(To First Part) (To Third Part)
(Second Part)
62. By the Sacrifice of Christ All Things are Restored, and Peace is Made Between Earth and Heaven.
And,
of course, the holy angels, taught by God, in the eternal contemplation of
whose truth their happiness consists, know how great a number of the human race
are to supplement their ranks, and fill up the full tale of their citizenship.
Wherefore the apostle says, that all things are gathered together in one in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth. The things which are in heaven
are gathered together when what was lost therefrom in the fall of the angels is
restored from among men; and the things which are on earth are gathered
together, when those who are predestined to eternal life are redeemed from
their old corruption. And thus, through that single sacrifice in which the
Mediator was offered up, the one sacrifice of which the many victims under the
law were types, heavenly things are brought into peace with earthly things, and
earthly things with heavenly. Wherefore, as the same apostle says: For it
pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell: and, having made
peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things to
Himself: by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
63. The Peace of God, Which Reigns in Heaven,
Passes All Understanding.
This
peace, as Scripture says, passes all understanding, and cannot be known by us
until we have come into the full possession of it. For in what sense are
heavenly things reconciled, except they be reconciled to us, viz. by
coming into harmony with us? For in heaven there is unbroken peace, both
between all the intelligent creatures that exist there, and between these and
their Creator. And this peace, as is said, passes all understanding; but this,
of course, means our understanding, not that of those who always behold the
face of their Father. We now, however great may be our human understanding, know
but in part, and see through a glass darkly. But when we shall be equal unto
the angels of God then we shall see face to face, as they do; and we shall have
as great peace towards them as they have towards us, because we shall love them
as much as we are loved by them. And so their peace shall be known to us: for
our own peace shall be like to theirs, and as great as theirs, nor shall it
then pass our understanding. But the peace of God, the peace which He cherishes
towards us, shall undoubtedly pass not our understanding only, but theirs as
well. And this must be so: for every rational creature which is happy derives
its happiness from Him; He does not derive His from it. And in this view it is
better to interpret all in the passage, The peace of God passes all
understanding, as admitting of no exception even in favor of the understanding
of the holy angels: the only exception that can be made is that of God Himself.
For, of course, His peace does not pass His own understanding.
64. Pardon of Sin Extends Over the Whole
Mortal Life of the Saints, Which, Though Free from Crime, is Not Free from Sin.
But
the angels even now are at peace with us when our sins are pardoned. Hence, in
the order of the Creed, after the mention of the Holy Church is placed the
remission of sins. For it is by this that the Church on earth stands: it is
through this that what had been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost
again. For, setting aside the grace of baptism, which is given as an antidote
to original sin, so that what our birth imposes upon us, our new birth relieves
us from (this grace, however, takes away all the actual sins also that have
been committed in thought, word, and deed): setting aside, then, this great act
of favor, whence commences man's restoration, and in which all our guilt, both
original and actual, is washed away, the rest of our life from the time that we
have the use of reason provides constant occasion for the remission of sins,
however great may be our advance in righteousness. For the sons of God, as long
as they live in this body of death, are in conflict with death. And although it
is truly said of them, As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
sons of God, yet they are led by the Spirit of God, and as the sons of God
advance towards God under this drawback, that they are led also by their own
spirit, weighted as it is by the corruptible body; and that, as the sons of men,
under the influence of human affections, they fall back to their old level, and
so sin. There is a difference, however. For although every crime is a sin, every
sin is not a crime. And so we say that the life of holy men, as long as they
remain in this mortal body, may be found without crime; but, as the Apostle
John says, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth
is not in us.
65. God Pardons Sins, But on Condition of
Penitence, Certain Times for Which Have Been Fixed by the Law of the Church.
But
even crimes themselves, however great, may be remitted in the Holy Church; and
the mercy of God is never to be despaired of by men who truly repent, each
according to the measure of his sin. And in the act of repentance, where a
crime has been committed of such a nature as to cut off the sinner from the
body of Christ, we are not to take account so much of the measure of time as of
the measure of sorrow; for a broken and a contrite heart God does not despise.
But as the grief of one heart is frequently hid from another, and is not made known
to others by words or other signs, when it is manifest to Him of whom it is
said, My groaning is not hid from You, those who govern the Church have rightly
appointed times of penitence, that the Church in which the sins are remitted
may be satisfied; and outside the Church sins are not remitted. For the Church
alone has received the pledge of the Holy Spirit, without which there is no
remission of sins— such, at least, as brings the pardoned to eternal life.
66. The Pardon of Sin Has Reference Chiefly
to the Future Judgment.
