Migne Reading Room
PL 38 · cols. 849–858
Augustine, Sermones 154-157 (Classis I, de Scripturis)
Sermon CLVI
qui tale pignus tenes? sic ergo, homo, non erit mortis illa contentio, sic implebitur quod dictum est, Miser ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus (Rom. VII, 24)? Quia Christus Jesus, si Spiritus ejus habitat in vobis, vivificabit et mortalia corpora vestra. Sic liberaberis de corpore mortis hujus, non corpus non habendo, vel alterum habendo; sed non ulterius moriendo. Si enim non adderet, mortis hujus, et diceret, Quis me liberabit de corpore? forte suggereretur error cogitationi humanae, et diceretur: Vides quia non vult Deus nos esse cum corpore? De corpore, inquit, mortis hujus. Mortem tolle, et bonum est corpus. Detrahatur mors novissima inimica, et erit mihi in aeternum caro mea amica. Nemo enim unquam carnem suam odio habuit. Etsi spiritus concupiscit contra carnem, et caro concupiscit adversus spiritum (Galat. V, 17); etsi modo rixa est in ista domo, maritus litigans, non perniciem, sed concordiam quaerit uxoris. Absit, fratres mei, absit ut spiritus concupiscendo contra carnem oderit carnem. Vitia carnis odit, prudentiam carnis odit, contentionem mortis odit. Corruptibile hoc induat incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induat immortalitatem; seminetur corpus animale, resurgat corpus spirituale (I Cor. XV, 53, 44); et videbis plenam perfectamque concordiam, videbis creaturam laudare Creatorem. Si ergo Spiritus ejus qui suscitavit Jesum a mortuis, habitat in vobis; qui suscitavit Christum a mortuis, vivificabit et mortalia corpora vestra, propter inhabitantem Spiritum ejus qui habitat in vobis: non propter merita vestra, sed propter munera sua. Conversi ad Dominum, etc.
you who hold such a pledge? Thus, then, O man, there will not be that strife of death; thus will be fulfilled what was said, Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death (Rom. 7:24)? Because Christ Jesus, if His Spirit dwells in you, will give life also to your mortal bodies. Thus you will be delivered from the body of this death, not by having no body, nor by having another, but by no longer dying. For if he did not add, of this death, and said, Who will deliver me from the body? perhaps an error would be suggested to human thought, and it would be said: Do you see that God does not want us to be with a body? From the body, he says, of this death. Take away death, and the body is good. Let death, the last enemy, be removed, and my flesh will be my friend for ever. For no one ever hated his own flesh. Although the spirit lusts against the flesh, and the flesh lusts against the spirit (Gal. 5:17); although there is now a quarrel in this house, the husband in his quarrelling seeks not the ruin but the concord of his wife. Far be it, my brothers, far be it that the spirit, in lusting against the flesh, should hate the flesh. It hates the vices of the flesh, it hates the prudence of the flesh, it hates the strife of death. Let this corruptible put on incorruption, and let this mortal put on immortality; let an animal body be sown, let a spiritual body rise again (1 Cor. 15:53, 44); and you will see full and perfect concord, you will see the creature praising the Creator. If, then, the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He Who raised Christ from the dead will give life also to your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit dwelling within, Who dwells in you: not because of your merits, but because of His gifts. Turning to the Lord, etc.
SERMO CLVI. De verbis Apostoli, Rom. VIII, 12-17, Ergo, fratres, debitores sumus non carni, ut secundum carnem vivamus, etc. Contra Pelagianos. Habitus in basilica Gratiani, die natali martyrum Bolitanorum.
Sermon 156. On the words of the Apostle, Rom. 8:12-17, Therefore, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh, that we should live according to the flesh, etc. Against the Pelagians. Preached in the basilica of Gratian, on the birthday of the Bolitan martyrs.
CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. In Scripturis quaedam clausa, quaedam aperta. Verbi Dei altitudo exercet studium, non denegat intellectum. Si enim omnia clausa essent, nihil esset unde revelarentur obscura. Rursus si omnia tecta essent, non esset unde alimentum perciperet anima, et haberet vires quibus posset ad clausa pulsare. In lectionibus apostolicis superioribus, quas Charitati vestrae, quantum Dominus adjuvare dignatus est, exposuimus, multum laborem et sollicitudinem
Chapter I. — 1. In the Scriptures some things are closed, some open. The depth of the Word of God exercises study; it does not deny understanding. For if all things were closed, there would be nothing from which obscure things might be revealed. Again, if all things were covered, there would be nothing from which the soul might receive nourishment and have strength with which it could knock at the closed things. In the preceding apostolic readings, which we have expounded to your Charity, as far as the Lord has deigned to help, much labour and solicitude
Editors' notes and page, col. 849
Footnotes
(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CLVI› · call in col 849 Castigatus ad omnes Mss. et Edd. in sermone praecedenti modo designatos.
Corrected against all the manuscripts and editions named in the preceding sermon.
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(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CLVI› · call in col 849
Alias, de Verbis Apostoli 13.
Formerly De verbis Apostoli 13.
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(b) ‹anchor: Contra Pelagianos› · call in col 849
Citatur a Beda et Floro ad Rom. VIII, et ad Galat. iii. Locum diemque habiti sermonis, quem hic notamus, exhibuit vetus codex PP. Cisterciensium in Jerusalem de Urbe. Porro Calendarium Carthaginense nuperrime repertum natalitia sanctorum Volitanorum seu Bolitanorum assignat xvi cal. nov. Ex quo diem habes, non hujus tantummodo, sed etiam superioris sermonis, qui tertio ante hunc die dictus intelligitur ex illis verbis hic cap. 13, « Jam nudiustertius « qui adfuistis, audistis, » etc. necnon Sermonis 26 (pronuntiati, ut recentius didicimus, in basilica Theodosiana), in cujus capite 8 iste Sermo 156 sic indicatur, « Quod etiam hesterno « die commemoravimus. » Ad annum vero 417 pertinere videntur isti sermones, sive ad idem circiter tempus quo scriptus est liber de Gratia Christi.
It is cited by Bede and Florus on Romans 8 and on Galatians 3. The place and day the sermon was preached, which we note here, are given by an old manuscript of the Cistercian Fathers of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome. Further, the Carthaginian Calendar, very recently discovered, assigns the feast of the Volitan or Bolitan saints to the 16th day before the Kalends of November [17 October]. From this you have the day not only of this sermon but also of the preceding one, which is understood to have been preached two days before this one, from the words here in chapter 13: "Those of you who were present the day before yesterday heard," etc.; and also of Sermon 26 (preached, as we have more recently learned, in the Theodosian basilica), in whose chapter 8 this Sermon 156 is pointed to thus: "Which we also recalled yesterday." These sermons seem to belong to the year 417, or to about the same time as the book On the Grace of Christ was written.
