legi, quoniam bona est. Velle adjacet mihi, perficere autem bonum non invenio. Video autem aliam legem in membris meis, repugnantem legi mentis meae, et captivantem me in lege peccati, quae est in membris meis. Quando audis repugnantem, quando audis captivantem, bellum non agnoscis?

of triumph. First, therefore, call to mind what, by God's favour, you are accustomed to hear: that the life of the righteous man in this body is still a war, not yet a triumph. But of this war there will at some time be a triumph. That is why the Apostle uttered both the cries of war and the cries of triumph. The cries of war we have just heard: For not what I will, do I do; but what I hate, that I do. But if what I hate, that I do, I consent to the Law, that it is good. To will is present to me, but to accomplish the good I do not find. But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and taking me captive in the law of sin, which is in my members. When you hear 'fighting against', when you hear 'taking captive', do you not recognize a war?

CAPUT II. — Vox ergo triumphi nondum est: sed quia futura est, docet te idem apostolus, dicens: Oportet corruptibile hoc induere incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induere immortalitatem. Cum autem corruptibile hoc induerit incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induerit immortalitatem: ibi est vox triumphi: tunc fiet sermo qui scriptus est, Absorpta est mors in victoriam. Dicant triumphantes: Ubi est, mors, contentio tua (I Cor. XV, 53-55). Dicemus ergo; quandoque dicemus; et ipsum quandoque non erit longe. Non enim tantum remanet de saeculo, quantum jam exemptum est. Hoc igitur tunc dicemus. Modo autem in isto bello, ne male intelligentibus lectio ista tuba sit hostis, non nostra, unde ille incitetur, non unde vincatur; advertite, obsecro, fratres mei, et qui certatis certate. Qui enim nondum certatis, non estis intellecturi quod dico: qui jam certatis, intellecturi estis. Vox mea in aperto, vestra erit in silentio. Prius illud recolite quod scripsit ad Galatas, unde hoc bene possit exponi. Ait enim, fidelibus loquens, baptizatis loquens, quibus utique in sancto lavacro omnia fuerant dimissa peccata: his tamen loquens, sed pugnantibus loquens, ait: Dico autem, Spiritu ambulate, et concupiscentias carnis ne perfeceritis. Non dixit, ne feceritis; sed, ne perfeceritis. Quare hoc? Sequitur et dicit: Caro enim concupiscit adversus spiritum, spiritus autem adversus carnem. Haec enim invicem adversantur; ut non ea quae vultis faciatis. Quod si Spiritu ducimini, non adhuc estis sub Lege (Galat. V, 16-18): utique, sed sub gratia. Si Spiritu ducimini: quid est, duci Spiritu? Spiritui Dei consentire jubenti, non carni concupiscenti. Tamen concupiscit et resistit; et vult aliquid, et non vis tu: persevera, ut nolis tu.

Chapter II. — The cry of triumph, then, is not yet; but because it is to come, the same apostle teaches you, saying: This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality. But when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality: there is the cry of triumph: then shall come to pass the word that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Let those who triumph say: Where, O death, is your struggle (1 Cor. 15:53–55). We shall say it, then; at some time we shall say it; and that 'some time' itself will not be far off. For not as much remains of the world as has already been taken away. This, then, we shall say at that time. But now, in this war, lest for those who understand it badly this reading be a trumpet for the enemy, not for us, by which he is roused, not by which he is conquered, pay attention, I beseech you, my brothers, and you who are fighting, fight on. For you who are not yet fighting will not understand what I say; you who are already fighting will understand. My voice is in the open; yours will be in silence. First call to mind what he wrote to the Galatians, from which this can well be explained. For he says, speaking to the faithful, speaking to the baptized, to whom indeed in the holy washing all sins had been forgiven: speaking to them nevertheless, but speaking to men who were fighting, he says: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not bring to completion the desires of the flesh. He did not say, do not do them; but, do not bring them to completion. Why this? He goes on and says: For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. For these are opposed to one another, so that you do not do the things that you will. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are no longer under the Law (Gal. 5:16–18): certainly, but under grace. If you are led by the Spirit: what is it to be led by the Spirit? To consent to the Spirit of God when He commands, not to the flesh when it lusts. Yet it lusts and resists; and it wills something, and you do not will it: persevere, so that you do not will it.

