PL 40 · cols. 625–636

Augustine, On the Creed, a Sermon to the Catechumens

Editors' preface

Editors' notes and page, col. 625

Footnotes

(none)  (printed under page 317)

Editors' prose

ADMONITIO IN SERMONES DE SYMBOLO AD CATECHUMENOS.

ADMONITION ON THE SERMONS ON THE CREED TO THE CATECHUMENS.

Quatuor isti sermones conjunctim vulgati alias fuerunt in tomo nono, et apud veteres codices Mss. perinde atque apud excusos appellantur de Symbolo libri quatuor, tribuunturque Augustino. Primus quidem sermo Augustinum omnino refert: non ita vero tres alii. Quippe in his tribus dicendi genus incultum et abjectum, non habet satis ingenii et gravitatis, sicuti videre est in sermone secundo, ubi legitur, capite 2: Habemus et nos spiritualem nostrum aurigam, sanctum prophetam Eliam, qui quadrigae igneae superimpositus tantum cucurrit, ut metas prenderet coeli. Scripturae loca peregrinis verbis citantur interdum et explicantur eo modo ac sensu, quem Augustino adscribere non audemus, ut in ejusdem sermonis capite 5, nn. 13 et 14. Hunc praeterea sermonem tempore persecutionis Vandalicae, demortuo jam Augustino habitum, cum Ariani Catholicos modis omnibus tentarent, beneficiis aeque ac injuriis avocantes a fide, suspicamur ex illis in fine verbis: Haereticus Arianus non insultet Ecclesiae. Lupus est, agnoscite: serpens est, ejus capita conquassate. Blanditur, sed fallit: multa promittit, sed decipit, etc. In sermone tertio et quarto morantur nos causae dubitandi etiam bene multae, neque leviores. Possidius in Indiculo, cap. 10, recenset de Symbolo tractatus tres: sed hos in superiore tomo Sermonum habes, ordine 212, 213, sqq.

These four sermons were formerly published together in the ninth volume, and in the old manuscript codices, as in the printed editions, they are called the four books On the Creed and are attributed to Augustine. The first sermon is wholly characteristic of Augustine; not so the other three. For in these three the manner of speaking is rough and mean, and has too little wit and weight, as may be seen in the second sermon, where we read in chapter 2: "We too have our spiritual charioteer, the holy prophet Elijah, who, set upon a four-horse chariot of fire, ran so far that he reached the turning-posts of heaven." Passages of scripture are sometimes cited in unfamiliar words and explained in a manner and sense that we dare not ascribe to Augustine, as in chapter 5 of the same sermon, nos. 13 and 14. Moreover, we suspect that this sermon was preached in the time of the Vandal persecution, when Augustine was already dead and the Arians were trying the Catholics by every means, drawing them away from the faith with favours as much as with injuries; we suspect it from these words at the end: "Let not the Arian heretic insult the Church. He is a wolf: recognize him. He is a serpent: crush his heads. He flatters, but he deceives; he promises much, but he cheats," etc. In the third and fourth sermons, too, a good many reasons for doubt detain us, and no lighter ones. Possidius, in his Indiculus, ch. 10, lists three treatises On the Creed; but these you have in the preceding volume of the Sermons, as numbers 212, 213 and following.

Editors' prose

Sub finem tomi item noni editionis per Lovanienses adornatae referuntur quatuordecim tractatus, quos paucis exceptis dubios habemus ac subdititios. Horum quidam in Appendicem rejecti sunt, quidam vero hic suo loco typis minutioribus impressi, ut sermo de quarta Feria, seu de Cultura agri dominici, in cujus capite 3 locus Actuum, I, 18, et in capite item 6 locus Joannis, VI, 51, citantur haud satis accurate: praeterquam quod in capite 7 persecutio Vandalica notata videtur. Sermo etiam de Cataclysmo, ubi cap. 2 dicitur, Baptismo restauratum corpus ad priorem statum primi hominis ante peccatum. Et Sermo de Tempore Barbarico, qui capite praesertim 4 nonnulla continet minus consentanea sacrae Bibliorum historiae, necnon exhortationem in fine ad roborandos Catholicos contra persecutionem Arianorum. Stilus certe horum trium aeque rudis ac demissus minimeque Augustinianus. Denique eumdem auctorem sapiunt tum isti sermones, tum alii supra de Symbolo tres recensiti, aliquem forte ex discipulis Augustini, cujus sententias interdum, tacito S. Doctoris nomine, profert; veluti illam in sermone de Cataclysmo, cap. 3, Tolle verbum, et quid est aqua nisi aqua? Accedit verbum ad elementum, et fit sacramentum: quae nimirum ducta est ex Tractatu 80 in Joannem, n. 3. Haesimus etiam aliquantum circa sermonem de Cantico novo, nec sine aliqua cunctatione passi sumus, cum nomine Augustini, quod olim gerit, rursum excudi. In capite 3 plures habet sententias ex sequente paulo post sermone de utilitate Jejunii, cap. 3, desumptas, scilicet, Si.... jumento insideres, quod te gestiendo vellet praecipitare, etc., inque ejus fine concionator ad baptizandos, Merces, inquit, nostra est, ut in illo sancto fonte adjuvetis nos orationibus vestris: quod sermonis proxime subsequentis auctor non absimiliter exposcit a baptizandis, Pro nostra mercede, in illo sacratissimo fonte pro nobis orate.

At the end of the ninth volume of the edition prepared by the Louvain editors, fourteen treatises are likewise given, which, with few exceptions, we hold to be doubtful and spurious. Some of them have been relegated to the Appendix; some, however, are printed here in their own place in smaller type, such as the sermon On the Fourth Day of the Week, or On the Cultivation of the Lord's Field, in whose chapter 3 the passage Acts 1:18, and likewise in chapter 6 the passage John 6:51, are cited with too little accuracy; besides which, in chapter 7 the Vandal persecution seems to be noted. So too the sermon On the Flood, where in ch. 2 it is said that by baptism "the body is restored to the former state of the first man before sin". And the sermon On the Time of the Barbarians, which, especially in chapter 4, contains several things that agree poorly with the sacred history of the Bible, and also an exhortation at the end to strengthen the Catholics against the persecution of the Arians. The style of these three, certainly, is equally rough and lowly, and not at all Augustinian. Finally, both these sermons and the other three on the Creed reviewed above savour of the same author, perhaps one of Augustine's disciples, who sometimes brings forward his sayings without naming the holy Doctor: for instance this one in the sermon On the Flood, ch. 3, "Take away the word, and what is water but water? The word is joined to the element, and it becomes a sacrament", which is plainly drawn from Tractate 80 on John, no. 3. We have also hesitated somewhat over the sermon On the New Song, and not without some delay have we allowed it to be printed again under the name of Augustine, which it once bore. In chapter 3 it has several sentences taken from the sermon On the Usefulness of Fasting, which follows shortly after, ch. 3, namely, "If .... you were sitting on a beast of burden that by its restiveness wanted to throw you headlong", etc.; and at its end the preacher says to those about to be baptized, "Our reward is that in that holy font you help us with your prayers"; which the author of the sermon immediately following asks of those to be baptized in not dissimilar terms: "For our reward, pray for us in that most sacred font."

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other: As in col. 625, the text set here is NOT the Sermo de Symbolo: it is the end of De patientia (cap. XXIX §26), which closes in this column. Below the rule the page carries the editors' ADMONITIO IN SERMONES DE SYMBOLO AD CATECHUMENOS, set across the full page width (Maurists' prose): not set.
other: the author's text in this column is the end of the preceding work (Augustine, De patientia, CAP. XXIX), not this unit; pointer only. The column joins the unit for the editors' Admonitio on the Creed sermons (rail-only part).
other: editors' prose: 'elementum' and 'absimiliter' read through broken type in the scan (the page shows c-like e and broken l); the readings are certain from sense.

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S. AURELII AUGUSTINI HIPPONENSIS EPISCOPI DE SYMBOLO SERMO AD CATECHUMENOS.