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passi sumus. Compatiebamur vobis, et solliciti eramus et pro nobis et pro vobis. Quantum autem existimo, adjuvit Dominus et nos et vos; et ea quae prorsus difficillima videbantur, sic per nos enodare dignatus est, ut nulla quaestio remaneret, quae conturbet mentem piam. Impia enim mens odit etiam ipsum intellectum; et homo aliquando nimium mente perversa timet intelligere, ne cogatur quod intellexerit facere. De talibus ait Psalmus: Noluerunt intelligere, ut bene agerent (Psal. XXXV, 4). Vos autem, charissimi, quia bonum est bene sentire de vobis, exigitis intellectum, exigit Deus fructum. Intellectus enim, sicut scriptum est, bonus omnibus facientibus eum (Psal. CX, 10). Hoc tamen quod restat et hodie recitatum est, quamvis non habeat tantam difficultatem, quantam habuerunt superiora, quae jam, ut potuimus, adjuvante Domino, transvecti sumus, desiderat tamen intentionem vestram: velut enim conclusio fit, propter illa quae dicta sunt in superioribus lectionibus, ubi laborabatur, ne forte reus constitueretur Apostolus omnium quodam modo peccatorum dicendo, Non enim quod volo ago (Rom. VII, 15). Deinde ne lex videretur aut sufficere posse homini habenti liberum arbitrium, etiamsi nullum ultra auxilium divinum porrigeretur, aut certe frustra data fuisse crederetur, dicta est et causa quare sit lex data, quia et ipsa in adjutorium data est, sed non sicut gratia.
we have suffered. We suffered with you, and we were anxious both for ourselves and for you. But as far as I judge, the Lord has helped both us and you; and the things which seemed altogether most difficult He has deigned to unravel through us in such a way that no question should remain which might disturb a devout mind. For an impious mind hates even understanding itself; and a man of an exceedingly perverse mind sometimes fears to understand, lest he be compelled to do what he has understood. Of such the Psalm says: They would not understand, so that they might act well (Ps. 35:4). But you, dearly beloved, since it is good to think well of you, demand understanding; God demands fruit. For understanding, as it is written, is good to all who do it (Ps. 110:10). Yet what remains and has been read out today, although it does not have as much difficulty as the earlier parts had, which we have now crossed over, as far as we could, with the Lord's help, nevertheless calls for your attention: for it forms, as it were, a conclusion, on account of the things that were said in the earlier readings, where we laboured lest perhaps the Apostle should be made guilty, in a certain manner, of all sins by saying, For I do not do what I will (Rom. 7:15). Then, lest the law should seem either able to suffice for a man having free choice, even if no further divine help were held out, or else be believed to have been given in vain, the reason was also stated why the law was given: that it too was given as a help, but not as grace is.
CAPUT II. — 2. Lex cur data. Gratiae medicinalis necessitas. Data est enim, sicut jam exposuimus, et tenere debetis, et vobis vehementius et diligentius nos commendare debemus; data est ut inveniret se homo, non ut morbus sanaretur, sed ut praevaricatione morbo crescente medicus quaereretur (Supra, in Serm. 155, n. 4). Et quis est iste medicus, nisi qui dixit: Non est opus sanis medicus, sed male habentibus (Matth. IX. 12). Qui ergo non confitetur Creatorem, negat superbus auctorem. Qui autem negat aegritudinem suam, superfluum judicat Salvatorem. Ergo et in natura nostra Creatorem laudemus; et propter vitium quod nobis infliximus, Salvatorem quaeramus. Et quomodo quaerimus Salvatorem? Ut det legem? Parum est: Si enim data esset lex quae posset vivificare, omnino esset ex lege justitia. Si ergo non est data lex quae posset vivificare, quare data est? Sequitur, et ostendit quare sit data: quia etiam sic in adjutorium data est, ne te sanum putares. Si ergo data esset lex, quae posset vivificare, omnino ex lege esset justitia. Et quasi quaereremus, Quare ergo data est? Sed conclusit, inquit, Scriptura omnia sub peccato, ut promissio ex fide Jesu Christi daretur credentibus (Galat. III, 21, 22). Quando audis promissorem, exspecta factorem. Idonea fuit humana natura per liberum arbitrium vulnerare se: sed jam vulnerata et saucia, non est idonea per liberum arbitrium sanare se. Si enim volueris intemperanter vivere ut aegrotes, ad hoc medicum non requiris: ad labem sufficis tibi. Cum autem intemperanter agens coeperis esse aegrotus, non sic potes ab aegritudine liberare te, quomodo potuisti per intemperantiam te in aegritudinem praecipitare.
Chapter II. — 2. Why the law was given. The necessity of healing grace. For it was given, as we have already explained, and as you ought to hold, and as we ought to commend to you more vehemently and more diligently; it was given so that man might find himself, not so that the disease might be healed, but so that, the disease growing through transgression, the physician might be sought (Above, in Serm. 155, n. 4). And who is this physician, if not He Who said: It is not the healthy who need a physician, but those who are unwell (Matt. 9:12). So he who does not acknowledge the Creator denies in his pride the author. But he who denies his own sickness judges the Saviour superfluous. Therefore let us both praise the Creator in our nature, and, on account of the fault which we have inflicted on ourselves, seek the Saviour. And how do we seek the Saviour? That He may give a law? That is too little: For if a law had been given which could give life, righteousness would be wholly from the law. If then a law which could give life has not been given, why was it given? He continues, and shows why it was given: because even so it was given as a help, so that you should not think yourself healthy. If then a law had been given which could give life, righteousness would be wholly from the law. And as if we were asking, Why then was it given? But Scripture, he says, has shut up all things under sin, so that the promise from the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe (Gal. 3:21–22). When you hear the promiser, await the doer. Human nature was capable, through free choice, of wounding itself; but once wounded and injured, it is not capable, through free choice, of healing itself. For if you choose to live intemperately so as to fall sick, you do not need a physician for this: you are sufficient to yourself for the downfall. But when, by acting intemperately, you have begun to be sick, you cannot free yourself from the sickness in the way that you could through intemperance cast yourself headlong into sickness.
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Et tamen medicus etiam sano praecipit temperantiam. Bonus medicus hoc facit, non vult esse necessarius aegrotanti. Sic etiam Dominus Deus creato homini sine vitio temperantiam praecipere dignatus est: quam si ille servasset, medicum postea morbo suo non desideraret. Sed quia non servavit, languidus factus est, cecidit; infirmus creavit infirmos, id est, infirmus genuit infirmos. Et tamen in omnibus qui nascuntur infirmis Deus quod bonum est operatur, formando corpus, vivificando corpus, alimenta praebendo, pluviam suam et solem suum super bonos et malos dando: non est unde accusent bonum, nec mali. Insuper etiam genus humanum justo suo judicio condemnatum noluit in interitum sempiternum relinquere: sed misit et medicum, misit Salvatorem, misit eum qui gratis sanaret; parum est qui gratis sanaret, qui sanatis etiam mercedem daret. Nihil addi ad istam benevolentiam potest. Quis est qui dicat: Sanem te, et do tibi mercedem? Optime fecit. Sciebat enim se divitem ven⟨i⟩sse ad pauperem: et sanat aegrotos, et sanatis donat, et non aliud quam se ipsum donat. Salvator est adjutorium languidi, ipse Salvator est praemium s⟨a⟩nati.
And yet a physician prescribes temperance even to a healthy man. A good physician does this: he does not wish to be needed by one who is sick. So too the Lord God deigned to prescribe temperance to man, created without fault: and had he kept it, he would not afterwards have needed a physician for his disease. But because he did not keep it, he became sickly, he fell; the infirm one created infirm ones, that is, the infirm one begot infirm ones. And yet in all who are born infirm God works what is good, by forming the body, by giving life to the body, by supplying nourishment, by giving His rain and His sun upon the good and the wicked: there is no ground on which even the wicked may accuse the Good One. Moreover, the human race, condemned by His just judgement, He was unwilling to leave to everlasting destruction: but He sent both a physician, He sent a Saviour, He sent One Who would heal freely; it is too little that He should heal freely, He would even give a reward to those healed. Nothing can be added to this benevolence. Who is there who would say: Let me heal you, and I give you a reward? He did excellently. For He knew that He, rich, had come to the poor: and He heals the sick, and gives gifts to the healed, and gives nothing other than Himself. The Saviour is the help of the sickly, the Saviour Himself is the reward of the healed.