Now
the pardon of sin has reference chiefly to the future judgment. For, as far as
this life is concerned, the saying of Scripture holds good: A heavy yoke is
upon the sons of Adam, from the day that they go out of their mother's womb,
till the day that they return to the mother of all things. So that we see even
infants, after baptism and regeneration, suffering from the infliction of
various evils: and thus we are given to understand, that all that is set forth
in the sacraments of salvation refers rather to the hope of future good, than
to the retaining or attaining of present blessings. For many sins seem in this
world to be overlooked and visited with no punishment, whose punishment is
reserved for the future (for it is not in vain that the day when Christ shall
come as Judge of quick and dead is peculiarly named the day of judgment); just
as, on the other hand, many sins are punished in this life, which nevertheless
are pardoned, and shall bring down no punishment in the future life.
Accordingly, in reference to certain temporal punishments, which in this life
are visited upon sinners, the apostle, addressing those whose sins are blotted
out, and not reserved for the final judgment, says: For if we would judge
ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of
the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
67. Faith Without Works is Dead, and Cannot
Save a Man.
It is believed,
moreover, by some, that men who do not abandon the name of Christ, and who have
been baptized in the Church by His baptism, and who have never been cut off
from the Church by any schism or heresy, though they should live in the
grossest sin and never either wash it away in penitence nor redeem it by
almsgiving, but persevere in it persistently to the last day of their lives,
shall be saved by fire; that is, that although they shall suffer a punishment
by fire, lasting for a time proportionate to the magnitude of their crimes and
misdeeds, they shall not be punished with everlasting fire. But those who believe
this, and yet are Catholics, seem to me to be led astray by a kind of
benevolent feeling natural to humanity. For Holy Scripture, when consulted,
gives a very different answer. I have written a book on this subject, entitled Of
Faith and Works, in which, to the best of my ability, God assisting me, I
have shown from Scripture, that the faith which saves us is that which the Apostle
Paul clearly enough describes when he says: For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which works by love. But if it
works evil, and not good, then without doubt, as the Apostle James says, it is
dead, being alone. The same apostle says again, What does it profit, my
brethren, though a man say he has faith, and have not works? Can faith save
him? And further, if a wicked man shall be saved by fire on account of his faith
alone, and if this is what the blessed Apostle Paul means when he says, But he
himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire; then faith without works can save a man,
and what his fellow-apostle James says must be false. And that must be false
which Paul himself says in another place: Be not deceived: neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners; shall
inherit the kingdom of God. For if those who persevere in these wicked courses
shall nevertheless be saved on account of their faith in Christ, how can it be true
that they shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
68. The True Sense of the Passage (1
Cor. 3:11-15) About Those Who are Saved, Yet So as by Fire.
But as
these most plain and unmistakeable declarations of the apostles cannot be
false, that obscure saying about those who build upon the foundation, Christ,
not gold, silver, and precious stones, but wood, hay, and stubble (for it is
these who, it is said, shall be saved, yet so as by fire, the merit of the
foundation saving them ), must be so interpreted as not to conflict with the
plain statements quoted above. Now wood, hay, and stubble may, without
incongruity, be understood to signify such an attachment to worldly things, however
lawful these may be in themselves, that they cannot be lost without grief of
mind. And though this grief burns, yet if Christ hold the place of foundation
in the heart—that is, if nothing be preferred to Him, and if the man, though
burning with grief, is yet more willing to lose the things he loves so much
than to lose Christ,— he is saved by fire. If, however, in time of temptation,
he prefer to hold by temporal and earthly things rather than by Christ, he has
not Christ as his foundation; for he puts earthly things in the first place,
and in a building nothing comes before the foundation. Again, the fire of which
the apostle speaks in this place must be such a fire as both men are made to pass
through, that is, both the man who builds upon the foundation, gold, silver,
precious stones, and the man who builds wood, hay, stubble. For he immediately
adds: The fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is. If any man's
work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any
man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be
saved, yet so as by fire. The fire then shall prove, not the work of one of
them only, but of both. Now the trial of adversity is a kind of fire which is
plainly spoken of in another place: The furnace proves the potter's vessels:
and the furnace of adversity just men. And this fire does in the course of this
life act exactly in the way the apostle says. If it come into contact with two believers,
one caring for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord,
that is, building upon Christ the foundation, gold, silver, precious stones;
the other caring for the things that are of the world, how he may please his
wife, that is, building upon the same foundation wood, hay, stubble—the work of
the former is not burned, because he has not given his love to things whose
loss can cause him grief; but the work of the latter is burned, because things
that are enjoyed with desire cannot be lost without pain. But since, by our
supposition, even the latter prefers to lose these things rather than to lose
Christ, and since he does not desert Christ out of fear of losing them, though
he is grieved when he does lose them, he is saved, but it is so as by fire;
because the grief for what he loved and has lost burns him. But it does not
subvert nor consume him; for he is protected by his immoveable and
incorruptible foundation.
69. It is Not Impossible that Some Believers
May Pass Through a Purgatorial Fire in the Future Life.