SAINT AURELIUS AUGUSTINE, BISHOP OF HIPPO, ON THE CREED: A SERMON TO THE CATECHUMENS.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Symbolum regula fidei. Symbolum ex Scripturis collectum est. Deus omnipotens. Parvuli exsufflantur et exorcizantur. Accipite, filii, regulam fidei, quod Symbolum dicitur. Et cum acceperitis, in corde scribite, et quotidie dicite apud vos: antequam dormiatis, antequam procedatis, vestro Symbolo vos munite. Symbolum nemo scribit ut legi possit: sed ad recensendum, ne forte deleat oblivio quod tradidit diligentia, sit vobis codex vestra memoria. Quod audituri estis, hoc credituri; et quod credideritis, hoc etiam lingua reddituri. Ait enim Apostolus: Corde creditur ad justitiam, ore autem confessio fit ad salutem (Rom. X, 10). Hoc est enim Symbolum, quod recensuri estis et reddituri. Ista verba quae audistis, per divinas Scripturas sparsa sunt: sed inde collecta et ad unum redacta, ne tardorum hominum memoria laboraret; ut omnis homo possit dicere, possit tenere quod credit. Numquid enim modo solummodo audistis quia Deus omnipotens est? Sed incipitis eum habere patrem, quando nati fueritis per Ecclesiam matrem.

CHAPTER I. — 1. The Creed, the rule of faith. The Creed is gathered from the Scriptures. God almighty. Little children are exsufflated and exorcized. Receive, sons, the rule of faith, which is called the Creed. And when you have received it, write it in your heart, and say it daily to yourselves: before you sleep, before you go out, arm yourselves with your Creed. No one writes the Creed down so that it may be read: but for going over it, lest perhaps forgetfulness efface what diligence has handed on, let your memory be your book. What you are going to hear, that you are going to believe; and what you have believed, that you are also going to give back with the tongue. For the Apostle says: With the heart one believes unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Rom. 10:10). For this is the Creed, which you are going to go over and give back. These words which you have heard are scattered through the divine Scriptures: but they have been gathered from there and brought into one, lest the memory of slow men should be overburdened; so that every man may be able to say, may be able to hold, what he believes. For is it only now that you have heard that God is almighty? But you begin to have Him as father when you have been born through the Church as mother.

2. Inde ergo jam accepistis, meditati estis, et meditati tenuistis, ut dicatis: Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem. Deus omnipotens est: et cum sit omnipotens, mori non potest, falli non potest, mentiri non potest; et, quod ait Apostolus, negare se ipsum non potest (II Tim. II, 13). Quam multa non potest, et omnipotens est: et ideo omnipotens est, quia ista non potest. Nam si mori posset, non esset omnipotens; si mentiri, si falli, si fallere, si inique agere, non esset omnipotens: quia si hoc in eo esset, non fuisset dignus qui esset omnipotens. Prorsus omnipotens Pater noster peccare non potest. Facit quidquid vult: ipsa est omnipotentia. Facit quidquid bene vult, quidquid juste vult: quidquid autem male fit, non vult. Nemo resistit omnipotenti, ut non quod vult faciat. Ipse fecit coelum et terram, mare et omnia quae in eis sunt, invisibilia

2. From there, then, you have now received it, you have meditated on it, and having meditated on it you have held it, so that you may say: I believe in God the Father almighty. God is almighty: and since He is almighty, He cannot die, He cannot be deceived, He cannot lie; and, as the Apostle says, He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13). How many things He cannot do, and He is almighty: and He is almighty precisely because He cannot do these things. For if He could die, He would not be almighty; if [He could] lie, if be deceived, if deceive, if act unjustly, He would not be almighty: for if this were in Him, He would not have been worthy to be almighty. Our almighty Father simply cannot sin. He does whatever He wills: that is omnipotence itself. He does whatever He wills well, whatever He wills justly: but whatever is done ill, He does not will. No one resists the Almighty, so as to keep Him from doing what He wills. He made heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them, invisible

Editors' notes and page, col. 627

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: not visible; the call stands in the title above the page foot› · call in col 627

Alias, Liber primus, in ante editis, tom. 9.

Otherwise "Book One", in the earlier editions, vol. 9.

(printed under page 318)

Editors' prose

SERMONES

SERMONS

DE SYMBOLO.

On the Creed.

DE DISCIPLINA CHRISTIANA.

On Christian Discipline.

DE CANTICO NOVO.

On the New Song.

DE QUARTA FERIA.

On the Fourth Day of the Week.

DE CATACLYSMO.

On the Flood.

DE TEMPORE BARBARICO.

On the Time of the Barbarians.

DE UTILITATE JEJUNII.

On the Usefulness of Fasting.

DE URBIS EXCIDIO.

On the Sack of the City.

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other: the ADMONITIO PP. BENEDICTINORUM and the editors' line signed M., printed unlettered across the foot of page 318, are set once, as editors' prose in n628.

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et visibilia: invisibilia, sicut sunt in coelis Sedes, Dominationes, Principatus, Potestates, Archangeli, Angeli, si bene vixerimus, cives nostri. Fecit in coelo visibilia; solem, lunam, stellas. Suis animalibus terrestribus ornavit terram, implevit aerem volatilibus, terram ambulantibus et serpentibus, mare natantibus: omnia implevit suis creaturis propriis. Fecit et hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem suam in mente: ibi est enim imago Dei; ideo mens ipsa non potest comprehendi nec a se ipsa, ubi est imago Dei. Ad hoc facti sumus, ut creaturis caeteris dominemur: sed per peccatum in primo homine lapsi sumus, et in mortis haereditatem omnes devenimus. Facti sumus humiles mortales, impleti sumus timoribus, erroribus: hoc merito peccati; cum quo merito et reatu nascitur omnis homo (Gen. I-III). Ideo sicut vidistis hodie, sicut nostis, et parvuli exsufflantur et exorcizantur, ut pellatur ab eis diaboli potestas inimica, quae decepit hominem, ut possideret homines. Non ergo creatura Dei in infantibus exorcizatur aut exsufflatur: sed ille sub quo sunt omnes qui cum peccato nascuntur; est enim princeps peccatorum. Ac per hoc propter unum qui lapsus est et omnes misit in mortem, missus est unus sine peccato qui omnes in se credentes perducat ad vitam, liberans eos a peccato.

and visible: invisible, such as are in the heavens the Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Archangels, Angels, our fellow citizens, if we live well. He made visible things in heaven: the sun, the moon, the stars. He adorned the earth with its land animals, He filled the air with flying things, the land with things that walk and creep, the sea with things that swim: He filled all things with their own creatures. He made man too to His image and likeness in the mind: for there is the image of God; therefore the mind itself, where the image of God is, cannot be comprehended even by itself. We were made for this, to have dominion over the other creatures: but through sin we fell in the first man, and we all came into the inheritance of death. We were made lowly mortals, we were filled with fears, with errors: this by the desert of sin; with which desert and guilt every man is born (Gen. 1-3). Therefore, as you have seen today, as you know, little children too are exsufflated and exorcized, so that the hostile power of the devil may be driven out of them, which deceived man in order to possess men. It is not, then, God's creature that is exorcized or exsufflated in infants: but he under whom are all who are born with sin; for he is the prince of sinners. And for this reason, because of one who fell and sent all into death, One was sent without sin to lead to life all who believe in Him, freeing them from sin.

CAPUT II. — 3. Filium Dei Dominum nostrum vere esse Deum et omnipotentem. Pater et Filius non dii duo, sed unus Deus. Filius omnipotens et aequalis a Patre genitus. Ideo credimus et in Filium ejus, id est, Dei Patris omnipotentis, unicum, Dominum nostrum. Quando audis unicum Dei Filium, agnosce Deum. Non enim Filius Dei unicus posset esse non Deus. Quod est, hoc genuit; etsi non est quem genuit. Si verus est autem Filius, hoc est quod Pater: si hoc non est quod Pater, non est verus Filius. Mortales et terrenas creaturas attendite: quod est res quaeque, hoc generat. Non generat homo bovem, non generat ovis

CHAPTER II. — 3. That the Son of God, our Lord, is truly God and almighty. The Father and the Son are not two gods, but one God. The Son, almighty and equal, begotten of the Father. Therefore we believe also in His Son, that is, [the Son] of God the Father almighty, the only one, our Lord. When you hear "the only Son of God", acknowledge [Him as] God. For the only Son of God could not be other than God. What He is, that He begot; although He is not the one whom He begot. But if He is a true Son, He is what the Father is: if He is not what the Father is, He is not a true Son. Consider mortal and earthly creatures: what each thing is, that it begets. Man does not beget an ox, the sheep does not beget

Editors' notes and page, col. 628

Editors' prose

ADMONITIO PP. BENEDICTINORUM.