CAPUT III. — 3. Lege uti legitime. Lex paedagogus. — Ergo, fratres, quod hodie admoniti estis, debitores sumus non carni, ut secundum carnem vivamus. Ad hoc enim adjuti sumus, ad hoc Spiritum Dei accepimus, ad hoc etiam in laboribus nostris quotidianum adjutorium postulamus. Lex cui minatur non implendo quod jubet, eum facit esse sub se: hi sunt sub lege, non sub gratia. Bona est lex, si quis ea legitime utatur (I Tim. I, 8). Quid est ergo legitime uti lege? Per legem agnoscere morbum suum, et quaerere ad sanitatem divinum adjutorium. Quia, sicut dixi, et saepe dicendum est, Si lex posset vivificare, omnino ex lege esset justitia: nec quaereretur salvator, nec veniret Christus, nec sanguine suo ovem perditam quaereret. Sic enim dicit alio loco idem apostolus: Nam si per legem justitia, ergo Christus gratis mortuus est (Galat. II, 21). Quae igitur utilitas legis, et quod adjutorium? Quia conclusit Scriptura omnia sub peccato, ut promissio ex fide Jesu Christi daretur credentibus. Itaque lex, inquit, paedagogus noster erat in Christo Jesu (Id. III, 24). Ex ista similitudine rem de qua loquor, attendite. Paedagogus puerum non ducit ad se ipsum, sed ad magistrum: sed cum puer bene institutus jam creverit, sub paedagogo non erit.
Chapter III. — 3. To use the law lawfully. The law a pedagogue. — Therefore, brethren, as you have been reminded today, we are debtors not to the flesh, that we should live according to the flesh. For to this end we have been helped, to this end we have received the Spirit of God, to this end also in our labours we ask for daily help. The law makes the one whom it threatens, through his not fulfilling what it commands, to be under it: these are under the law, not under grace. The law is good, if one uses it lawfully (1 Tim. 1:8). What then is it to use the law lawfully? Through the law to recognize one's own disease, and to seek divine help towards health. Because, as I have said, and it must often be said, If the law could give life, righteousness would be entirely from the law: neither would a saviour be sought, nor would Christ come, nor would He seek the lost sheep with His own blood. For thus the same apostle says in another place: For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing (Gal. 2:21). What then is the usefulness of the law, and what help? Because Scripture has shut up all things under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Therefore the law, he says, was our pedagogue in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:24). From this comparison attend to the matter of which I am speaking. The pedagogue does not lead the boy to himself, but to the teacher: but when the boy, well instructed, has now grown up, he will not be under the pedagogue.
CAPUT IV. — 4. Legis utilitas. Tractans de his Apostolus etiam alio loco: valde enim assidue hoc commendat; sed utinam non surdis! commendat autem hoc assidue, commendans fidem Gentibus; quia fide impetrant adjutorium, ut impleant legem, non per legem, sed vires implendi impetrantes per fidem: ad hoc assidue dicit et commendat ista Apostolus, propter Judaeos, qui de lege gloriabantur, et libero suo arbitrio legem sufficere arbitrabantur: ac per hoc quia libero suo arbitrio legem sufficere arbitrabantur, Ignorantes Dei justitiam, id est, ex fide justitiam datam a Deo, et suam volentes statuere, quasi suis viribus
Chapter IV. — 4. The usefulness of the law. The Apostle, treating of these things also in another place: for he commends this very assiduously; but would that not to deaf ears! he commends this assiduously, commending faith to the Gentiles; because by faith they obtain help, that they may fulfil the law, not through the law, but obtaining the strength to fulfil it through faith: to this end the Apostle assiduously says and commends these things, on account of the Jews, who gloried in the law, and supposed that with their own free will the law was sufficient: and therefore, because they supposed that with their own free will the law was sufficient, Being ignorant of the righteousness of God, that is, the righteousness given by God from faith, and wishing to establish their own, as if by their own strength
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impletam, non clamante fide impetratam, justitiae Dei, sicut dicit, non sunt subjecti. Finis enim legis Christus, ait, ad justitiam omni credenti (Rom. X, 3, 4). Ergo cum de his tractat, opposuit sibi, Quid ergo lex? Quasi, Quae utilitas legis? Respondit: Praevaricationis gratia posita est. Hoc est quod dicit alibi, Lex subintravit, ut abundaret delictum. Et ibi quid addidit? Ubi autem abundavit delictum, superabundavit gratia (Id. V, 20). Quia in leviore aegritudine contemnebatur adjutorium medicinae: crevit morbus, et quaesitus est medicus. Quid ergo lex? Praevaricationis gratia posita est: unde humiliaretur cervix superborum multum sibi tribuentium, et voluntati suae tantum arrogantium, ut sibi liberum arbitrium posse putarent ad justitiam sufficere: quae tunc quando erat integra libertate, id est, in paradiso, ostendit vires suas, ostendit quantum possent, sed ad ruendum, non ad surgendum. Lex ergo praevaricationis gratia posita est, donec veniret semen cui promissum est, dispositum per Angelos in manu Mediatoris.
fulfilled, not obtained by faith crying out, they have not, as he says, submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ, he says, is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom. 10:3–4). Therefore, when he treats of these matters, he puts the objection to himself: What then is the law? As if to say: What is the use of the law? He answered: It was set down for the sake of transgression. This is what he says elsewhere: The law entered in, that sin might abound. And what did he add there? But where sin abounded, grace superabounded (Rom. 5:20). Because in a lighter illness the help of medicine was despised, the disease grew, and the physician was sought. What then is the law? It was set down for the sake of transgression: so that the neck of the proud might be humbled, who attributed much to themselves and arrogated so much to their own will that they thought free choice could suffice them for righteousness; which, at the time when it was in unimpaired freedom, that is, in paradise, showed its strength, showed how much they could do, but for falling, not for rising. The law, therefore, was set down for the sake of transgression, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made, ordained through angels in the hand of a Mediator.
CAPUT V. — 5. Mediatoris necessitas. Fides laudabilis quae sit. — Mediator autem unius non est: Deus autem unus est (Galat. III, 19, 20). Quid est, Mediator unius non est? Quia inter duos utique mediator est. Si unus est Deus, et mediator non est unius; inter quid et Deum quaerimus mediatorem? quia mediator unius non est, Deus autem unus est. Inter quid et quid sit mediator, invenimus ipso Apostolo dicente: Unus enim Deus, et unus mediator Dei et hominum, homo Christus Jesus (I Tim. II, 5). Si non jaceres, mediatorem necessarium non haberes: quia vero jaces, et surgere non potes, media⟨t⟩orem quodam modo Deus tibi porrexit brachium suum. Et brachium Domini cui revelatum est (Isai. LIII, 1)? Nemo ergo dicat: Quoniam non sumus sub lege, sed sub gratia; ergo peccemus, ergo quod volumus faciamus. Qui hoc dicit, aegritudinem amat, non sanitatem. Gratia medicina est. Qui vult semper aegrotare, ingratus est medicinae. Ergo, fratres, accepto adjutorio, porrecto nobis desuper divino auxilio, brachio Domini, et ipso brachio Domini porrecto nobis auxilio Spiritu sancto, debitores sumus non carni, ut secundum carnem ambulemus. Quia fides bene operari non potest, nisi per dilectionem. Ipsa est enim fidelium fides, ne sit daemonum fides: quia et daemones credunt, et contremiscunt (Jacobi II, 19). Illa est ergo laudabilis fides, ipsa est vera gratiae fides, quae per dilectionem operatur (Galat. V, 6). Ut autem habeamus dilectionem, et ex ea possimus habere bonam operationem, numquid eam nobis dare non possumus, cum scriptum sit, Charitas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis (Rom. V, 5)? Charitas usque adeo est donum Dei, ut Deus vocetur, apostolo Joanne dicente, Deus charitas est, et qui manet
Chapter V. — 5. The necessity of the Mediator. What faith is praiseworthy. — Now a mediator is not of one; but God is one (Gal. 3:19–20). What does it mean: A mediator is not of one? Because a mediator is surely between two. If God is one, and a mediator is not of one, between what and God do we seek a mediator? For a mediator is not of one, but God is one. Between what and what the mediator stands, we find from the Apostle himself, who says: For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). If you were not lying down, you would not have need of a mediator; but because you are lying down and cannot rise, God has, in a certain manner, stretched out to you the mediator as His arm. And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed (Isa. 53:1)? Let no one therefore say: Since we are not under the law but under grace, therefore let us sin, therefore let us do what we will. Whoever says this loves sickness, not health. Grace is a medicine. Whoever wishes always to be sick is ungrateful to the medicine. Therefore, brethren, having received help, divine aid having been stretched out to us from above, the arm of the Lord, and that arm of the Lord having been stretched out to us as help through the Holy Spirit, we are debtors not to the flesh, to walk according to the flesh. For faith cannot work well except through love. For this is the faith of the faithful, lest it be the faith of demons: for the demons too believe, and tremble (Jas. 2:19). That, therefore, is praiseworthy faith, that is the true faith of grace, which works through love (Gal. 5:6). But in order that we may have love, and from it may be able to have good working, is it not the case that we cannot give it to ourselves, since it is written: The charity of God is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us (Rom. 5:5)? Charity is so much the gift of God that God is called charity, as the apostle John says: God is charity, and he who abides
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(1) ‹anchor: auxilio Spiritu sancto› · call in col 852
Fossatensis codex, et cum ipso brachio Domini porrecto nobis in auxilium Spiritu sancto. Colbertinus, et ipso brachio Domini porrigente nobis auxilium Spiritus sancti. Beda vero, et ipso brachio Domini porrecto nobis ad auxilium Spiritu sancto.
