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Title: NPNF2-06. Jerome: The Principal Works of St. Jerome
Creator(s): Jerome, St.
Schaff, Philip (1819-1893) (Editor)
Freemantle, M.A., The Hon. W.H. (Translator)
Print Basis: New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1892
Rights: Public Domain
CCEL Subjects: All; Proofed; Early Church;
LC Call no: BR60
LC Subjects:
Christianity
Early Christian Literature. Fathers of the Church, etc.
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A SELECT LIBRARY
OF THE
NICENE AND
POST-NICENE FATHERS
OF
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
SECOND SERIES
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH WITH PROLEGOMENA AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
VOLUMES I-VII.
UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF
PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D.,
PROFESSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY IN THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW
YORK.
AND
HENRY WACE, D.D.,
PRINCIPAL OF KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON.
VOLUME VI
JEROME: LETTERS AND SELECT WORKS
T&T CLARK
EDINBURGH
__________________________________________________
WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
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THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF ST. JEROME.
Translated
by
the hon. w. h. fremantle, M.A.,
Canon of Canterbury Cathedral and Fellow and Tutor of Balliol College,
Oxford,
with the assistance of
The rev. G. Lewis, M.A.,
Of Balliol College, Oxford, Vicar of Dodderhill near Droitwick,
and
The rev. w. g. martley, M.A.,
Of Balliol College, Oxford.
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Translator's Preface.
------------------------
The grounds on which certain works of Jerome have been selected, as
most important, for translation in this edition, while others have been
omitted, are given in the Prolegomena (p. xvii-xviii).
The first draught of the translation was prepared by my coadjutors and
former pupils, Mr. G. Lewis and Mr. W. G. Martley, who also added most
of the notes; but I have gone minutely through every part, correcting,
adding, and at times re-writing, both in the ms. and in the proof, and
I have composed the Prolegomena and Indices.
I have endeavoured to make the work useful not to the theologian alone,
but also to the historical student. The general reader will find
interest and even entertainment in the parts of the work referred to in
the Index under such headings as "Pictures of Contemporary Life,"
"Proverbs," "Stories" and "Quotations," or by looking at the Letters to
which special attention is called in the Prolegomena at p. xviii. The
Table of Contents also, in which a short description is given of the
purport of each Letter, will help each class of readers to select the
parts suitable to them. Finally, the Life of Jerome included in the
Prolegomena, though closely compressed, has been furnished with copious
references, which will make it a key to the whole work. It is only to
be regretted that, through the impossibility of including Jerome's work
on Illustrious Men and his controversy with Rufinus in the present
volume, it is necessary to send the reader for a few of the most
important facts to Vol. iii of this Series.
I can hardly expect that, in a work which has been carried through
amidst many pressing engagements, which has been printed two thousand
miles away, and of which I have had only a single proof to correct, I
have been able to avoid all mistakes. But I hope that no inaccuracies
have crept in of sufficient magnitude to mar the usefulness of the
work. I have felt the responsibility of making the first translation of
Jerome into English, especially as a translation once made acts as a
hindrance to those who might wish to attempt the same task. But I trust
that the present work may be found to be not altogether an unworthy
presentment of the great Latin church-writer to the English-speaking
world.
W. H. Fremantle.
Canterbury, November, 1892.
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Prolegomena to Jerome.
I.--Introductory.
St. Jerome's importance lies in the facts: (1) That he was the author
of the Vulgate Translation of the Bible into Latin, (2) That he bore
the chief part in introducing the ascetic life into Western Europe, (3)
That his writings more than those of any of the Fathers bring before us
the general as well as the ecclesiastical life of his time. It was a
time of special interest, the last age of the old Greco-Roman
civilization, the beginning of an altered world. It included the reigns
of Julian (361-63), Valens (364-78), Valentinian (364-75), Gratian
(375-83), Theodosius (379-95) and his sons, the definitive
establishment of orthodox Christianity in the Empire, and the sack of
Rome by Alaric (410). It was the age of the great Fathers, of Ambrose
and Augustine in the West, of Basil, the Gregories, and Chrysostom in
the East. With several of these Jerome was brought into personal
contact; of Ambrose he often speaks in his writings (Apol. i. 2, iii.
14, in this series Vol. iii., pp. 484 and 526; also this Vol., pp. 74
and 496, Pref. to Origen and S. Luke; and the Pref. to Didymus on the
Holy Spirit, quoted in Rufinus' Apology, ii. 24, 43, Vol. iii. of this
series, pp. 470 and 480; also On Illust. Men, c. 124, Vol. iii. 383;
see also Index--Ambrose); with Augustin he carried on an important
correspondence (see Table of Contents); he studied under Gregory
Nazianzen (80, 93; see also Illust. Men, c. 117, Vol. iii. 382) at the
time of the Council at Constantinople, 381; he was acquainted with
Gregory of Nyssa (Illust. Men, c. 128, Vol. iii. 338); he translated
the diatribe of Theophilus of Alexandria against Chrysostom (214, 215).
He ranks as one of the four Doctors of the Latin Church, and his
influence was the most lasting; for, though he was not a great original
thinker like Augustin, nor a champion like Ambrose, nor an organiser
and spreader of Christianity like Gregory, his influence outlasted
theirs. Their influence in the Middle Ages was confined to a
comparatively small circle; but the monastic institutions which he
introduced, the value for relics and sacred places which he defended,
the deference which he showed for Episcopal authority, especially that
of the Roman Pontiff, were the chief features of the Christian system
for a thousand years; his Vulgate was the Bible of Western Christendom
till the Reformation. To the theologian he is interesting rather for
what he records than for any contribution of his own to the science;
but to the historian his vivid descriptions of persons and things at an
important though melancholy epoch of the world are of inestimable
value.
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II.--Contemporary History.
The references in this Section, where numbers alone are given, are to
the date A. D.
It seems desirable to prefix to this Introduction some account of the
times of St. Jerome. General and ecclesiastical history must not be
kept too far apart.
Jerome was born in the troubled times which followed the death of
Constantine (337), and before Constantius became sole Emperor (353). He
was still a schoolboy during the reign of Julian (361-63), and when he
heard of his death. During his student life at Rome, Jovian and
Valentinian were Emperors, and at Treves, where he next sojourned, the
latter Emperor held his court. His first letter refers to a scene in
which Ambrose, then Prefect of Liguria, seems to have taken part (370),
and his settlement at Aquileia synchronises with the law of Valentinian
restraining legacies to the clergy (370). He went to the East in the
year of the death of Athanasius (373), and during his stay in the
desert and at Antioch (374-80) occurred the death of Valentinian, the
defeat and death of his brother Valens in the battle of Adrianople, the
elevation of Theodosius to the purple, and the call of Gregory
Nazianzen to Constantinople. He was ordained by Paulinus, one of the
three Bishops of Antioch, and studied under Apollinaris, thus touching
on both the chief points for which the Council of Constantinople was
called (381). At that Council he was probably present, being, as stated
above, a disciple of its president, Gregory Nazianzen. He was present
also at the Western Council held the next year in Rome under Pope
Damasus, whose trusted counsellor he became (pp. 233, 255). His later
life, spent at Bethlehem (386-420), witnessed the division of the
Empire between the sons of Theodosius, the fall of the Prefect Rufinus
(p. 174), to whom Jerome had been denounced, the triumph of Stilicho
and his death (at which he weakly rejoiced, p. 237), Alaric's sack of
Rome (410) and his death, the revolt of Heraclian, the marriage of
Alaric's successor, Adolphus, with the Emperor's sister, Galla
Placidia, and the death of Arcadius (408); in ecclesiastical matters,
it witnessed the rise of Chrysostom (398) and his exile (403) and death
(407), the condemnation of Origenism (400), and the Pelagian
controversy (415). It is of this period that we are now to give a
sketch.
The Emperor Constantius "may be dismissed," says Gibbon, "with the
remark that he inherited the defects without the abilities of his
father." He died in Cilicia on November 3, 361; he had been stained in
his youth by the blood of nine of his near relatives; he had fallen
early under the dominion of the eunuchs of his palace; and he had done
little for the defence of the empire. In ecclesiastical matters he had
favoured the Arian cause, and had banished the orthodox Bishops of the
principal sees, and had visited Athanasius of Alexandria with his
especial displeasure. His jealousy of his cousin Julian, who had risen
to fame by his just and vigorous administration and by his victories
over the Germans, led him into acts which provoked the legions of Gaul
and caused them to hail Julian as their Emperor. His overtures of peace
were rejected by Constantius; he marched rapidly toward Constantinople,
and Constantius, leaving the Persian war in which he was engaged,
turned westward to meet him. The death of Constantius saved the world
from civil war.
Julian's accession was hailed by all who felt the need of a strong
ruler; and his first measures were just and tolerant. He recalled from
exile the Bishops whom Constantius had banished; his private life was
virtuous, and his love of learning endeared him to some of the best of
his subjects. But his contempt of Christianity made him first impatient
and then a persecutor. He forbade Christians, or Galileans as he called
them, to teach in the schools, or to follow the learned professions; he
restored Paganism, though it was observed that the Paganism he
introduced was in many ways modified by Christian influence; and he
favoured the Jews and wished them to rebuild their temple at Jerusalem.
What the result of his retrogressive policy would have been it is hard
to say. He died in a skirmish in the Persian war, on June 26, 363.
Jovian, who succeeded him, was a Christian; and his election showed
that the anti- Christian policy of Julian had been without effect. He
proclaimed a complete toleration, but died before reaching
Constantinople, only six months after his election.
Valentinian, his successor, was an orthodox Christian, his brother
Valens, whom he associated with himself, an Arian. Valentinian
established his court at Treves, and successfully kept back the
barbarians. Thither in 366 Jerome went for a time, and he describes the
curious customs of the tribes whom he saw there (Against Jovinian, ii.
7, p. 394). The Emperors proclaimed toleration, which extended even to
the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries. But their inquisitorial
and cruel treatment of all suspected of magic arts had a repressive
effect upon learning. Their foundation of schools and endowment of
physicians for the poorer citizens show that the hopes of social
improvement were not extinguished. Yet the state of society in Rome and
in other large cities, as given at this time by Ammianus Marcellinus
(cxiv. 6, xxviii. 4. See Gibbon, iv. 77. Ed. Milman & Smith), reveals
to us the causes of the fall of Rome.
In the reign of Valentinian many ecclesiastical events of great
importance took place. The election of Damasus to the Popedom in 366,
when the rival factions of Damasus and Ursinus filled the whole city
with their conflict, and churches were stormed and strewed with the
slain, showed how important the Bishopric of Rome had become. "If you
would make me Pope, perhaps I might become a Christian," said
Prætextatus, the worshipper of the old gods, to Damasus, who wished to
convert him (see p. 428). The law of Valentinian forbidding legacies to
be made to the clergy shows also their wealth and deterioration (p.
92). But this reign produced some of the greatest Bishops and leaders
whom the Church has known. Athanasius died in 373. Ambrose became
Bishop of Milan in 374. Basil was Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia from
370 to 379.
Meanwhile, the reign of Valens in the East was unsuccessful, and ended
in a great disaster. The Visigoths, and Ostrogoths, or Gruthungi,
pressed by the Huns, implored permission to cross the Danube from their
settlements in Dacia and to be allowed to cultivate the waste lands of
Thrace and Asia Minor. This was conceded to them; but they were ill
treated and cajoled, and at last asserted their rights by force; and
the Emperor, who attacked them near Adrianople, was defeated and slain,
and his army destroyed (378). The Goths were now a formidable force
within the Empire. It was in the year before the death of Valens (377)
that Stridon, the birth-place of Jerome, was destroyed.
Valentinian had died in 375, leaving two sons, Gratian, an accomplished
youth of eighteen, who became Emperor of Gaul and the West, and
Valentinian II., then a child, who was nominal Emperor of Italy and the
central provinces, and who, with his mother Justina, had his residence
at Milan. Gratian distinguished himself by his conduct of several
expeditions against the German tribes beyond the Rhine, and, upon the
death of his uncle Valens, nominated Theodosius to be Emperor of the
East. But he afterwards yielded to idleness and frivolous pleasure, and
in 383 was murdered by the agents of the usurper Maximus.
Theodosius, the son of the elder Theodosius, who had recovered Britain
and Africa for the Empire, but had on a false accusation been put to
death at Carthage, was called to the Empire from his retirement in
Spain. He showed himself a great and capable ruler. He took the Goths
in detail and gradually dispossessed them. He put down the usurper
Maximus (383), and on the death of the young Valentinian (392) fought
against the usurper Eugenius, and became sole Emperor (394) in the year
before his death. He reformed the laws, enacting the Theodosian Code.
In his reign Paganism was finally suppressed. He caused a vote to be
taken in the Roman Senate for the establishment of Christian worship
and the suppression of Paganism. He destroyed the temples--the
destruction of the Serapeum at Alexandria in 389 being the most notable
instance of this--and supported Ambrose in his vehement efforts for the
suppression of Paganism. Though he loyally befriended the Empress
Justina, who was an Arian, and her young son Valentinian II., he did
not support their demand for the toleration of Arian worship at Milan
which Ambrose had denied to them, and he suppressed Arianism throughout
the Empire. To settle the doctrinal disputes raised by the teaching of
Apollinaris, Bishop of the Syrian Laodicæa, who held that the Logos in
Christ supplied the place of the human soul, and the disputed
succession at Antioch, where the Episcopal throne was claimed by the
Arian Vitalis, the Trinitarian but Arian-ordained Meletius, and
Paulinus the champion of the uncompromising orthodoxy of the West, he
summoned the Council of Constantinople, which met in 381. The President
of the Council was Gregory Nazianzen, who had come to Constantinople in
379, and, partly through his own eloquence and other great powers,
partly through the influence of Theodosius, had won his way from the
position of minister of a single church, the Anastasis, to the
Episcopal throne. The Egyptian Bishops opposed him and vainly
endeavoured to foist in the Cynic Maximus into his place. The Council
did not succeed in settling the dispute at Antioch, but they maintained
the Nicene creed, and added to it all the articles after "I believe in
the Holy Ghost." The Council held at Rome in the following year (382),
to which Jerome went with Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus, and Paulinus of
Antioch (p. 255), contradicted that of Constantinople on the subject of
the succession at Antioch, but agreed with it on the creed. Gregory
Nazianzen soon after the Council resigned the Bishopric of
Constantinople, and Damasus, Bishop of Rome, died in 384.
Theodosius was, like Henry II. of England, liable to violent accesses
of passion. When the people of Antioch rose in insurrection in 387, and
destroyed the busts of the Emperor, he gave an order that the city
should be razed and reduced to the rank of a village, from which
sentence he was only deterred by the entreaties of the Governor of the
city and its Bishop, John Chrysostom. When a similar rising took place
at Thessalonica in 390, he was not similarly appeased, but ordered that
the people when summoned to the theatre should be massacred by his
soldiers, and seven thousand men, women and children were thus put to
death. Ambrose, on Theodosius' coming to Milan, refused to admit him to
the communion of the Church till he had undergone five months of
penance and showed his repentance for his crime.
On the death of the young Valentinian in 391, Eugenius the rhetorician
usurped the throne of the West. Justina fled to the court of
Theodosius, who, after long preparations, marched against Eugenius, and
defeated him at Aquileia in 394. Theodosius, however, did not long
survive his rival. After this last success he gave himself up to ease
and self-indulgence, and died 395.
The Empire was divided between the sons of Theodosius. Arcadius, who
became Emperor of the East, was eighteen years of age, and Honorius,
fourteen. Both were weak characters, ill suited to cope with the
growing dangers of the Empire. Arcadius married Eudoxia, a woman of a
worldly and violent disposition. Honorius married the daughter of
Stilicho, the great semi-barbarian general, who was his cousin, having
married Serena, the daughter of Honorius, brother to the great
Theodosius. Arcadius' minister, Rufinus, became so unbearable in his
rapacity (see Jerome's allusion to him, p. 447) that a tumult was
raised against him and he was put to death (395). Honorius removed his
court to Ravenna, among the pine forests of which he was more secure
from invasion; and, so long as he was under the guidance of Stilicho,
was able to live in security.
John Chrysostom became Bishop of Constantinople in 398, and by his
sermons and ascetic discipline exerted a large influence. But intrigues
were raised against him by Theophilus of Alexandria on account of his
reception of the Long Monks, whom Theophilus had banished in his zeal
against Origenism. And the Empress Eudoxia, whom his plain speaking had
offended, endeavoured to work his ruin. He was banished, after having
been once brought back to the capital by the entreaties of the people,
in 404, and died in 407, having continued to exercise his influence
over the Church generally from his exile at Comana in Pontus. His
remains were brought to Constantinople thirty years later, and were
welcomed by Theodosius II. and his consort Eudocia with tears of
repentance for the fault of their predecessors. Arcadius died in 408,
leaving as his heir the young Theodosius, then but seven years old. His
daughter Pulcheria and the Prefect Anthemius administered the Empire
successfully; the Huns, who had entered the Roman territory and
encamped in Thrace, were persuaded to withdraw, and the Eastern Empire
enjoyed peace during the remainder of the reign of Theodosius II.
Turning to ecclesiastical affairs, we find a certain calm settling down
upon the Church after the Council of Constantinople, and an
unwillingness to reopen the subjects of strife. Men used the name of
heretic rather as something to frighten their opponents, and sought to
identify opinions which they disliked with the Arianism of the past,
which all alike condemned. There were much fewer Councils of Bishops
and no General Council for fifty years (Ephesus, 431). But other
subjects of dispute arose, the Christian community being saturated with
Greek contentiousness. The first of these related to Origenism. The
works of the great and original church teacher of Alexandria of the
third century (~254) had been little studied for above a hundred years,
when a new interest in them arose both in the East and the West. The
earnest study of Scripture which led to the formation of the Vulgate,
or translation from the original into the vulgar tongue of the Latin
world, led to a wish to consult the greatest textual writer and
interpreter of Scripture who had as yet appeared; and those who learned
from his Bible work to admire him were led also to study his doctrinal
views. It happened to Origen, as to many modern teachers, that his name
came to be identified with one or two prominent doctrines; and, as men
speak of Calvinism or Erastianism or Hegelianism, so they spoke of
Origenism. The doctrines which they connected with Origen were taken
from his most important work, the Peri 'Archon, "on First Principles."
They were mainly (1) his expressions relating to the subordination of
the Son to the Father, and (2) his eschatology. As to the first of
these, they took isolated expressions, such as, "The Son does not see
the Father," or, "the Son is darkness in comparison with the Father,"
and they spoke of him as the father of Arius; as to the second, they
fastened upon his speculative ideas, that the coming of men's souls
into this world was a fall from a previous state of being; that men may
rise into an angelic state; that the material body is destined to pass
away; and that in the consummation of all things all spiritual beings,
including the fallen angels, will be schooled into obedience, so that
the universe may be brought back into harmony. Men were incapable of
entering into the general system of Origen, and still more of
understanding his historical position. The Pope Anastasius who
condemned him in 404 says plainly that he knows neither who Origen was
nor when he lived (see Vol. iii. 433); and they consequently took his
tenets in an absolute sense, and thought of him as denying the divinity
of Christ, or the condemnation of the wicked, or the resurrection of
the body. His views were most widely spread in Egypt, where the
contrary tendency of Anthropomorphism, that is, the conception of God
as the subject of human properties and passions, was also widely
prevalent. Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, at first was generally
favourable to Origen, as was also Jerome; but, through various causes,
not unmixed with personal feeling, he turned against Origenism in a
fanatical and persecuting temper. He procured the condemnation of
Origenism by the Bishops of Egypt, Syria, and Cyprus, and also by those
of Rome and Italy; and he pursued those who had fled from his
persecution to Constantinople, and branded Chrysostom, who had receive
them, as a heretic. In all this he was aided by Jerome, who translated
his missives into Latin (see Letters 86 to 100, 113 and 114). But the
whole matter was transacted without any Council being called; the
Bishops were taken as speaking the general sentiment, and their
decisions were reinforced by a decree of the Emperors (400).
The second controversy (which also was disposed of without any General
Council) was that of Pelagianism. Pelagius and Cælestius, monks of
Britain, had come to Rome in 409, and maintained the doctrine of Free
Will and the possibility of a man living without sin, against the
Augustinian doctrine of Grace, which asserted the helplessness of man
and issued in absolute predestinarianism. They passed into Africa with
the crowds who were escaping from Alaric's invasion, and there
confronted the influence of Augustin. Condemned by a Council at
Carthage in 413, they passed into Palestine, and procured recognition
from Councils held at Jerusalem and Diospolis in 415, notwithstanding
the presence of Orosius, Augustin's friend, and the accusations of the
Gaulish Bishops, Heros and Lazarus. Jerome was invited to write against
them (pp. 272, 279), and their followers rose against him and burnt his
monasteries (p. 280, Augustin De Gest. Pel. c. 66), after which they
visited Ephesus and Rome, and were at first received by the Pope
Zosimus; and several Bishops, of whom the chief was Julian of Eclana,
espoused their cause. But Augustin's influence prevailed in the West,
while in the East little interest was taken in a controversy which was
humanistic rather than strictly theological, and men's minds were being
drawn to the questions of Christology, which led to the Nestorian
controversy and the Council of Ephesus (431).
The forces of the barbarians, which in the reign of Valens had
threatened Constantinople, were diverted to the West in the reign of
the sons of Theodosius. Those who remained within the boundaries of the
Empire imbibed something of Roman civilisation, and, in many cases,
became servants of Rome; and, as the subjects of the Empire withdrew
through love of luxury from military duties, the power of the
barbarians enlisted as mercenaries increased. Alaric, who now rose to
power, occupied an ambiguous position. He marched with his Gothic army
into Greece (396), and, being a Christian, thought himself justified in
plundering the historic fanes of the old religion. He was attacked by
Stilicho near the Isthmus of Corinth, and defeated, but he contrived to
transport his army across the gulf and to take possession of Epiris
(397), and the ministers of Arcadius thought it prudent to make peace
with him. In 398 he became at once Master-General of Illyricum and King
of the Visigoths; and, his rights not being respected by the Emperor of
the West, he invaded the North of Italy. He was vanquished by Stilicho
in the battles of Pollentia and Verona (403); but the conqueror, who
well knew the increasing weakness of Rome, made peace with Alaric and
acknowledged his official position. Alaric retreated for a time, but
another barbarian invader, Radagaisus or Radaghast, with a mixed host
of Vandals, Suevi, and Burgundians, forced his way to Florence. He was
there met by Stilicho who gained over him his last great victory on the
heights of Fiesole (406). The policy of conciliation adopted by
Stilicho might have converted Alaric and his Goths into the guards of
the Empire; but his action was disowned, and he was treated as a
traitor and put to death in 408. Then Alaric advanced to the attack
upon Rome. He was induced by fair promises to raise the siege; but,
finding that no faith could be placed in the court of Ravenna, he
renewed the siege, and took the city on August 26, 410. The only
redeeming feature in the terrible destruction which ensued was the
respect of the Goths for the Christian religion. They spared the clergy
and the churches and those who had taken refuge in them; and even the
rich plate and ornaments of divine worship were held sacred from their
rapacity. But the knell of Roman greatness had been sounded, and the
end of the Empire was near at hand. Alaric on leaving Rome ravaged
Italy. He marched to Rhegium, the flames of which Rufinus saw from the
opposite coast while he wrote his Commentary on the Book of Numbers
(Vol. iii. p. 568); but his attempt to cross into Sicily was frustrated
by a storm, and he himself died before the year of the sack of Rome had
closed. His successor, Adolphus, made peace with Rome, and dared to ask
for the hand of Galla Placidia, the sister of Honorius. The King of the
Goths was accepted as the brother-in-law of the Roman Emperor.
The Empire of the West might now be compared to a ship heaving to and
fro in a troubled sea, encompassed by enemies and without captain or
rudder. Britain had revolted in 409. From 409 to 413 Gaul was a prey to
revolutions, and the usurper Constantine was with difficulty overcome
by the Roman General Constantius, only to be followed by fresh
usurpers, Jovinus, Sebastian, and Attalus. The Count Heraclian dared to
invade Rome itself in 413, though defeat and death were the penalty.
One by one the provinces of the Empire passed into the hands of the
barbarians. The Goths settled in Aquitaine and in Spain; the Vandals
turned down into Africa; the Burgundians settled in the East and North
of France, and the Franks in the centre. The ruin of the Empire of the
West was practically consummated at the time of Jerome's death in 419,
though sixty years of disaster and disgrace intervened before its final
extinction.
Meanwhile the distressed condition of Italy had driven large numbers of
persons, especially of the clergy and the upper classes of society, to
take refuge in the East, so as almost to justify Thierry's designation
of the movement as an emigration to the Holy Land. Jerome and his
friends received this tide of fugitives at Bethlehem, and corresponded
with those left behind; and thus the evils of the time made the
Solitary of the East the chief Doctor of the West.
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III.--Life of Jerome.
The figures in parentheses, when not otherwise indicated, refer to the
pages in this volume.
For a full account of the Life, the translator must refer to an article
(Hieronymus) written by him in Smith and Wace's Dictionary of Christian
Biography. A shorter statement may suffice here, since the chief
sources of information are contained in this volume, and to these
reference will be continually made.
Childhood and Youth. A.D. 345. Jerome was born at Stridon, near
Aquileia, but in Pannonia, a place which was partially destroyed in the
Gothic invasion of 377 (On Illustrious Men, 135, Vol. iii. p. 304).
Jerome's own property, however, remained, though in a ruinous state, in
397 (140). His father Eusebius (Ill. Men, as above) and his mother were
Catholic Christians (492), but he was not baptised in infancy. The
family was moderately wealthy, possessing houses (140) and slaves
(Apol. i. 30, Vol. iii. p. 498), and was intimate with the richer
family from which sprang Bonosus, Jerome's foster brother and friend
(6). The parents were living in 373 when Jerome first went to the East
(35), but probably died at the destruction of Stridon. He had a
brother, Paulinian, twenty years his junior (140, 173), and we read of
a sister (8, 9), and an aunt named Castorina (13).
He received a good education, but declares that he was an idle boy
(Vol. iii. 498). He was at a grammar school when the Emperor Julian
died (Comm. on Habakkuk iii. 14) and soon after went to Rome with his
friend Bonosus (6), where he studied rhetoric (at that time the
all-embracing pursuit) under Ælius Donatus (Vol. iii. 491), and
frequented 363 the law-courts (Comm. on Gal., ii. 13).
363-66. He fell into sin (9, 15, 78), but was drawn into the company of
young Christians who on Sundays visited the tombs of the martyrs in the
Catacombs (Com. on Ezek., ch. 40, v. 5), and is believed to have been
baptised by the Pope Liberius in 366 (20). He was already a keen
student, though as yet having little knowledge of Greek (Rufinus Apol.
ii. 9, Vol. iii. p. 464), and had begun the acquisition of a library
(35).
366-70. From Rome Jerome went with Bonosus to Gaul, passing, however,
through Northern Italy, where they made acquaintance with Rufinus,
probably at his native place, Concordia (Ep. v. 2, comp. with iii. 3,
pp. 7, 11). He stayed at Treves (7), and travelled in its neighbourhood
(394), and copied mss., and wrote a mystical Commentary on Obadiah
(401).
Aquileia. Returning probably by Vercellæ (1) to Italy he was for three
years at Aquileia, where he entered definitively upon the twin pursuits
of his life, Scriptural study and the fostering of asceticism.
370-73. A society of congenial minds gathered round him, comprising
Rufinus, Bonosus, Heliodorus (afterwards Bishop of Altinum), Chromatius
(afterwards Bishop of Aquileia), and his brother Eusebius, and the
Archdeacon Jovinus, the monk Chrysogonus, the sub-deacon Niceas,
Innocentius, and Hylas, the freedman of the wealthy but ascetic Roman
lady, Melania, together with Evagrius (afterwards Bishop of Antioch),
who had come to Italy with Eusebius, Bishop of Vercellæ, on his return
from exile. For the mention of these in various parts of Jerome's
works, the Index must be consulted. These ascetics did not form a
monastery. There were as yet no Orders or Rules. The vow was merely a
"purpose" (propositum) which each privately took on himself and the
terms of which each man freely prescribed. The Greek word Monachus
(Monk) was used, but only implied living a single or separate life.
Some were hermits (5, 9, 247), some lived in cities (121, 250).
Jovinian was a monk, though antiascetic (378); Heliodorus (91) and John
of Jerusalem (174) were monks, though Bishops. Some members of the
ascetic society at Aquileia may have resided in the same house; but
there was no cenobitic discipline. Jerome visited Stridon and the
neighbouring town of Æmona (12), and perhaps resided at his native
place for a time, but he complains of the worldliness of the people of
his native town and of the opposition of their Bishop, Lupicinus (8 n.
10). The friends at Aquileia were united in the closest friendship.
373. Rufinus' baptism (7, Ruf. Ap. i. 4, Vol. iii. 436) and the writing
of Jerome's first letter on "the woman seven times struck with the axe"
are the only incidents which have come down to us of this period. We
only know that the society was broken up by some event which Jerome
speaks of as "a sudden storm," and "a monstrous rending asunder" (5).
Jerome determined on going to the East with Evagrius and Heliodorus;
Innocentius, Niceas, and Hylas accompanied him (1, 5, 6, 10).
Chromatius, Eusebius, and Jovinus remained in Italy. Bonosus retired to
an island in the Adriatic, where he lived the life of a hermit (5, 9).
Rufinus went to Egypt and subsequently to Palestine in the company of
Melania (6, 7). Jerome and his companions travelled through Thrace,
Pontus, Bithynia, Galatia, at the capital of which (Ancyra) he appears
to have stayed (497), Cappadocia, and Cilicia, to Antioch, their haven
of rest (5). But they did not long remain together. Heliodorus made a
journey to Jerusalem, where he was the guest of Florentius (6).
374. Jerome was in ill health, and at length, in the middle of Lent
(36), fell into a fever of which he nearly died. To this illness
belongs his anti-Ciceronian dream (36, Apol. ii. 6, Vol. iii. 462),
which finally determined him to abandon secular learning and devote
himself to sacred studies. The successive deaths of Innocentius and
Hylas left Jerome alone with Evagrius, at whose country house he fell
in with the ancient hermit Malchus (315), and was encouraged by him in
the ascetic tendency. He hoped to see Rufinus, wrote to him through
Florentius (4, 6), but he did not come; and he determined to embrace
the life of solitude. Heliodorus had some thought of accompanying him,
but, to Jerome's great chagrin) felt the call to pastoral work to be
the stronger, and returned to Italy (8, 13, 123).
The Desert. 374-379. Jerome spent the next five years in the Desert of
Chalcis, to the east of Antioch (7). It was peopled by hermits who,
though living apart for most purposes, were under some kind of
authority (4, 21). Jerome wrote to their head, Theodosius, begging to
be admitted into their company (4). His life while in the desert was
one of rigorous penance, of tears and groans alternating with spiritual
ecstasy, and of temptations from the haunting memories of Roman life
(24, 25); he lived in a cell or cavern; he earned his daily bread, and
was clad in sackcloth (21, 24), but he was not wholly cut off from
converse with men. He saw Evagrius frequently (7, 8); he wrote and
received letters and books (7, 11); he learned Hebrew from a converted
Jew (Ep. xviii. 10), and copied and translated the Gospel according to
the Hebrews (Ill. Men, 2, 3, Vol. iii. 362), and his brother solitaries
he found only too accessible (Ep. xvii. 3). Towards the close of his
sojourn he became involved in the controversies then agitating the
Church at Antioch, where Arian Vitalis, the orthodox but Arian-ordained
Meletius, and the Western Paulinus disputed the possession of the
bishopric (20). Jerome found himself beset with demands for a
confession of faith in terms strange to his Western education (19, 20).
He appealed to Pope Damasus for advice (19, 20); but he and his friends
found his position intolerable. They would rather, he says, live among
wild beasts than among Christians such as those about them. In the
autumn of 378 he wrote to Marcus, then head of the eremite community,
to say that he only begged for the "hospitality of the desert" for a
few months: in the spring he would be gone (21).
379. Accordingly, in the spring of 379 he came to Antioch and attached
himself to the party of Paulinus, the Western and orthodox Bishop, who
ordained him presbyter, though he then and always afterwards declined
the active ministry (446). He pursued his studies under the celebrated
Apollinarius of Laodicæa, though not accepting his views (176), and
wrote his "Dialogue against the Luciferians" (319-334).
Constantinople. 380. The next year Jerome went, with his Bishop,
Paulinus, to Constantinople, and was there during the Second General
Council, at which the views of his teacher, Apollinarius, were
condemned, and sentence was passed in the cause of his Bishop. He
placed himself under the teaching of Gregory Nazianzen (80, 93, 357;
Ill. Men, 117), and became acquainted with Gregory of Nyssa (Ill. Men,
128); he translated the Chronicle of Eusebius and dedicated it to
Vincentius and Gallienus, the former of whom became henceforward his
companion (483, 444-446); he imbibed his admiration for Origen,
translating his Homilies on Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and writing to
Damasus on the meaning given by Origen to the Seraphim in Is. vi. (22).
381. These literary labours were carried on under the disadvantage of a
weakness of the eyes, from which he henceforward constantly suffered.
But there is in his writings not a single reference to the Council of
Constantinople, and only cursory references to that held the next year
at Rome, in which he was certainly called to take part (233; Ruf. Epil.
to Pamph., Vol. iii. 426, 513).
Rome. 382-5. He went to Rome with his Bishop, Paulinus, and with
Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis in Cyprus. At the Council which was there
held he was present as a learned man whose help the Pope required.
There is no ground for the notion that he became his official
secretary. But for the two main objects of Jerome's life his sojourn in
Rome presented great opportunities. Damasus thoroughly appreciated his
eminence as a biblical scholar. He constantly sent him questions, the
replies to which form short exegetical treatises, such as those
reckoned among Jerome's letters on the word Hosanna and the Prodigal
Son. It was also for Pope Damasus that he undertook a revised version
of the Psalms, a version which was used in the Roman Church for more
than eleven centuries (492, 494), and also a revised version of the New
Testament, the preface to which is of much critical value (487, 488;
see also p. 357, where a whole clause in 1 Cor. vii. 35 is said to have
been omitted in the old version because of the difficulty of
translation). He further began the collation of the various texts of
the LXX. and the other Greek versions of the Old Testament, and began
to form the convictions which afterwards led to his translation direct
from the Hebrew (484). These biblical studies made him acquainted with
the works of Origen, and he conceived a great and almost passionate
admiration for that "brazen-hearted" (Chalchenterus) worker and teacher
of the Church (46), and he permitted himself to use expressions too
indiscriminate in praise of him and too contemptuous towards his
adversaries, which were afterwards thrown in his teeth (Ruf. Ap. ii.
14, Vol. iii. 467).
For the promotion of asceticism he found in Rome a congenial soil.
Epiphanius, him- self the pupil of the hermits Hesychias and Hilarion
(Sozom. vi. 32, Vol. ii. 369, 370), was the guest of the noble and
wealthy lady Paula, the heiress of the Æmilian race (196), who was
already disposed to the ascetic life. To the circle of her family and
friends Jerome was soon admitted, and she became his devoted disciple
and friend during the remainder of her life (Letter cviii.). Her son,
Toxotius, and her daughters, Blesilla, the young widow (47-49),
Paulina, the wife of Jerome's friend, the ascetic Senator Pammachius
(135), and Julia Eustochium (196), each in special ways affected the
life of Jerome. Her friends, Marcella and Principia (253), Asella (42,
58), Lea (42), Furia and Titiana, Marcellina and Felicitas (60) and
Fabiola, all of them belonging to the highest Roman families, formed a
circle of renuntiants who sought refuge in the ascetic life from the
wastefulness and immorality of those of their own quality. Marcella's
house on the Aventine was their meeting place (41, 58). There they
prayed and sang psalms in the Hebrew, which they had learned for the
purpose (210), and read the Scriptures under the guidance of their
teacher (41, 255), who wrote for them many of his expository letters,
whose ascetic writings they committed to memory, and whose private
letters to them (Letters xxiii.-xlvi.) reveal the various phases of the
new Roman and Christian life. These are concentrated in the Treatise on
the Preservation of Virginity which he addressed to Eustochium (Letter
xxii.). This period also produced the first of Jerome's controversial
treatises, that against Helvidius on the perpetual virginity of Mary
(334-346).
384-5. This congenial scene of activity and friendship was broken up by
the death of Damasus. The new Pope, Siricius, to whom many had thought
of Jerome as a rival (59), was without sympathy for him: he had
offended almost every class of the community by his unrestrained satire
(Letters xxii., xl., liv., etc.): he had awakened suspicion by his over
praise of Origen (46); and at the funeral of Blesilla, whose end was
believed to have been hastened by the hard life enjoined upon her, the
fury of the people was excited against Jerome and the cry was raised
"The monks to the Tiber!" (53). He felt that he was vainly trying to
"sing the Lord's song in a strange land" (60) and he resolved to leave
Rome for ever and to seek a retreat in Palestine. His departure in
August and the feelings excited by it are described in a passage in his
Apology against Rufinus (Ap. iii. 22, Vol. iii. 530) and in his letter
to Asella (Letter xlv.) written at the moment of his embarkation at
Ostia.