And it
is not impossible that something of the same kind may take place even after
this life. It is a matter that may be inquired into, and either ascertained or
left doubtful, whether some believers shall pass through a kind of purgatorial
fire, and in proportion as they have loved with more or less devotion the goods
that perish, be less or more quickly delivered from it. This cannot, however,
be the case of any of those of whom it is said, that they shall not inherit the
kingdom of God, unless after suitable repentance their sins be forgiven them.
When I say suitable, I mean that they are not to be unfruitful in almsgiving;
for Holy Scripture lays so much stress on this virtue, that our Lord tells us
beforehand, that He will ascribe no merit to those on His right hand but that
they abound in it, and no defect to those on His left hand but their want of
it, when He shall say to the former, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom, and to the latter, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting
fire.
70. Almsgiving Will Not Atone for Sin Unless
the Life Be Changed.
We
must beware, however, lest any one should suppose that gross sins, such as are
committed by those who shall not inherit the kingdom of God, may be daily
perpetrated, and daily atoned for by almsgiving. The life must be changed for
the better; and almsgiving must be used to propitiate God for past sins, not to
purchase impunity for the commission of such sins in the future. For He has
given no man license to sin, although in His mercy He may blot out sins that
are already committed, if we do not neglect to make proper satisfaction.
71. The Daily Prayer of the Believer Makes
Satisfaction for the Trivial Sins that Daily Stain His Life.
Now
the daily prayer of the believer makes satisfaction for those daily sins of a
momentary and trivial kind which are necessary incidents of this life. For he
can say, Our Father which art in heaven, seeing that to such a Father he is now
born again of water and of the Spirit. And this prayer certainly takes away the
very small sins of daily life. It takes away also those which at one time made
the life of the believer very wicked, but which, now that he is changed for the
better by repentance, he has given up, provided that as truly as he says,
Forgive us our debts (for there is no want of debts to be forgiven), so truly
does he say, as we forgive our debtors; that is, provided he does what he says
he does: for to forgive a man who asks for pardon, is really to give alms.
72. There are Many Kinds of Alms, the Giving
of Which Assists to Procure Pardon for Our Sins.
And on
this principle of interpretation, our Lord's saying, Give alms of such things
as you have, and, behold, all things are clean unto you, applies to every
useful act that a man does in mercy. Not only, then, the man who gives food to
the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, hospitality to the
stranger, shelter to the fugitive, who visits the sick and the imprisoned,
ransoms the captive, assists the weak, leads the blind, comforts the sorrowful,
heals the sick, puts the wanderer on the right path, gives advice to the
perplexed, and supplies the wants of the needy,— not this man only, but the man
who pardons the sinner also gives alms; and the man who corrects with blows, or
restrains by any kind of discipline one over whom he has power, and who at the
same time forgives from the heart the sin by which he was injured, or prays
that it may be forgiven, is also a giver of alms, not only in that he forgives,
or prays for forgiveness for the sin, but also in that he rebukes and corrects
the sinner: for in this, too, he shows mercy. Now much good is bestowed upon
unwilling recipients, when their advantage and not their pleasure is consulted;
and they themselves frequently prove to be their own enemies, while their true
friends are those whom they take for their enemies, and to whom in their
blindness they return evil for good. (A Christian, indeed, is not permitted to
return evil even for evil. ) And thus there are many kinds of alms, by giving
of which we assist to procure the pardon of our sins.
73. The Greatest of All Alms is to Forgive
Our Debtors and to Love Our Enemies.
But
none of those is greater than to forgive from the heart a sin that has been
committed against us. For it is a comparatively small thing to wish well to, or
even to do good to, a man who has done no evil to you. It is a much higher
thing, and is the result of the most exalted goodness, to love your enemy, and
always to wish well to, and when you have the opportunity, to do good to, the
man who wishes you ill, and, when he can, does you harm. This is to obey the
command of God: Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for
them which persecute you. But seeing that this is a frame of mind only reached
by the perfect sons of God, and that though every believer ought to strive
after it, and by prayer to God and earnest struggling with himself endeavor to
bring his soul up to this standard, yet a degree of goodness so high can hardly
belong to so great a multitude as we believe are heard when they use this
petition, Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; in view of all this,
it cannot be doubted that the implied undertaking is fulfilled if a man, though
he has not yet attained to loving his enemy, yet, when asked by one who has sinned
against him to forgive him his sin, does forgive him from his heart. For he
certainly desires to be himself forgiven when he prays, as we forgive our
debtors, that is, Forgive us our debts when we beg forgiveness, as we forgive
our debtors when they beg forgiveness from us.
74. God Does Not Pardon the Sins of Those Who
Do Not from the Heart Forgive Others.