The Saint-Maur-des-Fossés manuscript reads: "and with the very arm of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, stretched out to us for help." The Colbert manuscript: "and with the very arm of the Lord holding out to us the help of the Holy Spirit." Bede, however: "and with the very arm of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, stretched out to us for help."
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in charitate, in Deo manet, et Deus in eo (I Joan. IV, 16).
in charity, abides in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16).
CAPUT VI.—6. Secundum carnem vivere malum est. Anima secundum Deum, caro secundum animam vivat.—Ergo, fratres, debitores sumus non carni, ut secundum carnem vivamus. Si enim secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini. Non quia caro malum est: nam et ipsa Dei creatura est, et ab eo condita a quo et anima; nec illa, nec illa pars Dei, sed et illa et illa creatura Dei. Ergo caro non est malum: sed secundum carnem vivere malum est. Deus summe bonus est, quia summe est qui ait, Ego sum qui sum (Exod. III, 14). Deus ergo summe bonus est: anima magnum bonum, sed non summum bonum. Cum autem audis, Deus summe bonus est, noli putare de Deo tantum Patre dictum, sed de Patre et Filio et Spiritu sancto. Haec enim Trinitas unum sunt, et unus est Deus, et summe bonus est. Ita plane unus est Deus, ut quando de ipsa Trinitate interrogaris, hoc respondeas: ne forte cum audieris, Unus est Deus, putes ipsum esse Patrem, ipsum esse Filium, ipsum esse Spiritum sanctum. Non ita est: sed qui Pater est in illa Trinitate, non est Filius: qui Filius est in illa Trinitate, non est Pater: qui Spiritus sanctus est in illa Trinitate, nec Filius est, nec Pater; sed Spiritus Patris, idemque Spiritus Filii. Ipse est enim unus Spiritus sanctus et Patris et Filii, coaeternus Patri et Filio, consubstantialis, aequalis. Haec tota Trinitas, unus Deus summe bonus. Anima vero, ut dixi, creata a summo bono, non tamen summum bonum, sed magnum bonum. Item caro nec summum bonum, nec magnum bonum; sed tamen parvum bonum. Anima ergo magnum bonum, sed non summum bonum: vivens inter summum bonum et parvum bonum, id est, inter Deum et carnem, inferior Deo, carne superior; quare non vivit secundum summum bonum, sed vivit secundum parvum bonum? Hoc planius dicitur: Quare non vivit secundum Deum, sed vivit secundum carnem? Debitrix enim est non carni, ut secundum carnem vivat. Caro debet secundum ipsam vivere, non ipsa secundum carnem. Ipsa vivat secundum ipsam, quae vivit de ipsa. Certe unaquaeque secundum hoc vivat, unde vivit. Unde vivit caro tua? De anima tua. Unde vivit anima tua? De Deo tuo. Unaquaeque harum secundum vitam suam vivat. Caro enim sibi non est vita; sed anima carnis est vita. Anima sibi non est vita: sed Deus est animae vita. Anima ergo quae debet secundum Deum vivere; non enim debitrix est carni, ut secundum carnem vivat: ergo quae secundum Deum debet vivere, si secundum se ipsam vivat, deficit; secundum carnem vivit et proficit. Tunc autem recte vivit caro secundum animam, si anima vivat secundum Deum. Nam si anima, non dico secundum carnem, sed secundum se ipsam, ut dixi, voluerit vivere; dicturus vobis sum quid sit secundum se ipsam vivere: bonum est enim, ut hoc noveritis, et valde salubre.
Chapter VI.—6. To live according to the flesh is evil. Let the soul live according to God, the flesh according to the soul.—Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, that we should live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. Not because the flesh is evil: for it too is a creature of God, and was made by Him by Whom the soul too was made; neither the one nor the other is a part of God, but both the one and the other are a creature of God. Therefore the flesh is not evil: but to live according to the flesh is evil. God is supremely good, because He supremely is Who says, I am Who am (Exod. 3:14). God therefore is supremely good: the soul is a great good, but not the supreme good. But when you hear, God is supremely good, do not think that this is said of God the Father only, but of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. For this Trinity is one, and is one God, and is supremely good. So plainly is God one, that when you are questioned about the Trinity itself, you should give this answer: lest perhaps, when you have heard, God is one, you should think that the same one is the Father, the same one the Son, the same one the Holy Spirit. It is not so: but He Who is the Father in that Trinity is not the Son; He Who is the Son in that Trinity is not the Father; He Who is the Holy Spirit in that Trinity is neither the Son nor the Father, but the Spirit of the Father, and likewise the Spirit of the Son. For He is the one Holy Spirit both of the Father and of the Son, coeternal with the Father and the Son, consubstantial, equal. This whole Trinity is one God supremely good. The soul, however, as I said, created by the supreme good, is yet not the supreme good, but a great good. Again, the flesh is neither the supreme good nor a great good; but yet it is a small good. The soul therefore is a great good, but not the supreme good: living between the supreme good and a small good, that is, between God and the flesh, lower than God, higher than the flesh; why does it not live according to the supreme good, but lives according to a small good? This is said more plainly: Why does it not live according to God, but lives according to the flesh? For it is a debtor not to the flesh, that it should live according to the flesh. The flesh ought to live according to it, not it according to the flesh. Let it [the flesh] live according to it [the soul], since it lives from it. Surely let each live according to that from which it lives. From what does your flesh live? From your soul. From what does your soul live? From your God. Let each of these live according to its own life. For the flesh is not life to itself; but the soul is the life of the flesh. The soul is not life to itself: but God is the life of the soul. The soul therefore, which ought to live according to God; for it is not a debtor to the flesh, that it should live according to the flesh: therefore, it which ought to live according to God, if it lives according to itself, falls away; it lives according to the flesh and goes further. But the flesh lives rightly according to the soul only then, if the soul lives according to God. For if the soul should wish to live, I do not say according to the flesh, but according to itself, as I said; I am going to tell you what it is to live according to oneself: for it is good that you should know this, and very wholesome.