385-6. Jerome sailed with Vincentius and with his brother Paulinian
(Vol. iii. 530 as above) direct to Antioch. Paula and Eustochium,
leaving the other members of their family, went to Cyprus to see
Epiphanius; and the two parties united at Antioch (198). Thence they
passed through Palestine and Jerusalem, on to Egypt, where they visited
the abode of the monks of Nitria (202) and became acquainted with
Didymus, "the blind seer" of Alexandria (176): and they returned to
Palestine in the autumn of 386, and settled at Bethlehem for the
remainder of their lives.
Bethlehem, First Period. Jerome's life at Bethlehem lasted thirty-four
years. A monastery was built, of which he was the head, and a convent
for women over which Paula and Eustochium successively presided (206),
a church where all assembled (206, 292), and a hospice for pilgrims who
came to visit the holy places from all parts of the world (140). These
institutions were supported by the wealth of Paula until, through the
profusion of her charities, she was so impoverished that she rather
depended on Jerome and his brother, who sold the remains of their
family property for their support (140). He lived in a cell, surrounded
by his library, to which he constantly made additions (Ruf. Ap. ii. 8
(2), Vol. iii. 464). He lived on bread and vegetables (165), and speaks
of his life as one of repentance and prayer (446), but no special
austerities are mentioned in his writings, and he did not think piety
increased by the absence of cleanliness (33, 34). He never officiated
in the services (83), but was much absorbed in the cares (140) and
discipline (Letter cxlvii.) of the monastery, and by the crowds of
monks who came from all parts of the world (64, 65, 500). Sulpicius
Severus (Dial. i. 8) tells us that when he was with him towards the
close of his life, he had the charge of the parish of Bethlehem; and
the presbyters associated with him certainly prepared candidates for
baptism (446); but his call, as he often confesses, was not to the
pastorate, but to the study (Letter cxii.). He had youths to whom he
taught Latin classics (Ruf. Apol. ii. 8 (2), Vol. iii. 465); and he
expounded the Scriptures daily to the brethren in the monastery (Apol.
ii. 124, Vol. iii. 515). Sulpicius speaks of him as always reading or
writing, never resting day or night. Translations, commentaries,
controversial works, letters dealing with important subjects, flowed
constantly from his pen, while the notes passing between him and Paula
and Eustochium were without number (Ill. Men, 135, Vol. iii. 384), and
every thing that he wrote was caught up by friends or by enemies and
published (79). He worked amidst great distractions, not merely from
the cares of the monasteries and the hospice, but from the need of
entertaining persons of distinction, like Fabiola (161), from all parts
of the world (153, 287, 161); from the need of replying to the letters
brought by messengers from the most distant countries for those who
sought advice of the renowned teacher (Letters cxvi.-cxxx.); from
prolonged illnesses (188, 215); at times from poverty; from the panic
of barbarian invasions (161, 252), and from the attacks of his enemies,
who in the year 417 burned his monasteries (281, 282).
He spared no pains nor expense in the production of his works. He
perfected his knowledge of Hebrew by the aid of a Jew who came to him
like Nicodemus by night (176); he also learned Chaldee (493); and for
special parts of his Bible work he obtained special aid from a distance
(491, 494), obtaining funds, when his own had failed, from his old
friends Chromatius and Heliodorus (492).
386-92. The list of his works during the first six years of his
residence at Bethlehem comprises the completion of the Commentary on
Ecclesiastes, and the translation of Didymus on the Holy Spirit; the
Commentaries on Ephesians and Galatians, Titus and Philemon (498); a
revision of the version of the New Testament begun in Rome; a Treatise
on Psalms x.-xvi., and Translation of Origen on St. Luke and the
Psalms; the Book on the Names of Hebrew Places, mainly translated from
Eusebius; the Book of Hebrew Proper Names and that of Hebrew Questions
on Genesis; the revision of his translation of the LXX., involving a
comparison of Origen's Hexapla; a considerable part of the Vulgate; the
Lives of the hermits Malchus and Hilarion; and the Catalogue of
Illustrious Church Writers. The only letter preserved to us of this
period is that written in the name of Paula and Eustochium to invite
Marcella to come to Palestine (60).
Bethlehem, Second Period. 392-405. The second period of Jerome's stay
at Bethlehem is the period of his most conspicuous activity, which was
partly employed in the salutary work of finishing the Vulgate and in
writing letters which rank among the finest of his compositions, but
largely also in controversies, in which the worst parts of his
character and influence are brought into prominence.
395, 398 and 404-5, 394-97. There were also great external hindrances
to his work: the panic arising from the invasion of the Huns, on
account of which the inmates of the monasteries had to leave their
homes and prepare to embark at Joppa (161); there were long periods of
ill health; and there was the quarrel with the Bishop of Jerusalem
which led to a kind of excommunication of the monks of Bethlehem (446,
447).
The letters of this second period are those numbered 47 to 116. They
comprise those to Nepotianus, nephew of Heliodorus, on the duties of
the pastorate (89-96); that to Heliodorus, on the death of his nephew
(123-131); that to Paulinus, the Roman Senator, afterwards Bishop of
Nola, on his poem in praise of Theodosius, and on the study of
Scripture (96-102); that to Furia, on the maintenance of widowhood
(102-109); that to the Spanish noble Lucinius, who had sent scribes to
copy Jerome's works (151-154), and to his widow Theodora (154, 155);
those to Abigaus, a blind Spanish presbyter (156, 157), and to Salvina,
widow of Nebridius, and closely connected with the Emperor Theodosius
(163-168); that to Amandus, the Roman presbyter, on a difficult case of
conscience (149-151); the letter to Oceanus, defending the second
marriage of a Spanish Bishop (141-146); the letter to Læta, wife of
Toxotius, son of Paula, on the education of her infant daughter
(189-195); and those gems of his writings, the sketches of the lives
(Epitaphia) of Fabiola (157-163) and of Paula (195-212).
The Vulgate. 391-403. The work of Jerome's life, the Vulgate version of
the Scriptures, was completed in this period. The version which bore
the name of Vulgate, the popular or vernacular version, in his day (44,
487-488) was a loose translation of the LXX., of which almost every
copy varied from every other. His first effort, therefore, was to
translate, or to revise the existing translations, from a correct
version of the LXX. And this revised version he used in his familiar
expositions, in the monastery (Apol. ii. 24, Vol. iii. 515), though a
great part of it was lost even in his lifetime (280), and all that now
remains of it is Job, the Psalms, and the Preface to the Books of
Solomon (494). But even the most correct text of the LXX., as he saw at
once, was insufficient. In Origen's Hexapla the versions of Theodotion,
Aquila, and Symmachus were given, together with two others called
Quinta and Sexta, in parallel columns with the LXX. These constantly
differed; and the only mode of deciding between them was by going back
to the Hebrew--"Hebraica Veritas," as he constantly terms it (80, 486,
494).
392. Accordingly, he set himself at once, in his settlement at
Bethlehem, to the preliminary labours required for this task; and in
the sketch of his works in the Catalogue (Vol. iii. 384; On Ill. Men,
135) he says: The New Testament I have restored according to the Greek
original; the Old I have translated in accordance with the Hebrew."
393. But no portion was as yet published. In the following year he
published the prophets (80) and sent other portions of his Old
Testament version to Marcella at Rome, keeping the rest shut up in his
closet (80), and awaiting the judgment of his friends on the portions
submitted to them. He purposed from the first to publish the whole, as
we see from what he calls his "helmeted preface" to the Books of Samuel
and of Kings (489). But it was published in fragments, according as he
had leisure to give it a final revision, or according as other
circumstances were favourable. The series of Prefaces (487-494) shows
that some parts were written or revised in great haste (492, 494), some
parts extorted from him by the importunity of his friends (488; see
Apol. ii. 25, in Vol. iii. 515); that he was subjected to severe
censures and misunderstanding, as to which he was extremely sensitive;
that at times he so shrank from publicity that he wished his friends
only to read it privately; that he was often, especially in the later
portions, dependent on his friends for the provision of the copyists
(492, 494). The order of publication can be traced. The Books of Samuel
and of the Kings came first, then Job and the Prophets, Ezra and
Nehemiah, and the Book of Genesis. Thus far he had proceeded in the
year 393 when a break of three years occurred through external
hindrances, of which the panic of the invasion of the Huns was the
chief.
395. He then, at the entreaty of Chromatius and Heliodorus (492),
completed the Books of Solomon, intending to proceed systematically to
the end.
398. But illness intervened, after which he states that the first eight
books were still wanting in the copies made for the Spaniard Lucinius
(153);
403. nor was the publication resumed till five years later, when the
remaining books from Exodus to Ruth and the Book of Esther were brought
out (489, 491).
404. The whole was then collected, by others rather than by himself,
and gradually superseded all other Latin versions, and, coupled with
the version of the New Testament previously made, became the received,
or Vulgate, edition of the Bible.
393-404. The second period of Jerome's stay at Bethlehem is the period
of his great controversies. These are no less than six in number. (1)
That with Jovinian on ascetic practices. (2) That with the Origenists,
in which he worked with Theophilus of Alexandria and the Western
Bishops. (3) That with John, Bishop of Jerusalem. (4) That with
Rufinus. (5) That with Vigilantius. (6) That with Augustin. These may
be described somewhat cursorily, the reader being referred for a more
detailed statement of them to the Letters and Treatises themselves and
to the notices prefixed to them.
(1) Jovinian. Jovinian was a Roman monk or, rather, solitary (for many
took private monastic vows without entering any order or monastery) who
had perceived the danger of degrading the ordinary Christian life which
lurked in the profession of asceticism. He was not, to judge by
Jerome's quotations from him (347), a man of superior ability; but
there are no apparent grounds for the imputations which Jerome throws
upon his character. He put off the monastic dress, and lived like other
men; and, though he refused to marry, maintained his right as a
Christian to do so. He argued that the conditions of virginity,
marriage, and widowhood were equal in God's sight, provided men lived
in faith and piety; and that eating and fasting were indifferent if men
gave God thanks. He seems to have had some influence, and it is stated
that some who had made vows of virginity were led through his teaching
marry. Certainly his views were condemned by the Pope Siricius, by
Ambrose, and by Augustin.
393. He published a book in Rome, maintaining these opinions, and
others of a more speculative character, which was sent to Jerome, and
was at once answered by him in his treatise "Against Jovinian"
(346-416). The more speculative matters he deals with calmly; but the
anti-ascetic views he treats with violence and contempt. "These are the
hissings of the old serpent; by these the dragon expelled man from
Paradise." His intemperateness, which threw contempt upon marriage, was
severely blamed by his friends at Rome, who tried to stop the
publication (79; see also Ruf. Apol. ii. 44, Vol. iii. 480); but he
only replied by renewed expressions of derision, and, several years
later, when he has occasion to refer to Jovinian, he says, "This man,
after being condemned by the authority of the Roman Church, amidst his
feasts of pheasants and swine's flesh, I will not say gave up, but
belched out, his life" (417).
(2) Origenism. 393-403. The second great controversy in which Jerome
was engaged at this period relates to Origenism, about which a great
controversy had arisen at Alexandria, leading to its condemnation by
the Bishops of Palestine and Cyprus in the East, and by the Pope and
the Bishop of Milan and others in the West.
The great church teacher of Alexandria in the third century was but
little known in the West. Anastasius the Pope, in the year 399,
declared that he neither knew who he was nor what he had written (Vol.
iii. 433). Jerome, who had made acquaintance with his writings during
his first sojourn in the East, conceived a strong admiration for him;
he did not, indeed, accept all his views, as may be seen from the first
letter in which he alludes to him (22); but on his coming to Rome he
did all in his power to make him known. He was invited by Damasus to
translate some of his works (485); and when he found ignorant
condemnations passed upon him he praised him with his usual vehemence
and without discrimination, even eulogizing the Pepi 'Archon on which
the subsequent controversy mainly turned (46; Ruf. Ap. ii. 13, Vol.
iii. 467). He had also quoted without blame in his Commentary on the
Ephesians statements such as those relating to the pre-existence of
human souls and possible restoration of Satan (Ruf. Apol. i. 448, 454).
But it was rather a literary enthusiasm and an admiration of original
genius than an express consent to Origen's system. His calm judgment in
later years was, that his literary services to the Church were
inestimable, but that his doctrinal views were to be read with the
greatest caution, and that those specially impugned were heretical
(176, 177, 238, 244). It must be allowed, however, that he appears in
his earlier stage as the vehement panegyrist of Origen (46, 48), and in
his later stage as his equally vehement condemner; and also that this
change seems less the effect of conviction than of a fear of the
imputation of heresy (Apol. iii. 33, Vol. iii. 535).
The monks in the deserts near Alexandria were divided, some holding
Origenistic views, and some those of an opposite tendency and verging
upon Anthropomorphism. Theophilus, the Bishop of Alexandria, at first
sided with the Origenists, but afterwards turned against them, and
became their relentless persecutor. During his former phase he was
appealed to by John, Bishop of Jerusalem, in his controversy with
Epiphanius and Jerome (427), and took his part so vehemently that he
sent his confidant Isidore to Jerusalem, nominally to inquire, but
really to crush out all opposition, as he stated in a letter to John
(444). This letter fell into the hands of Jerome and his friends, and
the intentions of Theophilus were frustrated. A period of suspicious
silence followed (134); but when Theophilus had undergone his change he
found a ready instrument in Jerome, who threw himself eagerly into the
conflict (182-184), translated the encyclicals of Theophilus (185, 186,
189) which led to the condemnation of Origen in the East, and even his
diatribe against St. John Chrysostom for receiving Isidore and his
brethren, whom Theophilus now treated as his enemies (214). Jerome
also, through his friends Pammachius, Marcella, and Eusebius (186,
256), procured the condemnation of Origen in the West.
(3) John of Jerusalem. The controversy with John of Jerusalem forms an
episode in the more general controversy. John had been trained among
the Origenistic ascetics, Epiphanius among the anti-Origenists. Jerome
appears to have undergone no change in his sentiments as to Origen
during the first period of his stay at Bethlehem [see his Preface to
the Book of Hebrew Questions (486, 487) written in 388], and was on
good terms with the Bishop of Jerusalem and with Rufinus, who was then
living on the Mount of Olives.
393. But at the beginning of the second period a certain Aterbius came
to Jerusalem and spread suspicion and alarm of heresy. Jerome, perhaps
weakly, "gave him satisfaction" as to his faith (Apol. iii. 33, Vol.
iii. 535), while by John and Rufinus he was treated as a busybody
(id.). This produced the first estrangement, which was greatly
increased by the visit of Epiphanius in the following year. The scenes
which followed may be read in Jerome's treatise, "Against John of
Jerusalem" (430) and in Epiphanius' letter translated by Jerome
(83-85). Epiphanius was popular at Jerusalem, and after a scene in the
church, in which he preached against Origenism and John against
Anthropomorphism, a breach was made between the two prelates.
Epiphanius came to stay at Bethlehem, and spoke of John as well nigh a
heretic. John spoke of Epiphanius as "that old tard" (430). The monks
of Bethlehem took part with Epiphanius; and he, to prevent their being
deprived of clerical ministration by Bishop John, ordained Jerome's
brother Paulinian at his monastery of Ad in the diocese of
Eleutheropolis. He was then only thirty years old, and was ordained
against his will, and with the employment of force and even gagging
(83). Epiphanius, returning to Cyprus, wrote to John a letter
explaining his conduct (83-89) which was translated by Jerome, but
which did little to allay the strife. John placed the monasteries, at
least partially, under an interdict (446-447), and appealed to Rome and
to Alexandria, and afterwards to Rufinus, the Pretorian Prefect at
Constantinople (174, 447). Theophilus at first took John's side
vehemently; but the mission of his confidant Isidore miscarried (444,
445), and after some time his views of the situation changed and he
made peace with Jerome and his friends.
397 or 398. John also was appeased; and Jerome, who had written a long
and bitter account of the controversy in his treatise to Pammachius
"Against John of Jerusalem" (424-447), seems suddenly to have let the
whole matter drop; the treatise was not finished and was not published,
and we read of the strife no more.
(4) Rufinus. 398-404. The quarrel with Jerome's early friend Rufinus
did not, like that with John pass away. Jerome had deeply loved Rufinus
(4) and highly respected Melania in early days (5, 7, 53). He had
spoken of Rufinus in his Chronicle for the year 378 as "insignis
monachus" (Ruf. Ap. ii. 25, 26, Vol. iii. 471); we do not read of any
estrangement till some years after his return to Palestine.
392. We do not, indeed, find the warm affection which we should expect
in two intimate friends who meet after a long separation; and it is
possible that Jerome's omission of Rufinus' name from his Catalogue of
Church Writers may indicate a coolness on one side which was resented
on the other. But they admit that their friendship remained (Ruf. Ap.
ii. 8 (2), vol. iii. 465), and that there was frequent intercourse
between the monks of Bethlehem and those of the Mount of Olives (id.).
393-394. The visit of Aterbius (Ap. iii. 33, Vol. iii. 535) and that of
Epiphanius mark the time of estrangement. Rufinus was with Bishop John
in the scenes in the Church of the Resurrection, and is mentioned in
Epiphanius' letter as a presbyter as to whose views he is paternally
anxious (84-87). In the quarrel between John and Jerome Rufinus took
decidedly the Bishop's side (84, 430, compared with 250). Jerome's mind
grew full of suspicion, so that he even imputed to him that he had
bribed some one in the monastery at Bethlehem to steal from the
lodgings of Fabiola his translation of the letter of Epiphanius to John
(Ap. iii. 4, Vol. iii. 521).
397. But when Rufinus was leaving Palestine, friendship was restored.
They partook together of the Eucharist, and joined hands (Ap. iii. 33,
Vol. iii. 535), and Jerome accompanied his friend some way upon his
journey; but the reconciliation was short-lived. When in Rome, Rufinus
prefixed to a translation of Origen's Peri 'Archon a preface (168-170)
which referred in laudatory terms to Jerome as his forerunner in this
work, thus seeming to expose Jerome to the suspicions and condemnation
which might be expected to fall on one who undertook such a work. This
work was sent to Jerome by his friends Pammachius and Oceanus (175),
together with a Preface written by Rufinus to a translation of the
Apology for Origen by Pamphilus the Martyr. They spoke of the alarm
excited at Rome by the translation of the Peri 'Archon, and their
suspicions that the translation was so made as to veil the heresies
contained in the original work; they begged that Jerome would translate
the work as it stood in the original, and pointed out that his own
reputation for orthodoxy was at stake (175). Jerome at once complied.
He sent to them a literal translation of Origen's work together with a
letter describing the relation in which he had stood and still stood to
Origen: he admired him as a biblical scholar, but had never accepted
him as a dogmatic teacher (176, 177). He at the same time wrote a
letter to Rufinus, couched in friendly terms, but remonstrating with
him for the use he had made of his name (170). This letter, having been
sent to Jerome's friends at Rome, was kept back by them (Ap. i. 12,
Vol. iii. 489) and not delivered to Rufinus, and thus the quarrel,
which might have been allayed, became irreparable.
401-404. The further progress of the dispute is described in the notice
prefixed to the Apologies of Jerome and Rufinus (Vol. iii. 434-5, 482,
518). It may suffice here to say that this disgraceful and unseemly
wrangle between two well-known Christian teachers, conducted publicly
before the whole Church, and breeding a hatred which Jerome continued
to express even after Rufinus' death (498, 500) has only one redeeming
feature to the historian, namely, that it brings to our knowledge many
instructive facts which would otherwise have lain hid.
396. (5) Vigilantius. The controversy with Vigilantius consists only of
Jerome's letter to him (131-133) and the treatise "against Vigilantius"
(417-423). He had been originally introduced to Jerome by Paulinus,
Bishop of Nola, who spoke of him in high terms (123). No questions
arose between them during his stay at Bethlehem. He even spoke of
Jerome at times with extravagant praise (132). But he appears to have
had some connection with Rufinus (Ap. iii. 19, Vol. iii. 529), and
Jerome accused him afterwards of having conveyed some mss. into the
monastery at Bethlehem, probably from that on the Mount of Olives
(Apol. iii. 5, 19, Vol. iii. 521, 529). Jerome afterwards heard a
report that Vigilantius had written and spoken against him in various
places (131), and had accused him of Origenism. To this his letter is a
reply. The anti-ascetic writings of Vigilantius to which Jerome's
treatise is a reply have not come down to us. Gennadius (de Script.
Eccl. 35) says that he was an ignorant man, but polished in words. But,
whatever his ability or literary power, he was one of the few who were
able to judge rightly of the ascetic and superstitious practices by
which Christianity was being overlaid; and it is on this point that
Jerome is most violent and contemptuous in his treatment of him. The
notices prefixed to the Letter (131) and Treatise (417) will complete
this statement.
394-404. (6) Augustin. The remaining controversy of this period is that
with St. Augustin. The two men had at an earlier time had some friendly
relations, and Alypius, Augustin's friend, had stayed with Jerome at
Bethlehem. But Augustin, then coadjutor Bishop of Hippo, in a letter to
Jerome (112), found fault with some of his statements in his Commentary
on the Galatians, to which, no doubt, his attention had been called by
Alypius. Jerome had maintained that the scene in Gal. ii. in which St.
Paul rebukes St. Peter for inconsistent compliances with Judaism, was a
merely feigned dispute, arranged between the two Apostles in order to
make the truth clear to the members of the Church. Augustin objects
that this is practically imputing falsehood to the Apostles. He touched
upon other points, such as the translation of Scripture and the
doctrine of marriage, in a manner savouring of assumption, considering
the high position of Jerome, who was also eight years his senior.
Through a strange series of misadventures, which illustrate the
difficulty of communications at that epoch, this letter was never
delivered to Jerome till nine years after it was written. It fell into
the hands of persons who copied it, and became known in the West.
Jerome heard casually that it had been seen among his works in an
island in the Adriatic. It appeared as if Augustin had wished to gain
credit by attacking a well-known man behind his back. And this
suspicion was hardly allayed by a second letter from Augustin, which
partially explained what had occurred (140), or by a third, in which,
in answer to a letter from Jerome sending some of his works and warning
his correspondent that, if it came to blows, the result might be like
that described in Virgil, where the old Entellus strikes down young
Dares, Augustin criticises both severely and ignorantly Jerome's great
work of translating the Hebrew Scriptures. Jerome's patience begins to
fail (189). "Send me your original letter," he says, "signed by your
own hand, or else cease to attack me." And he comments in his turn
somewhat sharply on some of Augustin's interpretations of the Psalms.
It was only on the receipt of Augustin's reply to this letter (214),
couched in terms of deep respect, and deprecating any ill feeling
between Christian friends, such as had arisen in the case of Rufinus,
that Jerome finally answered the original letter, written ten years
before, and received a letter which completely restored friendship.
Henceforward they are at one. Letters pass freely between them;
Augustin consults Jerome on the difficult question of the origin of
souls (272, 283), and foregoes the expression of Traducianism, to which
he is inclined, in deference to Jerome's objections; and he consults
him on the Pelagian question, and sends Orosius to sit at his feet.
Jerome recognises that each has his proper gift, and gives a plenary
adherence to all that Augustin teaches. Alypius, their original link,
is joined with Augustin in the address of Jerome's last letter to him
(282); Paula, the grand-daughter of Jerome's chief friend, is called by
him the granddaughter of Augustin; and through this unity the families
of Paula and Melania, which had been severed by the adherence of the
one to Jerome and the other to Rufinus, are reunited by the coming of
Pinianus and his wife, the younger Melania, from the church of Hippo to
the convent at Bethlehem. The letters from which this episode is drawn
are incorporated into the volume containing works of Augustin, and are
not reprinted here. But no life of Jerome, however limited or
unpretending, would be satisfactory without some account of the
relations of the two great doctors of Latin Christianity.
Bethlehem, Third Period. 405-420. The last period of Jerome's life was
passed in the midst of privations, the loss of friends, and frequent
illnesses. Paula had died. Jerome was poor (500, 214, 215) and often
weak (498, 500). His eyesight failed (id.). He had enemies around him
(261, 262) and in the high places of the Empire (237, 499). The
barbarians were sweeping across the Empire (237, 500), some, like the
Isaurians, threatening the North of Palestine (214) and even
penetrating at one time to Southern Syria and Egypt (id.), while the
main stream, after devastating Jerome's native Dalmatia, passed on
under Alaric to the sack of Rome.
410. Fugitives from Rome and Italy crowded to Bethlehem, adding greatly
to Jerome's labours (499, 500). It seemed as the end of the world were
at hand (260). In the sack of Rome Pammachius and Marcella died (257,
500). Eustochium followed them eight years later. The controversy with
the Pelagians led to the burning of the monasteries at Bethlehem,
probably also to renewed estrangement of his Bishop, John of Jerusalem,
and his successor Praylus.
417. But he continued his work with no abatement of ardour or vigour,
as may be seen from the Prefaces to his later Commentaries (500, 501).
He had still friends about him, Pinianus, Albina, Melania, and the
younger Paula (Ep. cxliii.); a few survivors even in Rome, Oceanus and
the younger Fabiola (252, 253); and men in many lands who honoured and
consulted him, as is seen by his letters; and, above all, the
friendship of Augustin. The letters of this period take a wider range
than those going before, Jerome's fame being now world-wide; their
addresses embrace Dalmatia (220), Gaul (215), Rome (252, 253), and
Africa (260, 261). Their contents will be best estimated from the
notices prefixed to them; but we may mark as specially important the
ascetic letter to Rusticus, on the solitary life (244), to Ageruchia,
and those on perseverance in widowhood (230), and to Demetrias on the
preservation of virginity (260-272), which contain vivid pictures of
the life (233) and events (236, 237) of the time, and of the sack of
Rome (237, 257); the Memoir, addressed to Principia, of Marcella, who
died from her ill treatment in that great day of doom (253); the letter
to Evangelus (288) containing Jerome's view of the origin and mutual
relations of the three orders of the Ministry; and that to Sabinianus,
the lapsed Deacon, who had introduced disorder into the monasteries at
Bethlehem (289-295).
Pelagianism. The only great controversy of this period is the Pelagian,
in which Jerome seems to have engaged rather at the instance of others
than on his own initiative. He shows some mildness in dealing with the
Pelagians, and wishes more to win than to condemn them (449, 499); his
temperament was not such as to incline him, like Augustin, to take an
attitude of vehement hostility to the Pelagian tenets.
414-418. But Orosius came from North Africa, where the Council of
Carthage had lately been held; and when, the next year, Pelagius and
Cælestius came to Palestine, and Councils were held, first at Jerusalem
under Bishop John, who was favourable to the reception of Pelagius, and
subsequently at Diospolis, Palestine became the centre of the
controversy.
416. Augustin from Africa and Ctesiphon from Rome appealed to him (272,
280); both Orosius and Pelagius quoted his words as making for them;
and at length Jerome himself felt compelled to take the pen. He
resorted in this his last controversial work, as in his first against
the Luciferians, to the form of dialogue. The argument must be praised
for its moderation, though it must be confessed that this is gained at
the expense of liveliness; it was impossible for Jerome, as a
"Synergist," or believer in the co-operation of the human will with the
divine, to throw himself into the fray with the eagerness of a
convinced Predestinarian. But he does not scruple to brand Pelagius as
a heretic; and to a heretic he would show no mercy (449). His treatise,
notwithstanding its fine drawn argument, made him at once the leader of
the orthodox party in the East, and the target for the enmity of their
adversaries.
416-7. A crowd of Pelagian monks attacked the monasteries, slew some of
their inmates, and burned or threw down the buildings, the tower in
which Jerome had taken refuge alone escaping (Aug. de Gestis Pelag.
66). This violence, however, was checked by a strong letter from Pope
Innocentius (280, 281) to Bishop John, who died soon after; and Jerome,
to whom the Pope wrote at the same time (280), speaks of Augustin's
cause as triumphant (282), and of Pelagius, like another Catiline,
having left the country, though Jerusalem remains in the hands of some
hostile power which he speaks of under the name of Nebuchadnezzar
(282). It cannot be said, however, that Jerome's arguments produced
much effect in the East. He was withstood by Theodore of Mopsuestia
(see Migne's Jerome, ii. 807-14) as "saying that men sin by nature, not
by will"; and from the West also a treatise opposing his views was sent
to him (282) by Annianus, a deacon of Celeda, to which he was never
able to reply.
His Bible work during these last fifteen years consisted entirely of
Commentaries on the Prophets. Those on the Minor Prophets were finished
in 406; that on Daniel in 407; that on Isaiah in 408-10; that on
Ezekiel in 410-14. That on Jeremiah up to ch. xxxii. occupied the
remaining years. The Prefaces to these Commentaries {499-501) are full
of interest, recording the sack of Rome (499, 500), the death of
Rufinus (498, 500), and the rise of Pelagianism, while the Commentary
on Ezekiel itself (Book ix.) speaks of the occupation of Rome by
Heraclian. His failing health and eyesight (498, 500), the Pelagian
Controversy, the other trials above mentioned (499) and the care of the
monasteries and pilgrims (500, 501), increased by the death of
Eustochium in 418, shortened his time for work, and his Commentary on
Jeremiah was cut short at ch. xxxii. by his last illness. Yet his last
work is full of energy and of his old controversial vigour.
The last year of his life is believed to have been occupied by a long
illness, in which he was tended by the younger Paula and Melania. The
Chronicle of Prosper of Aquitaine gives September 20, 420, as the day
of his death. Many legends sprung up around his memory. His remains are
said to have been transferred from the place where they were buried
beside those of Paula and Eustochium, near the grotto of the Nativity,
to the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore at Rome, and miracles to have
been wrought at his tomb. His descriptions of hermit life in the desert
no doubt gave rise to the tradition that he was always attended by a
lion, as represented in painting and sculpture, especially in the
well-known painting of Albert Dürer. With such traditions a historical
work must not be burdened.
__________________________________________________________________
IV.--The Writings of Jerome.
The following is a list of the writings arranged under various heads,
and showing the date of composition and the place held by each in the
Edition of Vallarsi, the eleven volumes of which will be found in
Migne's Patrologia, vols. xxii. to xxx. The references are to the
volumes of Jerome's works (i.-xi.) in that edition.
I. Bible translations:
(1) From the Hebrew.--The Vulgate of the Old Testament, written at
Bethlehem, begun 391, finished 404, vol. ix.
(2) From the Septuagint.--The Psalms as used at Rome, written in Rome,
383, and the Psalms as used in Gaul, written at Bethlehem about 388.
These two are in parallel columns in vol. x. The Gallican Psaltery is
collated with the Hebrew, and shows by obeli () the parts which are in
the LXX. and not in the Hebrew, and by asterisks (*) the parts which
are in the Hebrew and not in the Greek.
The Book of Job, forming a part of the translation of the LXX. made
between 386 and 392 at Bethlehem, the rest of which was lost (Ep. 134),
vol. x.
(3) From the Chaldee.--The Books of Tobit and Judith, Bethlehem, 398,
vol. x.
(4) From the Greek.--The Vulgate version of the New Testament made at
Rome between 382 and 385. The preface is only to the Gospels, but
Jerome speaks of and quotes from his version of the other part also (De
Vir. Ill. 135; Ep. 71 and 27), vol. x.
II. Commentaries:
(1) Original.--Ecclesiastes, vol. iii., Bethlehem, 388; Isaiah, vol.
iv., Bethlehem, 410; Jeremiah i.-xxxii., 41, vol. iv., Bethlehem, 419;
Ezekiel, vol. v., Bethlehem, 410-14; Daniel, vol. v., Bethlehem, 407;
the Minor Prophets, vol. vi., Bethlehem, at various times between 391
and 406; Matthew, vol. vii., Bethlehem, 398; Galatians, Ephesians,
Titus, Philemon, vol. vii, Bethlehem, 388.
(2) Translated from Origen.--Homilies on Jeremiah and Ezekiel, vol. v.,
Bethlehem, 381; on Luke, vol. vii., Bethlehem, 389; Canticles, vol.
iii., Rome and Bethlehem, 385-87.
There is also a Commentary on Job, and a specimen of one on the Psalms,
attributed to Jerome, vol. vii., and the translation of Origen's
Homilies on Isaiah, also attributed to him, vol. iv.
Books illustrative of Scripture:
(1) Book of Hebrew names, or Glossary of Proper Names in the Old
Testament, Bethlehem, 388, vol. iii. 1.
(2) Book of Questions on Genesis, Bethlehem, 388, vol. iii. 301.
(3) A translation of Eusebius' book on the sites and names of Hebrew
places, Bethlehem, 388, vol. iii. 321.
(4) Translation of Didymus on the Holy Spirit, Rome and Bethlehem,
385-87, vol. ii. 105.
IV. Books on Church History and Controversy (all in vol. ii.):
(1) Book of Illustrious Men, or Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers,
Bethlehem, 392.
(2) Dialogue with a Luciferian, Antioch, 379.
(3) Lives of the Hermits: Paulus, Desert, 374; Malchus and Hilarion,
Bethlehem, 390.
(4) Translation of the Rule of Pachomius, Bethlehem, 404.
(5) Books of ascetic controversy, against Helvidius, Rome, 304; against
Jovinian, Bethlehem, 393; against Vigilantius, Bethlehem, 406.
(6) Books of personal controversy, against John, Bishop of Jerusalem,
Bethlehem, 397 or 398; against Rufinus, i. and ii. 402, iii. 404.
(7) Dialogue with a Pelagian, Bethlehem, 416.
V. General History:
Translation of the Chronicle of Eusebius, with Jerome's additions, vol.
viii., Constantinople, 382.
VI. Personal:
The series of letters, vol. i. Ep. i., Aquileia, 311; 2-4, Antioch,
374; 5-17, Desert 374-79; 18, Constantinople, 381; 19-45, Rome, 382-85;
46-148, Bethlehem, 386-418.
The works attributed to Jerome, but not genuine, which are given in
Vallarsi's edition are: A breviary, commentary, and preface on the
Psalms, vol. vii.; some Greek fragment and a lexicon of Hebrew names;
the names of places in the Acts; the ten names of God; the benedictions
of the patriarchs; the ten temptations in the desert; a commentary on
the Song of Deborah; Hebrew Questions in Kings and Chronicles; an
exposition of Job, vol. iii.; three letters in vol. i., and fifty-one
in vol. xi., together with several miscellaneous writings in vol. xi.
most of which are by Pelagius.
Bibliography.--The writings of Jerome were, on the whole, well
preserved, owing to the great honour in which he was held, in the
Middle Ages. Considering the number of the mss., the variations are not
numerous. The Editio Princeps of the Letters and a few of the Treatises
appeared in Rome in 1470, and another almost contemporaneous with this
in Maintz (Schöffer), after which they were reprinted in Venice (1476),
Rome (1479), Parma (1480), Nürenberg (1485), and in several other
places. The Editio Princeps of the Commentaries appeared in Nürenberg
in 1477, and was several times reprinted in other places; that of the
Translation of Origen's Homilies on St. Luke, etc., in Basle, 1475;
that of the Lives of the Hermits in Nürenberg, 1476, and of the
Chronicle at Milan in 1475.
But the true Editio Princeps, containing Jerome's works as a whole, is
that of Erasmus (Basle, 1516-20), who bestowed on it his great critical
power, aided by his strong admiration for Jerome. He was assisted by
OEcolampadius and other scholars. This held its ground till 1560, when
an edition appeared by Marianus Victorius, afterwards Bishop of Rieti
(Rome, Paulus Manutius), which enlarged the notes and corrected the
text of Erasmus, but, like him, included many spurious writings. This
edition was dedicated to Pius V. and Gregory XIII., and was the
favourite edition of the Roman Church. In 1684 appeared the edition of
Tribbechovius of Gotha (Frankfort and Leipzig) which embodied the
emendations of critics up to that date, and was published at the
expense of the Protestant Frederick, Duke of Saxony. In 1693 came the
Benedictine edition of Martianay and Pouget (Paris), which gave the
original text of the Vulgate and a new, though still very imperfect
arrangement of the Letters and Treatises. But all previous editions
were thrown into the shade by that of Dominic Vallarsi the learned
priest of Verona (folio ed., Verona, 1734-42; quarto, Venice, 1766-72).
In this edition the Treatises are separated from the Letters, and both
Letters and Treatises are arranged in order of time, the dates and the
process by which they are arrived at being clearly given. I have only
in one or two instances found reason to alter Vallarsi's dates. The
explanatory notes, however, are not as complete as might be wished, and
the references are often wrong or imperfect. This edition is reprinted
by Migne, who marks the pages of it in large print in the text, and
most modern writers refer to it alone, as has been done in this volume.
Literature.--Three short Lives of Jerome, composed in the Middle Ages
by unknown authors (one of which was falsely attributed to Gennadius),
are given by Vallarsi in his Prolegomena (vol. i. 175-214); one of
these is said by Zockler to be by Sebastian of Monte Cassino. Another,
written in the fourteenth century by John Andreas of Bologna, was
printed at Basle in 1514; and a work by Lasserré was published at Paris
in 1530, with a curious title, "La Vie de Monseigneur Sainct Hierome,"
with "La Vie de Madame Saincte Paule"; and later works belonging to the
uncritical region of thought were published later in Madrid by Bonadies
in 1595, and by Cermellus in Ferrara (1648), the latter entirely made
up of quotations from Jerome's writings.