Now,
he who asks forgiveness of the man against whom he has sinned, being moved by
his sin to ask forgiveness, cannot be counted an enemy in such a sense that it
should be as difficult to love him now as it was when he was engaged in active
hostility. And the man who does not from his heart forgive him who repents of
his sin, and asks forgiveness, need not suppose that his own sins are forgiven
of God. For the Truth cannot lie. And what reader or hearer of the Gospel can
have failed to notice, that the same person who said, I am the Truth, taught us
also this form of prayer; and in order to impress this particular petition
deeply upon our minds, said, For if you forgive men their trespasses, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses? The man whom the
thunder of this warning does not awaken is not asleep, but dead; and yet so
powerful is that voice, that it can awaken even the dead.
75. The Wicked and the Unbelieving are Not
Made Clean by the Giving of Alms, Except They Be Born Again.
Assuredly,
then, those who live in gross wickedness, and take no care to reform their
lives and manners, and yet amid all their crimes and vices do not cease to give
frequent alms, in vain take comfort to themselves from the saying of our Lord:
Give alms of such things as you have; and, behold, all things are clean unto
you. For they do not understand how far this saying reaches. But that they may
understand this, let them hear what He says. For we read in the Gospel as
follows: And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee besought Him to dine with him; and
He went in, and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled
that He had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, Now do
ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward
part is full of ravening and wickedness. You fools, did not he that made that
which is without, make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such
things as you have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. Are we to
understand this as meaning that to the Pharisees who have not the faith of
Christ all things are clean, if only they give alms in the way these men count
almsgiving, even though they have never believed in Christ, nor been born again
of water and of the Spirit? But the fact is, that all are unclean who are not
made clean by the faith of Christ, according to the expression, purifying their
hearts by faith; and that the apostle says, Unto them that are defiled and
unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
How, then, could all things be clean to the Pharisees, even though they gave alms,
if they were not believers? And how could they be believers if they were not
willing to have faith in Christ, and to be born again of His grace? And yet
what they heard is true: Give alms of such things as you have; and, behold, all
things are clean unto you.
76. To Give Alms Aright, We Should Begin with
Ourselves, and Have Pity Upon Our Own Souls.
For
the man who wishes to give aims as he ought, should begin with himself, and
give to himself first. For almsgiving is a work of mercy; and most truly is it
said, To have mercy on your soul is pleasing to God. And for this end are we
born again, that we should be pleasing to God, who is justly displeased with
that which we brought with us when we were born. This is our first alms, which
we give to ourselves when, through the mercy of a pitying God, we find that we
are ourselves wretched, and confess the justice of His judgment by which we are
made wretched, of which the apostle says, The judgment was by one to
condemnation; and praise the greatness of His love, of which the same preacher
of grace says, God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us: and thus judging truly of our own misery, and
loving God with the love which He has Himself bestowed, we lead a holy and virtuous
life. But the Pharisees, while they gave as alms the tithe of all their fruits,
even the most insignificant, passed over judgment and the love of God, and so
did not commence their almsgiving at home, and extend their pity to themselves
in the first instance. And it is in reference to this order of love that it is
said, Love your neighbor as yourself. When, then, our Lord had rebuked them
because they made themselves clean on the outside, but within were full of
ravening and wickedness, He advised them, in the exercise of that charity which
each man owes to himself in the first instance, to make clean the inward parts.
But rather, He says, give alms of such things as you have; and, behold, all
things are clean unto you. Then, to show what it was that He advised, and what
they took no pains to do, and to show that He did not overlook or forget their
almsgiving, But woe unto you, Pharisees! He says; as if He meant to say: I
indeed advise you to give alms which shall make all things clean unto you; but
woe unto you! For you tithe mint, and rue, and all manner of herbs; as if He
meant to say: I know these alms of yours, and you need not think that I am now
admonishing you in respect of such things; and pass over judgment and the love
of God, an alms by which you might have been made clean from all inward
impurity, so that even the bodies which you are now washing would have been
clean to you. For this is the import of all things, both inward and outward
things, as we read in another place: Cleanse first that which is within, that
the outside may be clean also. But lest He might appear to despise the alms
which they were giving out of the fruits of the earth, He says: These ought ye
to have done, referring to judgment and the love of God, and not to leave the
other undone, referring to the giving of the tithes.
77. If We Would Give Alms to Ourselves, We
Must Flee Iniquity; For He Who Loves Iniquity Hates His Soul.
Those,
then, who think that they can by giving alms, however profuse, whether in money
or in kind, purchase for themselves the privilege of persisting with impunity
in their monstrous crimes and hideous vices, need not thus deceive themselves.
For not only do they commit these sins, but they love them so much that they
would like to go on forever committing them, if only they could do so with
impunity. Now, he who loves iniquity hates his own soul; and he who hates his
own soul is not merciful but cruel towards it. For in loving it according to
the world, he hates it according to God. But if he desired to give alms to it
which should make all things clean unto him, he would hate it according to the
world, and love it according to God. Now no one gives alms unless he receive
what he gives from one who is not in want of it. Therefore it is said, His
mercy shall meet me.