CAPUT VII.—7. Epicurei secundum carnem viventes, et Stoici secundum animam. Fuerunt philosophi
Chapter VII.—7. The Epicureans living according to the flesh, and the Stoics according to the soul. There were philosophers
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In Bedae et Flori Collectione, Jam supra dixerat, Prudentia carnis mors est. Non quia caro, etc.
In the collections of Bede and Florus: "He had already said above, The prudence of the flesh is death. Not because the flesh," etc.
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saeculi hujus, alii putaverunt non esse beatitudinem, nisi secundum carnem vivere, et bonum hominis in voluptate corporis posuerunt. Isti philosophi Epicurei dicti sunt, ab Epicuro quodam auctore, magistro suo, et qui alii similes eorum. Exstiterunt autem alii superbi, quasi a carne se removentes, et totam spem beatitudinis suae in anima sua constituentes, posuerunt summum bonum in virtute sua. Vocem Psalmi in vobis affectus pietatis agnovit: scitis, nostis, agnovistis quomodo irrisi sunt in sancto Psalmo, qui confidunt in virtute sua (Psal. XLVIII, 7). Tales fuerunt philosophi, qui Stoici nuncupati sunt. Illi secundum carnem viventes, isti secundum animam viventes, nec illi nec isti secundum Deum viventes. Ideo cum ad urbem Atheniensium, ubi istae philosophorum disciplinae studio et contentione fervebant, venisset apostolus Paulus, sicut in Actibus Apostolorum legitur; ubi vos gaudeo nostrum agnoscendo et recolendo praevenire sermonem, sicut ibi scriptum est, Contulerunt cum illo quidam philosophorum Epicureorum et Stoicorum (Act. XVII, 18): contulerunt cum illo secundum carnem viventes, contulerunt cum illo secundum animam viventes, contulit cum illis secundum Deum vivens. Dicebat Epicureus: Mihi frui carne, bonum est. Dicebat Stoicus: Mihi frui mea mente, bonum est. Dicebat Apostolus: Mihi autem adhaerere Deo, bonum est (Psal. LXXII, 28). Dicebat Epicureus: Beatus cujus est in fructu voluptas carnis ejus. Dicebat Stoicus: I⟨m⟩o beatus cujus est in fructu virtus animae ejus. Dicebat Apostolus: Beatus cujus est nomen Domini spes ejus. Errat Epicureus: falsum est enim, esse hominem beatum, cujus est in fructu voluptas carnis ejus. Fallitur et Stoicus: falsum est enim, et omnino mendosissimum, beatum esse hominem, cujus est in fructu virtus animae ejus. Beatus ergo cujus est nomen Domini spes ejus. Et quia illi vani sunt et mentiuntur: Et non respexit, inquit, in vanitates et insanias mendaces (Psal. XXXIX, 5).
of this world, some thought that there is no happiness except to live according to the flesh, and placed the good of man in the pleasure of the body. These philosophers were called Epicureans, after a certain Epicurus, their founder and master, as were any others like them. But there arose others, proud men, who, as if removing themselves from the flesh and placing the whole hope of their happiness in their own soul, placed the highest good in their own virtue. The disposition of piety in you has recognized the voice of the Psalm: you know, you are aware, you have recognized how those are derided in the holy Psalm who trust in their own virtue (Ps. 48:7). Such were the philosophers who were called Stoics. The former living according to the flesh, the latter living according to the soul, neither the former nor the latter living according to God. Therefore when the apostle Paul had come to the city of the Athenians, where these schools of the philosophers were seething with zeal and contention, as is read in the Acts of the Apostles (and here I rejoice that you, by recognizing and recalling it, anticipate our discourse), as it is written there, Certain of the philosophers of the Epicureans and the Stoics conferred with him (Acts 17:18): those living according to the flesh conferred with him, those living according to the soul conferred with him, he who lived according to God conferred with them. The Epicurean said: For me to enjoy the flesh is good. The Stoic said: For me to enjoy my own mind is good. The Apostle said: But for me to cleave to God is good (Ps. 72:28). The Epicurean said: Happy is he whose fruit is the pleasure of his flesh. The Stoic said: Nay rather, happy is he whose fruit is the virtue of his soul. The Apostle said: Happy is he whose hope is the name of the Lord. The Epicurean errs: for it is false that a man is happy whose fruit is the pleasure of his flesh. The Stoic too is deceived: for it is false, and altogether most erroneous, that a man is happy whose fruit is the virtue of his soul. Happy therefore is he whose hope is the name of the Lord. And because those men are vain and lie: And he has not looked, it says, upon vanities and lying follies (Ps. 39:5).
CAPUT VIII. — 8. Anima secundum se vivens est carnalis. — Ergo, fratres, debitores sumus non carni, ut secundum carnem vivamus, sicut Epicurei. Sed etiam si secundum se ipsam vivere voluerit anima, carnalis erit; carnem sapit, de carne non surgit. Non est enim quemadmodum inde surgat, qui brachium porrectum jacenti non tenet. Si enim secundum carnem vixeritis. Ubi enim dictum est, Quid faciat mihi homo? ibi dictum est, Quid faciat mihi caro (Psal. LV, 5, 11). Si enim secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini. Non ista morte, cum de corpore exitur; ista enim moriemini, etsi secundum spiritum vixeritis: sed illa morte, de qua Dominus in Evangelio terribiliter dicit, Eum timete, qui habet potestatem et animam et corpus perdere in gehennam ignis (Matth. X, 28). Si ergo secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini.
Chapter VIII. — 8. The soul living according to itself is carnal. — Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, as the Epicureans do. But even if the soul should wish to live according to itself, it will be carnal; it savours of the flesh, it does not rise from the flesh. For there is no way for him to rise from there who does not take hold of the arm stretched out to him as he lies. For if you live according to the flesh. For where it was said, What can man do to me? there it was said, What can flesh do to me (Ps. 55:5, 11). For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. Not by that death, when one departs from the body; for that death you will die even if you live according to the spirit: but by that death of which the Lord in the Gospel says terrifyingly, Fear Him Who has power to destroy both soul and body in the gehenna of fire (Matt. 10:28). If therefore you live according to the flesh, you will die.
CAPUT IX. — 9. Opus nostrum in hac vita, mortificatio carnis. — Si autem spiritu actiones carnis mortificaveritis, vivetis. Hoc est opus nostrum in hac vita. actiones
Chapter IX. — 9. Our work in this life, the mortification of the flesh. — But if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you will live. This is our work in this life: the actions
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Mss., si secundum se ipsam sibi vivere voluerit.
The manuscripts read: "if it chooses to live to itself according to itself."
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Forte, mendacissimum.
Perhaps read "mendacissimum" (most false).
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carnis spiritu mortificare; quotidie affligere, minuere, frenare, interimere. Quam multa enim proficientes non jam delectant, quae antea delectabant? Quando ergo delectabat, et non ei consentiebatur, mortificabatur: quia jam non delectat, mortificatum est. Calca mortuum, transi ad vivum: calca jacentem, conflige cum resistente. Mortua est enim delectatio una, sed vivit altera: et illam, dum non consentis, mortificas; cum coeperit omnino non delectare, mortificasti. Haec est actio nostra, haec est militia nostra. In hoc agone cum confligimus, Deum habemus spectatorem: in hoc agone cum laboramus, Deum poscimus adjutorem. Si enim nos ipse non adjuvat, non dico vincere, sed nec pugnare poterimus.
of the flesh to put to death by the spirit; daily to afflict them, to diminish, to curb, to destroy them. For how many things no longer delight those who are making progress, which delighted them before? When, then, it delighted and was not consented to, it was being put to death: since it no longer delights, it has been put to death. Tread on the dead, pass on to the living: tread on the one lying down, fight with the one resisting. For one delight is dead, but another lives: and that one, while you do not consent, you are putting to death; when it has begun not to delight at all, you have put it to death. This is our action, this is our warfare. In this contest, when we fight, we have God as spectator: in this contest, when we labour, we call upon God as helper. For if He Himself does not help us, I do not say that we shall be able to conquer, but not even to fight.