Meanwhile the critical faculty had been aroused. Erasmus and Marianus
Victorius prefixed Lives of Jerome to their editions of his works in
1516 and 1565; and Baronius in his Annals and Du Pin in his
Bibliotheque des Auteurs Ecclésiastiques (1686) brought to light
additional facts. Martianay at the close of his edition of Jerome's
works published a Life, embodying many records of Jerome from the
Fathers, but with many mistakes of chronology, some of which were
rectified by Tillemont in his painstaking Mémoires (Paris, 1707) and by
Ceillier in his Histoire des Auteurs Ecclésiastiques (Paris, 1742). The
work of Sebastiano Dolci (Ancona, 1750) is entirely taken from Jerome's
own writings.
But in reference to the Life as to the Writings of Jerome a new epoch
was made by Vallarsi in the Preface and the Life prefixed to his
Edition of Jerome. Though somewhat dry, it is thoroughly trustworthy,
and in Migne's edition more accessible than any other to those who read
Latin. The Bollandist Stilling (Acta Sanctorum, vol. viii., Antwerp,
1762), is less occupied with additions to our knowledge of the man and
his works than with the honouring of the Saint. The work of the learned
Dane, Engelstoft (1797), gives a more comprehensive estimate of
Jerome's historical position than any of his predecessors. The account
of Jerome in Schrökh's Ecclesiastical History (1786) and the articles
of Cölln in Ersch and Grüber's Encyclopädie and of Hagenbach in
Herzog's Real-Encyclopädie are excellent. In French we have the account
of Jerome's ascetic influence in Montalembert's Monks of the West
(Paris, 1861); and the Histoire de St. Jérome by Collombet (Paris,
1844) is useful in the appreciation of the personal and archæological
part of the subject, though accepting with uncritical partisanship the
polemical attitude of Jerome. We may add for English readers the
articles Hieronymus in the Dictionaries of Greek and Roman Biography
and of Christian Biography.
Our own generation has produced two excellent works: that of Dr. Otto
Zöckler, Hieronymus, Sein Leben und Werken (Gotha, Perthes, 1865), and
that of Amédée Thierry, Saint Jérome, la Société chrétienne à Rome et
l'émigration romaine en terre sainte (Paris, 1867, originally published
in the Revue des Deux Mondes). The former is a lucid, impartial, and
comprehensive account of Jerome's Life and Writings; the latter, a
series of very vivid and interesting sketches of Jerome himself, his
friends and his times, which, though generally accurate, is
occasionally swayed from truth by imagination, and at times is betrayed
by sympathy with the modern Roman Catholic system into mistakes of
judgment. Both these writers give copious and enlightening extracts
from Jerome's writings in the original; but the value of those of
Thierry is lessened by the references being to the ill-arranged edition
of Martianay instead of that of Vallarsi.
It will be sufficiently obvious why it has been impossible to include
all the works of Jerome in the present translation, but a few
explanations may be desirable.
An exact translation of the Vulgate would serve no good purpose; and,
if made, would naturally form part of a series designed to illustrate
the criticism of the Scriptures.
The Commentaries and works illustrative of the Scriptures would by
themselves form two volumes of equal size with the present. Though they
contain much that is interesting--the opinions of various writers, such
as Origen, Apollinarius, Gregory Nazianzen, or Didymus, a few
celebrated passages, such as that which caused the controversy between
Jerome and Augustin, and a few remarkable allusions to historical
events, such as the capture of Rome by Heraclian--the general tenour of
them is hardly of sufficient importance to justify the labour of
translation or the bulk and expense of the additional volumes. An
exception might be made in favour of the Book on the Site and Names of
Hebrew Places; but this is a work of Eusebius rather than Jerome (see
pp. 485, 486 and Prolegomena to Eusebius, Vol. i. of this series); and
it was necessary to confine the Translation of Jerome to a single
volume, with the exception of the Book On Illustrious Men and the
Apology against Rufinus, which will be found in Vol. iii. of this
Series.
The Chronicle of Eusebius would, if translated at all, find its place
in the works of Eusebius.
The Books on Church History and Controversy are given in full.
Of the Letters, which, excepting the Vulgate, form the most important
legacy of Jerome to posterity, all those which have a personal or a
historical interest have been translated. The only omissions are (1)
the exegetical letters, to which what has been said of the Commentaries
applies; (2) the letters to Augustin, which will be found in Vol. i. of
the first series of this Library, annexed to the letters of Augustin to
which they are replies; and (3) the encyclicals and letters of
Theophilus, which have been summarised.
For a separate statement of the works which are given in this volume
the reader will naturally consult the table of contents; and, for a
more detailed account of the books themselves, the introductions
prefixed to each.
__________________________________________________________________
V.--Estimate of the Scope and Value of Jerome's Writings.
General. The writings of Jerome must be estimated not merely by their
intrinsic merits, but by his historical position and influence. It has
already been pointed out that he stands at the close of the old
Græco-Roman civilisation: the last Roman poet of any repute, Claudian,
and the last Roman historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, died before him.
Augustin survived him, but the other great Fathers, both in the East
and in the West, had passed away before him. The sack of Rome by Alaric
(410) and its capture by Heraclian (413) took place in his lifetime,
and the Empire of the West fell in the next thirty years. Communication
between East and West had become rarer and mutual knowledge less.
Eusebius knew no Latin, Ambrose no Greek; Rufinus, though a second-rate
scholar, was welcomed in Italy on his return from the East in 397 as
capable of imparting to the Latins the treasures of the Greek Church
writers. The general enfeeblement of the human mind, which remains one
of the problems of history, had set in. The new age of Christendom
which was struggling to the birth was subject to the influence of
Jerome more than to that of any of the Fathers.
Secular Learning. As regards general learning, indeed, it was
impossible that any legacy should descend from him. He had
systematically disparaged it (35-36, 498), though making use and even a
parade of it (101, 114, 149, 178); and had defended himself by
disingenuous pleas from the charge of acquiring it after his mature
convictions were formed (Apol. i. 30, 31, Vol. iii. 498-499). His
influence, therefore, would but increase the deep ignorance of
literature which now settled upon mankind till the times of the
Renaissance. His style indeed, is excellent, correct, and well
balanced, full of animation and of happy phrases (see Index--Proverbs),
and passing from one subject to another with great versatility. It is
contrasted by Erasmus with the barbarisms of the Schoolmen, as that of
the Christian Cicero. But it has also Cicero's faults, especially his
diffuseness. His Latinity is remarkably pure, and with the exception of
the frequent use of the infinitive to express a purpose, and of a few
words of late-Latin like confortare, we are hardly aware in reading him
that we are 400 years away from the Augustan Age. His mastery of style
is the more remarkable because he wrote nothing but a few letters and a
very poor Commentary till about his thirty-fifth year.
Letters. His letters gain their special charm from being so personal.
He himself, his correspondents, and the scenes in which they moved, are
made to live before our eyes. See especially his descriptions of Roman
life in the Epistles to Eustochium (Ep. xxii.), to Paula on the death
of Blesilla (Ep. xxxix.), to Læta (Ep. cvii.) on the education of her
child, and Ageruchia (Ep. cxxiii.); his account of the lives of Fabiola
(Ep. lxxvii.), of Paula (Ep. cviii.), and of Marcella (Ep. cxxvii.);
his description of the clerical life in his letter to Nepotian (Ep.
lii.), and of the monastic life in his letters to Rusticus (Ep. cxxv.)
and to Sabinian (Ep. cxlvii.); his letters of spiritual counsel to a
mother and daughter (Ep. cxvii.), to Julianus (Ep. cxviii.), and to
Rusticus (Ep. cxxii.), and of hermit life in his letter to Eustochium
(Ep. xxii., pp. 24-25); his satirical description of Onasus (Ep. xl.),
Rufinus (p. 250), and Vigilantius (p. 417); his enthusiastic delight in
the Holy Land in the letter written by him to Paula and Eustochium
inviting Marcella to join them (Ep. xlvi). Other characteristic and
celebrated letters are those to Asella (xlv.) on his leaving Rome; to
Pammachius (lvii.) on the best method of translation, which shows the
liberties taken by translators in his time; to Oceanus (lxix.) in
defence of a second marriage contracted by a Spanish Bishop, the first
having been before baptism; to Magnus (lxx.), indicating his use of
secular literature, and showing the great range of his knowledge; to
Lucinius (lxxi.) on the copying of his works; to Avitus (cxxiv.) on the
book of Origen, Peri 'Archon; to Demetrias (cxxx.) on the maintenance
of virginity; to Ctesiphon (cxxxiii.) on the Pelagian controversy. (See
also Index, words Stories and Pictures of Contemporary Life.)
Publication. Two circumstances conduced to the vividness and importance
of this series of letters. One of these is the fact that no distinct
line separated private documents from those designed for publication.
In the Catalogue of his works (De Vir. Ill. 135)1 he says: "Of the
Letters to Paula and Eustochium, the number is infinite: I write them
every day." And, when he became celebrated, he says (79) that whatever
he wrote was at once laid hold of and published, alike by friends and
enemies. We have therefore frequently his most confidential utterances;
while on the other hand his letters frequently pass into treatises, and
he turns to address others than those to whom he is writing (59, 273,
274). But the process of publication was precarious; so that between
Letters xlvi. and xlvii. there is a gap of seven years (386-93) without
any letter. The other circumstance is the difficulty of communication,
which made letters rare and induced greater care in their composition.
Both these circumstances are well illustrated by the early
correspondence of Jerome with Augustin. Augustin wrote from Hippo in
Africa a long and important letter to Jerome (Ep. lvi.) in the year
394, which did not reach Jerome at Bethlehem for nearly ten years. It
was committed to a presbyter named Profuturus to carry to Jerome; but
he, being elected to a bishopric before he started, turned back, and
soon afterwards died. The letter was neither forwarded to Jerome nor
returned to Augustin; but it was copied by others and became known in
the West, while its somewhat severe criticisms were unknown to Jerome
himself. After a time Augustin became aware by a short letter of
introduction written by Jerome to a friend that his first letter had
miscarried, and he wrote a second (Ep. lxvii.) much in the same strain;
but Paulus, to whom it was entrusted, alleging his fear of the sea,
failed to go to Bethlehem; and a copy of the letter was found a year or
two afterwards by a friend of Jerome's bound up with some of Augustin's
treatises in an island of the Adriatic. Jerome on hearing of this was
naturally incensed; and it was not till the year 404 that he received
an authentic copy of both letters direct from Augustin, and was able to
return an answer. His answer, however, and a knowledge of his views are
fuller than they might have been had personal communication been
easier.
Knowledge. His knowledge was vast and many-sided [See especially the
enumeration of Christian writers who used Pagan literature (149-151),
the curious stories about marriage gathered from all ages (383-386),
the descriptions of various kinds of food and medicines (392-394) and
the account of Pythagoras and his doctrines (Apol. iii., 39, 40, in
this Series, Vol. iii. 538)], but it was rather the curiosity of the
monks of a later day than the temper of the philosopher or the
historian. He was well acquainted with the history and literature of
Rome and of Greece; he translated the Chronicle of Eusebius; he speaks
of the various routes to India (245), of the Brahmans (97, 193, 397),
of the custom of Suttee (381), and of Buddha (380). But he is quite
uncritical; he makes no correction of the faults of the Chronicle, and
his own additions to it reveal his credulity. He was deeply affected by
the sack of Rome, and recurs to it again and again; but his reflections
upon this and similar events hardly go beyond those of a mediæval
chronicler. He is a recluse, and has no thought of the general
interests of mankind.
Church History. This lack of criticism and of general interests
combined with lack of time to prevent his making any considerable
contribution to church history. That he had some faculties for this is
shown by several passages in his Dialogue with a Luciferian (328-331)
and his Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers (On Illustrious Men, Vol.
iii. 361-384). But his conception of church history is shown by his
declaration (315) that he intended the Lives of Malchus and Hilarion as
part of a series, which when completed would have formed an
ecclesiastical history. Such a history would have been nothing more
than a prolix edition of Rufinus' History of the Monks. Jerome's value
to the church historian is quite of another kind; it lies in the
illustration of contemporary life furnished by his own life and letters
and by the controversies in which he was engaged.
Theology. These controversies bring us to consider Jerome's position as
a theologian. Here he is admittedly weak. He had no real interest in
the subject. The first of his letters which deals with theology, that
written from the Desert to Pope Damasus, points out clearly the
difficulty raised by the difference of phraseology of East and West,
the Eastern speaking of one Essence and three Substances, the Western,
of one Substance and three Persons. But he makes no attempt to grasp
the reality lying behind these expressions, and merely asks not to have
the Eastern terms forced on his acceptance, while he professes in the
most absolute terms his submission to the decision of the Bishop of
Rome. This lack of genuine theological interest best explains his
conduct in relation to Origen, his extravagant laudation of him at one
time (46), his violent condemnation at another (187). He was carried
away by Origen's genius and industry in the department of biblical
criticism and exegesis in which he was himself absorbed, and though in
his earlier discussion of the Vision of Isaiah (22), which touched the
doctrine of the Trinity, he had put aside Origen's view that the
Seraphim were the Son and the Spirit as wrongly expressing their
relation to the Father, the doctrinal question was feebly present to
his thoughts, and he repeated Origen's exposition without blame as to
the pre-existence of souls and the restoration of Satan (Ruf. Apol. ii.
13, Vol. iii. 467). When the subject of Origen's orthodoxy was raised
at a later time, he was unaware of any inconsistency when he fell in
with the general condemnation of his doctrine. So with regard to
Eusebius of Cæsarea. In the Preface to the translation of his Book on
the Site and Names of Hebrew Places (485), he is "vir admirabilis"; in
his controversy with Rufinus, Eusebius is nothing but a heretic. In his
controversy with Augustin as to the quarrel between St. Peter and St.
Paul in Gal. ii., which he interpreted as fictitious and pre-arranged
with a view to bring out St. Paul's solution of the question about the
Gentile converts, he was manifestly in the wrong, and eventually seems
to have felt this, yet as one who was silenced rather than convinced.
At a later period he says to Augustin (Ep. cxxxiv.), "If the heretics
see that we hold divergent opinions they will say calumniously that
this is a result of hatred, whereas it is my firm resolution to love
you, to look up to you, to defer to you with admiration, and to defend
your opinions as my own." His dread of heresy may be gathered from
passage in the Anti-Pelagian Dialogue (i. 28) in which he expressly
declares that, while sin can be forgiven, heresy, as being impiety, is
subject to the threat: "They that forsake the Lord shall be consumed."
It is true that in his Catalogue he shows wider sympathies, and defends
himself in writing to Augustin for the admission into it of men like
Philo Judæus and Seneca. But this, though it might have led him to the
larger views of the heathen world held by Origen and Clement, did not
prevent his condemning to eternal torments even the most virtuous of
the heathen. He tells Marcella, a Roman lady (41-42), that one object
he has in writing to her is to instruct her that the consul-elect
Vettius Agorius Prætextatus, who was known as a model of public and
domestic virtue, and who had then recently died, is in Tartarus, while
their friend Lea, who had died the same day, is in heaven.
The lack of deep theological conviction is shown in his Dialogue
against the Pelagians, where it is evident that he is far from that
original and deep view of human corruption which Augustin maintained;
indeed, he appears at times to be arguing against his own side, when he
says (471) that, "Till the end we are subject to sin; not," (as the
opponent falsely imputes to him) "through the fault of our nature and
constitution, but through frailty and the mutability of the human will,
which varies from moment to moment"--a sentence which might be taken as
expressing the doctrine of Pelagius himself. It is evident that in
these cases he is swayed not so much by the force of truth as by the
authority of certain powerful Bishops and the wish to maintain his
orthodox reputation. In his other controversies, with Helvidius,
Jovinian, John, Bishop of Jerusalem, Vigilantius, and Rufinus, his
method is take for granted the opinion current among the Christians of
his day, and to support it by copious (sometimes excessive) quotations
from Scripture, and by arguments sometimes well chosen and acutely
maintained, as in the book against Helvidius (339), sometimes of the
most frivolous character, as in that against Vigilantius (422). In the
three last of these controversies the opposition is embittered by
personal feeling, and Jerome hardly places any restraint on the
contempt and hatred which it engenders.
In his criticisms on Scripture, however, he has a freer judgment, as
when he says (337): Whether you think that Moses wrote the Pentateuch,
or that Ezra re-edited it, in either case I make no objection;" or
(349) that it was the Book of Deuteronomy which was found in the Temple
in the reign of Josiah; or contrasts "the flickering flame of the
Apostles" with the brightness of the lamp of Christ" (468). There are
three points especially on which Jerome reached an independent
conviction, and maintained it courageously. (1) He made a clear
distinction between the Old Testament Canon and the Apocrypha (194,
491, 492, 493) and this although he records the fact that the Nicene
Council had placed the Book of Judith in the Canon (494). For this he
is justly commemorated in the Articles of the Church of England (Art.
6). (2) He maintains the essential identity of Bishops and Presbyters
(288) and the development of the Episcopal out of the Presbyteral
office (288, 289), in the face of the rapid tendency to the extreme
exaltation of the Episcopate (92). (3) In the great work of his life,
the composition of the Vulgate, he showed a clear and matured
conviction, and a noble tenacity, unshaken either by popular clamour
(490) or authority like that Augustin (189).
A few words may here be said on the asceticism which Jerome so eagerly
promoted. If we ask how it was that he embraced it so fervently as to
read it into almost every line of the Scriptures, we can only answer
that it was part of the spirit of the time. Jerome had not the
elevation of mind which might have enabled him to exercise a judgment
upon the current which was bearing him away, or the higher critical
power which would distinguish between what was in the Scriptures and
what he brought to them. His habit of mind was to accept his general
principles from some kind of church authority, which was partly that of
the Bishops, partly the general drift of the sentiment of the
Christians of his day; and having accepted them, to advocate them
vehemently and without discrimination. Jerome could indeed exercise a
certain moderation, even in matters of asceticism (246, 267). But his
general attitude is that which disdained the common joys of life, which
thought of eating, drinking, clothing or lodging, and most of all
marriage, as physical indulgences which should suppressed as far as
possible, rather than as the means of a noble social intercourse; and
dread of impurity haunts him to such an extent as to entirely vitiate
his view of society, and to cause him to disparage, and all but forbid,
the married relation (29, 384, etc.). His view of monasticism in its
inner principles is seen in his treatises against Helvidius, Jovinian,
and Vigilantius. The reader may be specially referred to a passage in
the last-named treatise, p. 423. If we ask the further question, how
the tendency arose which so completely swayed him, we can only
attribute it to the state of Roman society in the fourth and fifth
centuries, which laid earnest men open to influences already working in
other parts of the world. Jerome knew of the Brahmans and the
Gymnosophists of India (97, 193, 397), and he several times mentions
Buddha (380) as an example of asceticism. But students of Buddhism have
failed to trace any direct filiation between the asceticism of the East
and the West. [1] The existence of Essenes in Palestine and the
Therapeutæ in Egypt, and the unquestionable fact that Christian
asceticism originated in Egypt, make some connection with the East
probable; and the system of Manes, though at once repudiated, may have
exerted some subtle influence. Certain states of the human mind seem
all-pervasive, like the causes of diseases which spring up at once in
many different places; and principles like those of asceticism maybe
communicated through chance conversations or commercial intercourse
when the soil is prepared for their reception.
But it seems better to look to the social and political state of the
world as the predisposing cause of monasticism. Even in the East it is
thought that the miserable conditions of practical life have been the
main cause of a religion of despair; and the decline and fall of the
Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries offered similar causes
in abundance. The grace which is completely absent from the great
Christian writers of that epoch is hope. Such hope as is found even in
the Civitas Dei of Augustin is entirely that of the world to come. The
world before them seemed hopelessly corrupt. The descriptions of
private morals given by Jerome are borne out by Ammianus Marcellinus;
the failure of public spirit and military valour was equally
conspicuous; and Gratian and Stilicho appear on the scene only to be
murdered. When the crash of Alaric's sack of Rome shook the existing
world, no one realised that a new Christian world was coming, and the
flight which Jerome witnessed of thousands of citizens from the sinking
city to the mountains of Palestine was but one symptom of the despair
which made them, to use Jerome's words, "quit the most frequented
cities that in the fields and solitude they might mourn for sin and
draw down on themselves the compassion of Christ" (446).
As an illustrator of Scripture, Jerome did much, and in some respects
excellent work. The Book of Hebrew Names was no doubt of much use in
the ages in which men were ignorant of Hebrew, although it has the
clumsy arrangement of a separate glossary for each book of the Bible;
it is very faulty and uncritical; there is no explanation, for
instance, of Lehi in Judges, or of Engedi or Ichabod in 1 Samuel, or of
Bethabara or Bethany in John, and the meanings given to words are
extremely uncritical and sometimes absurd. Cherubim is said to mean a
multitude of knowledge; Jezebel, "flowing with blood, a litter, a dung
heap"; and Laodicæa, "the tribe beloved of the Lord, or, they have been
in vomiting." It is worthless now except as showing the state of
knowledge of the fourth century A.D., and that of the author of the
Vulgate.
The Book of the Site and Names of Hebrew Places belongs rather to
Eusebius than to Jerome, being translated from Eusebius, though with
some additions. An account of it is given in the Prolegomena to
Eusebius. The arrangement of this book is, like the former, very
inconvenient, the names under each letter being placed in separate
groups in the order of the books of Scripture in which they occur: for
instance, under the letter A we have first the names in Genesis, then
those in Exodus, and so on. But there is less room here for what is
fanciful, and the testimony of men who lived in Palestine in the fourth
and fifth centuries is of great value still to the student of sacred
topography. When the places are outside the writer's knowledge,
credulity is apt to creep in, as when the author tells us that in
Ararat portions of the ark are still to be found.
The Book of Hebrew Questions on Genesis is simply a set of notes on
passages where the reference to the Hebrew text gives a different
reading from that of the LXX., which was received as authoritative up
to Jerome's day. For instance, in Gen. xlvi. 26, the LXX. says that
Joseph's descendants born in Egypt were nine, the Hebrew, two. Jerome
accounts for the discrepancy by the supposition that the LXX. added in
the sons of Ephraim and Manasseh, who were subsequently born in Egypt,
and who in the LXX. are enumerated just before. Jerome states in the
preface his intention to compose a similar set of notes to each book of
the Old Testament, but he was never able to go beyond Genesis. What he
gives us is of considerable interest and value, so that it is a matter
of regret that he could not go further.
As a commentator, Jerome's fault is a lack of independence; his merit
lies in giving fully the opinions of others which we might otherwise
not have known. This he considers, as seen in his controversy with
Rufinus, the principal task of a commentator (Apol. i. 16, Vol. iii.
491). In the passages there at issue, he states the most incongruous
interpretations without criticising them, and Rufinus can hardly be
blamed for suggesting that he is sometimes expressing his own opinion
under that of "another." In matters of ordinary interpretation his
judgment is good. But fanciful ideas are apt to intrude, as when, in
the Commentary on Ecclesiastes, the city delivered by the poor wise man
is made to mean the individual delivered from Satan by the better man
within him, or the Church delivered from the hosts of darkness by
Christ. When an occasion for the introduction of asceticism occurs,
Jerome never hesitates at any process, however absurd, which will draw
the passage to a sanction of his peculiar views (Against Jovin. i. 30,
p. 368). We should have been glad, had space permitted, to have given a
specimen of his better style of exposition, but it was found necessary
to suppress this.
It is as a translator of Scripture that Jerome is best known. His
Vulgate was made at the right moment and by the right man. The Latin
language was still living, although Latin civilisation was dying; and
Jerome was a master of it. It is only to be regretted that he did not
give fuller scope to his literary power in his translation of
Scripture. In his letter to Pammachius on the best method of
translation (114), he advocates great freedom of treatment, even such
as amounts to paraphrase, and even to the insertion of sentences
congruous to the sense of the author. He takes the fact that the
quotations in the New Testament from the Old often present
discrepancies in words and sense as justifying similar discrepancies in
a translation. He does not, however, appear in dealing with ordinary
books to have used this license in any extreme way; and his
translations, without departing from correctness, read as good literary
composition. But from the operation of his rules of translation he
expressly excepts the Scriptures. "In other books," he says (113), "my
effort is not to express word by word, but meaning by meaning; but in
the Holy Scriptures even the order of the words has a secret meaning"
(et ordo verborum mysterium est). He even says (80): "A version made
for the use of the Church, even though it may possess a literary charm,
ought to disguise and avoid it as far as possible." This belief in a
secret meaning in the words and their order as apart from the sense
goes far to injure the Vulgate translation. His principles, indeed, are
excellent, namely, (1) never to swerve needlessly from the original;
(2) to avoid solecisms; (3) even by the admission of solecisms, to give
the true sense. But it is evident that they must be vitiated by the
supposition of a hidden sense in the arrangement of the words; and the
result is a style which frequently deprives a passage of its proper
elegance, and the pleasure which it should give to the reader, and a
too frequent introduction of solecisms and abandonment of the attempt
to make sense of a passage. It also gives an air of saintly unreality
to many parts of the Scriptures and thus to produce confusion. The
merits of the translation are also very various, as was the time which
Jerome bestowed on the different parts. The Books of Solomon, for
instance, he translated very rapidly (492), the Book of Tobit in a
single day (494). For some parts he trusted to his own knowledge, for
others he obtained aid at great cost of money and trouble (Preface to
Job and to Tobit, 491, 494). But, while we thus go behind the scenes,
we must not fail to look at the completed work as a whole. It was
wrought out with noble perseverance and unflinching purpose amidst many
discouragements. It was highly prized even in Jerome's lifetime, so
that he is able to record that a large part of the Old Testament was
translated into Greek from his version by his friend Sophronius, and
was read in the Eastern Churches (492). After his death it won its way
to become the Vulgate or common version of Western Christendom; it was
the Bible of the Middle Ages; and in the year 1546 (eleven centuries
after its author's death) was pronounced by the Council of Trent to be
the only true version, and alone authorised to be printed.
A few personal details must be given to illustrate his method of
composition and his surroundings. Nothing is known of his personal
appearance. His health was weak, and he had several long illnesses,
especially in the years 398, 404, and in the last year of his life. His
eyes began to fail during his stay at Constantinople in 380-382, and he
usually employed an amanuensis; but he still wrote at times, and what
he wrote was more polished than what he dictated. "In the one case I
constantly turn the stylus; in the other, whatever words come into my
mouth I heap together in my rapid utterance" (Ep. lxxiv. 6). He
composed with great rapidity, and dictated at times as much as one
thousand lines in a day (Comm. on Ephes., Book ii. Preface). He often,
especially when in weak health, lay on a couch (Ep. lxxiv. 6), taking
down one volume after another to aid in the composition of his
Commentaries. And he often sat late into the night [his book against
Vigilantius was "the lucubration of a single night" (423)], the days
being occupied in business of various kinds, as stated above--the
monasteries, the entertainment of strangers, the teaching of boys, the
exposition of Scripture to his brethren in the monastery, and,
according to Sulpicius Severus, the charge of the parish of Bethlehem.
As has been mentioned above, he was interrupted again and again by
illness, and on several occasions was in alarm from the threatened
invasions of the Huns and Isaurians, and at the end of his life from
the violent adherents of Pelagius. He also suffered from poverty, and
his friends one by one were taken from him. But he persevered against
all obstacles; and his latest works, the Anti-Pelagian Dialogue and the
Commentary on Jeremiah, show little if any diminution of power.
__________________________________________________________________
[1] See a remarkable article on "The New Testament and Buddhism," by
Professor Estlin Carpenter, in the Nineteenth Century for July, 1879.
__________________________________________________________________
VI.--Character and Influence of Jerome.
This Introduction must be concluded with a few words on the character
and influence of Jerome, which are taken from the article upon him in
the Dictionary of Christian Biography. He was vain and unable to bear
rivals, extremely sensitive as to the estimation in which he was held
by his contemporaries, and especially by the Bishops; passionate and
resentful, but at times becoming suddenly placable; scornful and
violent in controversy; kind to the weak and the poor; respectful in
his dealings with women; entirely without avarice; extraordinarily
diligent in work, and nobly tenacious of the main objects to which he
devoted his life. There was, however, something of monkish cowardice in
his asceticism, and his influence was not felt by the strong.
His influence grew through his life and increased after his death. If
we may use a scriptural phrase which has sometimes been applied to such
influence, "He lived and reigned for a thousand years." His writings
contain the whole spirit of the Church of the Middle Ages, its
monasticism, its contrast of sacred things with profane, its credulity
and superstition, its value for relics, its subjection to hierarchical
authority, its dread of heresy, its passion for pilgrimages. To the
society which was thus in a great measure formed by him, his Bible was
the greatest boon which could have been given. But he founded no school
and had no inspiring power; there was no courage or width of view in
his spiritual legacy such as could break through the fatal circle of
bondage to received authority which was closing round mankind. As
Thierry says in the last words of his work on St. Jerome, "There is no
continuation of his work; a few more letters of Augustin and Paulinus,
and night falls over the West."
__________________________________________________________________
Chronological Tables of the Life and Times of St. Jerome A.D. 345-420.
Personal.
Literary.
Contemporary History.
Contemporary History (Ecclesiastical).
345. Jerome born at Stridon (Pannonia or Dalmatia).
340. Death of Constantine.
341. Athanasius at Rome.
360. Jerome at school.
352. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem.
363. To study at Rome. Baptism.
353. Constantius sole Emperor.
366. To Treves.
356. Eusebius of Vercellæ, and other orthodox Bishops banished by
Constantius.
366-69. Jerome copies works of Hilary.
356. Death of Antony.
369. Jerome writes a mystical Commentary on Obadiah.
359. Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia.
370. To Aquileia.
370. First letter--On the woman seven times struck with the axe.
360. Julian Emperor.
373. Leaves Aquileia for the East.
361. Death of Constantius.
362. Eusebius of Vercellæ and other Bishops recalled from exile.
363. Death of Julian. Jovian Emperor.
364. Death of Jovian. Valentinian and Valens.
374. Illness at Antioch. Anti-Ciceronian dream.
374. Life of Paulus, the first hermit.
365. Apollinarius, Bishop of Laodicæa.
374-79. In Desert of Chalcis.
374-79. Jerome copies Gospel of the Hebrews and other books.
366. Invasion of the Alemanni repelled by Valentinian.
366. Damasus Pope.
379. Dialogue against the Luciferians.
367-69. Gothic war.
379-80. At Antioch.
367-70. Britain restored by the elder Theodosius.
370. Law of Valentinian against clerical legacies.
379. Ordination by Paulinus.
371. Death of Eusebius of Vercellæ and of Lucifer.
380. To Constantinople.
373. Death of Athanasius. Peter and Lucius, rival Bishops.
381. Translation of Eusebius' Chronicle.
374. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.
381. Translation of Origen's Homilies on Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
374. Melania and Rufinus leave Rome for the East.
382-85. At Rome.
375. Death of Valentinian. Valens and Gratian Emperors.
383. Translation of Psalms from LXX. and of New Testament.
376. Theodosius, after restoring Africa, executed at Carthage.
383. Book against Helvidius (Perp. Virg. of B.M.V.)
377-80. Persian war.
385. Leaves Rome (August); to Antioch (December).
385-87. Translation of Origen on Canticles.
378. Battle of Adrianople. Valens killed. Gregory Nazianzen at
Constantinople.
378. Gregory Nazianzen at Constantinople.
386. Through Palestine to Egypt, and settlement at Bethlehem.
386-90. Translation of LXX. into Latin.
379. Theodosius Emperor.
387. Revision of version of New Testament.
380. Baptism of Theodosius.
381. Council of Constantinople.
381. Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, succeeded by his brother Timothy.
388. Commentary on Ecclesiastes.
382. Council at Rome.
388. Commentary on Galatians, Ephesians, Titus, Philemon.
382. Altar of Victory in Roman Senate removed.
388. Book of Hebrew Names.
383. Death of Gratian. Maximus Emperor.
388. Questions on Genesis.
384. Treaty with Persia.
384. Death of Damasus (December).
388. Translation of Eusebius on Sites and Names of Hebrew Places.
385. Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, succeeds Timothy.
385. Siricius Pope.
388. Translation of Didymus on the Holy Spirit.
386. John succeeds Cyril as Bishop of Jerusalem.
386. Execution of Priscillian for heresy at Treves.
389. Translation of Origen on St. Luke.
387. Sedition of Antioch.
390. Lives of Malchus and Hilarion, hermits.
388. Death of Maximus. Valentinian II. Emperor.
389. Temple of Serapis destroyed.
391. Vulgate version of Old Testament begun.
390. Massacre of Thessalonica. Penance of Theodosius.
390. Death of Gregory Nazianzen.
392. Aterbius at Jerusalem.
392. Book of Illustrious Men.
391. Death of Valentinian II. Eugenius usurper.
392. Laws of Theodosius against Paganism.
392. Epiphanius visits Jerusalem. Schism between Jerome and John of
Jerusalem, till 397.
392. Commentary on Nahum, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, Habakkuk.
394. Defeat of Eugenius. Theodosius sole Emperor.
393. Books against Jovinian.
394. Death of Theodosius. Arcadius (æt. 18) Emperor of the East;
Honorius (æt. 14) of the West. Stilicho Minister and General in the
West. Death of Rufinus the Prefect at Constantinople.
395. Augustin, Bishop of Hippo.
394. Beginning of controversy with Augustin.
395. Jerome denounced to the Emperor.
395. The Huns invade Northern Syria.
396. Alaric invades Greece.
395. Oceanus and Fabiola at Bethlehem.
397. Alaric conquered by Stilicho in Arcadia.
397. Death of Ambrose. Simplicianus, Bishop of Milan.
397. Theophilus of Alexandria turns against Origenism. Rufinus
reconciled to Jerome and returns to Italy.
397. Commentary on Jonah.
398. Death of Gildo in Africa. Alaric Master-General of Illyricum and
King of the Visigoths.
398. Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople.
398. Pope Siricius dies. Anastasius Pope.
397. Book against John, Bishop of Jerusalem.
399. Fall of Eutropius.
398. Jerome suffers from a long illness.
398. Commentary on St. Matthew.
400. Gainas, conspirator, defeated and slain.
400. Origenism condemned by Bishops of Alexandria, Rome, and Milan, and
by the Emperors.
401-4. Controversy between Jerome and Rufinus.
400. (August 15). Simplicianus dies. Venerius, Bishop of Millan.
402. Against Rufinus, Books i. and ii.
402. Pope Anastasius dies. Innocentius Pope.
403. Commentary on Obadiah.
402. Death of Epiphanius.
403. Stilicho defeats Alaric at Pollentia and Verona.
404. Triumph of Honorius. Last gladiatorial shows.
404. Exile of Chrysostom to Cucusus.
404. Death of Paula.
404. Translation of the acetic rule of Pachomius.
404. Emperor's court at Ravenna.
404. Gladiatorial shows at Rome ended by the sacrifice of Telemachus,
the monk.
404. Close of controversy with Augustin.
404. Against Rufinus, Book iii.
404. Death of the Empress Eudoxia.
404-5. Jerome ill for several months.
405. Northern Palestine invaded by Isaurians.
406. Stilicho defeats Radagaisus at Fæsulæ, and negotiates with Alaric.
406. Commentary on Zachariah, Malachi, Hosea, Joel, Amos--concluding
Minor Prophets.
407. Gaul overrun by barbarians.
407. Death of Chrysostom at Comana.
407. Constantine usurps power in Britain and Gaul.
406. Book against Vigilantius.
408. Rome besieged by Alaric, and ransomed.
408. Disgrace and death of Stilicho.
407. Commentary on Daniel.
408. Death of Arcadius. Theodosius II. Emperor. Pulcheria Regent.
410. Death of Rufinus.
410. Commentary on Isaiah.
409. Revolt of Britain.
409. Pelagius at Rome.
412. Coelestius condemned at Carthage.
410. Sack of Rome by Alaric. Death of Alaric.
413. Pelagius in Palestine.
410. Egypt, Phoenicia, etc. threatened by barbarians (Ep. cxxvi.).
414. Orosius sent by Augustin to Jerome.
414. Commentary on Ezekiel.
411. Death of Constantine and other usurpers. Victories of Roman
General Constantius.
411. Dispute between Catholic and Donatist Bishops at Carthage.
Persecution of Donatists by the Civil Power.
414. Pinianus and Melania at Jerusalem.
412. Death of Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria.
415. Synod at Jerusalem admits Pelagius.
413. Expedition and death of Heraclian, Count of Africa.
417. Monasteries of Bethlehem burnt by adherents of Pelagius.
414. Adolphus, successor of Alaric, marries Galla Placidia.
415. Goths established in Aquitaine and Spain.
415. Schism at Antioch healed. Alexander sole Bishop.
416. Dialogue against the Pelagians.
415. Council of Diospolis (Lydda) accepts Pelagius.
418. Death of Eustochium.
418-19. Commentary on Jeremiah.
417. Pope Innocentius dies. Zosimus Pope.
420. Jerome dies (September 20) at Bethlehem.
417. Death of John, Bishop of Jerusalem. Succeeded by Praylus.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
The Letters of St. Jerome.
------------------------
Letter I. To Innocent.
Not only the first of the letters but probably the earliest extant
composition of Jerome (c. 370 a.d.). Innocent, to whom it is addressed,
was one of the little band of enthusiasts whom Jerome gathered round
him in Aquileia. He followed his friend to Syria, where he died in 374
a.d. (See Letter III., 3.)