ADMONITION OF THE BENEDICTINE FATHERS.

De Symbolo ad Catechumenos Sermones emendati sunt ad Divionensem abbatiae S. Benigni codicem annorum circiter 800, ad Gemmeticensem, ad manuscriptum Ecclesiae Laudunensis, ad manuscriptum PP. Fuliensium coenobii S. Bernardi Parisiensis, et ad editiones Er. et Lov. Primus sermo repertus etiam est in Andegavensi manuscripto S. Albini annorum 800; tres vero alii minime.

The Sermons on the Creed to the Catechumens have been corrected against the codex of the abbey of St Benignus at Dijon, about 800 years old, against the Jumièges codex, against the manuscript of the church of Laon, against the manuscript of the Feuillant Fathers of the monastery of St Bernard at Paris, and against the Erasmus and Louvain editions. The first sermon was also found in the manuscript of St Aubin at Angers, 800 years old; the other three not at all.

Comparavimus praeterea eas omnes editiones initio Retr. et Confess., t. 1, memoratas. M.

We have also compared all the editions listed at the beginning of the Retractations and Confessions, vol. 1. M.

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other: editors' prose: 'Retr.' read in very small type (could look like 'Relr.'); taken as Retr.

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canem, nec canis ovem. Quidquid est quod generat, id quod est generat. Tenete ergo fortiter, firmiter, fideliter, quia hoc genuit Deus Pater, quod est ipse omnipotens. Creaturae istae mortales per corruptionem generant. Numquid sic Deus generat? Mortalis natus id quod est generat, immortalis quod est generat: corruptibilis corruptibilem generat, incorruptibilis incorruptibilem; corruptibilis corruptibiliter, incorruptibilis incorruptibiliter: usque adeo hoc quod est, ut unus unum, ideo unicum. Scitis quoniam cum vobis pronuntiarem Symbolum sic dixi, et sic credere debetis: quia credimus in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, et in Jesum Christum Filium ejus unicum. Jam quando unicum, crede omnipotentem: non enim Deus Pater facit quod vult, et Deus Filius non facit quod vult. Una voluntas est Patris et Filii, quia una natura. Nec enim voluntas Filii potest a Patris voluntate aliquantulum segregari. Deus et Deus, ambo unus Deus: omnipotens et omnipotens, ambo unus omnipotens.

a dog, nor the dog a sheep. Whatever it is that begets, it begets what it is. Hold, then, strongly, firmly, faithfully, that God the Father begot this which He Himself is, almighty. These mortal creatures beget through corruption. Does God beget so? One born mortal begets what he is, the immortal begets what He is: the corruptible begets the corruptible, the incorruptible the incorruptible; the corruptible corruptibly, the incorruptible incorruptibly: so far [does He beget] what He is, that the One [begets] one, and therefore an only [Son]. You know that when I recited the Creed to you I spoke thus, and thus you must believe: that we believe in God the Father almighty, and in Jesus Christ His only Son. Now, when [you say] only, believe [Him] almighty: for it is not that God the Father does what He wills, and God the Son does not do what He wills. One is the will of the Father and the Son, because one is the nature. For the will of the Son cannot be separated even a little from the will of the Father. God and God, both one God: almighty and almighty, both one Almighty.

4. Non introducimus duos deos, quomodo quidam introducunt, et dicunt: Deus Pater et Deus Filius, sed major Deus Pater, minor Deus Filius. Ambo quid? Duo dii? Erubescis dicere, erubesce credere. Dominus Deus Pater dicis, et Dominus Deus Filius: et dicit ipse Filius, Nemo potest duobus dominis servire (Matth. VI, 24). In familia ipsius sic erimus, ut, quomodo in domo magna ubi est paterfamilias et habet filium, dicamus et nos: Dominus major, Dominus minor? Aversamini talem cogitationem. Si vobis talia feceritis in corde, idola ponitis in anima una. Prorsus repellite. Prius credite, postea intelligite. Cui autem donat Deus, ut cum crediderit, cito intelligat; Dei donum est, non humana fragilitas. Tamen si nondum intelligitis, credite: Deus unus Pater, Deus Christus Filius Dei. Ambo quid? Unus Deus. Et quomodo ambo unus Deus dicitur? Quomodo? miraris? In Actibus Apostolorum, Et erat, inquit, credentium anima una et cor unum (Act. IV, 32). Multae animae erant, fides easdem unam fecerat. Tot millia animarum erant; amaverunt se, et multae sunt una: amaverunt Deum in igne charitatis, et ex multitudine ad pulchritudinis unitatem venerunt. Si tam multas animas fecit animam unam charitas; qualis charitas est apud Deum, ubi nulla diversitas, sed integra aequalitas? Si in terris et in hominibus potuit esse tanta charitas, ut de tot animabus faceret unam animam; ubi semper inseparabilis fuit Pater a Filio, Filius a Patre, potuerunt ambo esse nisi Deus unus? Sed illae animae, et multae animae dici potuerunt, et anima una: Deus autem, ubi est ineffabilis et summa conjunctio, unus Deus dici potest, non dii duo.

4. We do not bring in two gods, as some bring them in, and say: God the Father and God the Son, but God the Father greater, God the Son lesser. Both, what? Two gods? You blush to say it; blush to believe it. You say the Lord God the Father, and the Lord God the Son: and the Son Himself says, No one can serve two lords (Matt. 6:24). Shall we be so in His household that, as in a great house where there is a father of the family and he has a son, we too should say: the greater lord, the lesser lord? Turn away from such a thought. If you make such things for yourselves in your heart, you set up idols in a single soul. Drive it away utterly. First believe, afterwards understand. But to whom God grants that, when he has believed, he quickly understands, it is the gift of God, not human frailty. Yet if you do not yet understand, believe: the Father one God, Christ the Son of God God. Both, what? One God. And how are both called one God? How? Do you wonder? In the Acts of the Apostles it says, And of those who believed there was one soul and one heart (Acts 4:32). There were many souls; faith had made them one. There were so many thousands of souls; they loved one another, and the many are one: they loved God in the fire of charity, and from a multitude they came to the unity of beauty. If charity made so many souls one soul, what is the charity with God, where there is no diversity, but entire equality? If on earth and among men there could be so great a charity as to make one soul out of so many souls, where the Father was ever inseparable from the Son, and the Son from the Father, could both be anything but one God? But those souls could be called both many souls and one soul: but God, where there is ineffable and supreme union, can be called one God, not two gods.

5. Facit quod vult Pater, facit quod vult Filius. Nolite putare omnipotentem Patrem et non omnipotentem Filium: error est, delete hoc in vobis, non haereat in memoria vestra, non bibatur in fide vestra, et si forte aliquis vestrum biberit, vomat. Omnipotens est Pater, omnipotens Filius. Si omnipotens non genuit

5. The Father does what He wills, the Son does what He wills. Do not think the Father almighty and the Son not almighty: it is an error; blot it out in yourselves, let it not cling in your memory, let it not be drunk in with your faith, and if perhaps any of you has drunk it, let him vomit it up. The Father is almighty, the Son almighty. If the Almighty did not beget

Editors' notes and page, col. 629

Footnotes

(¹?) ‹anchor: not visible; the call stands above the page foot› · call in col 629 Sic Mss. Editi vero, Jamque unicum crede.

So the manuscripts. The printed editions, however, read "And now believe the only one."