78. What Sins are Trivial and What Heinous is
a Matter for God's Judgment.
Now,
what sins are trivial and what heinous is not a matter to be decided by man's
judgment, but by the judgment of God. For it is plain that the apostles
themselves have given an indulgence in the case of certain sins: take, for
example, what the Apostle Paul says to those who are married: Defraud ye not
one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that you may give
yourselves to fasting and prayer: and come together again, that Satan tempt you
not for your incontinency. Now it is possible that it might not have been
considered a sin to have intercourse with a spouse, not with a view to the
procreation of children, which is the great blessing of marriage, but for the
sake of carnal pleasure, and to save the incontinent from being led by their
weakness into the deadly sin of fornication, or adultery, or another form of
uncleanness which it is shameful even to name, and into which it is possible
that they might be drawn by lust under the temptation of Satan. It is possible,
I say, that this might not have been considered a sin, had the apostle not
added: But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. Who, then, can
deny that it is a sin, when confessedly it is only by apostolic authority that
permission is granted to those who do it? Another case of the same kind is
where he says: Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law
before the unjust, and not before the saints? And shortly afterwards: If then
you have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are
least esteemed in the Church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is
not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his
brethren? But brother goes to law with brother, and that before the
unbelievers. Now it might have been supposed in this case that it is not a sin
to have a quarrel with another, that the only sin is in wishing to have it
adjudicated upon outside the Church, had not the apostle immediately added: Now
therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law with one
another. And lest any one should excuse himself by saying that he had a just cause,
and was suffering wrong, and that he only wished the sentence of the judges to
remove his wrong, the apostle immediately anticipates such thoughts and excuses,
and says: Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer
yourselves to be defrauded? Thus bringing us back to our Lord's saying, If any
man will sue you at the law, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak
also; and again, Of him that takes away your goods, ask them not again.
Therefore our Lord has forbidden His followers to go to law with other men
about worldly affairs. And carrying out this principle, the apostle here
declares that to do so is altogether a fault. But when, notwithstanding, he
grants his permission to have such cases between brethren decided in the Church,
other brethren adjudicating, and only sternly forbids them to be carried
outside the Church, it is manifest that here again an indulgence is extended to
the infirmities of the weak. It is in view, then, of these sins, and others of
the same sort, and of others again more trifling still, which consist of
offenses in words and thought (as the Apostle James confesses, In many things
we offend all ), that we need to pray every day and often to the Lord, saying,
Forgive us our debts, and to add in truth and sincerity, as we forgive our
debtors.
79. Sins Which Appear Very Trifling, are
Sometimes in Reality Very Serious.
Again,
there are some sins which would be considered very trifling, if the Scriptures
did not show that they are really very serious. For who would suppose that the
man who says to his brother, You fool, is in danger of hell-fire, did not He
who is the Truth say so? To the wound, however, He immediately applies the
cure, giving a rule for reconciliation with one's offended brother: "Therefore,
if you bring your gift to the altar, and there rememberest that your brother
has ought against you; leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way:
first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." Again,
who would suppose that it was so great a sin to observe days, and months, and
times, and years, as those do who are anxious or unwilling to begin anything on
certain days, or in certain months or years, because the vain doctrines of men
lead them to think such times lucky or unlucky, had we not the means of
estimating the greatness of the evil from the fear expressed by the apostle,
who says to such men, I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor
in vain?
80. Sins, However Great and Detestable, Seem
Trivial When We are Accustomed to Them.
Add to
this, that sins, however great and detestable they may be, are looked upon as
trivial, or as not sins at all, when men get accustomed to them; and so far
does this go, that such sins are not only not concealed, but are boasted of,
and published far and wide; and thus, as it is written, The wicked boasts of
his heart's desire, and blesses the covetous, whom the Lord abhors. Iniquity of
this kind is in Scripture called a cry. You have an instance in the prophet
Isaiah, in the case of the evil vineyard: He looked for judgment, but behold
oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. Whence also the expression in
Genesis: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is great, because in these cities crimes
were not only not punished, but were openly committed, as if under the
protection of the law. And so in our own times: many forms of sin, though not
just the same as those of Sodom and Gomorrha, are now so openly and habitually
practised, that not only dare we not excommunicate a layman, we dare not even
degrade a clergyman, for the commission of them. So that when, a few years ago,
I was expounding the Epistle to the Galatians, in commenting on that very place
where the apostle says, I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed labor upon you
in vain, I was compelled to exclaim, Woe to the sins of men! For it is only
when we are not accustomed to them that we shrink from them: when once we are
accustomed to them, though the blood of the Son of God was poured out to wash them
away, though they are so great that the kingdom of God is wholly shut against
them, constant familiarity leads to the toleration of them all, and habitual
toleration leads to the practice of many of them. And grant, O Lord, that we
may not come to practise all that we have not the power to hinder. But I shall
see whether the extravagance of grief did not betray me into rashness of
speech.