1. You have frequently asked me, dearest Innocent, not to pass over in
silence the marvellous event which has happened in our own day. I have
declined the task from modesty and, as I now feel, with justice,
believing myself to be incapable of it, at once because human language
is inadequate to the divine praise, and because inactivity, acting like
rust upon the intellect, has dried up any little power of expression
that I have ever had. You in reply urge that in the things of God we
must look not at the work which we are able to accomplish, but at the
spirit in which it is undertaken, and that he can never be at a loss
for words who has believed on the Word.
2. What, then, must I do? The task is beyond me, and yet I dare not
decline it. I am a mere unskilled passenger, and I find myself placed
in charge of a freighted ship. I have not so much as handled a rowboat
on a lake, and now I have to trust myself to the noise and turmoil of
the Euxine. I see the shores sinking beneath the horizon, "sky and sea
on every side"; [2] darkness lowers over the water, the clouds are
black as night, the waves only are white with foam. You urge me to
hoist the swelling sails, to loosen the sheets, and to take the helm.
At last I obey your commands, and as charity can do all things, I will
trust in the Holy Ghost to guide my course, and I shall console myself,
whatever the event. For, if our ship is wafted by the surf into the
wished-for haven, I shall be content to be told that the pilotage was
poor. But, if through my unpolished diction we run aground amid the
rough cross-currents of language, you may blame my lack of power, but
you will at least recognize my good intentions.
3. To begin, then: Vercellæ is a Ligurian town, situated not far from
the base of the Alps, once important, but now sparsely peopled and
fallen into decay. When the consular [3] was holding his visitation
there, a poor woman and her paramour were brought before him--the
charge of adultery had been fastened upon them by the husband--and were
both consigned to the penal horrors of a prison. Shortly after an
attempt was made to elicit the truth by torture, and when the
blood-stained hook smote the young man's livid flesh and tore furrows
in his side, the unhappy wretch sought to avoid prolonged pain by a
speedy death. Falsely accusing his own passions, he involved another in
the charge; and it appeared that he was of all men the most miserable,
and that his execution was just inasmuch as he had left to an innocent
woman no means of self-defence. But the woman, stronger in virtue if
weaker in sex, though her frame was stretched upon the rack, and though
her hands, stained with the filth of the prison, were tied behind her,
looked up to heaven with her eyes, which alone the torturer had been
unable to bind, and while the tears rolled down her face, said: "Thou
art witness, Lord Jesus, to whom nothing is hid, who triest the reins
and the heart. [4] Thou art witness that it is not to save my life that
I deny this charge. I refuse to lie because to lie is sin. And as for
you, unhappy man, if you are bent on hastening your death, why must you
destroy not one innocent person, but two? I also, myself, desire to
die. I desire to put off this hated body, but not as an adulteress. I
offer my neck; I welcome the shining sword without fear; yet I will
take my innocence with me. He does not die who is slain while purposing
so to live."
4. The consular, who had been feasting his eyes upon the bloody
spectacle, now, like a wild beast, which after once tasting blood
always thirsts for it, ordered the torture to be doubled, and cruelly
gnashing his teeth, threatened the executioner with like punishment if
he failed to extort from the weaker sex a confession which a man's
strength had not been able to keep back.
5. Send help, Lord Jesus. For this one creature of Thine every species
of torture is devised. She is bound by the hair to a stake, her whole
body is fixed more firmly than ever on the rack; fire is brought and
applied to her feet; her sides quiver beneath the executioner's probe;
even her breasts do not escape. Still the woman remains unshaken; and,
triumphing in spirit over the pain of the body, enjoys the happiness of
a good conscience, round which the tortures rage in vain. [5] The cruel
judge rises, overcome with passion. She still prays to God. Her limbs
are wrenched from their sockets; she only turns her eyes to heaven.
Another confesses what is thought their common guilt. She, for the
confessor's sake, denies the confession, and, in peril of her own life,
clears one who is in peril of his.
6. Meantime she has but one thing to say: "Beat me, burn me, tear me,
if you will; I have not done it. If you will not believe my words, a
day will come when this charge shall be carefully sifted. I have One
who will judge me." Wearied out at last, the torturer sighed in
response to her groans; nor could he find a spot on which to inflict a
fresh wound. His cruelty overcome, he shuddered to see the body he had
torn. Immediately the consular cried, in a fit of passion, "Why does it
surprise you, bystanders, that a woman prefers torture to death? It
takes two people, most assuredly, to commit adultery; and I think it
more credible that a guilty woman should deny a sin than that an
innocent young man should confess one."
7. Like sentence, accordingly, was passed on both, and the condemned
pair were dragged to execution. The entire people poured out to see the
sight; indeed, so closely were the gates thronged by the out-rushing
crowd, that you might have fancied the city itself to be migrating. At
the very first stroke of the sword the head of the hapless youth was
cut off, and the headless trunk rolled over in its blood. Then came the
woman's turn. She knelt down upon the ground, and the shining sword was
lifted over her quivering neck. But though the headsman summoned all
his strength into his bared arm, the moment it touched her flesh the
fatal blade stopped short, and, lightly glancing over the skin, merely
grazed it sufficiently to draw blood. The striker saw, with terror, his
hand unnerved, and, amazed at his defeated skill and at his drooping
sword, he whirled it aloft for another stroke. Again the blade fell
forceless on the woman, sinking harmlessly on her neck, as though the
steel feared to touch her. The enraged and panting officer, who had
thrown open his cloak at the neck to give his full strength to the
blow, shook to the ground the brooch which clasped the edges of his
mantle, and not noticing this, began to poise his sword for a fresh
stroke. "See," cried the woman, "a jewel has fallen from your shoulder.
Pick up what you have earned by hard toil, that you may not lose it."
8. What, I ask, is the secret of such confidence as this? Death draws
near, but it has no terrors for her. When smitten she exults, and the
executioner turns pale. Her eyes see the brooch, they fail to see the
sword. And, as if intrepidity in the presence of death were not enough,
she confers a favor upon her cruel foe. And now the mysterious Power of
the Trinity rendered even a third blow vain. The terrified soldier, no
longer trusting the blade, proceeded to apply the point to her throat,
in the idea that though it might not cut, the pressure of his hand
might plunge it into her flesh. Marvel unheard of through all the ages!
The sword bent back to the hilt, and in its defeat looked to its
master, as if confessing its inability to slay.
9. Let me call to my aid the example of the three children, [6] who,
amid the cool, encircling fire, sang hymns, [7] instead of weeping, and
around whose turbans and holy hair the flames played harmlessly. Let me
recall, too, the story of the blessed Daniel, [8] in whose presence,
though he was their natural prey, the lions crouched, with fawning
tails and frightened mouths. Let Susannah also rise in the nobility of
her faith before the thoughts of all; who, after she had been condemned
by an unjust sentence, was saved through a youth inspired by the Holy
Ghost. [9] In both cases the Lord's mercy was alike shewn; for while
Susannah was set free by the judge, so as not to die by the sword, this
woman, though condemned by the judge, was acquitted by the sword.
10. Now at length the populace rise in arms to defend the woman. Men
and women of every age join in driving away the executioner, shouting
round him in a surging crowd. Hardly a man dares trust his own eyes.
The disquieting news reaches the city close at hand, and the entire
force of constables is mustered. The officer who is responsible for the
execution of criminals bursts from among his men, and
Staining his hoary hair with soiling dust, [10]
exclaims: "What! citizens, do you mean to seek my life? Do you intend
to make me a substitute for her? However much your minds are set on
mercy, and however much you wish to save a condemned woman, yet
assuredly I--I who am innocent--ought not to perish." His tearful
appeal tells upon the crowd, they are all benumbed by the influence of
sorrow, and an extraordinary change of feeling is manifested. Before it
had seemed a duty to plead for the woman's life, now it seemed a duty
to allow her to be executed.
11. Accordingly a new sword is fetched, a new headsman appointed. The
victim takes her place, once more strengthened only with the favor of
Christ. The first blow makes her quiver, beneath the second she sways
to and fro, by the third she falls wounded to the ground. Oh, majesty
of the divine power highly to be extolled! She who previously had
received four strokes without injury, now, a few moments later, seems
to die that an innocent man may not perish in her stead.
12. Those of the clergy whose duty it is to wrap the blood-stained
corpse in a winding-sheet, dig out the earth and, heaping together
stones, form the customary tomb. The sunset comes on quickly, and by
God's mercy the night of nature arrives more swiftly than is its wont.
Suddenly the woman's bosom heaves, her eyes seek the light, her body is
quickened into new life. A moment after she sighs, she looks round, she
gets up and speaks. At last she is able to cry: "The Lord is on my
side; I will not fear. What can man do unto me?" [11]
13. Meantime an aged woman, supported out of the funds of the church,
gave back her spirit to heaven from which it came. [12] It seemed as if
the course of events had been thus purposely ordered, for her body took
the place of the other beneath the mound. In the gray dawn the devil
comes on the scene in the form of a constable, [13] asks for the corpse
of her who had been slain, and desires to have her grave pointed out to
him. Surprised that she could have died, he fancies her to be still
alive. The clergy show him the fresh turf, and meet his demands by
pointing to the earth lately heaped up, taunting him with such words as
these: "Yes, of course, tear up the bones which have been buried!
Declare war anew against the tomb, and if even that does not satisfy
you, pluck her limb from limb for birds and beasts to mangle! Mere
dying is too good for one whom it took seven strokes to kill."
14. Before such opprobrious words the executioner retires in confusion,
while the woman is secretly revived at home. Then, lest the frequency
of the doctor's visits to the church might give occasion for suspicion,
they cut her hair short and send her in the company of some virgins to
a sequestered country house. There she changes her dress for that of a
man, and scars form over her wounds. Yet even after the great miracles
worked on her behalf, the laws still rage against her. So true is it
that, where there is most law, there, there is also most injustice.
[14]
15. But now see whither the progress of my story has brought me; we
come upon the name of our friend Evagrius. [15] So great have his
exertions been in the cause of Christ that, were I to suppose it
possible adequately to describe them, I should only show my own folly;
and were I minded deliberately to pass them by, I still could not
prevent my voice from breaking out into cries of joy. Who can fittingly
praise the vigilance which enabled him to bury, if I may so say, before
his death Auxentius [16] of Milan, that curse brooding over the church?
Or who can sufficiently extol the discretion with which he rescued the
Roman bishop [17] from the toils of the net in which he was fairly
entangled, and showed him the means at once of overcoming his opponents
and of sparing them in their discomfiture? But
Such topics I must leave to other bards,
Shut out by envious straits of time and space. [18]
I am satisfied now to record the conclusion of my tale. Evagrius seeks
a special audience of the Emperor; [19] importunes him with his
entreaties, wins his favor by his services, and finally gains his cause
through his earnestness. The Emperor restored to liberty the woman whom
God had restored to life.
__________________________________________________________________
[2] Virg. A. iii. 193.
[3] I.e. the governor of the province.
[4] Ps. vii. 9.
[5] Text corrupt.
[6] Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
[7] Song of the Three Holy Children.
[8] Dan. vi.
[9] Susannah 45; the youth spoken of is Daniel.
[10] Virg. A. xii. 611.
[11] Ps. cxviii. 6.
[12] Cf. Eccles. xii. 7.
[13] Lictor.
[14] An allusion to the well-known proverb, summum jus, summa injuria.
[15] A presbyter of Antioch and bishop, 388 a.d. He is mentioned again
in Letters III., IV., V., XV. See Jerome De Vir. iii. 125.
[16] The predecessor of Ambrose and an Arian. He was still living when
Jerome wrote, but died 374.
[17] Damasus, who having successfully made good his claim to the
papacy, in 369 condemned Auxentius in a council held at Rome.
[18] Virg. G. iv. 147, 148.
[19] Valentinian I.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter II. To Theodosius and the Rest of the Anchorites.
Written from Antioch, 374 a.d., while Jerome was still in doubt as to
his future course. Theodosius appears to have been the head of the
solitaries in the Syrian Desert.
How I long to be a member of your company, and with uplifting of all my
powers to embrace your admirable community! Though, indeed, these poor
eyes are not worthy to look upon it. Oh! that I could behold the
desert, lovelier to me than any city! Oh! that I could see those lonely
spots made into a paradise by the saints that throng them! But since my
sins prevent me from thrusting into your blessed company a head laden
with every transgression, I adjure you (and I know that you can do it)
by your prayers to deliver me from the darkness of this world. I spoke
of this when I was with you, and now in writing to you I repeat anew
the same request; for all the energy of my mind is devoted to this one
object. It rests with you to give effect to my resolve. I have the will
but not the power; this last can only come in answer to your prayers.
For my part, I am like a sick sheep astray from the flock. Unless the
good Shepherd shall place me on his shoulders and carry me back to the
fold, [20] my steps will totter, and in the very effort of rising I
shall find my feet give way. I am the prodigal son [21] who although I
have squandered all the portion entrusted to me by my father, have not
yet bowed the knee in submission to him; not yet have I commenced to
put away from me the allurements of my former excesses. And because it
is only a little while since I have begun not so much to abandon my
vices as to desire to abandon them, the devil now ensnares me in new
toils, he puts new stumbling-blocks in my path, he encompasses me on
every side.
The seas around, and all around the main. [22]
I find myself in mid-ocean, unwilling to retreat and unable to advance.
It only remains that your prayers should win for me the gale of the
Holy Spirit to waft me to the haven upon the desired shore.
__________________________________________________________________
[20] Luke xv. 3-5.
[21] Luke xv. 11-32.
[22] Virg. A. v. 9.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter III. To Rufinus the Monk. [23]
Written from Antioch, 374 a.d., to Rufinus in Egypt. Jerome narrates
his travels and the events which have taken place since his arrival in
Syria, particularly the deaths of Innocent and Hylas (§3). He also
describes the life of Bonosus, who was now a hermit on an island in the
Adriatic (§4). The main object of the letter is to induce Rufinus to
come to Syria.
1. That God gives more than we ask Him for, [24] and that He often
grants us things which "eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have
they entered into the heart of man," [25] I knew indeed before from the
mystic declaration of the sacred volumes; but now, dearest Rufinus, I
have had proof of it in my own case. For I who fancied it too bold a
wish to be allowed by an exchange of letters to counterfeit to myself
your presence in the flesh, hear that you are penetrating the remotest
parts of Egypt, visiting the monks and going round God's family upon
earth. Oh, if only the Lord Jesus Christ would suddenly transport me to
you as Philip was transported to the eunuch, [26] and Habakkuk to
Daniel, [27] with what a close embrace would I clasp your neck, how
fondly would I press kisses upon that mouth which has so often joined
with me of old in error or in wisdom. But as I am unworthy (not that
you should so come to me but) that I should so come to you, and because
my poor body, weak even when well, has been shattered by frequent
illnesses; I send this letter to meet you instead of coming myself, in
the hope that it may bring you hither to me caught in the meshes of
love's net.
2. My first joy at such unexpected good tidings was due to our brother,
Heliodorus. I desired to be sure of it, but did not dare to feel sure,
especially as he told me that he had only heard it from some one else,
and as the strangeness of the news impaired the credit of the story.
Once more my wishes hovered in uncertainty and my mind wavered, till an
Alexandrian monk who had some time previously been sent over by the
dutiful zeal of the people to the Egyptian confessors (in will already
martyrs [28] ), impelled me by his presence to believe the tidings.
Even then, I must admit I still hesitated. For on the one hand he knew
nothing either of your name or country: yet on the other what he said
seemed likely to be true, agreeing as it did with the hint which had
already reached me. At last the truth broke upon me in all its fulness,
for a constant stream of persons passing through brought the report:
"Rufinus is at Nitria, and has reached the abode of the blessed
Macarius." [29] At this point I cast away all that restrained my
belief, and then first really grieved to find myself ill. Had it not
been that my wasted and enfeebled frame fettered my movements, neither
the summer heat nor the dangerous voyage should have had power to
retard the rapid steps of affection. Believe me, brother, I look
forward to seeing you more than the storm-tossed mariner looks for his
haven, more than the thirsty fields long for the showers, more than the
anxious mother sitting on the curving shore expects her son.
3. After that sudden whirlwind [30] dragged me from your side, severing
with its impious wrench the bonds of affection in which we were knit
together,
The dark blue raincloud lowered o'er my head:
On all sides were the seas, on all the sky. [31]
I wandered about, uncertain where to go. Thrace, Pontus, Bithynia, the
whole of Galatia and Cappadocia, Cilicia also with its burning heat,
one after another shattered my energies. At last Syria presented itself
to me as a most secure harbor to a shipwrecked man. Here, after
undergoing every possible kind of sickness, I lost one of my two eyes;
for Innocent, [32] the half of my soul, [33] was taken away from me by
a sudden attack of fever. The one eye which I now enjoy, and which is
all in all to me, is our Evagrius, [34] upon whom I with my constant
infirmities have come as an additional burden. We had with us also
Hylas, [35] the servant of the holy Melanium, [36] who by his stainless
conduct had wiped out the taint of his previous servitude. His death
opened afresh the wound which had not yet healed. But as the apostle's
words forbid us to mourn for those who sleep, [37] and as my excess of
grief has been tempered by the joyful news that has since come to me, I
recount this last, that, if you have not heard it, you may learn it;
and that, if you know it already, you may rejoice over it with me.
4. Bonosus, [38] your friend, or, to speak more truly, mine as well as
yours, is now climbing the ladder foreshown in Jacob's dream. [39] He
is bearing his cross, neither taking thought for the morrow [40] nor
looking back at what he has left. [41] He is sowing in tears that he
may reap in joy. [42] As Moses in a type so he in reality is lifting up
the serpent in the wilderness. [43] This is a true story, and it may
well put to shame the lying marvels described by Greek and Roman pens.
For here you have a youth educated with us in the refining
accomplishments of the world, with abundance of wealth, and in rank
inferior to none of his associates; yet he forsakes his mother, his
sisters, and his dearly loved brother, and settles like a new tiller of
Eden on a dangerous island, with the sea roaring round its reefs; while
its rough crags, bare rocks, and desolate aspect make it more terrible
still. No peasant or monk is to be found there. Even the little
Onesimus [44] you know of, in whose kisses he used to rejoice as in
those of a brother, in this tremendous solitude no longer remains at
his side. Alone upon the island--or rather not alone, for Christ is
with him--he sees the glory of God, which even the apostles saw not
save in the desert. He beholds, it is true, no embattled towns, but he
has enrolled his name in the new city. [45] Garments of sackcloth
disfigure his limbs, yet so clad he will be the sooner caught up to
meet Christ in the clouds. [46] No watercourse pleasant to the view
supplies his wants, but from the Lord's side he drinks the water of
life. [47] Place all this before your eyes, dear friend, and with all
the faculties of your mind picture to yourself the scene. When you
realize the effort of the fighter then you will be able to praise his
victory. Round the entire island roars the frenzied sea, while the
beetling crags along its winding shores resound as the billows beat
against them. No grass makes the ground green; there are no shady
copses and no fertile fields. Precipitous cliffs surround his dreadful
abode as if it were a prison. But he, careless, fearless, and armed
from head to foot with the apostle's armor, [48] now listens to God by
reading the Scriptures, now speaks to God as he prays to the Lord; and
it may be that, while he lingers in the island, he sees some vision
such as that once seen by John. [49]
5. What snares, think you, is the devil now weaving? What stratagems is
he preparing? Perchance, mindful of his old trick, [50] he will try to
tempt Bonosus with hunger. But he has been answered already: "Man shall
not live by bread alone." [51] Perchance he will lay before him wealth
and fame. But it shall be said to him: "They that desire to be rich
fall into a trap [52] and temptations," [53] and "For me all glorying
is in Christ." [54] He will come, it may be, when the limbs are weary
with fasting, and rack them with the pangs of disease; but the cry of
the apostle will repel him: "When I am weak, then am I strong," and "My
strength is made perfect in weakness." [55] He will hold out threats of
death; but the reply will be: "I desire to depart and to be with
Christ." [56] He will brandish his fiery darts, but they will be
received on the shield of faith. [57] In a word, Satan will assail him,
but Christ will defend. Thanks be to Thee, Lord Jesus, that in Thy day
I have one able to pray to Thee for me. To Thee all hearts are open,
Thou searchest the secrets of the heart, [58] Thou seest the prophet
shut up in the fish's belly in the midst of the sea. [59] Thou knowest
then how he and I grew up together from tender infancy to vigorous
manhood, how we were fostered in the bosoms of the same nurses, and
carried in the arms of the same bearers; and how after studying
together at Rome we lodged in the same house and shared the same food
by the half savage banks of the Rhine. Thou knowest, too, that it was I
who first began to seek to serve Thee. Remember, I beseech Thee, that
this warrior of Thine was once a raw recruit with me. I have before me
the declaration of Thy majesty: "Whosoever shall teach and not do shall
be called least in the kingdom of heaven." [60] May he enjoy the crown
of virtue, and in return for his daily martyrdoms may he follow the
Lamb robed in white raiment! [61] For "in my Father's house are many
mansions," [62] and "one star differeth from another star in glory."
[63] Give me strength to raise my head to a level with the saints'
heels! [64] I willed, but he performed. Do Thou therefore pardon me
that I failed to keep my resolve, and reward him with the guerdon of
his deserts.
I may perhaps have been tedious, and have said more than the short
compass of a letter usually allows; but this, I find, is always the
case with me when I have to say anything in praise of our dear Bonosus.
6. However, to return to the point from which I set out, I beseech you
do not let me pass wholly out of sight and out of mind. A friend is
long sought, hardly found, and with difficulty kept. Let those who
will, allow gold to dazzle them and be borne along in splendor, their
very baggage glittering with gold and silver. Love is not to be
purchased, and affection has no price. The friendship which can cease
has never been real. Farewell in Christ.
__________________________________________________________________
[23] In Jerome's day this term included all--whether hermits or
coenobites--who forsook the world and embraced an ascetic life.
[24] Cf. Eph. iii. 20.
[25] 1 Cor. ii. 9.
[26] Acts viii. 26-30.
[27] Bel 33-36.
[28] Priests, monks, and others who, because they would not declare
themselves Arians, were banished by order of Valens to Heliopolis in
Phenicia.
[29] There were two hermits of this name in Egypt, and it is not
certain which is meant. One of them was a disciple of Antony.
[30] The ascetic community at Aquileia, of which Jerome and Rufinus
were the leaders, had been broken up, perhaps through the efforts of
Lupicinus, the bishop of Stridon.
[31] Virg. A. iii. 193, 194: v. 9.
[32] See Letter I.
[33] Hor. C. i. 3, 8.
[34] See Letter I. § 15.
[35] A freedman of Melanium.
[36] A young Roman widow who had given up the world that she might
adopt the ascetic life. She accompanied Rufinus to the East and settled
with him on the Mount of Olives. She is mentioned again in Letters IV.,
XXXIX., XLV., and others.
[37] 1 Thess. iv. 13.
[38] Jerome's foster-brother who had accompanied him on his first visit
to Rome. He was now living as a hermit on a small island in the
neighborhood of Aquileia. See Letter VII. § 3.
[39] Gen. xxviii. 12.
[40] Matt. vi. 34.
[41] Luke ix. 62.
[42] Ps. cxxvi. 5.
[43] Nu. xxi. 9.
[44] Of this child nothing is known.
[45] I.e. the new Jerusalem. Rev. xxi. 2; Is. iv. 3.
[46] 1 Thess. iv. 17.
[47] Joh. iv. 14; xix. 34.
[48] Eph. vi. 13-17.
[49] Rev. i. 9, 10.
[50] Gen. iii. 1-6; Matt. iv. 1-4.
[51] Matt. iv. 4.
[52] Literally "mousetrap." This variant is peculiar to Cyprian and
Jerome.
[53] 1 Tim. vi. 9.
[54] 1 Cor. i. 31.
[55] 2 Cor. xii. 10, 9.
[56] Philip. i. 23.
[57] Eph. vi. 16.
[58] Acts i. 24; Rev. ii. 23.
[59] Jon. ii. 1, 2.
[60] Matt. v. 19.
[61] Rev. xiv. 4.
[62] John xiv. 2.
[63] 1 Cor. xv. 41.
[64] Quoted from Tert. de C. F. ii. 7.
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Letter IV. To Florentius.
Sent to Florentius along with the preceding letter, which Jerome
requests him to deliver to Rufinus. This Florentius was a rich Italian
who had retired to Jerusalem to pursue the monastic life. Jerome
subsequently speaks of him as "a distinguished monk so pitiful to the
needy that he was generally known as the father of the poor." (Chron.
ad a.d. 381.)
1. How much your name and sanctity are on the lips of the most
different peoples you may gather from the fact that I commence to love
you before I know you. For as, according to the apostle, "Some men's
sins are evident going before unto judgment," [65] so contrariwise the
report of your charity is so widespread that it is considered not so
much praiseworthy to love you as criminal to refuse to do so. I pass
over the countless instances in which you have supported Christ, [66]
fed, clothed, and visited Him. The aid you rendered to our brother
Heliodorus [67] in his need may well loose the utterance of the dumb.
With what gratitude, with what commendation, does he speak of the
kindness with which you smoothed a pilgrim's path. I am, it is true,
the most sluggish of men, consumed by an unendurable sickness; yet keen
affection and desire have winged my feet, and I have come forward to
salute and embrace you. I wish you every good thing, and pray that the
Lord may establish our nascent friendship.
2. Our brother, Rufinus, is said to have come from Egypt to Jerusalem
with the devout lady, Melanium. He is inseparably bound to me in
brotherly love; and I beg you to oblige me by delivering to him the
annexed letter. You must not, however, judge of me by the virtues that
you find in him. For in him you will see the clearest tokens of
holiness, whilst I am but dust and vile dirt, and even now, while still
living, nothing but ashes. It is enough for me if my weak eyes can bear
the brightness of his excellence. He has but now washed himself [68]
and is clean, yea, is made white as snow; [69] whilst I, stained with
every sin, wait day and night with trembling to pay the uttermost
farthing. [70] But since "the Lord looseth the prisoners," [71] and
resteth upon him who is of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at His
words, [72] perchance he may say even to me who lie in the grave of
sin: "Jerome, come forth." [73]
The reverend presbyter, Evagrius, warmly salutes you. We both with
united respect salute the brother, Martinianus. [74] I desire much to
see him, but I am impeded by the chain of sickness. Farewell in Christ.
__________________________________________________________________
[65] 1 Tim. v. 24, R.V.
[66] Matt. xxv. 34-40.
[67] See introduction to Letter XIV.
[68] Rufinus had been baptized at Aquileia about three years previously
(371 a.d.).
[69] Cf. Ps. li. 7.
[70] Matt. v. 26.
[71] Ps. cxlvi. 7.
[72] Isa. lxvi. 2.
[73] Joh. xi. 43.
[74] Acc. to Vallarsi a hermit, who at this time lived near Cæsarea.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter V. To Florentius.
Written a few months after the preceding (about the end of 374 a.d.)
from the Syrian Desert. After dilating on his friendship for
Florentius, and making a passing allusion to Rufinus, Jerome mentions
certain books, copies of which he desires to be sent to him. He also
speaks of a runaway slave about whom Florentius had written to him.
1. Your letter, dear friend, finds me dwelling in that quarter of the
desert which is nearest to Syria and the Saracens. And the reading of
it rekindles in my mind so keen a desire to set out for Jerusalem that
I am almost ready to violate my monastic vow in order to gratify my
affection. Wishing to do the best I can, as I cannot come in person I
send you a letter instead; and thus, though absent in the body, I come
to you in love and in spirit. [75] For my earnest prayer is that our
infant friendship, firmly cemented as it is in Christ, may never be
rent asunder by time or distance. We ought rather to strengthen the
bond by an interchange of letters. Let these pass between us, meet each
other on the way, and converse with us. Affection will not lose much if
it keeps up an intercourse of this kind.
2. You write that our brother, Rufinus, has not yet come to you. Even
if he does come it will do little to satisfy my longing, for I shall
not now be able to see him. He is too far away to come hither, and the
conditions of the lonely life that I have adopted forbid me to go to
him. For I am no longer free to follow my own wishes. I entreat you,
therefore, to ask him to allow you to have the commentaries of the
reverend Rhetitius, [76] bishop of Augustodunum, [77] copied, in which
he has so eloquently explained the Song of Songs. A countryman of the
aforesaid brother Rufinus, the old man Paul, [78] writes that Rufinus
has his copy of Tertullian, and urgently requests that this may be
returned. Next I have to ask you to get written on paper by a copyist
certain books which the subjoined list [79] will show you that I do not
possess. I beg also that you will send me the explanation of the Psalms
of David, and the copious work on Synods of the reverend Hilary, [80]
which I copied for him [81] at Trêves with my own hand. Such books, you
know, must be the food of the Christian soul if it is to meditate in
the law of the Lord day and night. [82]
Others you welcome beneath your roof, you cherish and comfort, you help
out of your own purse; but so far as I am concerned, you have given me
everything when once you have granted my request. And since, through
the Lord's bounty, I am rich in volumes of the sacred library, [83] you
may command me in turn. I will send you what you please; and do not
suppose that an order from you will give me trouble. I have pupils
devoted to the art of copying. Nor do I merely promise a favor because
I am asking one. Our brother, Heliodorus, [84] tells me that there are
many parts of the Scriptures which you seek and cannot find. But even
if you have them all, affection is sure to assert its rights and to
seek for itself more than it already has.
3. As regards the present master of your slave--of whom you have done
me the honor to write--I have no doubt but that he is his kidnapper.
While I was still at Antioch the presbyter, Evagrius, often reproved
him in my presence. To whom he made this answer: "I have nothing to
fear." He declares that his master has dismissed him. If you both want
him, he is here; send him whither you will. I think I am not wrong in
refusing to allow a runaway to stray farther. Here in the wilderness I
cannot myself execute your orders; and therefore I have asked my dear
friend Evagrius to push the affair vigorously, both for your sake and
for mine. I desire your welfare in Christ.
__________________________________________________________________
[75] Cf. Col. ii. 5.
[76] A man of some note, as he was one of the commissioners appointed
by Constantine in 313 a.d. to settle the points of issue between the
Catholics and the Donatists. Jerome criticises his commentary on the
Song of Songs in Letter XXXVII.
[77] Autun.
[78] See the introd. to Letter X.
[79] This list has perished.
[80] I.e. Hilary of Poitiers.
[81] Rufinus.
[82] Ps. i. 2.
[83] I.e. the Scriptures.
[84] See the introd. to Letter XIV.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter VI. To Julian, a Deacon of Antioch.
This letter, written in 374 a.d., is chiefly interesting for its
mention of Jerome's sister. It would seem that she had fallen into sin
and had been restored to a life of virtue by the deacon, Julian. Jerome
speaks of her again in the next letter (§4).
It is an old saying, "Liars are disbelieved even when they speak the
truth." [85] And from the way in which you reproach me for not having
written, I perceive that this has been my lot with you. Shall I say, "I
wrote often, but the bearers of my letters were negligent"? You will
reply, "Your excuse is the old one of all who fail to write." Shall I
say, "I could not find any one to take my letters"? You will say that
numbers of persons have gone from my part of the world to yours. Shall
I contend that I have actually given them letters? They not having
delivered them, will deny that they have received them. Moreover, so
great a distance separates us that it will be hard to come at the
truth. What shall I do then? Though really not to blame, I ask your
forgiveness, for I think it better to fall back and make overtures for
peace than to keep my ground and offer battle. The truth is that
constant sickness of body and vexation of mind have so weakened me that
with death so close at hand I have not been as collected as usual. And
lest you should account this plea a false one, now that I have stated
my case, I shall, like a pleader, call witnesses to prove it. Our
reverend brother, Heliodorus, has been here; but in spite of his wish
to dwell in the desert with me, he has been frightened away by my
crimes. But my present wordiness will atone for my past remissness;
for, as Horace says in his satire: [86]
All singers have one fault among their friends:
They never sing when asked, unasked they never cease.
Henceforth I shall overwhelm you with such bundles of letters that you
will take the opposite line and beg me not to write.
I rejoice that my sister [87] --to you a daughter in Christ--remains
steadfast in her purpose, a piece of news which I owe in the first
instance to you. For here where I now am I am ignorant not only as to
what goes on in my native land, but even as to its continued existence.
Even though the Iberian viper [88] shall rend me with his baneful
fangs, I will not fear men's judgment, seeing that I shall have God to
judge me. As one puts it:
Shatter the world to fragments if you will:
'Twill fall upon a head which knows not fear. [89]
Bear in mind, then, I pray you, the apostle's precept [90] that we
should make our work abiding; prepare for yourself a reward from the
Lord in my sister's salvation; and by frequent letters increase my joy
in that glory in Christ which we share together.
__________________________________________________________________
[85] Aristotle is the author of this remark.
[86] Hor. S. i. 3, 1-3.
[87] Mentioned again in Letter VII., § 4.
[88] The person meant is uncertain. Probably it was Lupicinus, bishop
of Stridon, for whom see the next letter.
[89] Horace, C. iii. 3, 7, 8.
[90] 1 Cor. iii. 14.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter VII. To Chromatius, Jovinus, and Eusebius. [91]
This letter (written like the preceding in 374 a.d.) is addressed by
Jerome to three of his former companions in the religious life. It
commends Bonosus (§3), asks guidance for the writer's sister (§4), and
attacks the conduct of Lupicinus, Bishop of Stridon (§5).
1. Those whom mutual affection has joined together, a written page
ought not to sunder. I must not, therefore, distribute my words some to
one and some to another. For so strong is the love that binds you
together that affection unites all three of you in a bond no less close
than that which naturally connects two of your number. [92] Indeed, if
the conditions of writing would only admit of it, I should amalgamate
your names and express them under a single symbol. The very letter
which I have received from you challenges me in each of you to see all
three, and in all three to recognize each. When the reverend Evagrius
transmitted it to me in the corner of the desert which stretches
between the Syrians and the Saracens, my joy was intense. It wholly
surpassed the rejoicings felt at Rome when the defeat of Cannæ was
retrieved, and Marcellus at Nola cut to pieces the forces of Hannibal.
Evagrius frequently comes to see me, and cherishes me in Christ as his
own bowels. [93] Yet as he is separated from me by a long distance, his
departure has generally left me as much regret as his arrival has
brought me joy.
2. I converse with your letter, I embrace it, it talks to me; it alone
of those here speaks Latin. For hereabout you must either learn a
barbarous jargon or else hold your tongue. As often as the
lines--traced in a well-known hand--bring back to me the faces which I
hold so dear, either I am no longer here, or else you are here with me.
If you will credit the sincerity of affection, I seem to see you all as
I write this.
Now at the outset I should like to ask you one petulant question. Why
is it that, when we are separated by so great an interval of land and
sea, you have sent me so short a letter? Is it that I have deserved no
better treatment, not having first written to you? I cannot believe
that paper can have failed you while Egypt continues to supply its
wares. Even if a Ptolemy had closed the seas, King Attalus would still
have sent you parchments from Pergamum, and so by his skins you could
have made up for the want of paper. The very name parchment is derived
from a historical incident of the kind which occurred generations ago.
[94] What then? Am I to suppose the messenger to have been in haste? No
matter how long a letter may be, it can be written in the course of a
night. Or had you some business to attend to which prevented you from
writing? No claim is prior to that of affection. Two suppositions
remain, either that you felt disinclined to write or else that I did
not deserve a letter. Of the two I prefer to charge you with sloth than
to condemn myself as undeserving. For it is easier to mend neglect than
to quicken love.
3. You tell me that Bonosus, like a true son of the Fish, has taken to
the water. [95] As for me who am still foul with my old stains, like
the basilisk and the scorpion I haunt the dry places. [96] Bonosus has
his heel already on the serpent's head, whilst I am still as food to
the same serpent which by divine appointment devours the earth. [97] He
can scale already that ladder of which the psalms of degrees [98] are a
type; whilst I, still weeping on its first step, hardly know whether I
shall ever be able to say: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,
from whence cometh my help." [99] Amid the threatening billows of the
world he is sitting in the safe shelter of his island, [100] that is,
of the church's pale, and it may be that even now, like John, he is
being called to eat God's book; [101] whilst I, still lying in the
sepulchre of my sins and bound with the chains of my iniquities, wait
for the Lord's command in the Gospel: "Jerome, come forth." [102] But
Bonosus has done more than this. Like the prophet [103] he has carried
his girdle across the Euphrates (for all the devil's strength is in the
loins [104] ), and has hidden it there in a hole of the rock. Then,
afterwards finding it rent, he has sung: "O Lord, thou hast possessed
my reins. [105] Thou hast broken my bonds in sunder. I will offer to
thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving." [106] But as for me,
Nebuchadnezzar has brought me in chains to Babylon, to the babel that
is of a distracted mind. There he has laid upon me the yoke of
captivity; there inserting in my nostrils a ring of iron, [107] he has
commanded me to sing one of the songs of Zion. To whom I have said,
"The Lord looseth the prisoners; the Lord openeth the eyes of the
blind." [108] To complete my contrast in a single sentence, whilst I
pray for mercy Bonosus looks for a crown.
4. My sister's conversion is the fruit of the efforts of the saintly
Julian. He has planted, it is for you to water, and the Lord will give
the increase. [109] Jesus Christ has given her to me to console me for
the wound which the devil has inflicted on her. He has restored her
from death to life. But in the words of the pagan poet, for her
There is no safety that I do not fear. [110]
You know yourselves how slippery is the path of youth--a path on which
I have myself fallen, [111] and which you are now traversing not
without fear. She, as she enters upon it, must have the advice and the
encouragement of all, she must be aided by frequent letters from you,
my reverend brothers. And--for "charity endureth all things," [112] --I
beg you to get from Pope [113] Valerian [114] a letter to confirm her
resolution. A girl's courage, as you know, is strengthened when she
realizes that persons in high place are interested in her.