CAPUT III. — 3. Concupiscentiae interitus in votis esse debet. Manichaeorum insania. Desiderium tamen tuum tale esse debet ad Deum, ut nec sit ipsa concupiscentia cui resistas. Videte quid dixerim: Desiderium, inquam, tuum tale esse debet ad Deum, ut omnino non sit ipsa concupiscentia cui resistere oporteat. Resistis enim, et non consentiendo vincis: sed melius est hostem non habere, quam vincere. Hostis iste aliquando non erit. Refer animum ad vocem triumphi, et vide si erit. Ubi est, mors, contentio tua? Non erit. Ubi est, mors, aculeus tuus? Quaeres locum ejus, et non invenies. Non enim haec, quod maxime debetis

Chapter III. — 3. The destruction of concupiscence ought to be among our prayers. The madness of the Manichaeans. Yet your desire towards God ought to be such that there is not even the concupiscence itself for you to resist. See what I have said: your desire, I say, towards God ought to be such that there is no concupiscence at all which must be resisted. For you resist, and by not consenting you conquer; but it is better not to have an enemy than to conquer one. This enemy will at some time not exist. Turn your mind to the cry of triumph, and see whether it will exist. Where, O death, is your struggle? It will not exist. Where, O death, is your sting? You will seek its place, and you will not find it. For not these things, which most of all you ought

Editors' notes and page, col. 815

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: et resistit› · call in col 815

Forte, resistis.

Perhaps "resistis" [you resist].

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audire : non enim haec quasi alia natura est, sicut insaniunt Manichaei. Languor noster est, vitium nostrum est. Non separatum alibi erit, sed sanatum nusquam erit. Ergo Concupiscentias carnis ne perfeceritis. Melius quidem erat implere quod Lex dixit, Ne concupiscas (Rom. VII, 7). Plenitudo est ista virtutis, perfectio justitiae, palma victoriae, Ne concupiscas. Hoc quia modo impleri non potest, vel illud impleatur quod sancta Scriptura item dicit : Post concupiscentias tuas non eas (Eccli. XVIII, 30). Melius est eas non habere : sed quia sunt, noli post eas ire. Nolunt post te ire : noli post eas ire. Si velint post te ire, non erunt; quia contra mentem tuam non rebellabunt. Rebellant, rebella; pugnant, pugna; expugnant, expugna : hoc solum vide, ne vincant.

to hear: for this is not, as it were, another nature, as the Manichaeans rave. It is our sickness, it is our fault. It will not be separated off somewhere else, but, once healed, it will be nowhere. Therefore, Do not carry out the desires of the flesh. Better indeed it would be to fulfil what the Law said, Do not desire (Rom. 7:7). This is the fullness of virtue, the perfection of righteousness, the palm of victory: Do not desire. Since this cannot be fulfilled at present, let at least that be fulfilled which holy Scripture likewise says: Do not go after your desires (Sir. 18:30). It is better not to have them; but since they exist, do not go after them. They are unwilling to go after you: do not go after them. If they were willing to go after you, they would not exist, because they would not rebel against your mind. They rebel: rebel back; they fight: fight; they storm: storm them back: see to this alone, that they do not conquer.