81. There are Two Causes of Sin, Ignorance
and Weakness; And We Need Divine Help to Overcome Both.
I
shall now say this, which I have often said before in other places of my works.
There are two causes that lead to sin: either we do not yet know our duty, or
we do not perform the duty that we know. The former is the sin of ignorance,
the latter of weakness. Now against these it is our duty to struggle; but we
shall certainly be beaten in the fight, unless we are helped by God, not only
to see our duty, but also, when we clearly see it, to make the love of
righteousness stronger in us than the love of earthly things, the eager longing
after which, or the fear of losing which, leads us with our eyes open into known
sin. In the latter case we are not only sinners, for we are so even when we err
through ignorance, but we are also transgressors of the law; for we leave
undone what we know we ought to do, and we do what we know we ought not to do.
Wherefore not only ought we to pray for pardon when we have sinned, saying,
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; but we ought to pray for
guidance, that we may be kept from sinning, saying, and lead us not into temptation.
And we are to pray to Him of whom the Psalmist says, The Lord is my light and
my salvation: my light, for He removes my ignorance; my salvation, for He takes
away my infirmity.
82. The Mercy of God is Necessary to True
Repentance.
Now
even penance itself, when by the law of the Church there is sufficient reason
for its being gone through, is frequently evaded through infirmity; for shame
is the fear of losing pleasure when the good opinion of men gives more pleasure
than the righteousness which leads a man to humble himself in penitence.
Wherefore the mercy of God is necessary not only when a man repents, but even
to lead him to repent. How else explain what the apostle says of certain persons:
if God perhaps will give them repentance? And before Peter wept bitterly, we
are told by the evangelist, The Lord turned, and looked upon him.
83. The Man Who Despises the Mercy of God is
Guilty of the Sin Against the Holy Ghost.
Now
the man who, not believing that sins are remitted in the Church, despises this
great gift of God's mercy, and persists to the last day of his life in his
obstinacy of heart, is guilty of the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost,
in whom Christ forgives sins. But this difficult question I have discussed as
clearly as I could in a book devoted exclusively to this one point.
84. The Resurrection of the Body Gives Rise
to Numerous Questions.
Now,
as to the resurrection of the body, — not a resurrection such as some have had,
who came back to life for a time and died again, but a resurrection to eternal
life, as the body of Christ Himself rose again—I do not see how I can discuss
the matter briefly, and at the same time give a satisfactory answer to all the
questions that are ordinarily raised about it. Yet that the bodies of all men—
both those who have been born and those who shall be born, both those who have
died and those who shall die— shall be raised again, no Christian ought to have
the shadow of a doubt.
85. The Case of Abortive Conceptions.
Hence
in the first place arises a question about abortive conceptions, which have
indeed been born in the mother's womb, but not so born that they could be born
again. For if we shall decide that these are to rise again, we cannot object to
any conclusion that may be drawn in regard to those which are fully formed. Now
who is there that is not rather disposed to think that unformed abortions
perish, like seeds that have never fructified? But who will dare to deny,
though he may not dare to affirm, that at the resurrection every defect in the
form shall be supplied, and that thus the perfection which time would have
brought shall not be wanting, any more than the blemishes which time did bring
shall be present: so that the nature shall neither want anything suitable and
in harmony with it that length of days would have added, nor be debased by the
presence of anything of an opposite kind that length of days has added; but
that what is not yet complete shall be completed, just as what has been injured
shall be renewed.
86. If They Have Ever Lived, They Must of
Course Have Died, and Therefore Shall Have a Share in the Resurrection of the
Dead.
And
therefore the following question may be very carefully inquired into and
discussed by learned men, though I do not know whether it is in man's power to
resolve it: At what time the infant begins to live in the womb: whether life
exists in a latent form before it manifests itself in the motions of the living
being. To deny that the young who are cut out limb by limb from the womb, lest
if they were left there dead the mother should die too, have never been alive,
seems too audacious. Now, from the time that a man begins to live, from that
time it is possible for him to die. And if he die, wheresoever death may
overtake him, I cannot discover on what principle he can be denied an interest
in the resurrection of the dead.
87. The Case of Monstrous Births.
We are
not justified in affirming even of monstrosities, which are born and live,
however quickly they may die, that they shall not rise again, nor that they
shall rise again in their deformity, and not rather with an amended and
perfected body. God forbid that the double limbed man who was lately born in
the East, of whom an account was brought by most trustworthy brethren who had
seen him—an account which the presbyter Jerome, of blessed memory, left in
writing; — God forbid, I say, that we should think that at the resurrection
there shall be one man with double limbs, and not two distinct men, as would
have been the case had twins been born. And so other births, which, because
they have either a superfluity or a defect, or because they are very much
deformed, are called monstrosities, shall at the resurrection be
restored to the normal shape of man; and so each single soul shall possess its
own body; and no bodies shall cohere together even though they were born in
cohesion, but each separately shall possess all the members which constitute a
complete human body.