5. The fact is that my native land is a prey to barbarism, that in it
men's only God is their belly, [115] that they live only for the
present, and that the richer a man is the holier he is held to be.
Moreover, to use a well-worn proverb, the dish has a cover worthy of
it; for Lupicinus is their priest. [116] Like lips like lettuce, as the
saying goes--the only one, as Lucilius tells us, [117] at which Crassus
ever laughed--the reference being to a donkey eating thistles. What I
mean is that an unstable pilot steers a leaking ship, and that the
blind is leading the blind straight to the pit. The ruler is like the
ruled.
6. I salute your mother and mine with the respect which, as you know, I
feel towards her. Associated with you as she is in a holy life, she has
the start of you, her holy children, in that she is your mother. Her
womb may thus be truly called golden. With her I salute your sisters,
who ought all to be welcomed wherever they go, for they have triumphed
over their sex and the world, and await the Bridegroom's coming, [118]
their lamps replenished with oil. O happy the house which is a home of
a widowed Anna, of virgins that are prophetesses, and of twin Samuels
bred in the Temple! [119] Fortunate the roof which shelters the
martyr-mother of the Maccabees, with her sons around her, each and all
wearing the martyr's crown! [120] For although you confess Christ every
day by keeping His commandments, yet to this private glory you have
added the public one of an open confession; for it was through you that
the poison of the Arian heresy was formerly banished from your city.
You are surprised perhaps at my thus making a fresh beginning quite at
the close of my letter. But what am I to do? I cannot refuse expression
to my feelings. The brief limits of a letter compel me to be silent; my
affection for you urges me to speak. I write in haste, my language is
confused and ill-arranged; but love knows nothing of order.
__________________________________________________________________
[91] Jovinus was archdeacon of Aquileia. All three became
bishops--Chromatius of Aquileia, the others of unknown sees.
[92] Chromatius and Eusebius were brothers.
[93] Philem. 12.
[94] See Pliny, H. N. xiii. 21.
[95] The Greek word IChThUS represented to the early Christians the
sentence 'Iesous Christos Theou Uos Soter. Hence the fish became a
favorite emblem of Christ. Tertullian connects the symbol with the
water of baptism, saying: "We little fishes are born by our Fish, Jesus
Christ, in water and can thrive only by continuing in the water." The
allusion in the text is to the baptism of Bonosus. See Schaff,
"Ante-Nicene Christianity," p. 279.
[96] Deut. viii. 15.
[97] Gen. iii. 14.
[98] Viz., Psa. cxx.-cxxxiv.
[99] Ps. cxxi. 1.
[100] See Letter III.
[101] Rev. x. 9, 10.
[102] John xi. 43.
[103] Jer. xiii. 4, 5.
[104] Job xl. 16 (said of Behemoth); cf. Letter XXII. § 11.
[105] Ps. cxxxix. 13.
[106] Ps. cxvi. 14, 15, P.B.V.
[107] Cf. 2 Kings xix. 28.
[108] Psa. cxxxvii. 3; cxlvi. 7, 8.
[109] 1 Cor. iii. 6.
[110] Virg. A. iv. 298.
[111] Jerome again refers to his own frailty in Letters XIV. § 6,
XVIII. § 11, and XLVIII. § 20.
[112] 1 Cor. xiii. 7.
[113] Papa. The word "pope" was at this time used as a name of respect
("father in God") for bishops generally. Only by degrees did it come to
be restricted to the bishop of Rome. Similarly the word "imperator,"
originally applied to any Roman general, came to be used of the Emperor
alone.
[114] Bishop of Aquileia.
[115] Phi. iii. 19.
[116] Sacerdos. In the letters this word generally denotes a bishop.
Lupicinus held the see of Stridon.
[117] Cic. de Fin. v. 30.
[118] Matt. xxv. 4.
[119] Luke ii. 36; Acts xxi. 9; 1 Sam. ii. 18.
[120] 2 Macc. vii.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter VIII. To Niceas, Sub-Deacon of Aquileia.
Niceas, the sub-deacon, had accompanied Jerome to the East but had now
returned home. In after-years he became bishop of Aquileia in
succession to Chromatius. The date of the letter is 374 a.d.
The comic poet Turpilius [121] says of the exchange of letters that it
alone makes the absent present. The remark, though occurring in a work
of fiction, is not untrue. For what more real presence--if I may so
speak--can there be between absent friends than speaking to those whom
they love in letters, and in letters hearing their reply? Even those
Italian savages, the Cascans of Ennius, who--as Cicero tells us in his
books on rhetoric--hunted their food like beasts of prey, were wont,
before paper and parchment came into use, to exchange letters written
on tablets of wood roughly planed, or on strips of bark torn from the
trees. For this reason men called letter-carriers tablet-bearers, [122]
and letter-writers bark-users, [123] because they used the bark of
trees. How much more then are we, who live in a civilized age, bound
not to omit a social duty performed by men who lived in a state of
gross savagery, and were in some respects entirely ignorant of the
refinements of life. The saintly Chromatius, look you, and the reverend
Eusebius, brothers as much by compatibility of disposition as by the
ties of nature, have challenged me to diligence by the letters which
they have showered upon me. You, however, who have but just left me,
have not merely unknit our new-made friendship; you have torn it
asunder--a process which Lælius, in Cicero's treatise, [124] wisely
forbids. Can it be that the East is so hateful to you that you dread
the thought of even your letters coming hither? Wake up, wake up,
arouse yourself from sleep, give to affection at least one sheet of
paper. Amid the pleasures of life at home sometimes heave a sigh over
the journeys which we have made together. If you love me, write in
answer to my prayer. If you are angry with me, though angry still
write. I find my longing soul much comforted when I receive a letter
from a friend, even though that friend be out of temper with me.
__________________________________________________________________
[121] Turpilius, who appears to have been a dramatist of some note,
died in 101 b.c. He is mentioned by Jerome in his edition of the
Eusebian Chronicle.
[122] Tabellarii, from tabella, a small tablet.
[123] Librarii, from liber, bark.
[124] Cic. Lælius, 76.
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Letter IX. To Chrysogonus, a Monk of Aquileia.
A bantering letter to an indifferent correspondent. Of the same date as
the preceding.
Heliodorus, [125] who is so dear to us both, and who loves you with an
affection no less deep than my own, may have given you a faithful
account of my feelings towards you; how your name is always on my lips,
and how in every conversation which I have with him I begin by
recalling my pleasant intercourse with you, and go on to marvel at your
lowliness, to extol your virtue, and to proclaim your holy love.
Lynxes, they say, when they look behind them, forget what they have
just seen, and lose all thought of what their eyes have ceased to
behold. And so it seems to be with you. For so entirely have you
forgotten our joint attachment that you have not merely blurred but
erased the writing of that epistle which, as the apostle tells us,
[126] is written in the hearts of Christians. The creatures that I have
mentioned lurk on branches of leafy trees and pounce on fleet roes or
frightened stags. In vain their victims fly, for they carry their
tormentors with them, and these rend their flesh as they run. Lynxes,
however, only hunt when an empty belly makes their mouths dry. When
they have satisfied their thirst for blood, and have filled their
stomachs with food, satiety induces forgetfulness, and they bestow no
thought on future prey till hunger recalls them to a sense of their
need.
Now in your case it cannot be that you have already had enough of me.
Why then do you bring to a premature close a friendship which is but
just begun? Why do you let slip what you have hardly as yet fully
grasped? But as such remissness as yours is never at a loss for an
excuse, you will perhaps declare that you had nothing to write. Had
this been so, you should still have written to inform me of the fact.
__________________________________________________________________
[125] See introd. to Letter XIV.
[126] 2 Cor. iii. 2.
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Letter X. To Paul, an Old Man of Concordia.
Jerome writes to Paul of Concordia, a centenarian (§2), and the owner
of a good theological library (§3), to lend him some commentaries. In
return he sends him his life (newly written) of Paul the hermit. [127]
The date of the letter is 374 a.d.
1. The shortness of man's life is the punishment for man's sin; and the
fact that even on the very threshold of the light death constantly
overtakes the new-born child proves that the times are continually
sinking into deeper depravity. For when the first tiller of paradise
had been entangled by the serpent in his snaky coils, and had been
forced in consequence to migrate earthwards, although his deathless
state was changed for a mortal one, yet the sentence [128] of man's
curse was put off for nine hundred years, or even more, a period so
long that it may be called a second immortality. Afterwards sin
gradually grew more and more virulent, till the ungodliness of the
giants [129] brought in its train the shipwreck of the whole world.
Then when the world had been cleansed by the baptism--if I may so call
it--of the deluge, human life was contracted to a short span. Yet even
this we have almost altogether wasted, so continually do our iniquities
fight against the divine purposes. For how few there are, either who go
beyond their hundredth year, or who, going beyond it, do not regret
that they have done so; according to that which the Scripture witnesses
in the book of Psalms: "the days of our years are threescore years and
ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their
strength labor and sorrow." [130]
2. Why, say you, these opening reflections so remote and so far fetched
that one might use against them the Horatian witticism:
Back to the eggs which Leda laid for Zeus,
The bard is fain to trace the war of Troy? [131]
Simply that I may describe in fitting terms your great age and hoary
head as white as Christ's. [132] For see, the hundredth circling year
is already passing over you, and yet, always keeping the commandments
of the Lord, amid the circumstances of your present life you think over
the blessedness of that which is to come. Your eyes are bright and
keen, your steps steady, your hearing good, your teeth are white, your
voice musical, your flesh firm and full of sap; your ruddy cheeks belie
your white hairs, your strength is not that of your age. Advancing
years have not, as we too often see them do, impaired the tenacity of
your memory; the coldness of your blood has not blunted an intellect at
once warm and wary. [133] Your face is not wrinkled nor your brow
furrowed. Lastly, no tremors palsy your hand or cause it to travel in
crooked pathways over the wax on which you write. The Lord shows us in
you the bloom of the resurrection that is to be ours; so that whereas
in others who die by inches whilst yet living, we recognize the results
of sin, in your case we ascribe it to righteousness that you still
simulate youth at an age to which it is foreign. And although we see
the like haleness of body in many even of those who are sinners, in
their case it is a grant of the devil to lead them into sin, whilst in
yours it is a gift of God to make you rejoice.
3. Tully in his brilliant speech on behalf of Flaccus [134] describes
the learning of the Greeks as "innate frivolity and accomplished
vanity."
Certainly their ablest literary men used to receive money for
pronouncing eulogies upon their kings or princes. Following their
example, I set a price upon my praise. Nor must you suppose my demand a
small one. You are asked to give me the pearl of the Gospel, [135] "the
words of the Lord," "pure words, even as the silver which from the
earth is tried, and purified seven times in the fire," [136] I mean the
commentaries of Fortunatian [137] and--for its account of the
persecutors--the History of Aurelius Victor, [138] and with these the
Letters of Novatian; [139] so that, learning the poison set forth by
this schismatic, we may the more gladly drink of the antidote supplied
by the holy martyr Cyprian. In the mean time I have sent to you, that
is to say, to Paul the aged, a Paul that is older still. [140] I have
taken great pains to bring my language down to the level of the simpler
sort. But, somehow or other, though you fill it with water, the jar
retains the odor which it acquired when first used. [141] If my little
gift should please you, I have others also in store which (if the Holy
Spirit shall breathe favorably), shall sail across the sea to you with
all kinds of eastern merchandise.
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[127] See the Life of Paul in this volume.
[128] Elogium.
[129] Gen. vi. 4.
[130] Ps. xc. 10.
[131] Hor. A. P. 147. Zeus having visited Leda in the form of a swan,
she produced two eggs, from one of which came Castor and Pollux, and
from the other Helen, who was the cause of the Trojan war.
[132] Rev. i. 14.
[133] A play on words: callidus, "wary," is indistinguishable in sound
from calidus, "warm."
[134] The words quoted do not occur in the extant portion of Cicero's
speech.
[135] Matt. xiii. 46.
[136] Ps. xii. 7, P. B. V.
[137] For some account of this writer see Jerome, De V. iii. c. xcvii.
[138] A Roman annalist some of whose works are still extant. He was
contemporary with but probably older than Jerome.
[139] A puritan of the third century who seceded from the Roman church
because of the laxity of its discipline.
[140] I.e. the life of Paul the Hermit, translated in this vol.
[141] Hor. Ep. I. ii. 69; cf. T. Moore: "You may break, you may shatter
the vase if you will: The scent of the roses will hang round it still."
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Letter XI. To the Virgins of Æmona.
Æmona was a Roman colony not far from Stridon, Jerome's birthplace. The
virgins to whom the note is addressed had omitted to answer his
letters, and he now writes to upbraid them for their remissness. The
date of the letter is 374 a.d.
This scanty sheet of paper shows in what a wilderness I live, and
because of it I have to say much in few words. For, desirous though I
am to speak to you more fully, this miserable scrap compels me to leave
much unsaid. Still ingenuity makes up for lack of means, and by writing
small I can say a great deal. Observe, I beseech you, how I love you,
even in the midst of my difficulties, since even the want of materials
does not stop me from writing to you.
Pardon, I beseech you, an aggrieved man: if I speak in tears and in
anger it is because I have been injured. For in return for my regular
letters you have not sent me a single syllable. Light, I know, has no
communion with darkness, [142] and God's handmaidens no fellowship with
a sinner, yet a harlot was allowed to wash the Lord's feet with her
tears, [143] and dogs are permitted to eat of their masters' crumbs.
[144] It was the Saviour's mission to call sinners and not the
righteous; for, as He said Himself, "they that be whole need not a
physician." [145] He wills the repentance of a sinner rather than his
death, [146] and carries home the poor stray sheep on His own
shoulders. [147] So, too, when the prodigal son returns, his father
receives him with joy. [148] Nay more, the apostle says: "Judge nothing
before the time." [149] For "who art thou that judgest another man's
servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth." [150] And "let him
that standeth take heed lest he fall." [151] "Bear ye one another's
burdens." [152]
Dear sisters, man's envy judges in one way, Christ in another; and the
whisper of a corner is not the same as the sentence of His tribunal.
Many ways seem right to men which are afterwards found to be wrong.
[153] And a treasure is often stowed in earthen vessels. [154] Peter
thrice denied his Lord, yet his bitter tears restored him to his place.
"To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much." [155] No word is said
of the flock as a whole, yet the angels joy in heaven over the safety
of one sick ewe. [156] And if any one demurs to this reasoning, the
Lord Himself has said: "Friend, is thine eye evil because I am good?"
[157]
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[142] 2 Cor. vi. 14.
[143] Luke vii. 37 sqq.
[144] Matt. xv. 27.
[145] Matt. ix. 12, 13.
[146] Ezek. xxxiii. 11.
[147] Luke xv. 5.
[148] Luke xv. 20.
[149] 1 Cor. iv. 5.
[150] Rom. xiv. 4.
[151] 1 Cor. x. 12.
[152] Gal. vi. 2.
[153] Cf. Prov. xiv. 12.
[154] 2 Cor. iv. 7.
[155] Luke vii. 47.
[156] Luke xv. 7, 10.
[157] Matt. xx. 15.
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Letter XII. To Antony, Monk.
The subject of this letter is similar to that of the preceding. Of
Antony nothing is known except that some mss. describe him as "of
Æmona." The date of the letter is 374 a.d.
While the disciples were disputing concerning precedence our Lord, the
teacher of humility, took a little child and said: "Except ye be
converted and become as little children ye cannot enter the kingdom of
heaven." [158] And lest He should seem to preach more than he
practised, He fulfilled His own precept in His life. For He washed His
disciples' feet, [159] he received the traitor with a kiss, [160] He
conversed with the woman of Samaria, [161] He spoke of the kingdom of
heaven with Mary at His feet, [162] and when He rose again from the
dead He showed Himself first to some poor women. [163] Pride is opposed
to humility, and through it Satan lost his eminence as an archangel.
The Jewish people perished in their pride, for while they claimed the
chief seats and salutations in the market place, [164] they were
superseded by the Gentiles, who had before been counted as "a drop of a
bucket." [165] Two poor fishermen, Peter and James, were sent to
confute the sophists and the wise men of the world. As the Scripture
says: "God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble." [166]
Think, brother, what a sin it must be which has God for its opponent.
In the Gospel the Pharisee is rejected because of his pride, and the
publican is accepted because of his humility. [167]
Now, unless I am mistaken, I have already sent you ten letters,
affectionate and earnest, whilst you have not deigned to give me even a
single line. The Lord speaks to His servants, but you, my brother
servant, refuse to speak to me. Believe me, if reserve did not check my
pen, I could show my annoyance in such invective that you would have to
reply--even though it might be in anger. But since anger is human, and
a Christian must not act injuriously, I fall back once more on
entreaty, and beg you to love one who loves you, and to write to him as
a servant should to his fellow-servant. Farewell in the Lord.
__________________________________________________________________
[158] Matt. xviii. 3.
[159] Joh. xiii. 5.
[160] Luke xxii. 47.
[161] Joh. iv. 7.
[162] Luke vii. 40 sqq.: the heroine of this story is identified by
Jerome with Mary Magdalene.
[163] Matt. xxviii. 1, 9.
[164] Matt. xxiii. 6, 7.
[165] Isa. xl. 15.
[166] 1 Pet. v. 5.
[167] Luke xviii. 9 sqq.
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Letter XIII. To Castorina, His Maternal Aunt.
An interesting letter, as throwing some light on Jerome's family
relations. Castorina, his maternal aunt, had, for some reason, become
estranged from him, and he now writes to her to effect a
reconciliation. Whether he succeeded in doing so, we do not know. The
date of the letter is 374 a.d.
The apostle and evangelist John rightly says, in his first epistle,
that "whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer." [168] For, since
murder often springs from hate, the hater, even though he has not yet
slain his victim, is at heart a murderer. Why, you ask, do I begin in
this style? Simply that you and I may both lay aside past ill feeling
and cleanse our hearts to be a habitation for God. "Be ye angry," David
says, "and sin not," or, as the apostle more fully expresses it, "let
not the sun go down upon your wrath." [169] What then shall we do in
the day of judgment, upon whose wrath the sun has gone down not one day
but many years? The Lord says in the Gospel: "If thou bring thy gift to
the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against
thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be
reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." [170] Woe
to me, wretch that I am; woe, I had almost said, to you also. This long
time past we have either offered no gift at the altar or have offered
it whilst cherishing anger "without a cause." How have we been able in
our daily prayers to say "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors," [171] whilst our feelings have been at variance with our
words, and our petition inconsistent with our conduct? Therefore I
renew the prayer which I made a year ago in a previous letter, [172]
that the Lord's legacy of peace [173] may be indeed ours, and that my
desires and your feelings may find favor in His sight. Soon we shall
stand before His judgment seat to receive the reward of harmony
restored or to pay the penalty for harmony broken. In case you shall
prove unwilling--I hope that it may not be so--to accept my advances, I
for my part shall be free. For this letter, when it is read, will
insure my acquittal.
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[168] 1 Joh. iii. 15.
[169] Ps. iv. 4, LXX.; Eph. iv. 26.
[170] Matt. v. 23, 24.
[171] Matt. vi. 12.
[172] This is no longer extant.
[173] John xiv. 27.
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Letter XIV. To Heliodorus, Monk.
Heliodorus, originally a soldier, but now a presbyter of the Church,
had accompanied Jerome to the East, but, not feeling called to the
solitary life of the desert, had returned to Aquileia. Here he resumed
his clerical duties, and in course of time was raised to the episcopate
as bishop of Altinum.
The letter was written in the first bitterness of separation and
reproaches Heliodorus for having gone back from the perfect way of the
ascetic life. The description given of this is highly colored and seems
to have produced a great impression in the West. Fabiola was so much
enchanted by it that she learned the letter by heart. [174] The date is
373 or 374 a.d.
1. So conscious are you of the affection which exists between us that
you cannot but recognize the love and passion with which I strove to
prolong our common sojourn in the desert. This very letter--blotted, as
you see, with tears--gives evidence of the lamentation and weeping with
which I accompanied your departure. With the pretty ways of a child you
then softened your refusal by soothing words, and I, being off my
guard, knew not what to do. Was I to hold my peace? I could not conceal
my eagerness by a show of indifference. Or was I to entreat you yet
more earnestly? You would have refused to listen, for your love was not
like mine. Despised affection has taken the one course open to it.
Unable to keep you when present, it goes in search of you when absent.
You asked me yourself, when you were going away, to invite you to the
desert when I took up my quarters there, and I for my part promised to
do so. Accordingly I invite you now; come, and come quickly. Do not
call to mind old ties; the desert is for those who have left all. Nor
let the hardships of our former travels deter you. You believe in
Christ, believe also in His words: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God
and all these things shall be added unto you." [175] Take neither scrip
nor staff. He is rich enough who is poor--with Christ.
2. But what is this, and why do I foolishly importune you again? Away
with entreaties, an end to coaxing words. Offended love does well to be
angry. You have spurned my petition; perhaps you will listen to my
remonstrance. What keeps you, effeminate soldier, in your father's
house? Where are your ramparts and trenches? When have you spent a
winter in the field? Lo, the trumpet sounds from heaven! Lo, the Leader
comes with clouds! [176] He is armed to subdue the world, and out of
His mouth proceeds a two-edged sword [177] to mow down all that
encounters it. But as for you, what will you do? Pass straight from
your chamber to the battle-field, and from the cool shade into the
burning sun? Nay, a body used to a tunic cannot endure a buckler; a
head that has worn a cap refuses a helmet; a hand made tender by disuse
is galled by a sword-hilt. [178] Hear the proclamation of your King:
"He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with
me scattereth." [179] Remember the day on which you enlisted, when,
buried with Christ in baptism, you swore fealty to Him, declaring that
for His sake you would spare neither father nor mother. Lo, the enemy
is striving to slay Christ in your breast. Lo, the ranks of the foe
sigh over that bounty which you received when you entered His service.
Should your little nephew [180] hang on your neck, pay no regard to
him; should your mother with ashes on her hair and garments rent show
you the breasts at which she nursed you, heed her not; should your
father prostrate himself on the threshold, trample him under foot and
go your way. With dry eyes fly to the standard of the cross. In such
cases cruelty is the only true affection.
3. Hereafter there shall come--yes, there shall come--a day when you
will return a victor to your true country, and will walk through the
heavenly Jerusalem crowned with the crown of valor. Then will you
receive the citizenship thereof with Paul. [181] Then will you seek the
like privilege for your parents. Then will you intercede for me who
have urged you forward on the path of victory.
I am not ignorant of the fetters which you may plead as hindrances. My
breast is not of iron nor my heart of stone. I was not born of flint or
suckled by a tigress. [182] I have passed through troubles like yours
myself. Now it is a widowed sister who throws her caressing arms around
you. Now it is the slaves, your foster-brothers, who cry, "To what
master are you leaving us?" Now it is a nurse bowed with age, and a
body-servant loved only less than a father, who exclaim: "Only wait
till we die and follow us to our graves." Perhaps, too, an aged mother,
with sunken bosom and furrowed brow, recalling the lullaby [183] with
which she once soothed you, adds her entreaties to theirs. The learned
may call you, if they please,
The sole support and pillar of your house. [184]
The love of God and the fear of hell will easily break such bonds.
Scripture, you will argue, bids us obey our parents. [185] Yes, but
whoso loves them more than Christ loses his own soul. [186] The enemy
takes sword in hand to slay me, and shall I think of a mother's tears?
Or shall I desert the service of Christ for the sake of a father to
whom, if I am Christ's servant, I owe no rites of burial, [187] albeit
if I am Christ's true servant I owe these to all? Peter with his
cowardly advice was an offence to the Lord on the eve of His passion;
[188] and to the brethren who strove to restrain him from going up to
Jerusalem, Paul's one answer was: "What mean ye to weep and to break my
heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at
Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." [189] The battering-ram of
natural affection which so often shatters faith must recoil powerless
from the wall of the Gospel. "My mother and my brethren are these
whosoever do the will of my Father which is in heaven." [190] If they
believe in Christ let them bid me God-speed, for I go to fight in His
name. And if they do not believe, "let the dead bury their dead." [191]
4. But all this, you argue, only touches the case of martyrs. Ah! my
brother, you are mistaken, you are mistaken, if you suppose that there
is ever a time when the Christian does not suffer persecution. Then are
you most hardly beset when you know not that you are beset at all. "Our
adversary as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour,"
[192] and do you think of peace? "He sitteth in the lurking-places of
the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent; his
eyes are privily set against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as a
lion in his den; he lieth in wait to catch the poor;" [193] and do you
slumber under a shady tree, so as to fall an easy prey? On one side
self-indulgence presses me hard; on another covetousness strives to
make an inroad; my belly wishes to be a God to me, in place of Christ,
[194] and lust would fain drive away the Holy Spirit that dwells in me
and defile His temple. [195] I am pursued, I say, by an enemy
Whose name is Legion and his wiles untold; [196]
and, hapless wretch that I am, how shall I hold myself a victor when I
am being led away a captive?
5. My dear brother, weigh well the various forms of transgression, and
think not that the sins which I have mentioned are less flagrant than
that of idolatry. Nay, hear the apostle's view of the matter. "For this
ye know," he writes, "that no whore-monger or unclean person, nor
covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God." [197] In a general way all that is of the devil
savors of enmity to God, and what is of the devil is idolatry, since
all idols are subject to him. Yet Paul elsewhere lays down the law in
express and unmistakable terms, saying: "Mortify your members, which
are upon the earth, laying aside fornication, uncleanness, evil
concupiscence and covetousness, which are [198] idolatry, for which
things' sake the wrath of God cometh." [199]
Idolatry is not confined to casting incense upon an altar with finger
and thumb, or to pouring libations of wine out of a cup into a bowl.
Covetousness is idolatry, or else the selling of the Lord for thirty
pieces of silver was a righteous act. [200] Lust involves profanation,
or else men may defile with common harlots [201] those members of
Christ which should be "a living sacrifice acceptable to God." [202]
Fraud is idolatry, or else they are worthy of imitation who, in the
Acts of the Apostles, sold their inheritance, and because they kept
back part of the price, perished by an instant doom. [203] Consider
well, my brother; nothing is yours to keep. "Whosoever he be of you,"
the Lord says, "that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my
disciple." [204] Why are you such a half-hearted Christian?
6. See how Peter left his net; [205] see how the publican rose from the
receipt of custom. [206] In a moment he became an apostle. "The Son of
man hath not where to lay his head," [207] and do you plan wide
porticos and spacious halls? If you look to inherit the good things of
the world you can no longer be a joint-heir with Christ. [208] You are
called a monk, and has the name no meaning? What brings you, a
solitary, into the throng of men? The advice that I give is that of no
inexperienced mariner who has never lost either ship or cargo, and has
never known a gale. Lately shipwrecked as I have been myself, my
warnings to other voyagers spring from my own fears. On one side, like
Charybdis, self-indulgence sucks into its vortex the soul's salvation.
On the other, like Scylla, lust, with a smile on her girl's face, lures
it on to wreck its chastity. The coast is savage, and the devil with a
crew of pirates carries irons to fetter his captives. Be not credulous,
be not over-confident. The sea may be as smooth and smiling as a pond,
its quiet surface may be scarcely ruffled by a breath of air, yet
sometimes its waves are as high as mountains. There is danger in its
depths, the foe is lurking there. Ease your sheets, spread your sails,
fasten the cross as an ensign on your prow. The calm that you speak of
is itself a tempest. "Why so?" you will perhaps argue; "are not all my
fellow-townsmen Christians?" Your case, I reply, is not that of others.
Listen to the words of the Lord: "If thou wilt be perfect go and sell
that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come and follow me." [209]
You have already promised to be perfect. For when you forsook the army
and made yourself an eunuch for the kingdom of heaven's sake, [210] you
did so that you might follow the perfect life. Now the perfect servant
of Christ has nothing beside Christ. Or if he have anything beside
Christ he is not perfect. And if he be not perfect when he has promised
God to be so, his profession is a lie. But "the mouth that lieth
slayeth the soul." [211] To conclude, then, if you are perfect you will
not set your heart on your father's goods; and if you are not perfect
you have deceived the Lord. The Gospel thunders forth its divine
warning: "Ye cannot serve two masters," [212] and does any one dare to
make Christ a liar by serving at once both God and Mammon? Repeatedly
does He proclaim, "If any one will come after me let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me." [213] If I load myself with gold
can I think that I am following Christ? Surely not. "He that saith he
abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk even as He walked." [214]
7. I know you will rejoin that you possess nothing. Why, then, if you
are so well prepared for battle, do you not take the field? Perhaps you
think that you can wage war in your own country, although the Lord
could do no signs in His? [215] Why not? you ask. Take the answer which
comes to you with his authority: "No prophet is accepted in his own
country." [216] But, you will say, I do not seek honor; the approval of
my conscience is enough for me. Neither did the Lord seek it; for when
the multitudes would have made Him a king he fled from them. [217] But
where there is no honor there is contempt; and where there is contempt
there is frequent rudeness; and where there is rudeness there is
vexation; and where there is vexation there is no rest; and where there
is no rest the mind is apt to be diverted from its purpose. Again,
where, through restlessness, earnestness loses any of its force, it is
lessened by what it loses, and that which is lessened cannot be called
perfect. The upshot of all which is that a monk cannot be perfect in
his own country. Now, not to aim at perfection is itself a sin.
8. Driven from this line of defence you will appeal to the example of
the clergy. These, you will say, remain in their cities, and yet they
are surely above criticism. Far be it from me to censure the successors
of the apostles, who with holy words consecrate the body of Christ, and
who make us Christians. [218] Having the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
they judge men to some extent before the day of judgment, and guard the
chastity of the bride of Christ. But, as I have before hinted, the case
of monks is different from that of the clergy. The clergy feed Christ's
sheep; I as a monk am fed by them. They live of the altar: [219] I, if
I bring no gift to it, have the axe laid to my root as to that of a
barren tree. [220] Nor can I plead poverty as an excuse, for the Lord
in the gospel has praised an aged widow for casting into the treasury
the last two coins that she had. [221] I may not sit in the presence of
a presbyter; [222] he, if I sin, may deliver me to Satan, "for the
destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved." [223] Under the
old law he who disobeyed the priests was put outside the camp and
stoned by the people, or else he was beheaded and expiated his contempt
with his blood. [224] But now the disobedient person is cut down with
the spiritual sword, or he is expelled from the church and torn to
pieces by ravening demons. Should the entreaties of your brethren
induce you to take orders, I shall rejoice that you are lifted up, and
fear lest you may be cast down. You will say: "If a man desire the
office of a bishop, he desireth a good work." [225] I know that; but
you should add what follows: such an one "must be blameless, the
husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, chaste, of good behavior, given
to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker but
patient." [226] After fully explaining the qualifications of a bishop
the apostle speaks of ministers of the third degree with equal care.
"Likewise must the deacons be grave," he writes, "not double-tongued,
not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery
of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved;
then, let them minister, being found blameless." [227] Woe to the man
who goes in to the supper without a wedding garment. Nothing remains
for him but the stern question, "Friend, how camest thou in hither?"
And when he is speechless the order will be given, "Bind him hand and
foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth." [228] Woe to him who, when he has
received a talent, has bound it in a napkin; and, whilst others make
profits, only preserves what he has received. His angry lord shall
rebuke him in a moment. "Thou wicked servant," he will say, "wherefore
gavest thou not my money into the bank that at my coming I might have
required mine own with usury?" [229] That is to say, you should have
laid before the altar what you were not able to bear. For whilst you, a
slothful trader, keep a penny in your hands, you occupy the place of
another who might double the money. Wherefore, as he who ministers well
purchases to himself a good degree, [230] so he who approaches the cup
of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the
Lord. [231]
9. Not all bishops are bishops indeed. You consider Peter; mark Judas
as well. You notice Stephen; look also on Nicolas, sentenced in the
Apocalypse by the Lord's own lips, [232] whose shameful imaginations
gave rise to the heresy of the Nicolaitans. "Let a man examine himself
and so let him come." [233] For it is not ecclesiastical rank that
makes a man a Christian. The centurion Cornelius was still a heathen
when he was cleansed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Daniel was but a
child when he judged the elders. [234] Amos was stripping mulberry
bushes when, in a moment, he was made a prophet. [235] David was only a
shepherd when he was chosen to be king. [236] And the least of His
disciples was the one whom Jesus loved the most. My brother, sit down
in the lower room, that when one less honorable comes you may be bidden
to go up higher. [237] Upon whom does the Lord rest but upon him that
is lowly and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at His word?
[238] To whom God has committed much, of him He will ask the more.
[239] "Mighty men shall be mightily tormented." [240] No man need pride
himself in the day of judgment on merely physical chastity, for then
shall men give account for every idle word, [241] and the reviling of a
brother shall be counted as the sin of murder. [242] Paul and Peter now
reign with Christ, and it is not easy to take the place of the one or
to hold the office of the other. There may come an angel to rend the
veil of your temple, [243] and to remove your candlestick out of its
place. [244] If you intend to build the tower, first count the cost.
[245] Salt that has lost its savor is good for nothing but to be cast
out and to be trodden under foot of swine. [246] If a monk fall, a
priest shall intercede for him; but who shall intercede for a fallen
priest?
10. At last my discourse is clear of the reefs: at last this frail bark
has passed from the breakers into deep water. I may now spread my sails
to the breeze; and, as I leave the rocks of controversy astern, my
epilogue will be like the joyful shout of mariners. O desert, bright
with the flowers of Christ! O solitude whence come the stones of which,
in the Apocalypse, the city of the great king is built! [247] O
wilderness, gladdened with God's especial presence! What keeps you in
the world, my brother, you who are above the world? [248] How long
shall gloomy roofs oppress you? How long shall smoky cities immure you?
Believe me, I have more light than you. Sweet it is to lay aside the
weight of the body and to soar into the pure bright ether. Do you dread
poverty? Christ calls the poor blessed. [249] Does toil frighten you?
No athlete is crowned but in the sweat of his brow. Are you anxious as
regards food? Faith fears no famine. Do you dread the bare ground for
limbs wasted with fasting? The Lord lies there beside you. Do you
recoil from an unwashed head and uncombed hair? Christ is your true
head. [250] Does the boundless solitude of the desert terrify you? In
the spirit you may walk always in paradise. Do but turn your thoughts
thither and you will be no more in the desert. Is your skin rough and
scaly because you no longer bathe? He that is once washed in Christ
needeth not to wash again. [251] To all your objections the apostle
gives this one brief answer: "The sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory" which shall come after them,
"which shall be revealed in us." [252] You are too greedy of enjoyment,
my brother, if you wish to rejoice with the world here, and to reign
with Christ hereafter.
11. It shall come, it shall come, that day when this corruptible shall
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. [253]
Then shall that servant be blessed whom the Lord shall find watching.
[254] Then at the sound of the trumpet [255] the earth and its peoples
shall tremble, but you shall rejoice. The world shall howl at the Lord
who comes to judge it, and the tribes of the earth shall smite the
breast. Once mighty kings shall tremble in their nakedness. Venus shall
be exposed, and her son too. Jupiter with his fiery bolts will be
brought to trial; and Plato, with his disciples, will be but a fool.
Aristotle's arguments shall be of no avail. You may seem a poor man and
country bred, but then you shall exult and laugh, and say: Behold my
crucified Lord, behold my judge. This is He who was once an infant
wrapped in swaddling clothes and crying in a manger. [256] This is He
whose parents were a workingman and a working-woman. [257] This is He,
who, carried into Egypt in His mother's bosom, though He was God, fled
before the face of man. This is He who was clothed in a scarlet robe
and crowned with thorns. [258] This is He who was called a sorcerer and
a man with a devil and a Samaritan. [259] Jew, behold the hands which
you nailed to the cross. Roman, behold the side which you pierced with
the spear. See both of you whether it was this body that the disciples
stole secretly and by night. [260] For this you profess to believe.
My brother, it is affection which has urged me to speak thus; that you
who now find the Christian life so hard may have your reward in that
day.
__________________________________________________________________
[174] See Ep. lxxvii. 9.
[175] Matt. vi. 33.
[176] Rev. i. 7.
[177] Rev. i. 16.
[178] A reminiscence of Tertullian.
[179] Matt. xii. 30.
[180] Nepotian, afterwards famous as the recipient of Letter LII., and
the subject of Letter LX.
[181] Phi. iii. 20, R.V.
[182] Virg. A. iv. 367.
[183] Pers. iii. 18.
[184] Virg. A. xii. 59.
[185] Eph. vi. 1.
[186] Matt. x. 37.
[187] Luke ix. 59, 60.
[188] Matt. xvi. 23.
[189] Acts xxi. 13.
[190] Luke viii. 21; Matt. xii. 50.
[191] Matt. viii. 22.
[192] 1 Pet. v. 8.
[193] Ps. x. 8, 9.
[194] Phi. iii. 19.
[195] 1 Cor iii. 17.
[196] Virg. A. vii. 337.
[197] Eph. v. 5.
[198] So Jerome, although the Vulg. has "is."
[199] Col. iii. 5, 6.