CAPUT IV. — 4. Quomodo concupiscentiae et consuetudini malae resistendum. Ecce aliquid inde ponam, unde caetera intelligatis. Nostis esse homines sobrios : pauciores sunt, sed sunt. Nostis esse et ebriosos : abundant. Baptizatus est sobrius : quantum pertinet ad ebrietatem, non habet cum qua pugnet : habet alias concupiscentias, cum quibus pugnet. Sed ut de caeteris intelligatis, unius tantummodo hostis certamen in medio constituamus. Baptizatus est et ebriosus : audivit, et cum timore audivit, inter caetera mala, quibus hominibus male viventibus intercluditur regnum Dei, commemoratam esse et ebrietatem : quia ubi dictum est, Neque fornicatores, neque idolis servientes, neque adulteri, neque molles, neque masculorum concubitores, neque fures; ibi additum est, Neque ebriosi, etc., regnum Dei possidebunt (I Cor. VI, 9, 10). Audivit, et timuit. Baptizatus est, dimissa sunt illi omnia quibus inebriatus est : restat adversaria consuetudo. Ergo habet cum qua pugnet renatus. Praeterita ejus vitia omnia dimissa sunt ei : observet, vigilet, pugnet, ne aliquando inebrietur. Surgit ergo illa concupiscentia potandi, titillat animum, ingerit faucibus siccitatem, insidiatur sensibus : vult etiam ipsum, si potest fieri, penetrare murum, adire inclusum, trahere captivum. Pugnat, repugna. O si et ipsa non esset ! Si consuetudine mala accessit, bona consuetudine morietur : tu tantum noli ei satisfacere, noli eam cedendo satiare, sed resistendo necare. Tamen quamdiu est, hostis est. Si ei non consentias, et nunquam inebrieris, minor et minor erit quotidie. Nam sunt vires illius subjectio tua. Si enim ei cesseris, et inebriatus fueris, das ei vires. Numquid contra me, et non contra te? Ego de loco superiore moneo, dico, praedico : quid mali futurum sit ebriosis, ante denuntio. Non est quod dicas, Non audivi : non est quod dicas, Exigit Deus animam meam de manu illius, qui mihi tacuit. Sed laboras, quia tibi validum adversarium mala consuetudine ipse fecisti. Non laborasti, ut nutrires eum : labora, ut vincas eum. Et si minus idoneus es adversus eum, roga Deum. Tamen si te non vicerit, quamvis ipsa tua

Chapter IV. — 4. How desire and evil habit are to be resisted. See, I shall set forth something from which you may understand the rest. You know that there are sober men: they are fewer, but they exist. You know that there are also drunkards: they abound. A sober man is baptized: as far as drunkenness is concerned, he has nothing to fight with; he has other desires with which to fight. But so that you may understand about the rest, let us set in the midst the contest with one enemy only. A drunkard too is baptized: he has heard, and heard with fear, that among the other evils by which the kingdom of God is shut against men who live evilly, drunkenness too has been mentioned; for where it was said, Neither fornicators, nor those serving idols, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor those who lie with males, nor thieves, there it was added, Nor drunkards, etc., shall possess the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9–10). He heard, and he feared. He has been baptized; all the occasions on which he was drunk have been forgiven him: there remains the hostile habit. So the reborn man has something with which to fight. All his past faults have been forgiven him: let him watch, let him be vigilant, let him fight, lest at some time he become drunk. So that desire for drinking rises up, it tickles the mind, it brings dryness upon the throat, it lies in wait for the senses: it wishes even, if it can be done, to break through the wall, to reach the one shut in, to drag him off captive. It fights: fight back. O if it too did not exist! If it came on through bad habit, it will die through good habit: only do not satisfy it, do not sate it by yielding, but kill it by resisting. Yet as long as it exists, it is an enemy. If you do not consent to it, and never become drunk, it will grow less and less every day. For its strength is your submission. For if you yield to it and become drunk, you give it strength. Is it against me, and not against you? I, from the higher place, warn, say, proclaim: what evil is to come upon drunkards, I announce beforehand. There is no ground for you to say, I did not hear; there is no ground for you to say, God requires my soul at the hand of him who kept silent to me. But you are struggling, because you yourself made for yourself a strong adversary by bad habit. You did not struggle in order to nourish it: struggle in order to conquer it. And if you are not strong enough against it, ask God. Yet if it has not conquered you, although your own

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(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the page-foot image› · call in col 816

Lov., Volunt post te ire : noli post eas ire. Si nolint post te ire. Sed melius caeteri editi et Mss. quos hic sequimur.

Louvain: "They want to go after you: do not go after them. If they will not go after you." But the other editions and the manuscripts, which we follow here, read better.

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(2) ‹anchor: consuetudine morietur› · call in col 816

Sic Mss. At editi, morigeretur.

So the manuscripts. But the printed editions: "morigeretur" [it will comply].

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(3) ‹anchor: ut nutrires eum› · call in col 816

Cisterciensis habet, ut non nutrires eum.

The Cîteaux [manuscript] has "ut non nutrires eum" [so as not to feed it].