88. The Material of the Body Never Perishes.
Nor
does the earthly material out of which men's mortal bodies are created ever
perish; but though it may crumble into dust and ashes, or be dissolved into
vapors and exhalations, though it may be transformed into the substance of
other bodies, or dispersed into the elements, though it should become food for
beasts or men, and be changed into their flesh, it returns in a moment of time
to that human soul which animated it at the first, and which caused it to
become man, and to live and grow.
89. But This Material May Be Differently
Arranged in the Resurrection Body.
And
this earthly material, which when the soul leaves it becomes a corpse, shall
not at the resurrection be so restored as that the parts into which it is
separated, and which under various forms and appearances become parts of other
things (though they shall all return to the same body from which they were
separated), must necessarily return to the same parts of the body in which they
were originally situated. For otherwise, to suppose that the hair recovers all
that our frequent clippings and shavings have taken away from it, and the nails
all that we have so often pared off, presents to the imagination such a picture
of ugliness and deformity, as to make the resurrection of the body all but
incredible. But just as if a statue of some soluble metal were either melted by
fire, or broken into dust, or reduced to a shapeless mass, and a sculptor
wished to restore it from the same quantity of metal, it would make no
difference to the completeness of the work what part of the statue any given
particle of the material was put into, as long as the restored statue contained
all the material of the original one; so God, the Artificer of marvellous and
unspeakable power, shall with marvellous and unspeakable rapidity restore our
body, using up the whole material of which it originally consisted. Nor will it
affect the completeness of its restoration whether hairs return to hairs, and
nails to nails, or whether the part of these that had perished be changed into
flesh, and called to take its place in another part of the body, the great
Artist taking careful heed that nothing shall be unbecoming or out of place.
90. If There Be Differences and Inequalities
Among the Bodies of Those Who Rise Again, There Shall Be Nothing Offensive or
Disproportionate in Any.
Nor
does it necessarily follow that there shall be differences of stature among
those who rise again, because they were of different statures during life; nor
is it certain that the lean shall rise again in their former leanness, and the
fat in their former fatness. But if it is part of the Creator's design that
each should preserve his own peculiarities of feature, and retain a
recognizable likeness to his former self, while in regard to other bodily
advantages all should be equal, then the material of which each is composed may
be so modified that none of it shall be lost, and that any defect may be
supplied by Him who can create at His will out of nothing. But if in the bodies
of those who rise again there shall be a well-ordered inequality, such as there
is in the voices that make up a full harmony, then the material of each man's
body shall be so dealt with that it shall form a man fit for the assemblies of
the angels, and one who shall bring nothing among them to jar upon their
sensibilities. And assuredly nothing that is unseemly shall be there; but
whatever shall be there shall be graceful and becoming: for if anything is not
seemly, neither shall it be.
91. The Bodies of the Saints Shall at The
Resurrection Be Spiritual Bodies.
The
bodies of the saints, then, shall rise again free from every defect, from every
blemish, as from all corruption, weight, and impediment. For their ease of
movement shall be as complete as their happiness. Whence their bodies have been
called spiritual, though undoubtedly they shall be bodies and not
spirits. For just as now the body is called animate, though it is a
body, and not a soul [anima], so then the body shall be called
spiritual, though it shall be a body, not a spirit. Hence, as far as regards
the corruption which now weighs down the soul, and the vices which urge the
flesh to lust against the spirit, it shall not then be flesh, but body; for
there are bodies which are called celestial. Wherefore it is said, Flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; and, as if in explanation of this,
neither does corruption inherit incorruption. What the apostle first called
flesh and blood, he afterwards calls corruption; and what he first called the kingdom
of God, he afterwards calls incorruption. But as far as regards the substance,
even then it shall be flesh. For even after the resurrection the body of Christ
was called flesh. The apostle, however, says: It is sown a natural body; it is
raised a spiritual body; because so perfect shall then be the harmony between
flesh and spirit, the spirit keeping alive the subjugated flesh without the
need of any nourishment, that no part of our nature shall be in discord with
another; but as we shall be free from enemies without, so we shall not have
ourselves for enemies within.
92. The Resurrection of the Lost.
But as
for those who, out of the mass of perdition caused by the first man's sin, are
not redeemed through the one Mediator between God and man, they too shall rise
again, each with his own body, but only to be punished with the devil and his angels.