[200] Matt. xxvi. 15.
[201] Publicarum libidinum victimæ; words borrowed from Tertullian, de
C. F. II. 12.
[202] Rom. xii. 1.
[203] Acts v., Ananias and Sapphira.
[204] Luke xiv. 33.
[205] Matt. iv. 18-20.
[206] Matt. ix. 9.
[207] Matt. viii. 20.
[208] Rom. viii. 17.
[209] Matt. xix. 21.
[210] Matt. xix. 12.
[211] Wisd. i. 11.
[212] Luke xvi. 13.
[213] Luke ix. 23.
[214] 1 Joh. ii. 6.
[215] Matt. xiii. 58.
[216] Luke iv. 24.
[217] Joh. vi. 15.
[218] In the sacrament of baptism.
[219] 1 Cor. ix. 13, 14.
[220] Matt. iii. 10.
[221] Luke xxi. 1-4.
[222] Cf. Letter CXLVI.
[223] 1 Cor. v. 5.
[224] Deut. xvii. 5, 12.
[225] 1 Tim. iii. 1.
[226] 1 Tim. iii. 2, 3.
[227] 1 Tim. iii. 8-10.
[228] Matt. xxii. 11-13.
[229] Luke xix. 23.
[230] 1 Tim. iii. 13.
[231] 1 Cor. xi. 27.
[232] Rev. ii. 6.
[233] 1 Cor. xi. 28.
[234] Susannah 45 sqq.
[235] Amos vii. 14.
[236] 1 Sam. xvi. 11-13.
[237] Luke xiv. 10.
[238] Isa. lxvi. 2.
[239] Luke xii. 48.
[240] Wisd. vi. 6.
[241] Matt. xii. 36.
[242] Matt. v. 21, 22.
[243] Matt. xxvii. 51.
[244] Rev. ii. 5.
[245] Luke xiv. 28.
[246] Matt. v. 13.
[247] Rev. xxi. 19, 20.
[248] From Cyprian, Letter I. 14 (to Donatus).
[249] Luke vi. 20.
[250] From Cyprian, Letter LXXVII. 2 (to Nemesianus).
[251] Joh. xiii. 10.
[252] Rom. viii. 18.
[253] 1 Cor. xv. 53.
[254] Matt. xxiv. 46.
[255] 1 Thess. iv. 16.
[256] Luke ii. 7.
[257] From Tertullian, de Spect. xxx.
[258] Matt. xxvii. 28, 29.
[259] Joh. viii. 48.
[260] Matt. xxvii. 64.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XV. To Pope Damasus.
This letter, written in 376 or 377 a.d., illustrates Jerome's attitude
towards the see of Rome at this time held by Damasus, afterwards his
warm friend and admirer. Referring to Rome as the scene of his own
baptism and as a church where the true faith has remained unimpaired
(§1), and laying down the strict doctrine of salvation only within the
pale of the church (§2), Jerome asks "the successor of the fisherman"
two questions, viz.: (1) who is the true bishop of the three claimants
of the see of Antioch, and (2) which is the correct terminology, to
speak of three "hypostases" in the Godhead, or of one? On the latter
question he expresses fully his own opinion.
1. Since the East, shattered as it is by the long-standing feuds,
subsisting between its peoples, is bit by bit tearing into shreds the
seamless vest of the Lord, "woven from the top throughout," [261] since
the foxes are destroying the vineyard of Christ, [262] and since among
the broken cisterns that hold no water it is hard to discover "the
sealed fountain" and "the garden inclosed," [263] I think it my duty to
consult the chair of Peter, and to turn to a church whose faith has
been praised by Paul. [264] I appeal for spiritual food to the church
whence I have received the garb of Christ. [265] The wide space of sea
and land that lies between us cannot deter me from searching for "the
pearl of great price." [266] "Wheresoever the body is, there will the
eagles be gathered together." [267] Evil children have squandered their
patrimony; you alone keep your heritage intact. The fruitful soil of
Rome, when it receives the pure seed of the Lord, bears fruit an
hundredfold; but here the seed corn is choked in the furrows and
nothing grows but darnel or oats. [268] In the West the Sun of
righteousness [269] is even now rising; in the East, Lucifer, who fell
from heaven, [270] has once more set his throne above the stars. [271]
"Ye are the light of the world," [272] "ye are the salt of the earth,"
[273] ye are "vessels of gold and of silver." Here are vessels of wood
or of earth, [274] which wait for the rod of iron, [275] and eternal
fire.
2. Yet, though your greatness terrifies me, your kindness attracts me.
From the priest I demand the safe-keeping of the victim, from the
shepherd the protection due to the sheep. Away with all that is
overweening; let the state of Roman majesty withdraw. My words are
spoken to the successor of the fisherman, to the disciple of the cross.
As I follow no leader save Christ, so I communicate with none but your
blessedness, that is with the chair of Peter. For this, I know, is the
rock on which the church is built! [276] This is the house where alone
the paschal lamb can be rightly eaten. [277] This is the ark of Noah,
and he who is not found in it shall perish when the flood prevails.
[278] But since by reason of my sins I have betaken myself to this
desert which lies between Syria and the uncivilized waste, I cannot,
owing to the great distance between us, always ask of your sanctity the
holy thing of the Lord. [279] Consequently I here follow the Egyptian
confessors [280] who share your faith, and anchor my frail craft under
the shadow of their great argosies. I know nothing of Vitalis; I reject
Meletius; I have nothing to do with Paulinus. [281] He that gathers not
with you scatters; [282] he that is not of Christ is of Antichrist.
3. Just now, I am sorry to say, those Arians, the Campenses, [283] are
trying to extort from me, a Roman Christian, their unheard-of formula
of three hypostases. [284] And this, too, after the definition of Nicæa
[285] and the decree of Alexandria, [286] in which the West has joined.
Where, I should like to know, are the apostles of these doctrines?
Where is their Paul, their new doctor of the Gentiles? I ask them what
three hypostases are supposed to mean. They reply three persons
subsisting. I rejoin that this is my belief. They are not satisfied
with the meaning, they demand the term. Surely some secret venom lurks
in the words. "If any man refuse," I cry, "to acknowledge three
hypostases in the sense of three things hypostatized, that is three
persons subsisting, let him be anathema." Yet, because I do not learn
their words, I am counted a heretic. "But, if any one, understanding by
hypostasis essence, [287] deny that in the three persons there is one
hypostasis, he has no part in Christ." Because this is my confession I,
like you, am branded with the stigma of Sabellianism. [288]
4. If you think fit enact a decree; and then I shall not hesitate to
speak of three hypostases. Order a new creed to supersede the Nicene;
and then, whether we are Arians or orthodox, one confession will do for
us all. In the whole range of secular learning hypostasis never means
anything but essence. And can any one, I ask, be so profane as to speak
of three essences or substances in the Godhead? There is one nature of
God and one only; and this, and this alone, truly is. For absolute
being is derived from no other source but is all its own. All things
besides, that is all things created, although they appear to be, are
not. For there was a time when they were not, and that which once was
not may again cease to be. God alone who is eternal, that is to say,
who has no beginning, really deserves to be called an essence.
Therefore also He says to Moses from the bush, "I am that I am," and
Moses says of Him, "I am hath sent me." [289] As the angels, the sky,
the earth, the seas, all existed at the time, it must have been as the
absolute being that God claimed for himself that name of essence, which
apparently was common to all. But because His nature alone is perfect,
and because in the three persons there subsists but one Godhead, which
truly is and is one nature; whosoever in the name of religion declares
that there are in the Godhead three elements, three hypostases, that
is, or essences, is striving really to predicate three natures of God.
And if this is true, why are we severed by walls from Arius, when in
dishonesty we are one with him? Let Ursicinus be made the colleague of
your blessedness; let Auxentius be associated with Ambrose. [290] But
may the faith of Rome never come to such a pass! May the devout hearts
of your people never be infected with such unholy doctrines! Let us be
satisfied to speak of one substance and of three subsisting
persons--perfect, equal, coeternal. Let us keep to one hypostasis, if
such be your pleasure, and say nothing of three. It is a bad sign when
those who mean the same thing use different words. Let us be satisfied
with the form of creed which we have hitherto used. Or, if you think it
right that I should speak of three hypostases, explaining what I mean
by them, I am ready to submit. But, believe me, there is poison hidden
under their honey; the angel of Satan has transformed himself into an
angel of light. [291] They give a plausible explanation of the term
hypostasis; yet when I profess to hold it in the same sense they count
me a heretic. Why are they so tenacious of a word? Why do they shelter
themselves under ambiguous language? If their belief corresponds to
their explanation of it, I do not condemn them for keeping it. On the
other hand, if my belief corresponds to their expressed opinions, they
should allow me to set forth their meaning in my own words.
5. I implore your blessedness, therefore, by the crucified Saviour of
the world, and by the consubstantial trinity, to authorize me by letter
either to use or to refuse this formula of three hypostases. And lest
the obscurity of my present abode may baffle the bearers of your
letter, I pray you to address it to Evagrius, the presbyter, with whom
you are well acquainted. I beg you also to signify with whom I am to
communicate at Antioch. Not, I hope, with the Campenses; [292] for
they--with their allies the heretics of Tarsus [293] --only desire
communion with you to preach with greater authority their traditional
doctrine of three hypostases.
__________________________________________________________________
[261] Joh. xix. 23.
[262] Cant. ii. 15.
[263] Cant. iv. 12.
[264] Rom. i. 8: I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that
your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
[265] I.e. holy baptism; cf. Gal. iii. 27.
[266] Matt. xiii. 46.
[267] Matt. xxiv. 28.
[268] Matt. xiii. 22, 23.
[269] Mal. iv. 2.
[270] Luke x. 18.
[271] Isa. xiv. 12.
[272] Matt. v. 14.
[273] Matt. v. 13.
[274] 2 Tim. ii. 20.
[275] Rev. ii. 27.
[276] Matt. xvi. 18.
[277] Ex. xii. 22.
[278] Gen. vii. 23.
[279] I.e. the bread of the Eucharist, at this time sent by one bishop
to another in token of communion; or possibly the allusion is
different, and what Jerome means to say is: "You are the oracle of God,
but owing to my present situation I cannot consult you."
[280] Certain bishops banished from their sees by Valens. See Letter
III. § 2.
[281] The three rival claimants of the see of Antioch. See note on
Letter XVI. § 2.
[282] Matt. xii. 30.
[283] I.e. the field party. The Meletians were so called because,
denied access to the churches of the city, they had to worship in the
open air outside the walls.
[284] hupostasis=substantia. It is the word used in Heb. i. 3, "The
express image of his person [R.V. substance]." Except at Alexandria it
was usual to speak of one hypostasis as of one ousia in the Divine
Nature. But at Alexandria from Origen downwards three hypostases had
been ascribed to the Deity. Two explanations are given of the latter
formula: (1) That at Alexandria hupostasis was taken in the sense of
prosopon, so that by "three hypostases" was meant only "three persons."
(2) That "three hypostases" was an inexact expression standing for
"three hypostatic persons" or "a threefold hypostasis." This latter
seems to be the true account of the matter. See an interesting note in
Newman, Arians of the Fourth Century, Appendix IV.
[285] In the Nicene Creed the Son is declared to be "of one substance
[ousia] with the Father."
[286] This decree allowed the formula of "three hypostases" to be
susceptible of an orthodox interpretation. It did not, however,
encourage its use.
[287] ousia.
[288] Cauterio unionis inurimur. Sabellius recognized three "aspects"
in the Godhead but denied "three persons," at least in the Catholic
sense.
[289] Ex. iii. 14.
[290] Ursicinus, at this time anti-pope; Auxentius, Arian bishop of
Milan.
[291] 2 Cor. xi. 14.
[292] I.e. the followers of the orthodox Bishop Meletius, who, as they
had no church in Antioch, were compelled to meet for worship outside
the city.
[293] These appear to have been semi-Arians or Macedonians. Silvanus of
Tarsus was their recognized leader.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XVI. To Pope Damasus.
This letter, written a few months after the preceding, is another
appeal to Damasus to solve the writer's doubts. Jerome once more refers
to his baptism at Rome, and declares that his one answer to the
factions at Antioch is, "He who clings to the chair of Peter is
accepted by me." Written from the desert in the year 377 or 378.
1. By her importunity the widow in the gospel at last gained a hearing,
[294] and by the same means one friend induced another to give him
bread at midnight, when his door was shut and his servants were in bed.
[295] The publican's prayers overcame God, [296] although God is
invincible. Nineveh was saved by its tears from the impending ruin
caused by its sin. [297] To what end, you ask, these far-fetched
references? To this end, I make answer; that you in your greatness
should look upon me in my littleness; that you, the rich shepherd,
should not despise me, the ailing sheep. Christ Himself brought the
robber from the cross to paradise, [298] and, to show that repentance
is never too late, He turned a murderer's death into a martyrdom.
Gladly does Christ embrace the prodigal son when he returns to Him;
[299] and, leaving the ninety and nine, the good shepherd carries home
on His shoulders the one poor sheep that is left. [300] From a
persecutor Paul becomes a preacher. His bodily eyes are blinded to
clear the eyes of his soul, [301] and he who once haled Christ's
servants in chains before the council of the Jews, [302] lives
afterwards to glory in the bonds of Christ. [303]
2. As I have already written to you, [304] I, who have received
Christ's garb in Rome, am now detained in the waste that borders Syria.
No sentence of banishment, however, has been passed upon me; the
punishment which I am undergoing is self-inflicted. But, as the heathen
poet says:
They change not mind but sky who cross the sea. [305]
The untiring foe follows me closely, and the assaults that I suffer in
the desert are severer than ever. For the Arian frenzy raves, and the
powers of the world support it. The church is rent into three factions,
and each of these is eager to seize me for its own. The influence of
the monks is of long standing, and it is directed against me. I
meantime keep crying: "He who clings to the chair of Peter is accepted
by me." Meletius, Vitalis, and Paulinus [306] all profess to cleave to
you, and I could believe the assertion if it were made by one of them
only. As it is, either two of them or else all three are guilty of
falsehood. Therefore I implore your blessedness, by our Lord's cross
and passion, those necessary glories of our faith, as you hold an
apostolic office, to give an apostolic decision. Only tell me by letter
with whom I am to communicate in Syria, and I will pray for you that
you may sit in judgment enthroned with the twelve; [307] that when you
grow old, like Peter, you may be girded not by yourself but by another,
[308] and that, like Paul, you may be made a citizen of the heavenly
kingdom. [309] Do not despise a soul for which Christ died.
__________________________________________________________________
[294] Matt. xv. 28.
[295] Luke xi. 7, 8.
[296] Luke xviii. 10-14.
[297] Jon. iii. 5, 10.
[298] Luke xxiii. 43.
[299] Luke xv. 20.
[300] Luke xv. 5.
[301] Acts ix. 8.
[302] Acts viii. 3.
[303] 2 Cor. xii. 10.
[304] See Letter XV.
[305] Hor. Epist. i. 11, 27.
[306] The three rival claimants of the see of Antioch. Paulinus and
Meletius were both orthodox, but Meletius derived his orders from the
Arians and was consequently not recognized in the West. In the East,
however, he was so highly esteemed that some years after this he was
chosen to preside over the Council of Constantinople (a.d. 391).
Vitalis, the remaining claimant, was a follower of Apollinaris, but
much respected by the orthodox on account of his high character.
[307] Matt. xix. 28.
[308] Joh. xxi. 18.
[309] Phi. iii. 20, R.V.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XVII. To the Presbyter Marcus.
In this letter, addressed to one who seems to have had some
pre-eminence among the monks of the Chalcidian desert, Jerome complains
of the hard treatment meted out to him because of his refusal to take
any part in the great theological dispute then raging in Syria. He
protests his own orthodoxy, and begs permission to remain where he is
until the return of spring, when he will retire from "the inhospitable
desert." Written in a.d. 378 or 379.
1. I had made up my mind to use the words of the psalmist: "While the
wicked was before me I was dumb with silence; I was humbled, and I held
my peace even from good" [310] and "I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I
was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that
heareth not." [311] But charity overcomes all things, [312] and my
regard for you defeats my determination. I am, indeed, less careful to
retaliate upon my assailants than to comply with your request. For
among Christians, as one has said, [313] not he who endures an outrage
is unhappy, but he who commits it.
2. And first, before I speak to you of my belief (which you know full
well), I am forced to cry out against the inhumanity of this country. A
hackneyed quotation best expresses my meaning:
What savages are these who will not grant
A rest to strangers, even on their sands!
They threaten war and drive us from their coasts. [314]
I take this from a Gentile poet that one who disregards the peace of
Christ may at least learn its meaning from a heathen. I am called a
heretic, although I preach the consubstantial trinity. I am accused of
the Sabellian impiety although I proclaim with unwearied voice that in
the Godhead there are three distinct, [315] real, whole, and perfect
persons. The Arians do right to accuse me, but the orthodox forfeit
their orthodoxy when they assail a faith like mine. They may, if they
like, condemn me as a heretic; but if they do they must also condemn
Egypt and the West, Damasus and Peter. [316] Why do they fasten the
guilt on one and leave his companions uncensured? If there is but
little water in the stream, it is the fault, not of the channel, but of
the source. I blush to say it, but from the caves which serve us for
cells we monks of the desert condemn the world. Rolling in sack-cloth
and ashes, [317] we pass sentence on bishops. What use is the robe of a
penitent if it covers the pride of a king? Chains, squalor, and long
hair are by right tokens of sorrow, and not ensigns of royalty. I
merely ask leave to remain silent. Why do they torment a man who does
not deserve their ill-will? I am a heretic, you say. What is it to you
if I am? Stay quiet, and all is said. You are afraid, I suppose, that,
with my fluent knowledge of Syriac and Greek, I shall make a tour of
the churches, lead the people into error, and form a schism! I have
robbed no man of anything; neither have I taken what I have not earned.
With my own hand [318] daily and in the sweat of my brow [319] I labor
for my food, knowing that it is written by the apostle: "If any will
not work, neither shall he eat." [320]
3. Reverend and holy father, Jesus is my witness with what groans and
tears I have written all this. "I have kept silence, saith the Lord,
but shall I always keep silence? Surely not." [321] I cannot have so
much as a corner of the desert. Every day I am asked for my confession
of faith; as though when I was regenerated in baptism I had made none.
I accept their formulas, but they are still dissatisfied. I sign my
name to them, but they still refuse to believe me. One thing only will
content them, that I should leave the country. I am on the point of
departure. They have already torn away from me my dear brothers, who
are a part of my very life. They are, as you see, anxious to
depart--nay, they are actually departing; it is preferable, they say,
to live among wild beasts rather than with Christians such as these. I
myself, too, would be at this moment a fugitive were I not withheld by
physical infirmity and by the severity of the winter. I ask to be
allowed the shelter of the desert for a few months till spring returns;
or if this seems too long a delay, I am ready to depart now. "The earth
is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." [322] Let them climb up to
heaven alone; [323] for them alone Christ died; they possess all things
and glory in all. Be it so. "But God forbid that I should glory save in
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto
me and I unto the world." [324]
4. As regards the questions which you have thought fit to put to me
concerning the faith, I have given to the reverend Cyril [325] a
written confession which sufficiently answers them. He who does not so
believe has no part in Christ. My faith is attested both by your ears
and by those of your blessed brother, Zenobius, to whom, as well as to
yourself, we all of us here send our best greeting.
__________________________________________________________________
[310] Ps. xxxix. 1, 2, Vulg.
[311] Ps. xxxviii. 13, 14.
[312] Cf. 1 Cor. xiii. 7.
[313] Cyprian, Letter LV. Cf. Cic. T. Q. v. accipere quam facere
præstat injuriam.
[314] Virg. A. i. 539-541.
[315] Subsistenets.
[316] The contemporary bishops of Rome and Alexandria.
[317] Tert. Apol. 40, s. f.
[318] 1 Cor. iv. 12.
[319] Gen. iii. 19.
[320] 2 Thess. iii. 10.
[321] Isa. xlii. 14, LXX.
[322] Ps. xxiv. 1.
[323] Was Jerome thinking of Constantine's rebuke to the Novatian
bishop at Nicæa, "Plant a ladder for thyself, Acesius, and mount alone
to heaven"?
[324] Gal. vi. 14.
[325] Who this was is unknown. The extant document purporting to
contain this confession is not genuine.
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Letter XVIII. To Pope Damasus.
This (written from Constantinople in a.d. 381) is the earliest of
Jerome's expository letters. In it he explains at length the vision
recorded in the sixth chapter of Isaiah, and enlarges upon its mystical
meaning. "Some of my predecessors," he writes, "make the Lord sitting
upon a throne' God the Father, and suppose the seraphim to represent
the Son and the Holy Spirit. I do not agree with them, for John
expressly tells us [326] that it was Christ and not the Father whom the
prophet saw." And again, "The word seraphim means either glow' or
beginning of speech,' and the two seraphim thus stand for the Old and
New Testaments. [327] Did not our heart burn within us,' said the
disciples, while he opened to us the Scriptures?' [328] Moreover, the
Old Testament is written in Hebrew, and this unquestionably was man's
original language." Jerome then speaks of the unity of the sacred
books. "Whatever," he asserts, "we read in the Old Testament we find
also in the Gospel; and what we read in the Gospel is deduced from the
Old Testament. [329] There is no discord between them, no disagreement.
In both Testaments the Trinity is preached."
The letter is noticeable for the evidence it affords of the
thoroughness of Jerome's studies. Not only does he cite the several
Greek versions of Isaiah in support of his argument, but he also
reverts to the Hebrew original. So far as the West was concerned he may
be said to have discovered this anew. Even educated men like Augustine
had ceased to look beyond the LXX., and were more or less aghast at the
boldness with which Jerome rejected its time-honored but inaccurate
renderings. [330]
The letter also shows that independence of judgment which always marked
Jerome's work. At the time when he wrote it he was much under the sway
of Origen. But great as was his admiration for the master, he was not
afraid to discard his exegesis when, as in the case of the seraphim, he
believed it to be erroneous.
__________________________________________________________________
[326] John xii. 41.
[327] Jerome greatly prides himself on this explanation, and frequently
reverts to it.
[328] Luke xxiv. 32.
[329] Cf. Augustine's dictum: "The New Testament is latent in the Old;
the Old Testament is patent in the New."
[330] See Augustine's letters to Jerome, passim.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XIX. From Pope Damasus.
A letter from Damasus to Jerome, in which he asks for an explanation of
the word "Hosanna" (a.d. 383).
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XX. To Pope Damasus.
Jerome's reply to the foregoing. Exposing the error of Hilary of
Poitiers, who supposed the expression to signify "redemption of the
house of David," he goes on to show that in the gospels it is a
quotation from Psa. cxviii. 25 and that its true meaning is "save now"
(so A.V.). "Let us," he writes, "leave the streamlets of conjecture and
return to the fountain-head. It is from the Hebrew writings that the
truth is to be drawn." Written at Rome a.d. 383.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXI. To Damasus
In this letter Jerome, at the request of Damasus, gives a minutely
detailed explanation of the parable of the prodigal son.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXII. To Eustochium.
Perhaps the most famous of all the letters. In it Jerome lays down at
great length (1) the motives which ought to actuate those who devote
themselves to a life of virginity, and (2) the rules by which they
ought to regulate their daily conduct. The letter contains a vivid
picture of Roman society as it then was--the luxury, profligacy, and
hypocrisy prevalent among both men and women, besides some graphic
autobiographical details (§§7, 30), and concludes with a full account
of the three kinds of monasticism then practised in Egypt (§§34-36).
Thirty years later Jerome wrote a similar letter to Demetrias (CXXX.),
with which this ought to be compared. Written at Rome 384 a.d.
1. "Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also
thine own people and thy father's house, and the king shall desire thy
beauty." [331] In this forty-fourth [332] psalm God speaks to the human
soul that, following the example of Abraham, [333] it should go out
from its own land and from its kindred, and should leave the Chaldeans,
that is the demons, and should dwell in the country of the living, for
which elsewhere the prophet sighs: "I think to see the good things of
the Lord in the land of the living." [334] But it is not enough for you
to go out from your own land unless you forget your people and your
father's house; unless you scorn the flesh and cling to the bridegroom
in a close embrace. "Look not behind thee," he says, "neither stay thou
in all the plain; escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed." [335]
He who has grasped the plough must not look behind him [336] or return
home from the field, or having Christ's garment, descend from the roof
to fetch other raiment. [337] Truly a marvellous thing, a father
charges his daughter not to remember her father. "Ye are of your father
the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do." [338]
So it was said to the Jews. And in another place, "He that committeth
sin is of the devil." [339] Born, in the first instance, of such
parentage we are naturally black, and even when we have repented, so
long as we have not scaled the heights of virtue, we may still say: "I
am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem." [340] But you will
say to me, "I have left the home of my childhood; I have forgotten my
father, I am born anew in Christ. What reward do I receive for this?"
The context shows--"The king shall desire thy beauty." This, then, is
the great mystery. "For this cause shall a man leave his father and his
mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be" not as
is there said, "of one flesh," [341] but "of one spirit." Your
bridegroom is not haughty or disdainful; He has "married an Ethiopian
woman." [342] When once you desire the wisdom of the true Solomon and
come to Him, He will avow all His knowledge to you; He will lead you
into His chamber with His royal hand; [343] He will miraculously change
your complexion so that it shall be said of you, "Who is this that
goeth up and hath been made white?" [344]
2. I write to you thus, Lady Eustochium (I am bound to call my Lord's
bride "lady"), to show you by my opening words that my object is not to
praise the virginity which you follow, and of which you have proved the
value, or yet to recount the drawbacks of marriage, such as pregnancy,
the crying of infants, the torture caused by a rival, the cares of
household management, and all those fancied blessings which death at
last cuts short. Not that married women are as such outside the pale;
they have their own place, the marriage that is honorable and the bed
undefiled. [345] My purpose is to show you that you are fleeing from
Sodom and should take warning by Lot's wife. [346] There is no
flattery, I can tell you, in these pages. A flatterer's words are fair,
but for all that he is an enemy. You need expect no rhetorical
flourishes setting you among the angels, and while they extol virginity
as blessed, putting the world at your feet.
3. I would have you draw from your monastic vow not pride but fear.
[347] You walk laden with gold; you must keep out of the robber's way.
To us men this life is a race-course: we contend here, we are crowned
elsewhere. No man can lay aside fear while serpents and scorpions beset
his path. The Lord says: "My sword hath drunk its fill in heaven,"
[348] and do you expect to find peace on the earth? No, the earth
yields only thorns and thistles, and its dust is food for the serpent.
[349] "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against
the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of
this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places." [350] We are hemmed in by hosts of foes, our enemies
are upon every side. The weak flesh will soon be ashes: one against
many, it fights against tremendous odds. Not till it has been
dissolved, not till the Prince of this world has come and found no sin
therein, [351] not till then may you safely listen to the prophet's
words: "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night nor for the
arrow that flieth by day; nor for the trouble which haunteth thee in
darkness; nor for the demon and his attacks at noonday. A thousand
shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall
not come nigh thee." [352] When the hosts of the enemy distress you,
when your frame is fevered and your passions roused, when you say in
your heart, "What shall I do?" Elisha's words shall give you your
answer, "Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be
with them." [353] He shall pray, "Lord, open the eyes of thine handmaid
that she may see." And then when your eyes have been opened you shall
see a fiery chariot like Elijah's waiting to carry you to heaven, [354]
and shall joyfully sing: "Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the
snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken and we are escaped." [355]
4. So long as we are held down by this frail body, so long as we have
our treasure in earthen vessels; [356] so long as the flesh lusteth
against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, [357] there can be
no sure victory. "Our adversary the devil goeth about as a roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour." [358] "Thou makest darkness," David says,
"and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
The young lions roar after their prey and seek their meat from God."
[359] The devil looks not for unbelievers, for those who are without,
whose flesh the Assyrian king roasted in the furnace. [360] It is the
church of Christ that he "makes haste to spoil." [361] According to
Habakkuk, "His food is of the choicest." [362] A Job is the victim of
his machinations, and after devouring Judas he seeks power to sift the
[other] apostles. [363] The Saviour came not to send peace upon the
earth but a sword. [364] Lucifer fell, Lucifer who used to rise at
dawn; [365] and he who was bred up in a paradise of delight had the
well-earned sentence passed upon him, "Though thou exalt thyself as the
eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I
bring thee down, saith the Lord." [366] For he had said in his heart,
"I will exalt my throne above the stars of God," and "I will be like
the Most High." [367] Wherefore God says every day to the angels, as
they descend the ladder that Jacob saw in his dream, [368] "I have said
ye are Gods and all of you are children of the Most High. But ye shall
die like men and fall like one of the princes." [369] The devil fell
first, and since "God standeth in the congregation of the Gods and
judgeth among the Gods," [370] the apostle writes to those who are
ceasing to be Gods--"Whereas there is among you envying and strife, are
ye not carnal and walk as men?" [371]
5. If, then, the apostle, who was a chosen vessel [372] separated unto
the gospel of Christ, [373] by reason of the pricks of the flesh and
the allurements of vice keeps under his body and brings it into
subjection, lest when he has preached to others he may himself be a
castaway; [374] and yet, for all that, sees another law in his members
warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity to
the law of sin; [375] if after nakedness, fasting, hunger,
imprisonment, scourging and other torments, he turns back to himself
and cries "Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death?" [376] do you fancy that you ought to lay aside
apprehension? See to it that God say not some day of you: "The virgin
of Israel is fallen and there is none to raise her up." [377] I will
say it boldly, though God can do all things He cannot raise up a virgin
when once she has fallen. He may indeed relieve one who is defiled from
the penalty of her sin, but He will not give her a crown. Let us fear
lest in us also the prophecy be fulfilled, "Good virgins shall faint."
[378] Notice that it is good virgins who are spoken of, for there are
bad ones as well. "Whosoever looketh on a woman," the Lord says, "to
lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."
[379] So that virginity may be lost even by a thought. Such are evil
virgins, virgins in the flesh, not in the spirit; foolish virgins, who,
having no oil, are shut out by the Bridegroom. [380]
6. But if even real virgins, when they have other failings, are not
saved by their physical virginity, what shall become of those who have
prostituted the members of Christ, and have changed the temple of the
Holy Ghost into a brothel? Straightway shall they hear the words: "Come
down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the
ground; there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldæans: for thou shalt
no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstone and grind
meal; uncover thy locks, make bare the legs, pass over the rivers; thy
nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen." [381] And
shall she come to this after the bridal-chamber of God the Son, after
the kisses of Him who is to her both kinsman and spouse? [382] Yes, she
of whom the prophetic utterance once sang, "Upon thy right hand did
stand the queen in a vesture of gold wrought about with divers
colours," [383] shall be made naked, and her skirts shall be discovered
upon her face. [384] She shall sit by the waters of loneliness, her
pitcher laid aside; and shall open her feet to every one that passeth
by, and shall be polluted to the crown of her head. [385] Better had it
been for her to have submitted to the yoke of marriage, to have walked
in level places, than thus, aspiring to loftier heights, to fall into
the deep of hell. I pray you, let not Zion the faithful city become a
harlot: [386] let it not be that where the Trinity has been
entertained, there demons shall dance and owls make their nests, and
jackals build. [387] Let us not loose the belt that binds the breast.
When lust tickles the sense and the soft fire of sensual pleasure sheds
over us its pleasing glow, let us immediately break forth and cry: "The
Lord is on my side: I will not fear what the flesh can do unto me."
[388] When the inner man shows signs for a time of wavering between
vice and virtue, say: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art
thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him
who is the health of my countenance and my God." [389] You must never
let suggestions of evil grow on you, or a babel of disorder win
strength in your breast. Slay the enemy while he is small; and, that
you may not have a crop of tares, nip the evil in the bud. Bear in mind
the warning words of the Psalmist: "Hapless daughter of Babylon, happy
shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he
be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." [390]
Because natural heat inevitably kindles in a man sensual passion, he is
praised and accounted happy who, when foul suggestions arise in his
mind, gives them no quarter, but dashes them instantly against the
rock. "Now the Rock is Christ." [391]
7. How often, when I was living in the desert, in the vast solitude
which gives to hermits a savage dwelling-place, parched by a burning
sun, how often did I fancy myself among the pleasures of Rome! I used
to sit alone because I was filled with bitterness. Sackcloth disfigured
my unshapely limbs and my skin from long neglect had become as black as
an Ethiopian's. Tears and groans were every day my portion; and if
drowsiness chanced to overcome my struggles against it, my bare bones,
which hardly held together, clashed against the ground. Of my food and
drink I say nothing: for, even in sickness, the solitaries have nothing
but cold water, and to eat one's food cooked is looked upon as
self-indulgence. Now, although in my fear of hell I had consigned
myself to this prison, where I had no companions but scorpions and wild
beasts, I often found myself amid bevies of girls. My face was pale and
my frame chilled with fasting; yet my mind was burning with desire, and
the fires of lust kept bubbling up before me when my flesh was as good
as dead. Helpless, I cast myself at the feet of Jesus, I watered them
with my tears, I wiped them with my hair: and then I subdued my
rebellious body with weeks of abstinence. I do not blush to avow my
abject misery; rather I lament that I am not now what once I was. I
remember how I often cried aloud all night till the break of day and
ceased not from beating my breast till tranquillity returned at the
chiding of the Lord. I used to dread my very cell as though it knew my
thoughts; and, stern and angry with myself, I used to make my way alone
into the desert. Wherever I saw hollow valleys, craggy mountains, steep
cliffs, there I made my oratory, there the house of correction for my
unhappy flesh. There, also--the Lord Himself is my witness--when I had
shed copious tears and had strained my eyes towards heaven, I sometimes
felt myself among angelic hosts, and for joy and gladness sang:
"because of the savour of thy good ointments we will run after thee."
[392]
8. Now, if such are the temptations of men who, since their bodies are
emaciated with fasting, have only evil thoughts to fear, how must it
fare with a girl whose surroundings are those of luxury and ease?
Surely, to use the apostle's words, "She is dead while she liveth."
[393] Therefore, if experience gives me a right to advise, or clothes
my words with credit, I would begin by urging you and warning you as
Christ's spouse to avoid wine as you would avoid poison. For wine is
the first weapon used by demons against the young. Greed does not
shake, nor pride puff up, nor ambition infatuate so much as this. Other
vices we easily escape, but this enemy is shut up within us, and
wherever we go we carry him with us. Wine and youth between them kindle
the fire of sensual pleasure. Why do we throw oil on the flame--why do
we add fresh fuel to a miserable body which is already ablaze. Paul, it
is true, says to Timothy "drink no longer water, but use a little wine
for thy stomach's sake, and for thine often infirmities." [394] But
notice the reasons for which the permission is given, to cure an aching
stomach and a frequent infirmity. And lest we should indulge ourselves
too much on the score of our ailments, he commands that but little
shall be taken; advising rather as a physician than as an apostle
(though, indeed, an apostle is a spiritual physician). He evidently
feared that Timothy might succumb to weakness, and might prove unequal
to the constant moving to and fro involved in preaching the Gospel.
Besides, he remembered that he had spoken of "wine wherein is excess,"
[395] and had said, "it is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink
wine." [396] Noah drank wine and became intoxicated; but living as he
did in the rude age after the flood, when the vine was first planted,
perhaps he did not know its power of inebriation. And to let you see
the hidden meaning of Scripture in all its fulness (for the word of God
is a pearl and may be pierced on every side) after his drunkenness came
the uncovering of his body; self-indulgence culminated in lust. [397]
First the belly is crammed; then the other members are roused.
Similarly, at a later period, "The people sat down to eat and to drink
and rose up to play." [398] Lot also, God's friend, whom He saved upon
the mountain, who was the only one found righteous out of so many
thousands, was intoxicated by his daughters. And, although they may
have acted as they did more from a desire of offspring than from love
of sinful pleasure--for the human race seemed in danger of
extinction--yet they were well aware that the righteous man would not
abet their design unless intoxicated. In fact he did not know what he
was doing, and his sin was not wilful. Still his error was a grave one,
for it made him the father of Moab and Ammon, [399] Israel's enemies,
of whom it is said: "Even to the fourteenth generation they shall not
enter into the congregation of the Lord forever." [400]
9. When Elijah, in his flight from Jezebel, lay weary and desolate
beneath the oak, there came an angel who raised him up and said, "Arise
and eat." And he looked, and behold there was a cake and a cruse of
water at his head. [401] Had God willed it, might He not have sent His
prophet spiced wines and dainty dishes and flesh basted into
tenderness? When Elisha invited the sons of the prophets to dinner, he
only gave them field-herbs to eat; and when all cried out with one
voice: "There is death in the pot," the man of God did not storm at the
cooks (for he was not used to very sumptuous fare), but caused meal to
be brought, and casting it in, sweetened the bitter mess [402] with
spiritual strength as Moses had once sweetened the waters of Mara.
[403] Again, when men were sent to arrest the prophet, and were smitten
with physical and mental blindness, that he might bring them without
their own knowledge to Samaria, notice the food with which Elisha
ordered them to be refreshed. "Set bread and water," he said, "before
them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master." [404] And
Daniel, who might have had rich food from the king's table, [405]
preferred the mower's breakfast, brought to him by Habakkuk, [406]
which must have been but country fare. He was called "a man of
desires," [407] because he would not eat the bread of desire or drink
the wine of concupiscence.