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mala consuetudo luctata sit tecum, si te non vicerit, fecisti quod ait apostolus Paulus, Concupiscentias carnis ne perfeceritis. Facta est concupiscentia titillando; sed non est perfecta potando.

evil habit has wrestled with you, if it has not overcome you, you have done what the apostle Paul says, Do not carry out the desires of the flesh. Desire came about through titillation; but it was not carried out through drinking.

CAPUT V. — 5. Concupiscentia nobis innata et ex primo peccato orta. Originale peccatum ex concupiscentia. Christus sine peccato conceptus, ut solveret peccatum. Quod dixi de ebrietate, hoc de omnibus vitiis, hoc de omnibus cupiditatibus. Cum aliquibus enim nati sumus, aliquas consuetudi⟨n⟩e fecimus. Nam propter illas cum quibus nati sumus, baptizantur infantes, ut solvantur a reatu propaginis, non malae, quam non habuerunt, consuetudinis. Ergo semper pugnandum est, quia ipsa concupiscentia, cum qua nati sumus, finiri non potest quamdiu vivimus: quotidie minui potest, finiri non potest. Per illam dictum est hoc nostrum mortis corpus. De ipsa dicit Apostolus: Condelector enim legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem. Video autem aliam legem in membris meis repugnantem legi mentis meae, et captivantem me in lege peccati, quae est in membris meis. Tunc nata est ista lex, quando transgressa est prima lex. Tunc nata est, inquam, ista lex, quando contempta et transgressa est prima lex. Quae est prima lex? Quam in paradiso accepit homo. Noune nudi erant, et non confundebantur? Quare nudi erant, et non confundebantur, nisi quia nondum erat lex in membris repugnans legi mentis? Fecit homo factum puniendum, et invenit motum pudendum. Manducaverunt contra interdictum, et aperti sunt oculi eorum. Quid enim? prius in paradiso clausis vel cae⟨c⟩is oculis oberrabant? Absit. Nam Adam unde nomina imposuit volatilibus et bestiis, quando ad eum cuncta animalia adducta sunt (Gen. II, 25, 19, 20)? Quibus nomina imponebat, si non videbat? Deinde dictum est, Vidit mulier lignum, quia placeret oculis ad videndum. Ergo oculos apertos habebant; et nudi erant, et non confundebantur. Aperti sunt autem oculi eorum ad aliquid quod nunquam senserant, quod in motu sui corporis nunquam expaverant. Aperti sunt oculi ad intuendum, non ad videndum: et quia senserunt pudendum, curaverunt tegendum. Consuerunt, inquit, folia ficulnea, et fecerunt sibi succinctoria (Id. III, 1-7). Quod texerunt, ibi senserunt. Ecce unde trahitur originale peccatum, ecce unde nemo nascitur sine peccato. Ecce propter quod Dominus non sic concipi voluit, quem virgo concepit. Solvit illud, qui venit sine illo: solvit illud, qui non venit ex illo. Unde unus et unus: unus ad mortem, unus ad vitam. Homo primus ad mortem, homo secundus ad vitam. Sed quare ad mortem ille homo? Quia tantum homo. Quare ad vitam iste homo? Quia Deus et homo.

Chapter V. — 5. Desire is inborn in us and arose from the first sin. Original sin comes from desire. Christ was conceived without sin, so that He might loose sin. What I have said about drunkenness, I say about all vices, about all cravings. For with some we were born, others we have made by habit. For on account of those with which we were born, infants are baptized, so that they may be loosed from the guilt of their descent, not of an evil habit, which they did not have. Therefore we must always fight, because this very desire with which we were born cannot be ended as long as we live: daily it can be lessened, ended it cannot be. Through it this body of our death has been so called. Of it the Apostle says: For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man. But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and taking me captive in the law of sin, which is in my members (Rom. 7:22–23). This law was born then, when the first law was transgressed. This law was born then, I say, when the first law was despised and transgressed. What is the first law? The one which man received in paradise. Were they not naked, and were not ashamed? Why were they naked, and not ashamed, except because there was not yet in their members a law fighting against the law of the mind? Man did a deed deserving punishment, and found a movement deserving shame. They ate against the prohibition, and their eyes were opened. What then? Did they previously wander about in paradise with closed or blind eyes? Far from it. For how did Adam give names to the birds and the beasts, when all the animals were brought to him (Gen. 2:25, 19, 20)? To what was he giving names, if he did not see? Then it is said, The woman saw the tree, that it was pleasing to the eyes for seeing (Gen. 3:6). Therefore they had their eyes open; and they were naked, and were not ashamed. But their eyes were opened to something which they had never perceived, which they had never dreaded in the movement of their body. Their eyes were opened to gaze upon it, not to see: and because they perceived something shameful, they took care to cover it. They sewed together, it says, fig leaves, and made themselves girdles (Gen. 3:1–7). What they covered, there they perceived it. Behold whence original sin is drawn, behold why no one is born without sin. Behold why the Lord did not will to be conceived in that way, He Whom a virgin conceived. He loosed it, Who came without it: He loosed it, Who did not come from it. Hence one and one: one unto death, one unto life. The first man unto death, the second man unto life. But why is that man unto death? Because he is only man. Why is this Man unto life? Because He is God and man.