10. Praesumptio de se cavenda in carnis mortificatione. Cum ergo dixisset Apostolus, Si autem spiritu actiones carnis mortificaveritis, vivetis; id est, illas concupiscentias carnis, quibus non consentire magna laus est, quas non habere perfectio est: si has actiones carnis morbidas, et de morte habentes contentionem, spiritu mortificaveritis, vivetis. Hic jam metuendum est, ne quisquam rursus ad mortificandas actiones carnis de spiritu suo praesumat. Non solum enim Deus spiritus est: sed et anima tua spiritus est, et mens tua spiritus est. Et cum dicis, Mente servio legi Dei, carne autem legi peccati (Rom. VII, 25): quia spiritus concupiscit adversus carnem, et caro adversus spiritum (Galat. V, 17). Ergo ne ad carnis actiones mortificandas de spiritu tuo praesumas, et superbia pereas, et tibi superbo resistatur, non humili gratia concedatur: Deus enim superbis resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam (Jacobi IV, 6).
10. Presumption about oneself to be guarded against in the mortification of the flesh. When, then, the Apostle had said, But if by the spirit you put to death the actions of the flesh, you will live; that is, those concupiscences of the flesh, to which not to consent is great praise, which not to have is perfection: if you put to death by the spirit these diseased actions of the flesh, which have their contention from death, you will live. Here now it is to be feared lest anyone, in turn, should presume upon his own spirit for putting to death the actions of the flesh. For not only is God spirit: but your soul too is spirit, and your mind is spirit. And when you say, With the mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin (Rom. 7:25): because the spirit lusts against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit (Gal. 5:17). So, lest you presume upon your own spirit for putting to death the actions of the flesh, and perish by pride, and be resisted as proud, and grace not be granted to you as humble: for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Jas. 4:6).
CAPUT X. — Ne forte ergo suboriretur tibi ista superbia, vide quid sequatur. Cum enim dixisset, Si spiritu actiones carnis mortificaveritis, vivetis; ne hic se extolleret humanus spiritus, et ad hoc opus se idoneum firmumque jactaret, subjecit, et ait, Quotquot enim Spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filii sunt Dei. Quid te ergo jam volebas extollere, ubi audisti, Si spiritu actiones carnis mortificaveritis, vivetis? Dicturus enim eras: Hoc potest voluntas mea, hoc potest liberum arbitrium meum. Quae voluntas? quod liberum arbitrium? Nisi ille regat, cadis: nisi ille erigat, jaces. Quomodo ergo spiritu tuo, cum audias Apostolum dicentem, Quotquot enim Spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filii sunt Dei? Tu te vis agere, a te ipso vis agi ad actiones carnis mortificandas? Quid tibi prodest quia non eris Epicureus, et eris Stoicus? Sive Epicureus eris, sive Stoicus eris, inter filios Dei non eris. Quotquot enim Spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filii sunt Dei. Non qui secundum carnem suam vivunt, non qui secundum spiritum suum vivunt; non qui carnis voluptate ducuntur, non qui spiritu suo aguntur: sed, quotquot Spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filii sunt Dei.
Chapter X. — So, lest perhaps this pride should spring up in you, see what follows. For when he had said, If by the spirit you put to death the actions of the flesh, you will live; lest the human spirit should exalt itself here, and boast itself fit and strong for this work, he added and said, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Why then did you now want to exalt yourself, when you heard, If by the spirit you put to death the actions of the flesh, you will live? For you were about to say: My will can do this, my free choice can do this. What will? What free choice? Unless He rules, you fall: unless He raises you up, you lie prostrate. How then by your own spirit, when you hear the Apostle saying, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God? Do you want to lead yourself, do you want to be led by yourself to putting to death the actions of the flesh? What does it profit you that you will not be an Epicurean, and will be a Stoic? Whether you are an Epicurean or a Stoic, you will not be among the sons of God. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Not those who live according to their own flesh, not those who live according to their own spirit; not those who are drawn by the pleasure of the flesh, not those who are led by their own spirit: but, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
CAPUT XI. — 11. Ad bonum et agimur et agimus. Dicit mihi aliquis: Ergo agimur, non agimus. Respondeo: Imo et agis, et ageris; et tunc bene agis, si a bono agaris. Spiritus enim Dei qui te
Chapter XI. — 11. Towards the good we are both led and act. Someone says to me: So we are acted upon, we do not act. I answer: Rather, you both act and are acted upon; and you act well then, if you are led by the good. For the Spirit of God, Who
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agit, agenti adjutor est tibi. Ipsum nomen adjutoris praescribit tibi, quia et tu ipse aliquid agis. Agnosce quid poscas; agnosce quid confitearis, quando dicis: Adjutor meus esto, ne derelinquas me (Psal. XXVI, 9). Adjutorem utique invocas Deum. Nemo adjuvatur, si ab illo nihil agatur. Quotquot enim, inquit, Spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filii sunt Dei: non littera, sed Spiritu: non Lege praecipiente, minante, promittente; sed Spiritu exhortante, illuminante, adjuvante. Scimus, inquit idem apostolus, quia diligentibus Deum omnia cooperantur in bonum (Rom. VIII, 28). Si non esses operator, ille non esset coeperator.
leads you, is a helper to you as you act. The very name of helper prescribes to you that you yourself also do something. Recognize what you ask for; recognize what you confess, when you say: Be Thou my helper, do not forsake me (Ps. 26:9). You certainly call upon God as helper. No one is helped if nothing is done by him. For as many, he says, as are moved by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God: not by the letter, but by the Spirit; not by the Law commanding, threatening, promising, but by the Spirit exhorting, enlightening, helping. We know, says the same apostle, that for those who love God all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28). If you were not a worker, He would not be a co-worker.
12. Nihil boni sine adjutorio Dei. Libertas sine gratia qualis. Sed hic fortiter vigilate, ne forte dicat spiritus vester: Si subtraxerit se cooperatio Dei et adjutorium Dei, spiritus meus facit hoc: etsi cum labore, etsi cum aliqua difficultate potest, tamen implere potest. Quomodo si aliquis dicat: Remis quidem pervenimus, sed cum aliquo labore; o si ventum habeamus, facilius pervenimus. Non sic est adjutorium Dei, non sic est adjutorium Christi, non sic est adjutorium Spiritus sancti. Prorsus si defuerit, nihil boni agere poteris. Agis quidem illo non adjuvante libera voluntate, sed male. Ad hoc idonea est voluntas tua, quae vocatur libera, et male agendo fit damnabilis ancilla. Cum dico tibi, Sine adjutorio Dei nihil agis, nihil boni dico. Nam ad male agendum habes sine adjutorio Dei liberam voluntatem: quanquam non est illa libera. A quo enim quis devictus est, huic et servus addictus est (II Petr. II, 19); et, Omnis qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati; et, Si vos Filius liberaverit, tunc vere liberi eritis (Joan. VIII, 34, 36).
12. Nothing good without the help of God. What sort of liberty there is without grace. But here keep strong watch, lest perhaps your spirit should say: If the co-operation of God and the help of God withdraws itself, my spirit does this; even if with toil, even if with some difficulty, it can, yet it can accomplish it. As if someone were to say: With oars indeed we arrive, but with some toil; oh, if we had a wind, we would arrive more easily. Not so is the help of God, not so is the help of Christ, not so is the help of the Holy Spirit. If it is altogether lacking, you will be able to do nothing good. You do act, without His helping, by free will, but badly. For this your will, which is called free, is fit, and by acting badly it becomes a damnable handmaid. When I say to you, Without the help of God you do nothing, I mean nothing good. For to act badly you have free will without the help of God: although that will is not free. For by whom someone has been overcome, to him also he is bound as a slave (2 Pet. 2:19); and, Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin; and, If the Son sets you free, then you will be truly free (John 8:34, 36).