10. There are, in the Scriptures, countless divine answers condemning
gluttony and approving simple food. But as fasting is not my present
theme and an adequate discussion of it would require a treatise to
itself, these few observations must suffice of the many which the
subject suggests. By them you will understand why the first man,
obeying his belly and not God, was cast down from paradise into this
vale of tears; [408] and why Satan used hunger to tempt the Lord
Himself in the wilderness; [409] and why the apostle cries: "Meats for
the belly and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and
them;" [410] and why he speaks of the self-indulgent as men "whose God
is their belly." [411] For men invariably worship what they like best.
Care must be taken, therefore, that abstinence may bring back to
Paradise those whom satiety once drove out.
11. You will tell me, perhaps, that, high-born as you are, reared in
luxury and used to lie softly, you cannot do without wine and dainties,
and would find a stricter rule of life unendurable. If so, I can only
say: "Live, then, by your own rule, since God's rule is too hard for
you." Not that the Creator and Lord of all takes pleasure in a rumbling
and empty stomach, or in fevered lungs; but that these are
indispensable as means to the preservation of chastity. Job was dear to
God, perfect and upright before Him; [412] yet hear what he says of the
devil: "His strength is in the loins, and his force is in the navel."
[413]
The terms are chosen for decency's sake, but the reproductive organs of
the two sexes are meant. Thus, the descendant of David, who, according
to the promise is to sit upon his throne, is said to come from his
loins. [414] And the seventy-five souls descended from Jacob who
entered Egypt are said to come out of his thigh. [415] So, also, when
his thigh shrank after the Lord had wrestled with him, [416] he ceased
to beget children. The Israelites, again, are told to celebrate the
passover with loins girded and mortified. [417] God says to Job: "Gird
up thy loins as a man." [418] John wears a leathern girdle. [419] The
apostles must gird their loins to carry the lamps of the Gospel. [420]
When Ezekiel tells us how Jerusalem is found in the plain of wandering,
covered with blood, he uses the words: "Thy navel has not been cut."
[421] In his assaults on men, therefore, the devil's strength is in the
loins; in his attacks on women his force is in the navel.
12. Do you wish for proof of my assertions? Take examples. Sampson was
braver than a lion and tougher than a rock; alone and unprotected he
pursued a thousand armed men; and yet, in Delilah's embrace, his
resolution melted away. David was a man after God's own heart, and his
lips had often sung of the Holy One, the future Christ; and yet as he
walked upon his housetop he was fascinated by Bathsheba's nudity, and
added murder to adultery. [422] Notice here how, even in his own house,
a man cannot use his eyes without danger. Then repenting, he says to
the Lord: "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in
Thy sight." [423] Being a king he feared no one else. So, too, with
Solomon. Wisdom used him to sing her praise, [424] and he treated of
all plants "from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop
that springeth out of the wall;" [425] and yet he went back from God
because he was a lover of women. [426] And, as if to show that near
relationship is no safeguard, Amnon burned with illicit passion for his
sister Tamar. [427]
13. I cannot bring myself to speak of the many virgins who daily fall
and are lost to the bosom of the church, their mother: stars over which
the proud foe sets up his throne, [428] and rocks hollowed by the
serpent that he may dwell in their fissures. You may see many women
widows before wedded, who try to conceal their miserable fall by a
lying garb. Unless they are betrayed by swelling wombs or by the crying
of their infants, they walk abroad with tripping feet and heads in the
air. Some go so far as to take potions, that they may insure
barrenness, and thus murder human beings almost before their
conception. Some, when they find themselves with child through their
sin, use drugs to procure abortion, and when (as often happens) they
die with their offspring, they enter the lower world laden with the
guilt not only of adultery against Christ but also of suicide and child
murder. Yet it is these who say: "Unto the pure all things are pure;'
[429] my conscience is sufficient guide for me. A pure heart is what
God looks for. Why should I abstain from meats which God has created to
be received with thanksgiving?" [430] And when they wish to appear
agreeable and entertaining they first drench themselves with wine, and
then joining the grossest profanity to intoxication, they say "Far be
it from me to abstain from the blood of Christ." And when they see
another pale or sad they call her "wretch" or "manichæan;" [431] quite
logically, indeed, for on their principles fasting involves heresy.
When they go out they do their best to attract notice, and with nods
and winks encourage troops of young fellows to follow them. Of each and
all of these the prophet's words are true: "Thou hast a whore's
forehead; thou refusest to be ashamed." [432] Their robes have but a
narrow purple stripe, [433] it is true; and their head-dress is
somewhat loose, so as to leave the hair free. From their shoulders
flutters the lilac mantle which they call "ma-forte;" they have their
feet in cheap slippers and their arms tucked up tight-fitting sleeves.
Add to these marks of their profession an easy gait, and you have all
the virginity that they possess. Such may have eulogizers of their own,
and may fetch a higher price in the market of perdition, merely because
they are called virgins. But to such virgins as these I prefer to be
displeasing.
14. I blush to speak of it, it is so shocking; yet though sad, it is
true. How comes this plague of the agapetæ [434] to be in the church?
Whence come these unwedded wives, these novel concubines, these
harlots, so I will call them, though they cling to a single partner?
One house holds them and one chamber. They often occupy the same bed,
and yet they call us suspicious if we fancy anything amiss. A brother
leaves his virgin sister; a virgin, slighting her unmarried brother,
seeks a brother in a stranger. Both alike profess to have but one
object, to find spiritual consolation from those not of their kin; but
their real aim is to indulge in sexual intercourse. It is on such that
Solomon in the book of proverbs heaps his scorn. "Can a man take fire
in his bosom," he says, "and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon
hot coals and his feet not be burned?" [435]
15. We cast out, then, and banish from our sight those who only wish to
seem and not to be virgins. Henceforward I may bring all my speech to
bear upon you who, as it is your lot to be the first virgin of noble
birth in Rome, have to labor the more diligently not to lose good
things to come, as well as those that are present. You have at least
learned from a case in your own family the troubles of wedded life and
the uncertainties of marriage. Your sister, Blæsilla, before you in age
but behind you in declining the vow of virginity, has become a widow
but seven months after she has taken a husband. Hapless plight of us
mortals who know not what is before us! She has lost, at once, the
crown of virginity and the pleasures of wedlock. And, although, as a
widow, the second degree of chastity is hers, still can you not imagine
the continual crosses which she has to bear, daily seeing in her sister
what she has lost herself; and, while she finds it hard to go without
the pleasures of wedlock, having a less reward for her present
continence? Still she, too, may take heart and rejoice. The fruit which
is an hundredfold and that which is sixtyfold both spring from one
seed, and that seed is chastity. [436]
16. Do not court the company of married ladies or visit the houses of
the high-born. Do not look too often on the life which you despised to
become a virgin. Women of the world, you know, plume themselves because
their husbands are on the bench or in other high positions. And the
wife of the emperor always has an eager throng of visitors at her door.
Why do you, then, wrong your husband? Why do you, God's bride, hasten
to visit the wife of a mere man? Learn in this respect a holy pride;
know that you are better than they. And not only must you avoid
intercourse with those who are puffed up by their husbands' honors, who
are hedged in with troops of eunuchs, and who wear robes inwrought with
threads of gold. You must also shun those who are widows from necessity
and not from choice. Not that they ought to have desired the death of
their husbands; but that they have not welcomed the opportunity of
continence when it has come. As it is, they only change their garb;
their old self-seeking remains unchanged. To see them in their
capacious litters, with red cloaks and plump bodies, a row of eunuchs
walking in front of them, you would fancy them not to have lost
husbands but to be seeking them. Their houses are filled with
flatterers and with guests. The very clergy, who ought to inspire them
with respect by their teaching and authority, kiss these ladies on the
forehead, and putting forth their hands (so that, if you knew no
better, you might suppose them in the act of blessing), take wages for
their visits. They, meanwhile, seeing that priests cannot do without
them, are lifted up into pride; and as, having had experience of both,
they prefer the license of widowhood to the restraints of marriage,
they call themselves chaste livers and nuns. After an immoderate supper
they retire to rest to dream of the apostles. [437]
17. Let your companions be women pale and thin with fasting, and
approved by their years and conduct; such as daily sing in their
hearts: "Tell me where thou feedest thy flock, where thou makest it to
rest at noon," [438] and say, with true earnestness, "I have a desire
to depart and to be with Christ." [439] Be subject to your parents,
imitating the example of your spouse. [440] Rarely go abroad, and if
you wish to seek the aid of the martyrs seek it in your own chamber.
For you will never need a pretext for going out if you always go out
when there is need. Take food in moderation, and never overload your
stomach. For many women, while temperate as regards wine, are
intemperate in the use of food. When you rise at night to pray, let
your breath be that of an empty and not that of an overfull stomach.
Read often, learn all that you can. Let sleep overcome you, the roll
still in your hands; when your head falls, let it be on the sacred
page. Let your fasts be of daily occurrence and your refreshment such
as avoids satiety. It is idle to carry an empty stomach if, in two or
three days' time, the fast is to be made up for by repletion. When
cloyed the mind immediately grows sluggish, and when the ground is
watered it puts forth the thorns of lust. If ever you feel the outward
man sighing for the flower of youth, and if, as you lie on your couch
after a meal, you are excited by the alluring train of sensual desires;
then seize the shield of faith, for it alone can quench the fiery darts
of the devil. [441] "They are all adulterers," says the prophet; "they
have made ready their heart like an oven." [442] But do you keep close
to the footsteps of Christ, and, intent upon His words, say: "Did not
our heart burn within us by the way while Jesus opened to us the
Scriptures?" [443] and again: "Thy word is tried to the uttermost, and
thy servant loveth it." [444] It is hard for the human soul to avoid
loving something, and our mind must of necessity give way to affection
of one kind or another. The love of the flesh is overcome by the love
of the spirit. Desire is quenched by desire. What is taken from the one
increases the other. Therefore, as you lie on your couch, say again and
again: "By night have I sought Him whom my soul loveth." [445]
"Mortify, therefore," says the apostle, "your members which are upon
the earth." [446] Because he himself did so, he could afterwards say
with confidence: "I live, yet not I, but Christ, liveth in me." [447]
He who mortifies his members, and feels that he is walking in a vain
show, [448] is not afraid to say: "I am become like a bottle in the
frost. [449] Whatever there was in me of the moisture of lust has been
dried out of me." And again: "My knees are weak through fasting; I
forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones
cleave to my skin." [450]
18. Be like the grasshopper and make night musical. Nightly wash your
bed and water your couch with your tears. [451] Watch and be like the
sparrow alone upon the housetop. [452] Sing with the spirit, but sing
with the understanding also. [453] And let your song be that of the
psalmist: "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and forget not all his benefits;
who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who
redeemeth thy life from destruction." [454] Can we, any of us, honestly
make his words our own: "I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my
drink with weeping?" [455] Yet, should we not weep and groan when the
serpent invites us, as he invited our first parents, to eat forbidden
fruit, and when after expelling us from the paradise of virginity he
desires to clothe us with mantles of skins such as that which Elijah,
on his return to paradise, left behind him on earth? [456] Say to
yourself: "What have I to do with the pleasures of sense that so soon
come to an end? What have I to do with the song of the sirens so sweet
and so fatal to those who hear it?" I would not have you subject to
that sentence whereby condemnation has been passed upon mankind. When
God says to Eve, "In pain and in sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children," say to yourself, "That is a law for a married woman, not for
me." And when He continues, "Thy desire shall be to thy husband," [457]
say again: "Let her desire be to her husband who has not Christ for her
spouse." And when, last of all, He says, "Thou shalt surely die," [458]
once more, say, "Marriage indeed must end in death; but the life on
which I have resolved is independent of sex. Let those who are wives
keep the place and the time that properly belong to them. For me,
virginity is consecrated in the persons of Mary and of Christ."
19. Some one may say, "Do you dare detract from wedlock, which is a
state blessed by God?" I do not detract from wedlock when I set
virginity before it. No one compares a bad thing with a good. Wedded
women may congratulate themselves that they come next to virgins. "Be
fruitful," God says, "and multiply, and replenish the earth." [459] He
who desires to replenish the earth may increase and multiply if he
will. But the train to which you belong is not on earth, but in heaven.
The command to increase and multiply first finds fulfilment after the
expulsion from paradise, after the nakedness and the fig-leaves which
speak of sexual passion. Let them marry and be given in marriage who
eat their bread in the sweat of their brow; whose land brings forth to
them thorns and thistles, [460] and whose crops are choked with briars.
My seed produces fruit a hundredfold. [461] "All men cannot receive
God's saying, but they to whom it is given."
Some people may be eunuchs from necessity; I am one of free will. [462]
"There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. There
is a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together."
[463] Now that out of the hard stones of the Gentiles God has raised up
children unto Abraham, [464] they begin to be "holy stones rolling upon
the earth." [465] They pass through the whirlwinds of the world, and
roll on in God's chariot on rapid wheels. Let those stitch coats to
themselves who have lost the coat woven from the top throughout; [466]
who delight in the cries of infants which, as soon as they see the
light, lament that they are born. In paradise Eve was a virgin, and it
was only after the coats of skins that she began her married life. Now
paradise is your home too. Keep therefore your birthright and say:
"Return unto thy rest, O my soul." [467] To show that virginity is
natural while wedlock only follows guilt, what is born of wedlock is
virgin flesh, and it gives back in fruit what in root it has lost.
"There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a flower
shall grow out of his roots." [468] The rod [469] is the mother of the
Lord--simple, pure, unsullied; drawing no germ of life from without but
fruitful in singleness like God Himself. The flower of the rod is
Christ, who says of Himself: "I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of
the valleys." [470] In another place He is foretold to be "a stone cut
out of the mountain without hands," [471] a figure by which the prophet
signifies that He is to be born a virgin of a virgin. For the hands are
here a figure of wedlock as in the passage: "His left hand is under my
head and his right hand doth embrace me." [472] It agrees, also, with
this interpretation that the unclean animals are led into Noah's ark in
pairs, while of the clean an uneven number is taken. [473] Similarly,
when Moses and Joshua were bidden to remove their shoes because the
ground on which they stood was holy, [474] the command had a mystical
meaning. So, too, when the disciples were appointed to preach the
gospel they were told to take with them neither shoe nor shoe-latchet;
[475] and when the soldiers came to cast lots for the garments of Jesus
[476] they found no boots that they could take away. For the Lord could
not Himself possess what He had forbidden to His servants.
20. I praise wedlock, I praise marriage, but it is because they give me
virgins. I gather the rose from the thorns, the gold from the earth,
the pearl from the shell. "Doth the plowman plow all day to sow?" [477]
Shall he not also enjoy the fruit of his labor? Wedlock is the more
honored, the more what is born of it is loved. Why, mother, do you
grudge your daughter her virginity? She has been reared on your milk,
she has come from your womb, she has grown up in your bosom. Your
watchful affection has kept her a virgin. Are you angry with her
because she chooses to be a king's wife and not a soldier's? She has
conferred on you a high privilege; you are now the mother-in-law of
God. "Concerning virgins," says the apostle, "I have no commandment of
the Lord." [478] Why was this? Because his own virginity was due, not
to a command, but to his free choice. For they are not to be heard who
feign him to have had a wife; for, when he is discussing continence and
commending perpetual chastity, he uses the words, "I would that all men
were even as I myself." And farther on, "I say, therefore, to the
unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I."
[479] And in another place, "have we not power to lead about wives even
as the rest of the apostles?" [480] Why then has he no commandment from
the Lord concerning virginity? Because what is freely offered is worth
more than what is extorted by force, and to command virginity would
have been to abrogate wedlock. It would have been a hard enactment to
compel opposition to nature and to extort from men the angelic life;
and not only so, it would have been to condemn what is a divine
ordinance.
21. The old law had a different ideal of blessedness, for therein it is
said: "Blessed is he who hath seed in Zion and a family in Jerusalem:"
[481] and "Cursed is the barren who beareth not:" [482] and "Thy
children shall be like olive-plants round about thy table." [483]
Riches too are promised to the faithful and we are told that "there was
not one feeble person among their tribes." [484] But now even to
eunuchs it is said, "Say not, behold I am a dry tree," [485] for
instead of sons and daughters you have a place forever in heaven. Now
the poor are blessed, now Lazarus is set before Dives in his purple.
[486] Now he who is weak is counted strong. But in those days the world
was still unpeopled: accordingly, to pass over instances of
childlessness meant only to serve as types, those only were considered
happy who could boast of children. It was for this reason that Abraham
in his old age married Keturah; [487] that Leah hired Jacob with her
son's mandrakes, [488] and that fair Rachel--a type of the
church--complained of the closing of her womb. [489] But gradually the
crop grew up and then the reaper was sent forth with his sickle. Elijah
lived a virgin life, so also did Elisha and many of the sons of the
prophets. To Jeremiah the command came: "Thou shalt not take thee a
wife." [490] He had been sanctified in his mother's womb, [491] and now
he was forbidden to take a wife because the captivity was near. The
apostle gives the same counsel in different words. "I think, therefore,
that this is good by reason of the present distress, namely that it is
good for a man to be as he is." [492] What is this distress which does
away with the joys of wedlock? The apostle tells us, in a later verse:
"The time is short: it remaineth that those who have wives be as though
they had none." [493] Nebuchadnezzar is hard at hand. The lion is
bestirring himself from his lair. What good will marriage be to me if
it is to end in slavery to the haughtiest of kings? What good will
little ones be to me if their lot is to be that which the prophet sadly
describes: "The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his
mouth for thirst; the young children ask for bread and no man breaketh
it unto them"? [494] In those days, as I have said, the virtue of
continence was found only in men: Eve still continued to travail with
children. But now that a virgin has conceived [495] in the womb and has
borne to us a child of which the prophet says that "Government shall be
upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called the mighty God, the
everlasting Father," [496] now the chain of the curse is broken. Death
came through Eve, but life has come through Mary. And thus the gift of
virginity has been bestowed most richly upon women, seeing that it has
had its beginning from a woman. As soon as the Son of God set foot upon
the earth, He formed for Himself a new household there; that, as He was
adored by angels in heaven, angels might serve Him also on earth. Then
chaste Judith once more cut off the head of Holofernes. [497] Then
Haman--whose name means iniquity--was once more burned in fire of his
own kindling. [498] Then James and John forsook father and net and ship
and followed the Saviour: neither kinship nor the world's ties, nor the
care of their home could hold them back. Then were the words heard:
"Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me." [499] For no soldier goes with a wife to battle.
Even when a disciple would have buried his father, the Lord forbade
him, and said: "Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests,
but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." [500] So you must
not complain if you have but scanty house-room. In the same strain, the
apostle writes: "He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong
to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: but he that is married careth
for the things that are of the world how he may please his wife. There
is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman
careth for the things of the Lord that she may be holy both in body and
in spirit. But she that is married careth for the things of the world
how she may please her husband." [501]
22. How great inconveniences are involved in wedlock and how many
anxieties encompass it I have, I think, described shortly in my
treatise--published against Helvidius [502] --on the perpetual
virginity of the blessed Mary. It would be tedious to go over the same
ground now; and any one who pleases may draw from that fountain. But
lest I should seem wholly to have passed over the matter, I will just
say now that the apostle bids us pray without ceasing, [503] and that
he who in the married state renders his wife her due [504] cannot so
pray. Either we pray always and are virgins, or we cease to pray that
we may fulfil the claims of marriage. Still he says: "If a virgin marry
she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the
flesh." [505] At the outset I promised that I should say little or
nothing of the embarrassments of wedlock, and now I give you notice to
the same effect. If you want to know from how many vexations a virgin
is free and by how many a wife is fettered you should read Tertullian
"to a philosophic friend," [506] and his other treatises on virginity,
the blessed Cyprian's noble volume, the writings of Pope Damasus [507]
in prose and verse, and the treatises recently written for his sister
by our own Ambrose. [508] In these he has poured forth his soul with
such a flood of eloquence that he has sought out, set forth, and put in
order all that bears on the praise of virgins.
23. We must proceed by a different path, for our purpose is not the
praise of virginity but its preservation. To know that it is a good
thing is not enough: when we have chosen it we must guard it with
jealous care. The first only requires judgment, and we share it with
many; the second calls for toil, and few compete with us in it. "He
that shall endure unto the end," the Lord says, "the same shall be
saved," [509] and "many are called but few are chosen." [510] Therefore
I conjure you before God and Jesus Christ and His elect angels to guard
that which you have received, not readily exposing to the public gaze
the vessels of the Lord's temple (which only the priests are by right
allowed to see), that no profane person may look upon God's sanctuary.
Uzzah, when he touched the ark which it was not lawful to touch, was
struck down suddenly by death. [511] And assuredly no gold or silver
vessel was ever so dear to God as is the temple of a virgin's body. The
shadow went before, but now the reality is come. You indeed may speak
in all simplicity, and from motives of amiability may treat with
courtesy the veriest strangers, but unchaste eyes see nothing aright.
They fail to appreciate the beauty of the soul, and only value that of
the body. Hezekiah showed God's treasure to the Assyrians, [512] who
ought never to have seen what they were sure to covet. The consequence
was that Judæa was torn by continual wars, and that the very first
things carried away to Babylon were these vessels of the Lord. We find
Belshazzar at his feast and among his concubines (vice always glories
in defiling what is noble) drinking out of these sacred cups. [513]
24. Never incline your ear to words of mischief. For men often say an
improper word to make trial of a virgin's steadfastness, to see if she
hears it with pleasure, and if she is ready to unbend at every silly
jest. Such persons applaud whatever you affirm and deny whatever you
deny; they speak of you as not only holy but accomplished, and say that
in you there is no guile. "Behold," say they, "a true hand-maid of
Christ; behold entire singleness of heart. How different from that
rough, unsightly, countrified fright, who most likely never married
because she could never find a husband." Our natural weakness induces
us readily to listen to such flatterers; but, though we may blush and
reply that such praise is more than our due, the soul within us
rejoices to hear itself praised.
Like the ark of the covenant Christ's spouse should be overlaid with
gold within and without; [514] she should be the guardian of the law of
the Lord. Just as the ark contained nothing but the tables of the
covenant, [515] so in you there should be no thought of anything that
is outside. For it pleases the Lord to sit in your mind as He once sat
on the mercy-seat and the cherubims. [516] As He sent His disciples to
loose Him the foal of an ass that he might ride on it, so He sends them
to release you from the cares of the world, that leaving the bricks and
straw of Egypt, you may follow Him, the true Moses, through the
wilderness and may enter the land of promise. Let no one dare to forbid
you, neither mother nor sister nor kinswoman nor brother: "The Lord
hath need of you." [517] Should they seek to hinder you, let them fear
the scourges that fell on Pharaoh, who, because he would not let God's
people go that they might serve Him, [518] suffered the plagues
described in Scripture. Jesus entering into the temple cast out those
things which belonged not to the temple. For God is jealous and will
not allow the father's house to be made a den of robbers. [519] Where
money is counted, where doves are sold, where simplicity is stifled
where, that is, a virgin's breast glows with cares of this world;
straightway the veil of the temple is rent, [520] the bridegroom rises
in anger, he says: "Your house is left unto you desolate." [521] Read
the gospel and see how Mary sitting at the feet of the Lord is set
before the zealous Martha. In her anxiety to be hospitable Martha was
preparing a meal for the Lord and His disciples; yet Jesus said to her:
"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. But
few things are needful or one. [522] And Mary hath chosen that good
part which shall not be taken away from her." [523] Be then like Mary;
prefer the food of the soul to that of the body. Leave it to your
sisters to run to and fro and to seek how they may fitly welcome
Christ. But do you, having once for all cast away the burden of the
world, sit at the Lord's feet and say: "I have found him whom my soul
loveth; I will hold him, I will not let him go." [524] And He will
answer: "My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her
mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her." [525] Now the
mother of whom this is said is the heavenly Jerusalem. [526]
25. Ever let the privacy of your chamber guard you; ever let the
Bridegroom sport with you within. [527] Do you pray? You speak to the
Bridegroom. Do you read? He speaks to you. When sleep overtakes you He
will come behind and put His hand through the hole of the door, and
your heart [528] shall be moved for Him; and you will awake and rise up
and say: "I am sick of love." [529] Then He will reply: "A garden
inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed."
[530]
Go not from home nor visit the daughters of a strange land, though you
have patriarchs for brothers and Israel for a father. Dinah went out
and was seduced. [531] Do not seek the Bridegroom in the streets; do
not go round the corners of the city. For though you may say: "I will
rise now and go about the city: in the streets and in the broad ways I
will seek Him whom my soul loveth," and though you may ask the
watchmen: "Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth?" [532] no one will deign to
answer you. The Bridegroom cannot be found in the streets: "Strait and
narrow is the way which leadeth unto life." [533] So the Song goes on:
"I sought him but I could not find him: I called him but he gave me no
answer." [534] And would that failure to find Him were all. You will be
wounded and stripped, you will lament and say: "The watchmen that went
about the city found me: they smote me, they wounded me, they took away
my veil from me." [535] Now if one who could say: "I sleep but my heart
waketh," [536] and "A bundle of myrrh is my well beloved unto me; he
shall lie all night betwixt my breasts"; [537] if one who could speak
thus suffered so much because she went abroad, what shall become of us
who are but young girls; of us who, when the bride goes in with the
Bridegroom, still remain without? Jesus is jealous. He does not choose
that your face should be seen of others. You may excuse yourself and
say: "I have drawn close my veil, I have covered my face and I have
sought Thee there and have said: Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth,
where Thou feedest Thy flock, where Thou makest it to rest at noon. For
why should I be as one that is veiled beside the flocks of Thy
companions?'" [538] Yet in spite of your excuses He will be wroth, He
will swell with anger and say: "If thou know not thyself, O thou
fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock and
feed thy goats beside the shepherd's tents." [539] You may be fair, and
of all faces yours may be the dearest to the Bridegroom; yet, unless
you know yourself, and keep your heart with all diligence, [540] unless
also you avoid the eyes of the young men, you will be turned out of My
bride-chamber to feed the goats, which shall be set on the left hand.
[541]
26. These things being so, my Eustochium, daughter, lady,
fellow-servant, sister--these names refer the first to your age, the
second to your rank, the third to your religious vocation, the last to
the place which you hold in my affection--hear the words of Isaiah:
"Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors
about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the
indignation" of the Lord "be overpast." [542] Let foolish virgins stray
abroad, but for your part stay at home with the Bridegroom; for if you
shut your door, and, according to the precept of the Gospel, [543] pray
to your Father in secret, He will come and knock, saying: "Behold, I
stand at the door and knock; if any man...open the door, I will come in
to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." [544] Then straightway
you will eagerly reply: "It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh,
saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled." It is
impossible that you should refuse, and say: "I have put off my coat;
how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?"
[545] Arise forthwith and open. Otherwise while you linger He may pass
on and you may have mournfully to say: "I opened to my beloved, but my
beloved was gone." [546] Why need the doors of your heart be closed to
the Bridegroom? Let them be open to Christ but closed to the devil
according to the saying: "If the spirit of him who hath power rise up
against thee, leave not thy place." [547] Daniel, in that upper story
to which he withdrew when he could no longer continue below, had his
windows open toward Jerusalem. [548] Do you too keep your windows open,
but only on the side where light may enter and whence you may see the
eye of the Lord. Open not those other windows of which the prophet
says: "Death is come up into our windows." [549]
27. You must also be careful to avoid the snare of a passion for
vainglory. "How," Jesus says, "can ye believe which receive glory one
from another?" [550] What an evil that must be the victim of which
cannot believe! Let us rather say: "Thou art my glorying," [551] and
"He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord," [552] and "If I yet
pleased men I should not be the servant of Christ," [553] and "Far be
it from me to glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom the world hath been crucified unto me and I unto the world;" [554]
and once more: "In God we boast all the day long; my soul shall make
her boast in the Lord." [555] When you do alms, let God alone see you.
When you fast, be of a cheerful countenance. [556] Let your dress be
neither too neat nor too slovenly; neither let it be so remarkable as
to draw the attention of passers-by, and to make men point their
fingers at you. Is a brother dead? Has the body of a sister to be
carried to its burial? Take care lest in too often performing such
offices you die yourself. Do not wish to seem very devout nor more
humble than need be, lest you seek glory by shunning it. For many, who
screen from all men's sight their poverty, charity, and fasting, desire
to excite admiration by their very disdain of it, and strangely seek
for praise while they profess to keep out of its way. From the other
disturbing influences which make men rejoice, despond, hope, and fear I
find many free; but this is a defect which few are without, and he is
best whose character, like a fair skin, is disfigured by the fewest
blemishes. I do not think it necessary to warn you against boasting of
your riches, or against priding yourself on your birth, or against
setting yourself up as superior to others. I know your humility; I know
that you can say with sincerity: "Lord, my heart is not haughty nor
mine eyes lofty;" [557] I know that in your breast as in that of your
mother the pride through which the devil fell has no place. It would be
time wasted to write to you about it; for there is no greater folly
than to teach a pupil what he knows already. But now that you have
despised the boastfulness of the world, do not let the fact inspire you
with new boastfulness. Harbor not the secret thought that having ceased
to court attention in garments of gold you may begin to do so in mean
attire. And when you come into a room full of brothers and sisters, do
not sit in too low a place or plead that you are unworthy of a
footstool. Do not deliberately lower your voice as though worn out with
fasting; nor, leaning on the shoulder of another, mimic the tottering
gait of one who is faint. Some women, it is true, disfigure their
faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. [558] As soon as they
catch sight of any one they groan, they look down; they cover up their
faces, all but one eye, which they keep free to see with. Their dress
is sombre, their girdles are of sackcloth, their hands and feet are
dirty; only their stomachs--which cannot be seen--are hot with food. Of
these the psalm is sung daily: "The Lord will scatter the bones of them
that please themselves." [559] Others change their garb and assume the
mien of men, being ashamed of being what they were born to be--women.
They cut off their hair and are not ashamed to look like eunuchs. Some
clothe themselves in goat's hair, and, putting on hoods, think to
become children again by making themselves look like so many owls.
[560]
28. But I will not speak only of women. Avoid men, also, when you see
them loaded with chains and wearing their hair long like women,
contrary to the apostle's precept, [561] not to speak of beards like
those of goats, black cloaks, and bare feet braving the cold. All these
things are tokens of the devil. Such an one Rome groaned over some time
back in Antimus; and Sophronius is a still more recent instance. Such
persons, when they have once gained admission to the houses of the
high-born, and have deceived "silly women laden with sins, ever
learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth," [562]
feign a sad mien and pretend to make long fasts while at night they
feast in secret. Shame forbids me to say more, for my language might
appear more like invective than admonition. There are others--I speak
of those of my own order--who seek the presbyterate and the diaconate
simply that they may be able to see women with less restraint. Such men
think of nothing but their dress; they use perfumes freely, and see
that there are no creases in their leather shoes. Their curling hair
shows traces of the tongs; their fingers glisten with rings; they walk
on tiptoe across a damp road, not to splash their feet. When you see
men acting in this way, think of them rather as bridegrooms than as
clergymen. Certain persons have devoted the whole of their energies and
life to the single object of knowing the names, houses, and characters
of married ladies. I will here briefly describe the head of the
profession, that from the master's likeness you may recognize the
disciples. He rises and goes forth with the sun; he has the order of
his visits duly arranged; he takes the shortest road; and, troublesome
old man that he is, forces his way almost into the bedchambers of
ladies yet asleep. If he sees a pillow that takes his fancy or an
elegant table-cover--or indeed any article of household furniture--he
praises it, looks admiringly at it, takes it into his hand, and,
complaining that he has nothing of the kind, begs or rather extorts it
from the owner. All the women, in fact, fear to cross the news-carrier
of the town. Chastity and fasting are alike distasteful to him. What he
likes is a savory breakfast--say off a plump young crane such as is
commonly called a cheeper. In speech he is rude and forward, and is
always ready to bandy reproaches. Wherever you turn he is the first man
that you see before you. Whatever news is noised abroad he is either
the originator of the rumor or its magnifier. He changes his horses
every hour; and they are so sleek and spirited that you would take him
for a brother of the Thracian king. [563]
29. Many are the stratagems which the wily enemy employs against us.
"The serpent," we are told, "was more subtile than any beast of the
field which the Lord God had made." [564] And the apostle says: "We are
not ignorant of his devices." [565] Neither an affected shabbiness nor
a stylish smartness becomes a Christian. If there is anything of which
you are ignorant, if you have any doubt about Scripture, ask one whose
life commends him, whose age puts him above suspicion, whose reputation
does not belie him; one who may be able to say: "I have espoused you to
one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." Or if
there should be none such able to explain, it is better to avoid danger
at the price of ignorance than to court it for the sake of learning.
Remember that you walk in the midst of snares, and that many veteran
virgins, of a chastity never called in question, have, on the very
threshold of death, let their crowns fall from their hands.
If any of your handmaids share your vocation, do not lift up yourself
against them or pride yourself because you are their mistress. You have
all chosen one Bridegroom; you all sing the same psalms; together you
receive the Body of Christ. Why then should your thoughts be different?
[566] You must try to win others, and that you may attract the more
readily you must treat the virgins in your train with the greatest
respect. If you find one of them weak in the faith, be attentive to
her, comfort her, caress her, and make her chastity your treasure. But
if a girl pretends to have a vocation simply because she desires to
escape from service, read aloud to her the words of the apostle: "It is
better to marry than to burn." [567]
Idle persons and busybodies, whether virgins or widows; such as go from
house to house calling on married women and displaying an unblushing
effrontery greater than that of a stage parasite, cast from you as you
would the plague. For "evil communications corrupt good manners," [568]
and women like these care for nothing but their lowest appetites. They
will often urge you, saying, "My dear creature, make the best of your
advantages, and live while life is yours," and "Surely you are not
laying up money for your children." Given to wine and wantonness, they
instill all manner of mischief into people's minds, and induce even the
most austere to indulge in enervating pleasures. And "when they have
begun to wax wanton against Christ they will marry, having condemnation
because they have rejected their first faith." [569]
Do not seek to appear over-eloquent, nor trifle with verse, nor make
yourself gay with lyric songs. And do not, out of affectation, follow
the sickly taste [570] of married ladies who, now pressing their teeth
together, now keeping their lips wide apart, speak with a lisp, and
purposely clip their words, because they fancy that to pronounce them
naturally is a mark of country breeding. Accordingly they find pleasure
in what I may call an adultery of the tongue. For "what communion hath
light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?" [571]
How can Horace go with the psalter, Virgil with the gospels, Cicero
with the apostle? [572] Is not a brother made to stumble if he sees you
sitting at meat in an idol's temple? [573] Although "unto the pure all
things are pure," [574] and "nothing is to be refused if it be received
with thanksgiving," [575] still we ought not to drink the cup of
Christ, and, at the same time, the cup of devils. [576] Let me relate
to you the story of my own miserable experience.
30. Many years ago, when for the kingdom of heaven's sake I had cut
myself off from home, parents, sister, relations, and--harder
still--from the dainty food to which I had been accustomed; and when I
was on my way to Jerusalem to wage my warfare, I still could not bring
myself to forego the library which I had formed for myself at Rome with
great care and toil. And so, miserable man that I was, I would fast
only that I might afterwards read Cicero. After many nights spent in
vigil, after floods of tears called from my inmost heart, after the
recollection of my past sins, I would once more take up Plautus. And
when at times I returned to my right mind, and began to read the
prophets, their style seemed rude and repellent. I failed to see the
light with my blinded eyes; but I attributed the fault not to them, but
to the sun. While the old serpent was thus making me his plaything,
about the middle of Lent a deep-seated fever fell upon my weakened
body, and while it destroyed my rest completely--the story seems hardly
credible--it so wasted my unhappy frame that scarcely anything was left
of me but skin and bone. Meantime preparations for my funeral went on;
my body grew gradually colder, and the warmth of life lingered only in
my throbbing breast. Suddenly I was caught up in the spirit and dragged
before the judgment seat of the Judge; and here the light was so
bright, and those who stood around were so radiant, that I cast myself
upon the ground and did not dare to look up. Asked who and what I was I
replied: "I am a Christian." But He who presided said: "Thou liest,
thou art a follower of Cicero and not of Christ. For where thy treasure
is, there will thy heart be also.'" [577] Instantly I became dumb, and
amid the strokes of the lash--for He had ordered me to be scourged--I
was tortured more severely still by the fire of conscience, considering
with myself that verse, "In the grave who shall give thee thanks?"
[578] Yet for all that I began to cry and to bewail myself, saying:
"Have mercy upon me, O Lord: have mercy upon me." Amid the sound of the
scourges this cry still made itself heard. At last the bystanders,
falling down before the knees of Him who presided, prayed that He would
have pity on my youth, and that He would give me space to repent of my
error. He might still, they urged, inflict torture on me, should I ever
again read the works of the Gentiles. Under the stress of that awful
moment I should have been ready to make even still larger promises than
these. Accordingly I made oath and called upon His name, saying: "Lord,
if ever again I possess worldly books, or if ever again I read such, I
have denied Thee." Dismissed, then, on taking this oath, I returned to
the upper world, and, to the surprise of all, I opened upon them eyes
so drenched with tears that my distress served to convince even the
incredulous. And that this was no sleep nor idle dream, such as those
by which we are often mocked, I call to witness the tribunal before
which I lay, and the terrible judgment which I feared. May it never,
hereafter, be my lot to fall under such an inquisition! I profess that
my shoulders were black and blue, that I felt the bruises long after I
awoke from my sleep, and that thenceforth I read the books of God with
a zeal greater than I had previously given to the books of men.