Now, whether they shall rise again with all their diseases and deformities of
body, bringing with them the diseased and deformed limbs which they possessed
here, it would be labor lost to inquire. For we need not weary ourselves
speculating about their health or their beauty, which are matters uncertain,
when their eternal damnation is a matter of certainty. Nor need we inquire in
what sense their body shall be incorruptible, if it be susceptible of pain; or in
what sense corruptible, if it be free from the possibility of death. For there
is no true life except where there is happiness in life, and no true
incorruption except where health is unbroken by any pain. When, however, the
unhappy are not permitted to die, then, if I may so speak, death itself dies
not; and where pain without intermission afflicts the soul, and never comes to
an end, corruption itself is not completed. This is called in Holy Scripture
the second death.
93. Both the First and the Second Deaths are
the Consequence of Sin. Punishment is Proportioned to Guilt.
And
neither the first death, which takes place when the soul is compelled to leave
the body, nor the second death, which takes place when the soul is not
permitted to leave the suffering body, would have been inflicted on man had no
one sinned. And, of course, the mildest punishment of all will fall upon those
who have added no actual sin, to the original sin they brought with them; and
as for the rest who have added such actual sins, the punishment of each will be
the more tolerable in the next world, according as his iniquity has been less
in this world.
94. The Saints Shall Know More Fully in the
Next World the Benefits They Have Received by Grace.
Thus,
when reprobate angels and men are left to endure everlasting punishment, the saints
shall know more fully the benefits they have received by grace. Then, in contemplation
of the actual facts, they shall see more clearly the meaning of the expression
in the psalms, I will sing of mercy and judgment; for it is only of unmerited
mercy that any is redeemed, and only in well-merited judgment that any is
condemned.
95. God's Judgments Shall Then Be Explained.
Then
shall be made clear much that is now dark. For example, when of two infants,
whose cases seem in all respects alike, one by the mercy of God chosen to
Himself, and the other is by His justice abandoned (wherein the one who is
chosen may recognize what was of justice due to himself, had not mercy
intervened); why, of these two, the one should have been chosen rather than the
other, is to us an insoluble problem. And again, why miracles were not wrought
in the presence of men who would have repented at the working of the miracles,
while they were wrought in the presence of others who, it was known, would not
repent. For our Lord says most distinctly: Woe unto you, Chorazin! Woe unto
you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done
in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
And assuredly there was no injustice in God's not willing that they should be
saved, though they could have been saved had He so willed it. Then shall be
seen in the clearest light of wisdom what with the pious is now a faith, though
it is not yet a matter of certain knowledge, how sure, how unchangeable, and
how effectual is the will of God; how many things He can do which He does not
will to do, though willing nothing which He cannot perform; and how true is the
song of the psalmist, But our God is in the heavens; He has done whatsoever He
has pleased. And this certainly is not true, if God has ever willed anything
that He has not performed; and, still worse, if it was the will of man that
hindered the Omnipotent from doing what He pleased. Nothing, therefore, happens
but by the will of the Omnipotent, He either permitting it to be done, or
Himself doing it.
96. The Omnipotent God Does Well Even in the
Permission of Evil.
Nor
can we doubt that God does well even in the permission of what is evil. For He
permits it only in the justice of His judgment. And surely all that is just is good.
Although, therefore, evil, in so far as it is evil, is not a good; yet the fact
that evil as well as good exists, is a good. For if it were not a good that evil
should exist, its existence would not be permitted by the omnipotent Good, who
without doubt can as easily refuse to permit what He does not wish, as bring
about what He does wish. And if we do not believe this, the very first sentence
of our creed is endangered, wherein we profess to believe in God the Father
Almighty. For He is not truly called Almighty if He cannot do whatsoever He
pleases, or if the power of His almighty will is hindered by the will of any
creature whatsoever.
97. In What Sense Does the Apostle Say that
God Will Have All Men to Be Saved, When, as a Matter of Fact, All are Not Saved?
Hence
we must inquire in what sense is said of God what the apostle has mostly truly
said: Who will have all men to be saved. For, as a matter of fact, not all, nor
even a majority, are saved: so that it would seem that what God wills is not
done, man's will interfering with, and hindering the will of God. When we ask
the reason why all men are not saved, the ordinary answer is: Because men
themselves are not willing. This, indeed cannot be said of infants, for it is
not in their power either to will or not to will. But if we could attribute to
their will the childish movements they make at baptism, when they make all the
resistance they can, we should say that even they are not willing to be saved.
Our Lord says plainly, however, in the Gospel, when upbraiding the impious
city: How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen
gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! as if the will of God
had been overcome by the will of men, and when the weakest stood in the way
with their want of will, the will of the strongest could not be carried out.
And where is that omnipotence which has done all that it pleased on earth and
in heaven, if God willed to gather together the children of Jerusalem, and did
not accomplish it? Or rather, Jerusalem was not willing that her children
should be gathered together? But even though she was unwilling, He gathered
together as many of her children as He wished: for He does not will some things
and do them, and will others and do them not; but He has done all that He
pleased in heaven and in earth.
(To First Part) (To Third Part)