(printed under page 319)

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omnipotentem, non verum filium genuit. Quid enim dicimus, fratres, si Pater major minorem filium genuit? Quid enim dixi, genuit? Homo enim major generat filium minorem, verum est: sed quia senescit ille, crescit iste, et ad formam patris sui vel crescendo pervenit. Filius Dei si non crescit, quia nec potest Deus senescere, perfectus natus est. Perfectus quidem natus, si non crescit, et minor non remansit; aequalis est. Nam ut sciatis omnipotentem de omnipotente natum, ipsum audite qui Veritas est. De se quod dicit Veritas, hoc est verum. Quid ait Veritas? quid ait Filius, qui est Veritas? Quaecumque Pater facit, haec et Filius similiter facit (Joan. V, 19). Omnipotens est Filius, omnia faciendo quae voluerit. Nam si facit aliqua Pater quae non facit Filius, falsum dixit Filius: Quaecumque Pater facit, haec et Filius facit similiter. Sed quia verum dixit Filius: credite, Quaecumque Pater facit, haec et Filius facit similiter; et credidistis in Filium omnipotentem. Quod verbum etsi in Symbolo non dixistis, tamen hoc est quod expressistis, quando in unicum ipsum Deum credidistis. Habet aliquid Pater quod non habet Filius? Hoc Ariani haeretici blasphemi dicunt, non ego. Sed ego quid dico? Si habet aliquid Pater, quod non habet Filius; mentitur Filius, qui dicit, Omnia quae habet Pater, mea sunt (Id., XVI, 15). Multa et innumerabilia sunt testimonia quibus probetur quia Filius verus Dei Patris est Filius, et Pater Deus verum genuit Filium Deum, et Pater et Filius unus est Deus.

an almighty [Son], He did not beget a true Son. For what are we saying, brethren, if the greater Father begot a lesser Son? Why indeed did I say, begot? For a greater man begets a lesser son, that is true: but because the one grows old and the other grows, he reaches by growing even the form of his father. The Son of God, if He does not grow, since neither can God grow old, was born perfect. Born perfect indeed, if He does not grow, He has not remained lesser either; He is equal. For that you may know that the Almighty was born of the Almighty, hear Him Who is the Truth. What the Truth says of Himself, that is true. What does the Truth say? What does the Son say, Who is the Truth? Whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does likewise (John 5:19). The Son is almighty, doing all things that He has willed. For if the Father does some things which the Son does not do, the Son said what is false: Whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does likewise. But because the Son said what is true, believe: Whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does likewise; and you have believed in the almighty Son. Although you did not say this word in the Creed, yet this is what you expressed when you believed in the only One, Himself God. Has the Father something which the Son has not? The Arian heretics, blasphemers, say this, not I. But what do I say? If the Father has something which the Son has not, the Son lies, Who says, All things that the Father has are Mine (John 16:15). Many and innumerable are the testimonies by which it may be proved that the Son is the true Son of God the Father, and that God the Father begot a true Son, God, and that the Father and the Son are one God.

CAPUT III. — 6. Filii Dei nativitas humana ex virgine. Passio sub praeside Pilato. Nativitas Christi aeterna de Patre. Crucis supplicium cur electum a Christo. Patientiae merces non temporalis in praesenti, sed aeterna speretur in futuro saeculo. Sed iste Filius unicus Dei Patris omnipotentis videamus quid fecit propter nos, quid passus est propter nos. Natus de Spiritu sancto et virgine Maria. Ille Deus tantus aequalis Patri, natus de Spiritu sancto et virgine Maria humilis, unde sanaret superbos. Exaltavit se homo, et cecidit: humiliavit se Deus, et erexit. Humilitas Christi quid est? Manum Deus homini jacenti porrexit. Nos cecidimus, ille descendit: nos jacebamus, ille se inclinavit. Prendamus et surgamus, ut non in poenam cadamus. Ergo inclinatio ipsius haec est, Natus est de Spiritu sancto et virgine Maria. Et ipsa nativitas humana, humilis et excelsa. Unde humilis? Quia homo natus est ex hominibus. Unde excelsa? Quia de virgine. Virgo concepit, virgo peperit, et post partum virgo permansit.

CHAPTER III. — 6. The human birth of the Son of God from a virgin. The passion under the governor Pilate. The eternal birth of Christ from the Father. Why the punishment of the cross was chosen by Christ. The reward of patience is to be hoped for, not temporal in the present, but eternal in the world to come. But this only Son of God the Father almighty — let us see what He did for our sake, what He suffered for our sake. Born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. He, God so great, equal to the Father, was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, lowly, so as to heal the proud. Man exalted himself, and fell: God humbled Himself, and raised [him] up. What is the humility of Christ? God stretched out His hand to man lying [fallen]. We fell, He came down: we lay, He bent down. Let us take hold and rise, that we may not fall into punishment. This, then, is His bending down: He was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. And the human birth itself is lowly and lofty. Why lowly? Because as man He was born of men. Why lofty? Because of a virgin. A virgin conceived, a virgin gave birth, and after the birth remained a virgin.

7. Quid deinde? Passus sub Pontio Pilato. Praesidatum agebat, et judex erat ipse Pontius Pilatus, quando passus est Christus. Judicis nomine signata sunt tempora, quando passus est, sub Pontio Pilato: quando passus est, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus.

7. What next? He suffered under Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate himself held the governorship and was the judge when Christ suffered. By the judge's name the times are marked, when He suffered, under Pontius Pilate: when He suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried.

Editors' notes and page, col. 630

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible; the call stands above the page foot› · call in col 630

In Mss., dicitur.

In the manuscripts: "is said".

(printed under page 319)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible; the call stands above the page foot› · call in col 630

Juxta Er. Lugd. Ven. Lov., Filius Dei non crescit; omisso, si. M.

According to Er[asmus] and the Lyon, Venice and Louvain editions: "the Son of God does not grow", with "si" left out. M.

(printed under page 319)

(3) ‹anchor: Filius verus Dei› · call in col 630

Mss., Deus.

Manuscripts: "God".

(printed under page 319)

(4) ‹anchor: unicus Dei Patris› · call in col 630

Lov., Deus Dei Patris, etc. Abest, Deus, ab editis aliis et Mss.

Lov[ain]: "God, of God the Father", etc. The word "God" is missing from the other editions and from the manuscripts.

(printed under page 319)

(5) ‹anchor: crucifixus, mortuus› · call in col 630

Verbum, mortuus, hoc et proximo loco abest a Mss.

The word "mortuus" (dead), here and in the next place, is missing from the manuscripts.

(printed under page 319)

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Quis? quid? pro quibus? Quis? Filius Dei unicus, Dominus noster. Quid? Crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus. Pro quibus? Pro impiis et peccatoribus. Magna dignatio! magna gratia! Quid retribuam Domino, pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi (Psal. CXV, 12)?

Who? What? For whom? Who? The only Son of God, our Lord. What? Crucified, dead, and buried. For whom? For the ungodly and sinners. Great condescension! Great grace! What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that He has rendered to me (Ps. 115:12)?

8. Natus est ante omnia tempora, natus ante omnia saecula. Natus ante. Ante quid, ubi non est ante? Prorsus nolite cogitare aliquod tempus ante nativitatem Christi, qua natus est de Patre: de ipsa nativitate loquor, qua est Filius Dei omnipotentis unicus Dominus noster; de ipsa prius loquor. Nolite cogitare in hac nativitate initium temporis; nolite cogitare ullum spatium aeternitatis, quando erat Pater et non erat Filius. Ex quo Pater, ex eo Filius. Et quid est, ex quo, ubi non est initium? Ergo semper Pater sine initio, semper Filius sine initio. Et quomodo, inquies, natus est, si non habet initium? De aeterno coaeternus. Nunquam fuit Pater et non erat Filius, et tamen Filius a Patre est genitus. Unde datur qualiscumque similitudo? In rebus terrenis sumus, in creatura visibili sumus. Det mihi similitudinem terra: non dat. Det mihi aliquam similitudinem undarum elementum: non habet unde. Det mihi similitudinem aliquod animal: nec hoc potest. Animal quidem generat, et quod generat, et quod generatur: sed prior est pater, et postea nascitur filius. Inveniamus coaevum, et credamus coaeternum. Si potuerimus invenire patrem coaevum filio suo, et filium coaevum patri suo; credamus Deum Patrem coaevum Filio suo, et Deum Filium coaeternum Patri suo. In terra possumus invenire aliquem coaevum, non possumus invenire aliquem coaeternum. Intendamus coaevum, et credamus coaeternum. Intentos vos faciet forte aliquis et dicet: Quando potest inveniri pater coaevus filio suo, aut filius coaevus patri suo? Ut generet pater, antecedit aetate; ut nascatur filius, sequitur aetate; sed hic coaevus pater filio, vel filius patri, quomodo potest esse? Occurrat vobis ignis pater, splendor filius; ecce invenimus coaevos. Ex quo ignis esse coepit, continuo splendorem gignit: nec ignis ante splendorem, nec splendor post ignem. Et si interrogemus, quis quem generat, ignis splendorem, aut splendor ignem; continuo vobis occurrit sensu naturali, prudentia insita mentibus vestris, omnes clamatis: Ignis splendorem, non splendor ignem. Ecce pater incipiens, ecce filius simul, nec antecedens, nec sequens. Ecce ergo pater incipiens, ecce filius simul incipiens. Si ostendi vobis patrem incipientem, et filium simul incipientem; credite Patrem non incipientem, et cum illo Filium nec ipsum incipientem; illum aeternum, illum coaeternum. Si proficitis, intelligitis: date operam proficere. Nasci habetis, sed et crescere debetis; quia nemo incipit a perfecto. Dei Filio licuit nasci perfectum; quia natus est sine tempore, coaeternus Patri, antecedens omnia, non aetate, sed aeternitate. Iste ergo natus Patri coaeternus, de qua generatione dixit propheta, Generationem ejus quis enarrabit (Isai. LIII, 8)? natus de Patre sine tempore, natus est ex