CAPUT XII. — 13. Gratia non tantum ut facilius, sed omnino ut facere possis necessaria. Prorsus hoc credite, sic vos agere bona voluntate. Quia vivitis, utique agitis. Non enim adjutor est ille, si nihil agatis: non enim cooperator est ille, si nihil operamini. Sic vos tamen scitote agere bona, ut sit rector Spiritus adjutor: qui si defuerit, nihil boni omnino agere valeatis. Non sicut quidam dicere coeperunt, qui coarctati sunt aliquando gratiam confiteri: et benedicimus Deum, quia vel hoc aliquando dixerunt; accedendo enim proficere poterunt, et ad id quod vere rectum est pervenire. Jam ergo dicunt adjutricem esse gratiam Dei, ad facilius facienda. Ista sunt enim verba eorum: Ad hoc dedit, inquiunt, Deus gratiam suam hominibus, ut quod facere jubentur per liberum arbitrium, facilius possint implere per gratiam. Velo facilius, remo difficilius: tamen et remo itur. Jumento facilius, pedibus difficilius: sed tamen et pedibus pervenitur. Non est sic. Magister enim verus qui neminem palpat, neminem fallit, verax doctor idemque Salvator, ad quem nos duxit molestissimus paedagogus; cum de bonis
Chapter XII. — 13. Grace is necessary not only that you may act more easily, but that you may be able to act at all. Believe this altogether, that you act thus with good will. Because you live, you certainly act. For He is not a helper if you do nothing; for He is not a co-worker if you do no work. Yet know that you do good things in such a way that the Spirit, the helper, is the ruler: if He is lacking, you would be able to do nothing good at all. Not as certain people have begun to say, who have at some point been constrained to confess grace: and we bless God that they have at least said this at some point; for by drawing near they will be able to make progress, and to arrive at what is truly right. So now they say that the grace of God is a helper towards doing things more easily. For these are their words: For this purpose, they say, God gave His grace to men, that what they are commanded to do through free choice they may be able to accomplish more easily through grace. By sail more easily, by oar with more difficulty: yet one goes by oar too. On a beast of burden more easily, on foot with more difficulty: but nevertheless one arrives on foot too. It is not so. For the true Master, Who flatters no one, deceives no one, the truthful teacher and likewise Saviour, to Whom a most troublesome tutor has led us; when concerning good
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Sic Beda et Florus. At editi Am. Er. Lov., agentibus adjutor est.
So Bede and Florus. But the printed editions Am. (Amerbach), Er. (Erasmus) and Lov. (Louvain) read: "he is a helper to those who act."
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Lov., Sic vos tamen scitote agere, ut sit rector Spiritus et adjutor; sed dissentientibus caeteris libris.
Lov. (the Louvain edition) reads: "Yet know that you act in such a way that the Spirit is ruler and helper"; but the other books disagree.
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Ita nonnulli Mss. At editi, potuerunt.
So some manuscripts. But the printed editions read "potuerunt" (they were able).
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operibus, id est, de sarmentorum et palmitum fructibus loqueretur, non ait, Sine me quidem potestis facere aliquid, sed facilius per me: non ait, Fructum vestrum sine me potestis facere, sed uberiorem per me. Non hoc dixit. Legite quid dixerit: Evangelium sanctum est, omnium superba colla subduntur. Non haec dicit Augustinus, haec dicit Dominus. Quid dicit Dominus? Sine me nihil potestis facere (Joan. XV, 5). Jam nunc cum auditis, Quotquot Spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filii sunt Dei, nolite vos demittere. Neque enim templum suum sic de vobis aedificat Deus, quasi de lapidibus qui non habent motum suum: levantur, ab structore ponuntur. Non sic sunt lapides vivi: Et vos tanquam lapides vivi coaedificamini in templum Dei (Ephes. II, 22, et I Petr. II, 5). Ducimini, sed currite et vos: ducimini, sed sequimini: quia cum secuti fueritis, verum erit illud, quia sine illo nihil ⟨f⟩acere potestis. Non enim volentis, neque currentis, sed miserentis est Dei (Rom. IX, 16).
works, that is, of the fruits of the shoots and branches, He was speaking, He does not say, Without Me indeed you can do something, but more easily through Me; He does not say, You can produce your fruit without Me, but more abundantly through Me. He did not say this. Read what He said: it is the holy Gospel; the proud necks of all are bowed [to it]. Augustine does not say these things; the Lord says these things. What does the Lord say? Without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5). Now therefore, when you hear, As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God, do not let yourselves sink down. For God does not build His temple out of you in such a way as out of stones which have no motion of their own: they are lifted, they are set in place by the builder. Living stones are not so: And you, as living stones, are built together into the temple of God (Eph. 2:22; 1 Pet. 2:5). You are led, but run yourselves also; you are led, but follow: because when you have followed, that will be true, that without Him you can do nothing. For it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy (Rom. 9:16).
CAPUT XIII.—14. Lex vetus et nova. Spiritus servitutis et libertatis. Forte dicturi eratis: Et Lex sufficit nobis. Lex timorem dedit: et videte quid hinc subjunxit Apostolus, cum diceret, Quotquot enim Spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filii sunt Dei: quia cum Spiritu Dei aguntur, charitate aguntur: Charitas enim Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis (Id. V, 5): secutus adjunxit, Non enim accepistis spiritum servitutis iterum in timore. Quid est, iterum? Quomodo terrente molestissimo paedagogo. Quid est, iterum? Sicut in monte Sina accepistis spiritum servitutis. Dicit aliquis: Alius est spiritus servitutis, alius spiritus libertatis. Si alius esset, non diceret Apostolus, iterum. Idem ergo spiritus, sed in tabulis lapideis in timore, in tabulis cordis in dilectione. Jam nudiustertius qui adfuistis audistis, quomodo longe positam plebem, voces, ignis, fumus in monte terrebat (Exod. XIX, XX, et XXXI, 18); quomodo autem veniens Spiritus sanctus, idem ipse digitus Dei, quinquagesimo die post umbram Paschae quomodo venerit, et igneis lingu⟨i⟩s super unumquemque eorum insederit (Act. II, 1-4). Jam ergo non in timore, sed in dilectione; ut non servi, sed filii simus. Qui enim adhuc ideo bene agit, quia poenam timet, Deum non amat, nondum est inter filios: utinam tamen vel poenam timeat. Timor servus est, charitas libera est; et ut sic dicamus, timor est servus charitatis. Ne possideat diabolus cor tuum, praecedat servus in corde tuo, et servet dominae venturae locum. Fac, fac vel timore poenae, si nondum potes amore justitiae. Veniet domina, et servus abscedet: quia consummata charitas foras mittit timorem (I Joan. IV, 18), Non enim accepistis spiritum servitutis iterum in timore. Novum Testamentum est, non vetus. Vetera transierunt, et ecce nova facta sunt omnia: omnia autem ex Deo (II Cor. V, 17, 18).