CAPUT VI.—6. Apostoli pugna contra concupiscentiam nobis proponitur ne desperemus. Non ergo quod vult agit Apostolus; quia vult non concupiscere, et

Chapter VI.—6. The Apostle's fight against desire is set before us so that we may not despair. Therefore the Apostle does not do what he wills; for he wills not to desire, and

Editors' notes and page, col. 817

Footnotes

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Editi, sed non est perfecta consentiendo, potando. Abest, consentiendo, a manuscriptis.

The printed editions: "but it is not carried through by consenting, by drinking." "Consentiendo" [by consenting] is absent from the manuscripts.

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Sic optimae notae codex Floriacensis et Cisterc. At editi, propaginis malae, quam habuerunt. Consuetudini ergo semper repugnandum est.

So the Fleury codex, of the best quality, and the Cîteaux one. But the printed editions: "of the evil stock which they had. Habit, then, must always be fought."

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tamen concupiscit; ideo non quod vult agit. Numquid illa concupiscentia mala trahebat Apostolum subjugatum ad fornicationem et adulteria? Absit. Non ascendant tales cogitationes in cor nostrum. Luctabatur, non subjugabatur. Sed quia nolebat nec hoc habere contra quod luctaretur, ideo dicebat: Non quod volo, ago. Concupiscere nolo, et concupisco. Non ergo quod volo, ago; sed tamen concupiscentiae non consentio. Non enim aliter diceret, Concupiscentias carnis ne perfeceritis; si eas ipse perficeret. Sed constituit tibi ante oculos pugnam suam, ne timeres tuam. Si enim hoc non dixisset beatus Apostolus, quando videres moveri concupiscentiam in membris tuis, cui tu non consentires; tamen cum eam moveri videres, forsitan de te desperares et diceres: Si ad Deum pertinerem, sic non moverer. Vide Apostolum pugnantem, et noli te facere desperantem. Video aliam legem, inquit, in membris meis repugnantem legi mentis meae. Et quia nolo ut repugnet: caro enim mea est, ego ipse sum, pars mea est: Non quod volo ago; sed quod odi malum, hoc ago; quia concupisco.

nevertheless he lusts; therefore he does not do what he wills. Did that evil concupiscence drag the Apostle, subjugated, into fornication and adulteries? Far from it. Let not such thoughts rise up into our heart. He was struggling; he was not subjugated. But because he did not wish to have even this thing against which he had to struggle, therefore he said: Not what I will, do I do. I do not wish to lust, and I lust. Therefore not what I will, do I do; but nevertheless I do not consent to concupiscence. For otherwise he would not say, Do not accomplish the lusts of the flesh, if he himself were accomplishing them. But he has set his own fight before your eyes, so that you should not fear yours. For if the blessed Apostle had not said this, when you saw concupiscence stirring in your members, to which you did not consent, yet, when you saw it stirring, perhaps you would despair of yourself and say: If I belonged to God, I would not be stirred thus. See the Apostle fighting, and do not make yourself despairing. I see, he says, another law in my members fighting against the law of my mind. And because I do not wish it to fight against [it], for it is my flesh, it is I myself, it is part of me: Not what I will, do I do; but the evil which I hate, this I do; because I lust.