8. He was born before all times, born before all ages. Born before. Before what, where there is no before? Do not think at all of any time before the birth of Christ by which He was born of the Father: I am speaking of that birth by which He is the only Son of God almighty, our Lord; of that I speak first. Do not think of a beginning of time in this birth; do not think of any stretch of eternity when the Father was and the Son was not. From when the Father [was], from then the Son. And what is "from when", where there is no beginning? Therefore always the Father without beginning, always the Son without beginning. And how, you will say, was He born, if He has no beginning? Coeternal from the Eternal. Never was there the Father and the Son was not, and yet the Son was begotten of the Father. Whence is any likeness at all to be given? We are among earthly things, we are in the visible creation. Let the earth give me a likeness: it gives none. Let the element of the waters give me some likeness: it has nothing to give it from. Let some animal give me a likeness: nor can this. An animal indeed begets, both that which begets and that which is begotten: but the father is prior, and the son is born afterwards. Let us find a coeval, and believe a coeternal. If we can find a father coeval with his son, and a son coeval with his father, let us believe God the Father coeval with His Son, and God the Son coeternal with His Father. On earth we can find something coeval; we cannot find anything coeternal. Let us turn our minds to the coeval, and believe the coeternal. Perhaps someone will make you attentive and say: When can a father be found coeval with his son, or a son coeval with his father? That the father may beget, he goes before in age; that the son may be born, he follows in age; but here, a father coeval with his son, or a son with his father, how can it be? Let fire come to your mind as father, its brightness as son; see, we have found coevals. From the moment fire begins to be, at once it begets brightness: neither is the fire before the brightness, nor the brightness after the fire. And if we ask which begets which, the fire the brightness or the brightness the fire, at once it comes to you by natural sense, by the prudence implanted in your minds, and you all cry out: The fire the brightness, not the brightness the fire. See a father beginning, see a son at the same moment, neither going before nor following. See, then, a father beginning, see a son beginning at the same moment. If I have shown you a father beginning, and a son beginning at the same moment, believe the Father not beginning, and with Him the Son, not beginning either; the One eternal, the Other coeternal. If you are making progress, you understand: take pains to make progress. You have to be born, but you must also grow; for no one begins from what is perfect. The Son of God could be born perfect; for He was born without time, coeternal with the Father, going before all things, not in age, but in eternity. He, then, born coeternal with the Father, of which generation the prophet said, Who shall declare His generation (Isa. 53:8)? — born of the Father without time, was born of

Editors' notes and page, col. 631

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: et dicet› · call in col 631

Mss., Intentos vos faciet. Forte aliquis dicit.

Manuscripts: "He will make you attentive. Perhaps someone says."

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virgine in plenitudine temporis. Istam nativitatem antecesserant tempora. Opportunitate temporis quando voluit, quando sciebat, tunc natus est: non enim nolens natus est. Nemo nostrum quia vult nascitur, et nemo nostrum quando vult moritur: ille quando voluit natus est, quando voluit mortuus est; quomodo voluit natus est de virgine, quomodo voluit mortuus est in cruce. Quidquid voluit fecit: quia sic erat homo, ut lateret Deus; susceptor Deus, susceptus homo, unus Christus Deus et homo.

the Virgin in the fullness of time. Times had gone before this birth. At the fitting moment of time, when He willed, when He knew, then He was born: for He was not born unwilling. None of us is born because he wills it, and none of us dies when he wills: He was born when He willed, He died when He willed; as He willed He was born of a virgin, as He willed He died on the cross. Whatever He willed He did: for He was man in such a way that God was hidden; God the One Who took up, man the one taken up, one Christ, God and man.

9. De cruce ipsius quid loquar? quid dicam? Extremum genus mortis elegit, ne aliquod genus mortis ejus martyres formidarent. Doctrinam ostendit in homine, exemplum patientiae demonstravit in cruce. Ibi opus, quia crucifixus: exemplum operis, crux; praemium operis, resurrectio. Ostendit nobis in cruce quid tolerare, ostendit in resurrectione quid sperare debeamus. Prorsus tanquam agonotheta summus dixit: Fac, et tolle; fac opus, et accipe praemium; certa in agone, et coronaberis. Quod est opus? Obedientia. Quod est praemium? Resurrectio sine morte. Quare addidi, sine morte? Quia surrexit Lazarus, et mortuus est: resurrexit Christus, jam non moritur, mors ei ultra non dominabitur (Rom. VI, 9).

9. What shall I say of His cross? What shall I tell? He chose the uttermost kind of death, so that His martyrs might not dread any kind of death. He showed doctrine in [His] manhood, He displayed an example of patience on the cross. There is the work, in that He was crucified: the example of the work, the cross; the reward of the work, the resurrection. He showed us on the cross what we ought to endure, He showed in the resurrection what we ought to hope for. Just like the supreme president of the games He said: Do, and take; do the work, and receive the prize; strive in the contest, and you will be crowned. What is the work? Obedience. What is the prize? Resurrection without death. Why did I add, without death? Because Lazarus rose, and died: Christ rose again; He dies now no more, death shall no longer have dominion over Him (Rom. 6:9).

10. Scriptura dicit: Patientiam Job audistis, et finem Domini vidistis (Jacobi V, 11). Job quanta pertulerit, cum legitur et exhorretur, expavescitur, contremiscitur. Et quid recepit? Dupla quam perdiderat. Ergo ne homo propter praemia temporalia velit habere patientiam, et dicat sibi: Tolerem damnum, reddet mihi Deus filios duplos; Job omnia dupla recepit, et tot filios genuit, quot extulerat. Non ergo dupla sunt? Prorsus dupla sunt, quia et illi vivebant. Ne quis dicat, Feram mala, et reddet mihi Deus quemadmodum reddidit Job: ut jam non sit patientia, sed avaritia. Nam si patientiam ille sanctus non haberet, nec ea quae contingebant fortiter sustineret; testimonium quod ei Dominus reddidit, unde haberet? Animadvertisti, ait Dominus, ad puerum meum Job? Non enim est illi similis quisquam in terris, homo sine querela, verus Dei cultor. Quale, fratres, testimonium hic sanctus vir a Domino meruit? Et tamen eum sua persuasione mala mulier decipere voluit, habens et haec figuram illius serpentis, qui sicut in paradiso decepit hominem primum factum a Deo (Gen. III, 1-6), ita etiam nunc blasphemiam suggerendo putavit posse decipere placentem hominem Deo. Quanta passus est, fratres! Quis potest tanta pati in re sua, in domo sua, in filiis suis, in carne sua, in ipsa quae remanserat tentatrice uxore sua? Sed etiam ipsam quae remanserat, olim auferret, nisi adjutricem sibi servasset: quia primum hominem per Evam debellaverat, Evam servaverat. Quanta ergo passus est! Perdidit omnia quae habebat, domus ipsius cecidit; utinam sola! oppressit et filios. Et quia in illo patientia magnum locum

10. Scripture says: You have heard of the patience of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord (Jas. 5:11). How much Job endured — when it is read, one both shudders, is terrified, and trembles. And what did he receive back? Double what he had lost. Let not a man, then, wish to have patience for the sake of temporal rewards, and say to himself: Let me bear the loss, God will give me back double the sons; Job received all things double, and begot as many sons as he had carried out to burial. Then are they not double? Assuredly they are double, for those too were living. Let no one say, I will bear evils, and God will repay me as He repaid Job: so that it is no longer patience, but avarice. For if that holy man had not had patience, and had not bravely sustained the things that befell him, the testimony which the Lord rendered him, whence would he have had it? Have you considered, says the Lord, My servant Job? For there is no one like him on earth, a man without blame, a true worshipper of God. What a testimony, brethren, this holy man merited from the Lord! And yet a woman wished to deceive him with her evil persuasion, she too bearing the figure of that serpent who, as in paradise he deceived the first man made by God (Gen. 3:1–6), so now also thought that by suggesting blasphemy he could deceive a man pleasing to God. How much he suffered, brethren! Who can suffer so much in his property, in his house, in his sons, in his flesh, in his very wife, who had been left as a temptress? But her too, who had been left, he would long since have taken away, had he not kept her as a helper for himself: because he had conquered the first man through Eve, he had kept Eve. How much, then, he suffered! He lost all that he had; his house fell — would that it alone had! it crushed his sons too. And because in him patience [had] a great place

Editors' notes and page, col. 632

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: contremiscitur› · call in col 632

Sic legendum juxta Er. Lugd. et Ven., Job quanta pertulerit, legitur et horretur, expavescitur, contremiscitur. Juxta Lov., Job quanta pertulerit cum legitur, exhorretur, expavescitur, contremiscitur. M.