Chapter XIII.—14. The old Law and the new. The spirit of slavery and of freedom. Perhaps you were going to say: The Law too is enough for us. The Law gave fear: and see what the Apostle added after this, when he said, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God: because when they are led by the Spirit of God, they are led by charity: For the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us (Rom. 5:5): following on, he added, For you have not received the spirit of slavery again in fear. What is "again"? As when a most troublesome tutor terrifies. What is "again"? As on Mount Sinai you received the spirit of slavery. Someone says: The spirit of slavery is one, the spirit of freedom another. If it were another, the Apostle would not say "again". It is therefore the same Spirit, but on tablets of stone in fear, on tablets of the heart in love. Those of you who were present two days ago heard how voices, fire and smoke on the mountain terrified the people standing far off (Exod. 19; 20; 31:18); but how the Holy Spirit coming, He Himself the finger of God, on the fiftieth day after the shadow of the Pasch, how He came, and sat upon each one of them in fiery tongues (Acts 2:1–4). Now therefore not in fear, but in love; that we may be not slaves, but sons. For he who still acts well for this reason, because he fears punishment, does not love God, is not yet among the sons: yet would that he at least feared punishment. Fear is a slave, charity is free; and, so to speak, fear is the slave of charity. Lest the devil possess your heart, let the slave go before in your heart, and keep the place for the mistress who is to come. Act, act even from fear of punishment, if you cannot yet from love of righteousness. The mistress will come, and the slave will withdraw: because perfect charity casts out fear (1 John 4:18), For you have not received the spirit of slavery again in fear. It is the New Testament, not the old. The old things have passed away, and behold, all things have been made new: but all things are from God (2 Cor. 5:17–18).
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Mss., Jam nunc quod audistis. Et paulo post, nolite vos dimittere.
The manuscripts read: "Now then, what you have heard." And a little after: "do not let yourselves go."
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Concioni superiori, cujus capite 6 de hac ipsa re dictum fuit.
At the preceding sermon, in whose chapter 6 this very matter was discussed.
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CAPUT XIV. — 15. Abba et Pater, quia duo populi in Christo. Denique quid sequitur? Quid ergo accepimus, quasi diceres: Sed accepistis Spiritum adoptionis filiorum, in quo clamamus, Abba, Pater. Dominus timetur, pater amatur. Accepistis Spiritum adoptionis filiorum, in quo clamamus, Abba, Pater. Clamo⟨r⟩ iste cordis est, non faucium, non labiorum: intus sonat, auribus Dei sonat. Clauso ore, labiisque immotis, Susanna ista voce clamabat (Dan. XIII). Sed accepistis spiritum adoptionis filiorum, in quo clamamus, Abba, Pater. Cor clamet, Pater noster qui es in coelis (Matth. VI, 9), Ergo quare non tantum Pater? Quid sibi vult, Abba, Pater? Si enim quaeras quid sit Abba, respondetur tibi, Pater. Abba enim hebraice pater dicitur. Quare voluit utrumque Apostolus ponere? Quia videbat lapidem angularem, quem reprobaverunt aedificantes, et factus est in caput anguli (Psal. CXVII, 22), non sine causa angularem dictum, nisi quia in osculum recipit utrumque parietem de diverso venientem. Hinc circumcisio, inde praeputium, tantum a se et inter se longe, quantum ab angulo longe: quantum autem ad angulum prope, et inter se utique prope; in angulo autem inter se juncti. Ipse est enim pax nostra, qui fecit utraque unum (Ephes. II, 14-22). Ergo inde circumcisio, inde praeputium, parietum concordia, anguli gloria. Accepistis Spiritum adoptionis filiorum, in quo clamamus, Abba, Pater.
Chapter XIV. — 15. Abba and Father, because there are two peoples in Christ. Then what follows? What then have we received, as though you were to say: But you have received the Spirit of the adoption of sons, in Whom we cry, Abba, Father. A master is feared, a father is loved. You have received the Spirit of the adoption of sons, in Whom we cry, Abba, Father. This cry is of the heart, not of the throat, not of the lips: it sounds within, it sounds in the ears of God. With her mouth closed and her lips unmoved, Susanna cried out with this voice (Dan. 13). But you have received the spirit of the adoption of sons, in which we cry, Abba, Father. Let the heart cry, Our Father Who art in heaven (Matt. 6:9). So why not only Father? What is the meaning of Abba, Father? For if you ask what Abba is, the answer given you is, Father. For in Hebrew a father is called Abba. Why did the Apostle wish to put both? Because he saw that the cornerstone, which the builders rejected, and which has become the head of the corner (Ps. 117:22), was not called the cornerstone without cause, but only because it receives into its kiss both walls coming from different directions. On this side circumcision, on that side uncircumcision, as far from each other and between themselves as they are far from the corner; but as near as they are to the corner, so near indeed are they between themselves; and in the corner they are joined to each other. For He is our peace, Who has made both one (Eph. 2:14–22). So on this side circumcision, on that side uncircumcision: the concord of the walls, the glory of the corner. You have received the Spirit of the adoption of sons, in Whom we cry, Abba, Father.
CAPUT XV. — 16. Spiritus arrha potius quam pignus. Qualis res est, si pignus tale est? Nec pignus, sed arrha dicenda est. Pignus enim quando ponitur, cum fuerit res ipsa reddita pignus aufertur. Arrha autem de ipsa re datur, quae danda promittitur; ut res quando redditur, impleatur quod datum est, non mutetur. Unusquisque ergo attendat cor suum, utrum ex intimis cordis medullis et sincera charitate dicat, Pater. Non modo quaeritur quanta sit ipsa charitas, utrum magna, an parva, an mediocris: utrum vel sit, quaero. Si nata est, latendo crescit, crescendo perficietur, perfecta permanebit. Non enim perfecta vergit in senium, et a senectute veniet ad mortem: ad hoc perficietur, ut aeterna permaneat. Vide enim quid sequitur. Clamamus, Abba, Pater. Ipse Spiritus testimonium reddit spiritui nostro, quia sumus filii Dei. Non spiritus noster reddit testimonium spiritui nostro, quia sumus filii Dei: sed Spiritus Dei, arrha reddit testimonium pro ea re quae nobis promissa est. Ipse Spiritus testimonium reddit spiritui nostro, quia sumus filii Dei.
Chapter XV. — 16. The Spirit is an earnest rather than a pledge. What sort of thing is it, if the pledge is such? It ought to be called not a pledge but an earnest. For when a pledge is deposited, once the thing itself has been rendered, the pledge is taken away. But an earnest is given out of the very thing which is promised to be given, so that when the thing is rendered, what has been given is filled up, not exchanged. Let each one, then, attend to his own heart, whether he says Father from the inmost marrow of the heart and with sincere charity. It is not now asked how great that charity is, whether great, or small, or middling: I ask whether it exists at all. If it has been born, it grows by lying hidden, by growing it will be perfected, once perfected it will endure. For when perfect it does not decline into old age, and from old age come to death: it will be perfected to this end, that it may endure eternal. For see what follows. We cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness to our spirit, that we are sons of God. It is not our spirit that bears witness to our spirit that we are sons of God, but the Spirit of God, the earnest, bears witness on behalf of that thing which has been promised to us. The Spirit Himself bears witness to our spirit, that we are sons of God.
17. Haereditas filiorum Dei. — Si autem filii, et haeredes. Non enim inaniter filii. Haec est merces: Et haeredes. Hoc est quod paulo ante dicebam, quia medicus noster et sanitatem nobis donat, et mercedem insuper largiri dignatur. Quae est illa merces? Haereditas. Sed non quomodo est hominis patris haereditas. Relinquit enim filiis suis, non possidet cum filiis suis: et tamen magnum se facit, et gratias sibi agi desiderat, quia voluit dare quod non possit auferre. Moriens
17. The inheritance of the sons of God. — But if sons, heirs also. For they are not sons to no purpose. This is the reward: Heirs also. This is what I was saying a little before, that our Physician both gives us health and deigns to bestow a reward besides. What is that reward? The inheritance. But not in the way that the inheritance of a human father is. For he leaves it to his sons, he does not possess it together with his sons: and yet he makes himself great, and desires to be thanked, because he chose to give what he could not take away. Dying,
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Aliquot Mss., Cor clamat.
Some manuscripts read "Cor clamat" (the heart cries).
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