CAPUT VII. — 7. Agere nec perficere seu bonum seu malum, quid sit. Quod ergo bonum ago? Quia concupiscentiae malae non consentio: Ago bonum, et non perficio bonum: et concupiscentia hostis mea agit malum, et non perficit malum. Quomodo ago bonum et non perficio bonum? Ago bonum, cum malae concupiscentiae non consentio: sed non perficio bonum, ut omnino non concupiscam. Rursus ergo et hostis mea quomodo agit malum, et non perficit malum? Agit malum, quia movet desiderium malum: non perficit malum, quia me non trahit ad malum. Et in isto bello est tota vita sanctorum. Jam quid dicam de immundis, qui nec pugnant? Subjugati pertrahuntur: nec pertrahuntur, quia libenter sequuntur. Haec, inquam, est pugna sanctorum; et in hoc bello semper homo periclitatur, quousque moriatur. Sed in fine, id est, in triumpho illius victoriae quid dicitur? imo quid dicit Apostolus jam praemeditans triumphum? Tunc fiet sermo qui scriptus est, Absorpta est mors in victoriam. Ubi est, mors, contentio tua? Vox triumphantium. Ubi est, mors, aculeus tuus? Aculeus autem mortis est peccatum: cujus punctione facta est mors. Peccatum quasi scorpius est: pupugit nos, et mortui sumus. Sed quando dicitur, Ubi est, mors, aculeus tuus? quo aculeo facta es, non quem fecisti: quando ergo dicitur, Ubi est, mors, aculeus tuus? utique non erit; quia peccatum non erit. Aculeus autem mortis est peccatum. Contra peccatum data est Lex. Sed virtus peccati Lex (I Cor. XV, 54-56)? Quomodo virtus peccati Lex? Subintravit, ut abundaret delictum. Quomodo hoc? Quia fuit ante Legem homo peccator; data Lege atque transgr⟨es⟩sa, factus est et praevaricator. Peccato tenebantur homines rei: Lege data, plus praevaricatione facti sunt rei.

Chapter VII. — 7. What it is to do, and yet not to accomplish, either good or evil. What good, then, do I do? Because I do not consent to evil concupiscence: I do good, and I do not accomplish good; and concupiscence, my enemy, does evil, and does not accomplish evil. How do I do good and not accomplish good? I do good when I do not consent to evil concupiscence; but I do not accomplish good, so as not to lust at all. Again, then, how does my enemy also do evil, and not accomplish evil? It does evil, because it stirs up evil desire; it does not accomplish evil, because it does not drag me to evil. And in this war is the whole life of the saints. What now shall I say of the unclean, who do not even fight? Subjugated, they are dragged along; no, they are not dragged along, because they follow willingly. This, I say, is the fight of the saints; and in this war a man is always in danger, until he dies. But at the end, that is, in the triumph of that victory, what is said? Indeed, what does the Apostle say, already meditating beforehand on the triumph? Then shall come to pass the word that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your contention? The voice of those who triumph. Where, O death, is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, by whose pricking death was brought about. Sin is like a scorpion: it stung us, and we died. But when it is said, Where, O death, is your sting? [it means] the sting by which you were brought about, not the one which you made; when therefore it is said, Where, O death, is your sting? certainly it will not exist, because sin will not exist. Now the sting of death is sin. Against sin the Law was given. But the power of sin is the Law (1 Cor. 15:54–56)? How is the Law the power of sin? It entered in, that the offence might abound. How so? Because before the Law man was a sinner; when the Law was given and transgressed, he was made a transgressor as well. Men were held guilty by sin; when the Law was given, they were made more guilty by transgression.

Editors' notes and page, col. 818

Footnotes

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Er. Lugd. Ven., nolebat et hoc habere. Lov., nolebat hoc habere. M.

Erasmus, Lyons, Venice: "nolebat et hoc habere" [he did not want to have this too]. Louvain: "nolebat hoc habere" [he did not want to have this]. M.

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Editi, omnes rei. At Mss., homines rei. Pauloque post, plus praevaricationis facti sunt rei.

The printed editions: "omnes rei" [all guilty]. But the manuscripts: "homines rei" [men guilty]. And a little later: "plus praevaricationis facti sunt rei" [they were made guilty of more transgression] [the line is faint in the scan].

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