So it should be read according to Er[asmus] and the Lyon and Venice editions: "What Job endured is read, and it is shuddered at, dreaded, trembled at." According to the Louvain edition (Lov.): "When what Job endured is read, it is shuddered at, dreaded, trembled at." M.

(printed under page 320)

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tenuerat, quid responderit ille, audite: Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit; sicut Domino placuit, ita factum est: sit nomen Domini benedictum. Abstulit quae dedit, numquid periit qui dedit? Abstulit quae dedit. Tanquam diceret: Abstulit omnia, auferat omnia, nudum dimittat me, et servet mihi se. Quid enim mihi deerit, si Deum habuero? aut quid mihi alia prosunt, si Deum non habuero? Accessum est ad carnem, percussus est vulnere a capite usque ad pedes; sanie diffluebat, vermibus scatebat: et se in Deo suo immobilem demonstrabat atque figebat. Voluit illi mulier, diaboli adjutrix, non mariti consolatrix, persuadere blasphemiam: Quamdiu, inquit, ista et ista pateris? Dic aliquod verbum in Dominum, et morere. Ergo quia humiliatus erat, exaltandus erat. Et fecit hoc Dominus, ut ostenderet hominibus: nam ipse servo suo in coelo majora servavit. Ergo humiliatum Job exaltavit, elatum diabolum humiliavit: quia hunc humiliat, et hunc exaltat (Psal. LXXIV, 8). Ne quis autem, fratres charissimi, quando aliquas ejusmodi patitur tribulationes, hic exspectet mercedem: verbi gratia, si damna aliqua patiatur, ne forte eo animo dicat, Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit; sicut Domino placuit, ita factum est: sit nomen Domini benedictum, ut duplum accipiat. Patientia Deum laudet, non avaritia. Si ea quae perdidisti, dupla quaeris recipere, et ideo Deum laudas; de cupiditate laudas, non de charitate. Non tibi occurrat ipsius sancti viri exemplum: fallis te. Quando Job omnia tolerabat, dupla non sperabat. Et in prima ejus confessione quando damna pertulit et filios extulit, et in secunda cum jam tormenta vulnerum pateretur in carne, potest adverti quod dico. Prioris ejus confessionis haec verba sunt: Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit; sicut Domino placuit, ita factum est: sit nomen Domini benedictum. Poterat dicere: Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit; potest iterum dare qui abstulit, potest plura revocare quam tulit. Non hoc dixit, sed, sicut Domino placuit, inquit, ita factum est: quia ei placet, placeat mihi; quod placuit bono Domino, non displiceat subdito servo; quod placuit medico, non displiceat aegroto. Aliam ipsius audi confessionem: Locuta es, inquit uxori suae, tanquam una ex insipientibus mulieribus. Si bona percepimus de manu Domini, mala quare non sustinebimus (Job. I et II)? Non addidit, quod si diceret, verum diceret, Potens est Dominus et meam carnem in pristinum revocare, et quod nobis abstulit multiplicare: ne ista spe illa tolerasse videretur. Ista non dixit, ista non speravit. Sed ut nos doceremur, non speranti Dominus praestitit, quo nos doceremur, quia Deus illi adfuit: quia si et illa illi non redderet, occultam coronam ejus videre minime poteramus. Et ideo quid ait Scriptura divina, exhortando ad patientiam et spem futurorum, non mercedem praesentium? Patientiam Job audistis, et finem Domini vidistis. Quare patientiam Job, et non, Finem ipsius Job vidistis? Fauces aperires ad dupla; diceres, Deo gratias, sustineam, duplum recipio sicut Job. Patientiam Job, finem Domini. Patientiam Job novimus, et

had held, hear what he answered: The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it has been done: blessed be the name of the Lord. He has taken away what He gave; has He Who gave perished? He has taken away what He gave. As if he were saying: He has taken away all; let Him take away all, let Him send me away naked, and keep Himself for me. For what will be lacking to me, if I have God? Or what do other things profit me, if I do not have God? His flesh was attacked; he was struck with a wound from head to feet; he ran with pus, he swarmed with worms: and he showed himself immovable in his God and stood fixed [in Him]. The woman, the devil's helper, not her husband's comforter, wished to persuade him to blasphemy: How long, she says, will you suffer this and that? Say some word against the Lord, and die. Therefore, because he had been humbled, he was to be exalted. And the Lord did this to show it to men: for He Himself kept greater things for His servant in heaven. So He exalted Job, who had been humbled, and humbled the devil, who had been lifted up: for He humbles this one and exalts that one (Ps. 74:8). But let no one, dearest brethren, when he suffers any tribulations of this kind, expect his reward here: for example, if he suffers some losses, let him not perhaps say in this spirit, The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it has been done: blessed be the name of the Lord, in order to receive double. Let patience praise God, not avarice. If you seek to receive double the things you have lost, and praise God for that reason, you praise from cupidity, not from charity. Let not the example of that holy man come to your mind: you deceive yourself. When Job was enduring all things, he was not hoping for double. Both in his first confession, when he bore losses and carried his sons out to burial, and in the second, when he was already suffering the torments of wounds in his flesh, what I am saying can be observed. The words of his former confession are these: The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it has been done: blessed be the name of the Lord. He could have said: The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; He Who took away can give again, He can bring back more than He took. He did not say this, but, as it pleased the Lord, he says, so it has been done: because it pleases Him, let it please me; what has pleased the good Lord, let it not displease the subject servant; what has pleased the physician, let it not displease the sick man. Hear his other confession: You have spoken, he says to his wife, like one of the foolish women. If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, why shall we not bear evil things (Job 1 and 2)? He did not add — and had he said it, he would have said what is true — The Lord is able both to restore my flesh to its former state and to multiply what He has taken from us: lest he should seem to have endured those things in this hope. These things he did not say, these things he did not hope for. But that we might be taught, the Lord bestowed [them] on him who was not hoping, so that we might be taught that God had stood by him: because if He had not given those things back to him as well, we could by no means see his hidden crown. And therefore what does divine Scripture say, exhorting to patience and to the hope of things to come, not to the reward of things present? You have heard of the patience of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord. Why the patience of Job, and not, You have seen the end of Job himself? You would open your jaws for the double; you would say, Thanks be to God, let me bear it, I receive double, like Job. The patience of Job, the end of the Lord. We know the patience of Job, and

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finem Domini novimus. Quem finem Domini? Deus, Deus meus, ut quid me dereliquisti (Psal. XXI, 2)? Verba sunt Domini pendentis in ligno. Quasi reliquit illum ad praesentem felicitatem, sed non eum reliquit ad aeternam immortalitatem. Ibi est finis Domini. Tenent Judaei, insultant Judaei, ligant Judaei, spinis coronant, sputis dehonestant, flagellant, opprobriis obruunt, ligno suspendunt, lancea fodiunt, postremo sepeliunt: quasi relictus est. Sed quibus? Illis insultantibus. Ideo ergo habeto patientiam, ut resurgas et non moriaris, id est, nunquam moriaris, sicut Christus. Sic enim legimus: Christus surgens ex mortuis, jam non moritur (Rom. VI, 9).

we know the end of the Lord. What end of the Lord? God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me (Ps. 21:2)? They are the words of the Lord hanging on the tree. He seemed to forsake Him as to present happiness, but He did not forsake Him as to eternal immortality. There is the end of the Lord. The Jews seize Him, the Jews mock Him, the Jews bind Him, they crown Him with thorns, dishonour Him with spittle, scourge Him, overwhelm Him with insults, hang Him on the tree, pierce Him with a lance, at last bury Him: He was as it were forsaken. But to whom [did He seem so]? To those who mocked Him. Therefore, then, have patience, that you may rise and not die, that is, never die, like Christ. For so we read: Christ rising from the dead dies now no more (Rom. 6:9).

CAPUT IV. — 11. Sedere ad dexteram Patris, quid sit. Dextera Patris, beatitudo. Ascendit in coelum: credite. Sedet ad dexteram Patris: credite. Sedere, intelligite habitare: quomodo dicimus de quocumque homine, In illa patria sedit per tres annos. Dicit illud et Scriptura, sedisse quemdam in civitate tantum tempus (III Reg. II, 38, sec. LXX). Numquid sedit, et nunquam surrexit? Ideo hominum habitationes sedes dicuntur. Ubi habentur sedes, numquid semper sedetur? non surgitur, non ambulatur, non jacetur? et tamen sedes vocantur. Sic ergo credite habitare Christum in dextera Dei Patris: ibi est. Nec dicat vobis cor vestrum, Quid agit? Nolite quaerere quod non licet invenire: ibi est; sufficit vobis. Beatus est, et a beatitudine, quae dextera Patris vocatur, ipsius beatitudinis nomen est, dextera Patris. Nam si carnaliter acceperimus; quia sedet ad dexteram Patris, ille erit ad sinistram. Numquid fas est ut sic illos componamus, Filium ad dexteram, Patrem ad sinistram? Ibi omnis dextera est, quia nulla ibi est miseria.

CHAPTER IV. — 11. What it is to sit at the right hand of the Father. The right hand of the Father, blessedness. He ascended into heaven: believe it. He sits at the right hand of the Father: believe it. By "sit", understand "dwell": as we say of any man, In that country he sat for three years. Scripture too says this, that a certain man sat in a city for such a length of time (1 Kgs. 2:38, according to the LXX). Did he sit, and never rise? It is for this reason that the dwellings of men are called seats. Where seats are kept, is there always sitting? Is there no rising, no walking, no lying down? And yet they are called seats. So, then, believe that Christ dwells at the right hand of God the Father: He is there. And let not your heart say to you, What is He doing? Do not seek what it is not permitted to find: He is there; it is enough for you. He is blessed, and from the blessedness which is called the right hand of the Father — the name of that very blessedness is the right hand of the Father. For if we take it carnally, then because He sits at the right hand of the Father, that One will be at the left. Is it right that we should so place Them, the Son on the right, the Father on the left? There all is right hand, because there is no misery there.

12. Inde venturus judicare vivos et mortuos. Vivos, qui superfuerint; mortuos, qui praecesserint. Potest et sic intelligi: Vivos, justos; mortuos, injustos. Utrosque enim judicat, sua cuique retribuens. Justis dicturus est in judicio: Venite, b⟨ene⟩dicti Patris mei, percipite regnum quod vobis paratum est ab initio mundi. Ad hoc vos parate, haec sperate, propterea vivite, et sic vivite, propterea credite, propterea baptizamini, ut possit vobis dici: Venite, benedicti Patris mei, percipite regnum quod vobis paratum est a constitutione mundi. Sinistris quid? Ite in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo et angelis ejus (Matth. XXV, 34, 41). Sic judicabuntur a Christo vivi et mortui. Dicta est prima sine tempore nativitas Christi, dicta est alia in plenitudine temporis de virgine nativitas Christi, dicta est passio Christi, dictum est judicium Christi. Totum dictum est, quod dicendum erat de Christo, Filio Dei unico, Domino nostro: sed nondum perfecta est Trinitas.

12. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. The living, those who will have survived; the dead, those who will have gone before. It can also be understood thus: the living, the just; the dead, the unjust. For He judges both, rendering to each his own. To the just He will say at the judgement: Come, blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world. Prepare yourselves for this, hope for these things, live for this, and live so; for this believe, for this be baptized, so that it may be said to you: Come, blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. To those on the left, what? Go into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:34, 41). Thus will the living and the dead be judged by Christ. The first birth of Christ, without time, has been spoken of; the other birth of Christ, in the fullness of time, from a virgin, has been spoken of; the passion of Christ has been spoken of; the judgement of Christ has been spoken of. All has been said that was to be said of Christ, the only Son of God, our Lord: but the Trinity is not yet complete.

CAPUT V. — 13. Spiritum sanctum esse Deum. Sequitur in Symbolo, Et in Spiritum sanctum. Ista Trinitas unus Deus, una natura, una substantia, una potentia, summa aequalitas, nulla divisio, nulla diversitas,

CHAPTER V. — 13. That the Holy Spirit is God. There follows in the Creed, And in the Holy Spirit. This Trinity [is] one God, one nature, one substance, one power, supreme equality, no division, no diversity,

Editors' notes and page, col. 634

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: dicuntur› · call in col 634

Confer serm. 214, n. 8, tom. 5

Compare Sermon 214, no. 8, vol. 5.

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perpetua charitas. Vultis nosse quod Deus est Spiritus sanctus? Baptizamini, et templum ejus eritis. Apostolus dicit, Nescitis quia corpora vestra templum in vobis est Spiritus sancti, quem habetis a Deo (I Cor. VI, 19)? Templum habet Deus: nam et Salomon rex et propheta jussus est aedificare templum Deo. Si aedificaret templum soli, aut lunae, aut stellae alicui, aut alicui angelo, nonne damnaret illum Deus? Quia ergo templum aedificavit Deo, ostendit se colere Deum. Et unde aedificavit? De lignis et lapidibus: quia dignatus est Deus facere sibi per servum suum domum in terra, ubi rogaretur, ubi memoraretur. Unde dicit beatus Stephanus: Salomon aedificavit illi domum, sed Altissimus non in manu factis templis inhabitat (Act. VII, 47 et 48). Si ergo corpora nostra templum est Spiritus sancti, qualis Deus est qui aedificavit templum Spiritui sancto? Sed Deus. Si enim templum Spiritus sancti sunt corpora nostra, ille Spiritui sancto aedificavit templum, qui et corpora nostra. Attendite Apostolum dicentem, Deus temperavit corpus, ei cui deerat majorem honorem dans (I Cor. XII, 24); cum loqueretur de diversis membris, ut non essent scissurae in corpore. Deus creavit corpus nostrum. Herbam Deus creavit, corpus nostrum quis creavit? Unde probamus quia herbam Deus creat? Qui vestit, ipse creat. Evangelium lege: Si ergo fenum agri, ait, quod hodie est, et cras in clibanum mittitur, Deus sic vestit (Matth. VI, 30). Ille ergo creat, qui vestit. Et Apostolus: Stulte, quod seminas non vivificatur, nisi moriatur: et quod seminas, non corpus quod futurum est seminas, sed nudum granum, ut forte tritici, aut alicujus caeterorum; Deus autem illi dat corpus quomodo voluerit, et unicuique seminum proprium corpus (I Cor. XV, 36-38). Si ergo Deus corpora nostra aedificat, si Deus membra nostra aedificat, et corpora nostra templum sunt Spiritus sancti; nolite dubitare Deum esse Spiritum sanctum. Et nolite addere quasi tertium Deum; quia Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus unus est Deus. Sic credite.

perpetual charity. Do you wish to know that the Holy Spirit is God? Be baptized, and you will be His temple. The Apostle says, Do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit in you, Whom you have from God? (1 Cor. 6:19). God has a temple: for Solomon too, king and prophet, was commanded to build a temple to God. If he had built a temple to the sun, or to the moon, or to some star, or to some angel, would not God have condemned him? Because, then, he built a temple to God, he showed that he worshipped God. And of what did he build it? Of wood and stones: because God deigned to make for Himself, through His servant, a house on earth, where He might be entreated, where He might be remembered. Hence blessed Stephen says: Solomon built Him a house, but the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands (Acts 7:47–48). If, then, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, what kind of God is He Who built a temple for the Holy Spirit? None but God. For if our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, He built the temple for the Holy Spirit Who [built] our bodies also. Mark the Apostle saying, God has tempered the body, giving greater honour to that which lacked it (1 Cor. 12:24), when he was speaking of the various members, that there should be no divisions in the body. God created our body. God created the grass; who created our body? How do we prove that God creates the grass? He Who clothes it, He creates it. Read the Gospel: If then the grass of the field, it says, which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, God so clothes (Matt. 6:30). He, then, creates, Who clothes. And the Apostle: Fool, what you sow is not quickened unless it dies; and what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat, or of one of the others; but God gives it a body as He wills, and to each of the seeds its own body (1 Cor. 15:36–38). If, then, God builds our bodies, if God builds our members, and our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, do not doubt that the Holy Spirit is God. And do not add as it were a third God; for the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God. So believe.

CAPUT VI. — 14. De sancta Ecclesia. Sequitur post Trinitatis commendationem, sanctam Ecclesiam. Demonstratus est Deus et templum ipsius. Templum enim Dei sanctum est, ait Apostolus, quod estis vos (Id. III, 17). Ipsa est Ecclesia sancta, Ecclesia una, Ecclesia vera, Ecclesia catholica, contra omnes haereses pugnans: pugnare potest, expugnari tamen non potest. Haereses omnes de illa exierunt, tanquam sarmenta inutilia de vite praecisa: ipsa autem manet in radice sua, in vite sua, in charitate sua. Portae inferorum non vincent eam (Matth. XVI, 18).

CHAPTER VI. — 14. Of the holy Church. After the commending of the Trinity there follows: the holy Church. God has been pointed out, and His temple. For the temple of God is holy, says the Apostle, which you are (1 Cor. 3:17). She is the holy Church, the one Church, the true Church, the catholic Church, fighting against all heresies: she can fight, yet she cannot be overthrown. All heresies have gone out from her, like useless branches cut off from the vine; but she herself remains in her root, in her vine, in her charity. The gates of the underworld shall not overcome her (Matt. 16:18).

CAPUT VII. — 15. Peccata etiam immania dimittuntur in Baptismo; et venialia, in oratione dominica. Poenitentiae publicae actio propter immania peccata, non

CHAPTER VII. — 15. Even monstrous sins are forgiven in Baptism; and venial ones, in the Lord's Prayer. The performance of public penance on account of monstrous sins, not

Editors' notes and page, col. 635

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: memoraretur› · call in col 635

Aliquot Mss., moraretur.

Some manuscripts: "moraretur" (where He might abide).

(printed under page 322)

(2) ‹anchor: nisi moriatur› · call in col 635

Editi, prius moriatur. Abest, prius, a Mss.

The printed editions: "first die". The word "prius" (first) is missing from the manuscripts.

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propter levia.

for light ones.

Remissionem peccatorum. Habetis Symbolum perfecte in vobis, quando baptizamini. Nemo dicat: Illud feci, forte non mihi dimittitur. Quid fecisti? quantum fecisti? Dic immane aliquid quod commisisti, grave, horrendum, quod etiam cogitare horres: quidquid vis feceris, numquid Christum occidisti? Non est isto facto aliquid pejus, quia et Christo nihil est melius. Quantum nefas est occidere Christum? Judaei tamen eum occiderunt, et multi in eum postea crediderunt, et biberunt ejus sanguinem: dimissum est illis peccatum quod commiserunt. Cum baptizati fueritis, tenete vitam bonam in praeceptis Dei, ut Baptismum custodiatis usque in finem. Non vobis dico quia sine peccato hic vivetis: sed sunt venialia, sine quibus vita ista non est. Propter omnia peccata Baptismus inventus est; propter levia, sine quibus esse non possumus, oratio inventa. Quid habet oratio? Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris (Id. VI, 12). Semel abluimur Baptismate, quotidie abluimur oratione. Sed nolite illa committere, pro quibus necesse est ut a Christi corpore separemini: quod absit a vobis. Illi enim quos videtis agere poenitentiam, scelera commiserunt, aut adulteria, aut aliqua facta immania: inde agunt poenitentiam. Nam si levia peccata ipsorum essent, ad haec quotidiana oratio delenda sufficeret.

The forgiveness of sins. You have the Creed perfectly within you when you are baptized. Let no one say: I did such a thing; perhaps it is not forgiven me. What did you do? How much did you do? Name something monstrous that you have committed, grievous, horrible, which you shudder even to think of: do whatever you please, have you killed Christ? There is nothing worse than that deed, because there is also nothing better than Christ. How great a crime is it to kill Christ? Yet the Jews killed Him, and many afterwards believed in Him and drank His blood: the sin which they had committed was forgiven them. When you have been baptized, hold to a good life in the commandments of God, that you may keep your Baptism to the end. I do not tell you that you will live here without sin; but there are venial sins, without which this life does not exist. For all sins Baptism was devised; for light ones, without which we cannot be, prayer was devised. What does the prayer have? Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors (Matt. 6:12). Once are we washed by Baptism, daily are we washed by prayer. But do not commit those things for which it is necessary that you be separated from the body of Christ: which be far from you. For those whom you see doing penance have committed crimes, either adulteries or some other monstrous deeds: that is why they do penance. For if their sins were light, the daily prayer would suffice to blot them out.

CAPUT VIII. — 16. Peccata tribus modis dimittuntur. Ergo tribus modis dimittuntur peccata in Ecclesia; in Baptismate, in oratione, in humilitate majore poenitentiae: tamen Deus non dimittit peccata, nisi baptizatis. Ipsa peccata quae primum dimittit, non nisi baptizatis dimittit. Quando? Quando baptizantur. Peccata quae postea orantibus dimittuntur, et poenitentibus, quibus dimittit, baptizatis dimittit. Nam quomodo dicunt, Pater noster, qui nondum nati sunt? Catechumeni quamdiu sunt, super illos sunt omnia peccata eorum. Si catechumeni, quanto magis Pagani? quanto magis haeretici? Sed haereticis Baptismum non mutamus. Quare? Quia sic habent Baptismum, quomodo desertor habet characterem: ita et isti habent Baptismum; habent, sed unde damnentur, non unde coronentur. Et tamen si desertor ipse correctus incipiat militare, numquid audet quisquam ei characterem mutare?

CHAPTER VIII. — 16. Sins are forgiven in three ways. Therefore sins are forgiven in the Church in three ways: in Baptism, in prayer, in the greater humility of penance. Yet God does not forgive sins except to the baptized. The very sins which He forgives first, He forgives only to the baptized. When? When they are baptized. The sins which are afterwards forgiven to those who pray, and to those who do penance, to whom He forgives them, He forgives to the baptized. For how do they say, Our Father, who are not yet born? As long as they are catechumens, all their sins are upon them. If catechumens, how much more pagans? How much more heretics? But we do not change Baptism for heretics. Why? Because they have Baptism as a deserter has the mark: so these also have Baptism; they have it, but to their condemnation, not to their crowning. And yet if the deserter himself, amended, begins to serve as a soldier, does anyone dare to change his mark?

CAPUT IX. — 17. De resurrectione carnis in vitam aeternam. Credimus etiam resurrectionem carnis, quae praecessit in Christo: ut hoc etiam speret corpus, quod praecessit in capite. Caput Ecclesiae Christus, Ecclesia corpus Christi (Ephes. V, 23). Caput nostrum surrexit, ascendit in coelum: ubi caput, illic et membra. Quomodo carnis resurrectionem? Ne forte putet aliquis quomodo Lazari, ut scias non sic esse, additum est, In vitam aeternam. Regeneret vos Deus, conservet et tueatur vos Deus; in se, qui est ipsa vita aeterna, perducat vos Deus. Amen.

CHAPTER IX. — 17. Of the resurrection of the flesh unto life everlasting. We believe also the resurrection of the flesh, which has gone before in Christ: so that the body too may hope for this, which went before in the head. Christ is the head of the Church, the Church is the body of Christ (Eph. 5:23). Our head has risen, has ascended into heaven: where the head is, there are the members also. How the resurrection of the flesh? Lest perhaps someone think it is like Lazarus's, so that you may know it is not so, there has been added, Unto life everlasting. May God regenerate you, may God preserve and protect you; may God lead you through into Himself, Who is life everlasting itself. Amen.

Editors' notes and page, col. 636

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: in humilitate majore› · call in col 636

Sic Mss. Editi vero, majoris.

So the manuscripts. The printed editions, however, read "majoris" (of greater [penance]).

(printed under page 322)