31. You must also avoid the sin of covetousness, and this not merely by
refusing to seize upon what belongs to others, for that is punished by
the laws of the state, but also by not keeping your own property, which
has now become no longer yours. "If have not been faithful," the Lord
says, "in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is
your own?" [579] "That which is another man's" is a quantity of gold or
of silver, while "that which is our own" is the spiritual heritage of
which it is elsewhere said: "The ransom of a man's life is his riches."
[580] "No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one
and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." [581] Riches, that is; for in
the heathen tongue of the Syrians riches are called mammon. The
"thorns" which choke our faith [582] are the taking thought for our
life. [583] Care for the things which the Gentiles seek after [584] is
the root of covetousness.
But you will say: "I am a girl delicately reared, and I cannot labor
with my hands. Suppose that I live to old age and then fall sick, who
will take pity on me?" Hear Jesus speaking to the apostles: "Take no
thought what ye shall eat; nor yet for your body what ye shall put on.
Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the
fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather
into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them." [585] Should
clothing fail you, set the lilies before your eyes. Should hunger seize
you, think of the words in which the poor and hungry are blessed.
Should pain afflict you, read "Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities," and "There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above
measure." [586] Rejoice in all God's judgments; for does not the
psalmist say: "The daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy
judgments, O Lord"? [587] Let the words be ever on your lips: "Naked
came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither;"
[588] and "We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can
carry nothing out." [589]
32. To-day you may see women cramming their wardrobes with dresses,
changing their gowns from day to day, and for all that unable to
vanquish the moths. Now and then one more scrupulous wears out a single
dress; yet, while she appears in rags, her boxes are full. Parchments
are dyed purple, gold is melted into lettering, manuscripts are decked
with jewels, while Christ lies at the door naked and dying. When they
hold out a hand to the needy they sound a trumpet; [590] when they
invite to a love-feast [591] they engage a crier. I lately saw the
noblest lady in Rome--I suppress her name, for I am no satirist--with a
band of eunuchs before her in the basilica of the blessed Peter. She
was giving money to the poor, a coin apiece; and this with her own
hand, that she might be accounted more religious. Hereupon a by no
means uncommon incident occurred. An old woman, "full of years and
rags," [592] ran forward to get a second coin, but when her turn came
she received not a penny but a blow hard enough to draw blood from her
guilty veins.
"The love of money is the root of all evil," [593] and the apostle
speaks of covetousness as being idolatry. [594] "Seek ye first the
kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you." [595] The
Lord will never allow a righteous soul to perish of hunger. "I have
been young," the psalmist says, "and now am old, yet have I not seen
the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread." [596] Elijah is fed
by ministering ravens. [597] The widow of Zarephath, who with her sons
expected to die the same night, went without food herself that she
might feed the prophet. He who had come to be fed then turned feeder,
for, by a miracle, he filled the empty barrel. [598] The apostle Peter
says: "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee. In
the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk." [599] But now many, while
they do not say it in words, by their deeds declare: "Faith and pity
have I none; but such as I have, silver and gold, these I will not give
thee." "Having food and raiment let us be therewith content." [600]
Hear the prayer of Jacob: "If God will be with me and will keep me in
this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put
on, then shall the Lord be my God." [601] He prayed only for things
necessary; yet, twenty years afterwards, he returned to the land of
Canaan rich in substance and richer still in children. [602] Numberless
are the instances in Scripture which teach men to "Beware of
covetousness." [603]
33. As I have been led to touch to the subject--it shall have a
treatise to itself if Christ permit--I will relate what took place not
very many years ago at Nitria. A brother, more thrifty than covetous,
and ignorant that the Lord had been sold for thirty pieces of silver,
[604] left behind him at his death a hundred pieces of money which he
had earned by weaving linen. As there were about five thousand monks in
the neighborhood, living in as many separate cells, a council was held
as to what should be done. Some said that the coins should be
distributed among the poor; others that they should be given to the
church, while others were for sending them back to the relatives of the
deceased. However, Macarius, Pambo, Isidore and the rest of those
called fathers, speaking by the Spirit, decided that they should be
interred with their owner, with the words: "Thy money perish with
thee." [605] Nor was this too harsh a decision; for so great fear has
fallen upon all throughout Egypt, that it is now a crime to leave after
one a single shilling.
34. As I have mentioned the monks, and know that you like to hear about
holy things, lend an ear to me for a few moments. There are in Egypt
three classes of monks. First, there are the coenobites, [606] called
in their Gentile language Sauses, [607] or, as we should say, men
living in a community. [608] Secondly, there are the anchorites, [609]
who live in the desert, each man by himself, and are so called because
they have withdrawn from human society. Thirdly, there is the class
called Remoboth, [610] a very inferior and little regarded type,
peculiar to my own province, [611] or, at least, originating there.
These live together in twos and threes, but seldom in larger numbers,
and are bound by no rule; but do exactly as they choose. A portion of
their earnings they contribute to a common fund, out of which food is
provided for all. In most cases they reside in cities and strongholds;
and, as though it were their workmanship which is holy, and not their
life, all that they sell is extremely dear. They often quarrel because
they are unwilling, while supplying their own food, to be subordinate
to others. It is true that they compete with each other in fasting;
they make what should be a private concern an occasion for a triumph.
In everything they study effect: their sleeves are loose, their boots
bulge, their garb is of the coarsest. They are always sighing, or
visiting virgins, or sneering at the clergy; yet when a holiday comes,
they make themselves sick--they eat so much.
35. Having then rid ourselves of these as of so many plagues, let us
come to that more numerous class who live together, and who are, as we
have said, called Coenobites. Among these the first principle of union
is to obey superiors and to do whatever they command. They are divided
into bodies of ten and of a hundred, so that each tenth man has
authority over nine others, while the hundredth has ten of these
officers under him. They live apart from each other, in separate cells.
According to their rule, no monk may visit another before the ninth
hour; [612] except the deans [613] above mentioned, whose office is to
comfort, with soothing words, those whose thoughts disquiet them. After
the ninth hour they meet together to sing psalms and read the
Scriptures according to usage. Then when the prayers have ended and all
have sat down, one called the father stands up among them and begins to
expound the portion of the day. While he is speaking the silence is
profound; no man ventures to look at his neighbor or to clear his
throat. The speaker's praise is in the weeping of his hearers. [614]
Silent tears roll down their cheeks, but not a sob escapes from their
lips. Yet when he begins to speak of Christ's kingdom, and of future
bliss, and of the glory which is to come, every one may be noticed
saying to himself, with a gentle sigh and uplifted eyes: "Oh, that I
had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away and be at rest." [615]
After this the meeting breaks up and each company of ten goes with its
father to its own table. This they take in turns to serve each for a
week at a time. No noise is made over the food; no one talks while
eating. Bread, pulse and greens form their fare, and the only seasoning
that they use is salt. Wine is given only to the old, who with the
children often have a special meal prepared for them to repair the
ravages of age and to save the young from premature decay. When the
meal is over they all rise together, and, after singing a hymn, return
to their dwellings. There each one talks till evening with his comrade
thus: "Have you noticed so-and-so? What grace he has! How silent he is!
How soberly he walks!" If any one is weak they comfort him; or if he is
fervent in love to God, they encourage him to fresh earnestness. And
because at night, besides the public prayers, each man keeps vigil in
his own chamber, they go round all the cells one by one, and putting
their ears to the doors, carefully ascertain what their occupants are
doing. If they find a monk slothful, they do not scold him; but,
dissembling what they know, they visit him more frequently, and at
first exhort rather than compel him to pray more. Each day has its
allotted task, and this being given in to the dean, is by him brought
to the steward. This latter, once a month, gives a scrupulous account
to their common father. He also tastes the dishes when they are cooked,
and, as no one is allowed to say, "I am without a tunic or a cloak or a
couch of rushes," he so arranges that no one need ask for or go without
what he wants. In case a monk falls ill, he is moved to a more spacious
chamber, and there so attentively nursed by the old men, that he misses
neither the luxury of cities nor a mother's kindness. Every Lord's day
they spend their whole time in prayer and reading; indeed, when they
have finished their tasks, these are their usual occupations. Every day
they learn by heart a portion of Scripture. They keep the same fasts
all the year round, but in Lent they are allowed to live more strictly.
After Whitsuntide they exchange their evening meal for a midday one;
both to satisfy the tradition of the church and to avoid overloading
their stomachs with a double supply of food.
A similar description is given of the Essenes by Philo, [616] Plato's
imitator; also by Josephus, [617] the Greek Livy, in his narrative of
the Jewish captivity.
36. As my present subject is virgins, I have said rather too much about
monks. I will pass on, therefore, to the third class, called
anchorites, who go from the monasteries into the deserts, with nothing
but bread and salt. Paul [618] introduced this way of life; Antony made
it famous, and--to go farther back still--John the Baptist set the
first example of it. The prophet Jeremiah describes one such in the
words: "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He
sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.
He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him, he is filled full with
reproach. For the Lord will not cast off forever." [619] The struggle
of the anchorites and their life--in the flesh, yet not of the flesh--I
will, if you wish, explain to you at some other time. I must now return
to the subject of covetousness, which I left to speak of the monks.
With them before your eyes you will despise, not only gold and silver
in general, but earth itself and heaven. United to Christ, you will
sing, "The Lord is my portion." [620]
37. Farther, although the apostle bids us to "pray without ceasing,"
[621] and although to the saints their very sleep is a supplication, we
ought to have fixed hours of prayer, that if we are detained by work,
the time may remind us of our duty. Prayers, as every one knows, ought
to be said at the third, sixth and ninth hours, at dawn and at evening.
[622] No meal should be begun without prayer, and before leaving table
thanks should be returned to the Creator. We should rise two or three
times in the night, and go over the parts of Scripture which we know by
heart. When we leave the roof which shelters us, prayer should be our
armor; and when we return from the street we should pray before we sit
down, and not give the frail body rest until the soul is fed. In every
act we do, in every step we take, let our hand trace the Lord's cross.
Speak against nobody, and do not slander your mother's son. [623] "Who
art thou that judgest the servant of another? To his own lord he
standeth or falleth; yea, he shall be made to stand, for the Lord hath
power to make him stand." [624] If you have fasted two or three days,
do not think yourself better than others who do not fast. You fast and
are angry; another eats and wears a smiling face. You work off your
irritation and hunger in quarrels. He uses food in moderation and gives
God thanks. [625] Daily Isaiah cries: "Is it such a fast that I have
chosen, saith the Lord?" [626] and again: "In the day of your fast ye
find your own pleasure, and oppress all your laborers. Behold ye fast
for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness.
How fast ye unto me?" [627] What kind of fast can his be whose wrath is
such that not only does the night go down upon it, but that even the
moon's changes leave it unchanged?
38. Look to yourself and glory in your own success and not in others'
failure. Some women care for the flesh and reckon up their income and
daily expenditure: such are no fit models for you. Judas was a traitor,
but the eleven apostles did not waver. Phygellus and Alexander made
shipwreck; but the rest continued to run the race of faith. [628] Say
not: "So-and-so enjoys her own property, she is honored of men, her
brothers and sisters come to see her. Has she then ceased to be a
virgin?" In the first place, it is doubtful if she is a virgin. For
"the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh upon the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." [629] Again, she may be
a virgin in body and not in spirit. According to the apostle, a true
virgin is "holy both in body and in spirit." [630] Lastly, let her
glory in her own way. Let her override Paul's opinion and live in the
enjoyment of her good things. But you and I must follow better
examples.
Set before you the blessed Mary, whose surpassing purity made her meet
to be the mother of the Lord. When the angel Gabriel came down to her,
in the form of a man, and said: "Hail, thou that art highly favored;
the Lord is with thee," [631] she was terror-stricken and unable to
reply, for she had never been saluted by a man before. But, on learning
who he was, she spoke, and one who had been afraid of a man conversed
fearlessly with an angel. Now you, too, may be the Lord's mother. "Take
thee a great roll and write in it with a man's pen
Maher-shalal-hash-baz." [632] And when you have gone to the prophetess,
and have conceived in the womb, and have brought forth a son, [633]
say: "Lord, we have been with child by thy fear, we have been in pain,
we have brought forth the spirit of thy salvation, which we have
wrought upon the earth." [634] Then shall your Son reply: "Behold my
mother and my brethren." [635] And He whose name you have so recently
inscribed upon the table of your heart, and have written with a pen
upon its renewed surface [636] --He, after He has recovered the spoil
from the enemy, and has spoiled principalities and powers, nailing them
to His cross [637] --having been miraculously conceived, grows up to
manhood; and, as He becomes older, regards you no longer as His mother,
but as His bride. To be as the martyrs, or as the apostles, or as
Christ, involves a hard struggle, but brings with it a great reward.
All such efforts are only of use when they are made within the church's
pale; [638] we must celebrate the passover in the one house, [639] we
must enter the ark with Noah, [640] we must take refuge from the fall
of Jericho with the justified harlot, Rahab. [641] Such virgins as
there are said to be among the heretics and among the followers of the
infamous Manes [642] must be considered, not virgins, but prostitutes.
For if--as they allege--the devil is the author of the body, how can
they honor that which is fashioned by their foe? No; it is because they
know that the name virgin brings glory with it, that they go about as
wolves in sheep's clothing. [643] As antichrist pretends to be Christ,
such virgins assume an honorable name, that they may the better cloak a
discreditable life. Rejoice, my sister; rejoice, my daughter; rejoice,
my virgin; for you have resolved to be, in reality, that which others
insincerely feign.
39. The things that I have here set forth will seem hard to her who
loves not Christ. But one who has come to regard all the splendor of
the world as off-scourings, and to hold all things under the sun as
vain, that he may win Christ; [644] one who has died with his Lord and
risen again, and has crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts;
[645] he will boldly cry out: "Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword?" and again: "I am persuaded that neither
death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus, our Lord." [646]
For our salvation the Son of God is made the Son of Man. [647] Nine
months He awaits His birth in the womb, undergoes the most revolting
conditions, [648] and comes forth covered with blood, to be swathed in
rags and covered with caresses. He who shuts up the world in His fist
[649] is contained in the narrow limits of a manger. I say nothing of
the thirty years during which he lives in obscurity, satisfied with the
poverty of his parents. [650] When He is scourged He holds His peace;
when He is crucified, He prays for His crucifiers. "What shall I render
unto the Lord for all His benefits towards me? I will take the cup of
salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. Precious in the sight of
the Lord is the death of His saints." [651] The only fitting return
that we can make to Him is to give blood for blood; and, as we are
redeemed by the blood of Christ, gladly to lay down our lives for our
Redeemer. What saint has ever won his crown without first contending
for it? Righteous Abel is murdered. Abraham is in danger of losing his
wife. And, as I must not enlarge my book unduly, seek for yourself: you
will find that all holy men have suffered adversity. Solomon alone
lived in luxury and perhaps it was for this reason that he fell. For
"whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He
receiveth." [652] Which is best--for a short time to do battle, to
carry stakes for the palisades, to bear arms, to faint under heavy
bucklers, that ever afterwards we may rejoice as victors? or to become
slaves forever, just because we cannot endure for a single hour? [653]
40. Love finds nothing hard; no task is difficult to the eager. Think
of all that Jacob bore for Rachel, the wife who had been promised to
him. "Jacob," the Scripture says, "served seven years for Rachel. And
they seemed unto him but a few days for the love he had to her." [654]
Afterwards he himself tells us what he had to undergo. "In the day the
drought consumed me and the frost by night." [655] So we must love
Christ and always seek His embraces. Then everything difficult will
seem easy; all things long we shall account short; and smitten with His
arrows, [656] we shall say every moment: "Woe is me that I have
prolonged my pilgrimage." [657] For "the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us." [658] For "tribulation worketh patience, and patience
experience, and experience hope; and hope maketh not ashamed." [659]
When your lot seems hard to bear read Paul's second epistle to the
Corinthians: "In labors more abundant; in stripes above measure; in
prisons more frequent; in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I
forty stripes save one; thrice was I beaten with rods; once was I
stoned; thrice I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day I have been in
the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of
robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in
perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea,
in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in
watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and
nakedness." [660] Which of us can claim the veriest fraction of the
virtues here enumerated? Yet it was these which afterwards made him
bold to say: "I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." [661]
But we, if our food is less appetizing than usual, get sullen, and
fancy that we do God a favor by drinking watered wine. And if the water
brought to us is a trifle too warm, we break the cup and overturn the
table and scourge the servant in fault until blood comes. "The kingdom
of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force." [662]
Still, unless you use force you will never seize the kingdom of heaven.
Unless you knock importunately you will never receive the sacramental
bread. [663] Is it not truly violence, think you, when the flesh
desires to be as God and ascends to the place whence angels have fallen
[664] to judge angels?
41. Emerge, I pray you, for a while from your prison-house, and paint
before your eyes the reward of your present toil, a reward which "eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of
man." [665] What will be the glory of that day when Mary, the mother of
the Lord, shall come to meet you, accompanied by her virgin choirs!
When, the Red Sea past and Pharaoh drowned with his host, Miriam,
Aaron's sister, her timbrel in her hand, shall chant to the answering
women: "Sing ye unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the
horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." [666] Then shall
Thecla [667] fly with joy to embrace you. Then shall your Spouse
himself come forward and say: "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come
away, for lo! the winter is past, the rain is over and gone." [668]
Then shall the angels say with wonder: "Who is she that looketh forth
as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun?" [669] "The
daughters shall see you and bless you; yea, the queens shall proclaim
and the concubines shall praise you." [670] And, after these, yet
another company of chaste women will meet you. Sarah will come with the
wedded; Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, with the widows. In the one band
you will find your natural mother and in the other your spiritual.
[671] The one will rejoice in having borne, the other will exult in
having taught you. Then truly will the Lord ride upon his ass, [672]
and thus enter the heavenly Jerusalem. Then the little ones (of whom,
in Isaiah, the Saviour says: "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord
hath given me" [673] ) shall lift up palms of victory and shall sing
with one voice: "Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest." [674] Then shall the
"hundred and forty and four thousand" hold their harps before the
throne and before the elders and shall sing the new song. And no man
shall have power to learn that song save those for whom it is
appointed. "These are they which were not defiled with women; for they
are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he
goeth." [675] As often as this life's idle show tries to charm you; as
often as you see in the world some vain pomp, transport yourself in
mind to Paradise, essay to be now what you will be hereafter, and you
will hear your Spouse say: "Set me as a sunshade in thine heart and as
a seal upon thine arm." [676] And then, strengthened in body as well as
in mind, you, too, will cry aloud and say: "Many waters cannot quench
love, neither can the floods drown it." [677]
__________________________________________________________________
[331] Ps. xlv. 10, 11.
[332] According to the Vulgate.
[333] Gen. xi. 31; xii. 1.
[334] Ps. xxvii. 13.
[335] Gen. xix. 17.
[336] Luke ix. 62.
[337] Matt. xxiv. 17, 18.
[338] Joh. viii. 44, R.V.
[339] 1 Joh. iii. 8.
[340] Cant. i. 5.
[341] Eph. v. 31, 32.
[342] Nu. xii. 1.
[343] Cant. i. 4.
[344] Cant. viii. 5, LXX.
[345] Heb. xiii. 4.
[346] Gen. xix. 26.
[347] Rom. xi. 20.
[348] Isa. xxxiv. 5, R.V.
[349] Gen. iii. 14, 18.
[350] Eph. vi. 12, R.V.
[351] Joh. xiv. 30. The variant is difficult to explain and may be only
a slip.
[352] Ps. xci. 5-7, Vulg.
[353] 2 Kings vi. 16.
[354] 2 Kings ii. 11; vi. 17.
[355] Ps. cxxiv. 7.
[356] 2 Cor. iv. 7.
[357] Gal. v. 17.
[358] 1 Pet. v. 8.
[359] Ps. civ. 20, 21.
[360] Jer. xxix. 22.
[361] An allusion to "Maher-shalal-hash-baz," Isa. viii. 1.
[362] Hab. i. 16, LXX.
[363] Luke xxii. 31.
[364] Matt. x. 34.
[365] Isa. xiv. 12.
[366] Obad. 4.
[367] Isa. xiv. 13, 14.
[368] Gen. xxviii. 12.
[369] Ps. lxxxii. 6, 7.
[370] Ps. lxxxii. 1.
[371] 1 Cor. iii. 3.
[372] Acts ix. 15.
[373] Gal. i. 15.
[374] 1 Cor. ix. 27.
[375] Rom. vii. 23.
[376] Rom. vii. 24.
[377] Am. v. 2.
[378] Am. viii. 13.
[379] Matt. v. 28.
[380] Matt. xxv. 3, 10.
[381] Isa. xlvii. 1-3.
[382] Cant. v. 2, LXX.
[383] Ps. xlv. 10, P.B.V.
[384] Jer. xiii. 26.
[385] Ezek. xvi. 25.
[386] Isa. i. 21.
[387] Isa. xxxiv. 15; xiii. 22, R.V.
[388] Psa. cxviii. 6; lvi. 4.
[389] Ps. xlii. 11.
[390] Ps. cxxxvii. 9.
[391] 1 Cor. x. 4.
[392] Cant. i. 3, 4.
[393] 1 Tim. v. 6.
[394] 1 Tim. v. 23.
[395] Eph. v. 18.
[396] Rom. xiv. 21.
[397] Gen. ix. 20, 21.
[398] Ex. xxxii. 6.
[399] Gen. xix. 30-38.
[400] Deut. xxiii. 3: Jerome substitutes "fourteenth" for "tenth."
[401] 1 Kings xix. 4-6.
[402] 2 Kings iv. 38-41.
[403] Exod. xv. 23-25.
[404] 2 Kings vi. 18-23.
[405] Dan. i. 8.
[406] Bel. 33-39.
[407] Dan. ix. 23, A.V. marg.
[408] Ps. lxxxiv. 6, R.V.
[409] Matt. iv. 2, 3.
[410] 1 Cor. vi. 13.
[411] Phil. iii. 19.
[412] Job ii. 3.
[413] Job xl. 16, of behemoth.
[414] Ps. cxxxii. 11.
[415] Gen. xlvi. 26.
[416] Gen. xxxii. 24, 25.
[417] Exod. xii. 11.
[418] Job xxxviii. 3.
[419] Matt. iii. 4.
[420] Luke xii. 35.
[421] Ezek. xvi. 4-6.
[422] 2 Sam. xi.
[423] Ps. li. 4.
[424] Solomon was the reputed author of the Book of Wisdom.
[425] 1 Kings iv. 33.
[426] 1 Kings xi. 1-4.
[427] 2 Sam. xiii.
[428] Isa. xiv. 13.
[429] Tit. i. 15.
[430] 1 Tim. iv. 3.
[431] The Manichæans believed evil to be inseparable from matter. Hence
they inculcated a rigid asceticism.
[432] Jer. iii. 3.
[433] Plebeians wore a narrow stripe, patricians a broad one.
[434] Beloved ones, viz., women who lived with the unmarried clergy
professedly as spiritual sisters, but really (in too many cases) as
mistresses. The evil custom was widely prevalent and called forth many
protests. The councils of Elvira, Ancyra, and Nicæa passed canons
against it.
[435] Prov. vi. 27, 28.
[436] Matt. xiii. 8.
[437] Cena dubia. The allusion is to Terence, Phormio, 342.
[438] Cant. i. 7, R.V.
[439] Phil. i. 23.
[440] Luke ii. 51.
[441] Eph. vi. 16.
[442] Hos. vii. 4, 6, R.V.
[443] Luke xxiv. 32.
[444] Ps. cxix. 140, P.B.V.
[445] Cant. iii. 1.
[446] Col. iii. 5.
[447] Gal. ii. 20.
[448] Ps. xxxix. 6, Vulg. That is, who knows that the world is vanity.
[449] Ps. cxix. 83, Vulg.
[450] Ps. cix. 24; cii. 5.
[451] Ps. vi. 6, P.B.V.
[452] Ps. cii. 7.
[453] 1 Cor. xiv. 15.
[454] Ps. ciii. 2-4.
[455] Ps. cii. 9.
[456] 2 Kings ii. 13.
[457] Gen. iii. 16.
[458] Gen. ii. 17.
[459] Gen. i. 28.
[460] Gen. iii. 18, 19.
[461] See Letter XLVIII. §§ 2, 3.
[462] Matt. xix. 11, 12.
[463] Eccles. iii. 5.
[464] Matt. iii. 9.
[465] Zech. ix. 16, LXX.
[466] Joh. xix. 23.
[467] Ps. cxvi. 7.
[468] Isa. xi. 1, LXX.
[469] In the Latin there is a play on words here between virga and
virgo.
[470] Cant. ii. 1.
[471] Dan. ii. 45.
[472] Cant. ii. 6.
[473] Gen. vii. 2.
[474] Ex. iii. 5; Josh. v. 15.
[475] Matt. x. 10. According to Letter XXIII. § 4, these typify dead
works.
[476] Joh. xix. 23, 24.
[477] Isa. xxviii. 24.
[478] 1 Cor. vii. 25.
[479] 1 Cor. vii. 7, 8.
[480] 1 Cor. ix. 5.
[481] Isa. xxxi. 9, LXX.
[482] Isa. liv. 1, LXX. (?)
[483] Ps. cxxviii. 3.
[484] Ps. cv. 37.
[485] Isa. lvi. 3.
[486] Cf. Luke xvi. 19 sqq.
[487] Gen. xxv. 1.
[488] Gen. xxx. 14-16.
[489] Gen. xxx. 1, 2.
[490] Jer. xvi. 2.
[491] Jer. i. 5.
[492] 1 Cor. vii. 26, R.V.
[493] 1 Cor. vii. 29.
[494] Lam. iv. 4.
[495] Isa. vii. 14.
[496] Isa. ix. 6.
[497] Judith xiii.
[498] Esther vii. 10.
[499] Mark viii. 34.
[500] Matt. viii. 20-22.
[501] 1 Cor. vii. 32-34.
[502] See the treatise "Against Helvidius," in this volume.
[503] 1 Thess. v. 17.
[504] 1 Cor. vii. 3, R.V.
[505] 1 Cor. vii. 28.
[506] Not extant. Jerome alludes to it again in his treatise against
Jovinian.
[507] See Migne's "Patrologia," xiii., col. 347-418.
[508] Ambrose de Virg. Migne's "Patrologia," xvi., col. 187.
[509] Matt. xxiv. 13.
[510] Matt. xx. 16; xxii. 14.
[511] 2 Sam. vi. 6, 7.
[512] 2 Kings xx. 12, 13.
[513] Dan. v. 1-3.
[514] Ex. xxv. 11.
[515] 1 Kings viii. 9.
[516] Ex. xxv. 22.
[517] Matt. xxi. 1-3.
[518] Ex. vii. 16.
[519] Matt. xxi. 12, 13, R.V.
[520] Matt. xxvii. 51.
[521] Matt. xxiii. 38.
[522] R.V. marg.
[523] Luke x. 41, 42.
[524] Cant. iii. 4.
[525] Cant. vi. 9.
[526] Gal. iv. 26.
[527] Cf. Gen. xxvi. 8.
[528] R.V.
[529] Cant. v. 2, 4, 8.
[530] Cant. iv. 12.
[531] Gen. xxxiv.
[532] Cant. iii. 2, 3.
[533] Matt. vii. 14.
[534] Cant. iii. 2; v. 6.
[535] Cant. v. 7.
[536] Cant. v. 2.
[537] Cant. i. 13.
[538] Cant. i. 7, R.V.
[539] Cant. i. 8, LXX.
[540] Prov. iv. 23.
[541] Matt. xxv. 33.
[542] Isa. xxvi. 20.
[543] Matt. vi. 6.
[544] Rev. iii. 20.
[545] Cant. v. 2, 3.
[546] Cant. v. 6.
[547] Eccles. x. 4, A.V., "the spirit of the ruler."
[548] Dan. vi. 10, LXX.
[549] Jer. ix. 21.
[550] Joh. v. 44, R.V.
[551] Jer. ix. 24.
[552] 1 Cor. i. 31.
[553] Gal. i. 10.
[554] Gal. vi. 14, R.V. marg.
[555] Psa. xliv. 8; xxxiv. 2.
[556] Matt. vi. 3, 16-18.
[557] Ps. cxxxi. 1.
[558] Matt. vi. 16.
[559] Ps. liii. 5, according to the Roman Psalter.
[560] Cucullis fabrefactis, ut ad infantiam redeant, imitantur noctuas
et bubones.
[561] 1 Cor. xi. 14.
[562] 2 Tim. iii. 6, 7.
[563] Diomede. See Lucretius, v. 31, and Virgil, A. i. 752.
[564] Gen. iii. 1.
[565] 2 Cor. ii. 11.
[566] Cur mens diversa sit. The ordinary text has "menda."
[567] 1 Cor. vii. 9.
[568] 1 Cor. xv. 33.
[569] 1 Tim. v. 11, 12.
[570] Persius i. 104.
[571] 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.
[572] Viz., the epistles of St. Paul. In like manner the Psalter was
often called David.
[573] 1 Cor. viii. 10.
[574] Tit. i. 15.
[575] 1 Tim. iv. 4.
[576] 1 Cor. x. 21.
[577] Matt. vi. 21.
[578] Ps. vi. 5.
[579] Luke xvi. 12.
[580] Prov. xiii. 8, R.V.
[581] Matt. vi. 24.
[582] Matt. xiii. 7, 22.
[583] Matt. vi. 25.
[584] Matt. vi. 32.
[585] Matt. vi. 25, 26.
[586] 2 Cor. xii. 10, 7.
[587] Ps. xcvii. 8.
[588] Job i. 21.
[589] 1 Tim. vi. 7.
[590] Matt. vi. 2.
[591] Terence, Eun. 236.
[592] "The eucharist was at first preceded, but at a later date was
more usually followed, by the agape or love-feast. The materials of
this were contributed by the members of the congregation, all of
whatever station sat down to it as equals, and the meal was concluded
with psalmody and prayer." (Robertson, C. H., i. p. 235.) Scandals
arose in connection with the practice, and it gradually fell into
disuse, though even at a later date allusions to it are not infrequent.
[593] 1 Tim. vi. 10.
[594] Col. iii. 5.
[595] Matt. vi. 33.
[596] Ps. xxxvii. 25.
[597] 1 Kings xvii. 4, 6.
[598] 1 Kings xvii. 9-16.
[599] Acts iii. 6.
[600] 1 Tim. vi. 8.
[601] Gen. xxviii. 20, 21.
[602] Gen. xxxii. 5, 10.
[603] Luke xii. 15.
[604] Matt. xxvi. 15.
[605] Acts viii. 20.
[606] From koinos bios (koinos bios), a common life.
[607] Apparently an Egyptian word. It does not occur elsewhere.
[608] In commune viventes.
[609] From anachorein (anachorein), to withdraw.
[610] These were monks who lived under no settled rule, but collected
in little groups of two and three, generally in some populous place.
They seem to have practised all the arts whereby a reputation for
sanctity may be won, while they disparaged those who led more regular
lives. Cassian (Collat. xviii. 7) draws an unfavorable picture of them.
See Bingham, Antiquities, vii. ii. 4, and Dict. Xt. Ant., s.v.
Sarabaitæ.
[611] Pannonia, or possibly Syria.
[612] I.e. three o'clock.
[613] Decani, "leaders of ten."
[614] Cf. Letter LII.
[615] Ps. lv. 6.
[616] See Letter LXX. § 3, De Vir. Ill. xi.
[617] Josephus, The Jewish War, ii. 8.
[618] I.e. the hermit of that name. See his Life in vol. iii. of this
series.
[619] Lam. iii. 27, 28, 30, 31.
[620] Lam. iii. 24
[621] 1 Thess. v. 17.
[622] In Jerome's time the seven canonical hours of prayer had not yet
been finally fixed. He mentions, however, six which correspond to the
later, Mattins, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Nocturns. Cp. Letters
CVII. § 9, CVIII. § 20, and CXXX § 15.
[623] Ps. l. 20.
[624] Rom. xiv. 4, R.V.
[625] Rom. xiv. 6, R.V.
[626] Isa. lviii. 5.
[627] Isaiah lviii. 3, 4, R.V. marg.
[628] 1 Tim. i. 19, 20; 2 Tim. i. 15.
[629] 1 Sam. xvi. 7.
[630] 1 Cor. vii. 34.
[631] Luke i. 28.
[632] Isa. viii. 1, i.e. "the spoil speedeth, the prey hasteth;" or, in
Jerome's rendering, "quickly carry away the spoils."
[633] Isa. viii. 3. Jerome should have substituted "prophet" for
"prophetess." As it stands the quotation is meaningless.
[634] Isa. xxvi. 18, Vulg.
[635] Matt. xii. 49.
[636] Prov. vii. 3; Jer. xxxi. 33.
[637] Col. ii. 14, 15.
[638] Cp. the maxim of Cyprian: Extra ecclesiam nulla salus, "Outside
the church there is no salvation."
[639] Exod. xii. 46.
[640] 1 Peter iii. 20, 21.
[641] James ii. 25.
[642] Founder of the widely prevalent sect of Manichæans, which at one
time numbered Augustine among its adherents. One of its leading tenets
was that matter as such was essentially evil.
[643] Matt. vii. 15.
[644] Phil. iii. 8.
[645] Rom. vi. 4; Gal. v. 24.
[646] Rom. viii. 35, 38, 39.
[647] An echo of the Nicene Creed.
[648] Cp. Virgil, Ecl. iv. 61.
[649] Cp. Ps. xcv. 4, 5; Isa. xl. 12.
[650] Luke ii. 51, 52.
[651] Ps. cxvi. 12, 13, 15.
[652] Heb. xii. 6.
[653] Cp. Matt. xxvi. 40.
[654] Gen. xxix. 20.
[655] Gen. xxxi. 40.
[656] Ps. xxxviii. 2.
[657] Ps. cxx. 5, Vulg.
[658] Rom. viii. 18.
[659] Rom. v. 3-5.
[660] 2 Cor. xi. 23-27.
[661] 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8.
[662] Matt. xi. 12.
[663] Luke xi. 5-8.
[664] Is. xiv. 12, 13.
[665] 1 Cor. ii. 9.
[666] Ex. xv. 20, 21.
[667] A legendary virgin of Iconium said to have been converted by
Paul.
[668] Cant. ii. 10, 11.
[669] Cant. vi. 10.
[670] Cant. vi. 9.
[671] Viz. Paula, for whom see Letter CVIII., and Marcella, for whom
see Letter CXXVII.
[672] Matt. xxi. 1-9, literally "she-ass."
[673] Isa. viii. 18.
[674] Matt. xxi. 9.
[675] Rev. xiv. 1-4.
[676] Cant. viii. 6; the variant is peculiar to Jerome.
[677] Cant. viii. 7.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXIII. To Marcella.
Jerome writes to Marcella to console her for the loss of a friend who,
like herself, was the head of a religious society at Rome. The news of
Lea's death had first reached Marcella when she was engaged with Jerome
in the study of the 73d psalm. Later in the day he writes this letter
in which, after extolling Lea, he contrasts her end with that of the
consul-elect, Vettius Agorius Prætextatus, a man of great ability and
integrity, whom he declares to be now "in Tartarus." Written at Rome in
384 a.d.
1. To-day, about the third hour, just as I was beginning to read with
you the seventy-second psalm [678] --the first, that is, of the third
book--and to explain that its title belonged partly to the second book
and partly to the third--the previous book, I mean, concluding with the
words "the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended," [679] and the
next commencing with the words "a psalm of Asaph" [680] --and just as I
had come on the passage in which the righteous man declares: "If I say,
I will speak thus; behold I should offend against the generation of thy
children," [681] a verse which is differently rendered in our Latin
version: [682] --suddenly the news came that our most saintly friend
Lea had departed from the body. As was only natural, you turned deadly
pale; for there are few persons, if any, who do not burst into tears
when the earthen vessel breaks. [683] But if you wept it was not from
doubt as to her future lot, but only because you had not rendered to
her the last sad offices which are due to the dead. Finally, as we were
still conversing together, a second message informed us that her
remains had been already conveyed to Ostia.
2. You may ask what is the use of repeating all this. I will reply in
the apostle's words, "much every way." [684] First, it shows that all
must hail with joy the release of a soul which has trampled Satan under
foot, and won for itself, at last, a crown of tranquillity. Secondly,
it gives me an opportunity of briefly describing her life. Thirdly, it
enables me to assure you that the consul-elect, [685] that detractor of
his age, [686] is now in Tartarus. [687]
Who can sufficiently eulogize our dear Lea's mode of living? So
complete was her conversion to the Lord that, becoming the head of a
monastery, she showed herself a true mother [688] to the virgins in it,
wore coarse sackcloth instead of soft raiment, passed sleepless nights
in prayer, and instructed her companions even more by example than by
precept. So great was her humility that she, who had once been the
mistress of many, was accounted the servant of all; and certainly, the
less she was reckoned an earthly mistress the more she became a servant
of Christ. She was careless of her dress, neglected her hair, and ate
only the coarsest food. Still, in all that she did, she avoided
ostentation that she might not have her reward in this world. [689]
3. Now, therefore, in return for her short toil, Lea enjoys everlasting
felicity; she is welcomed into the choirs of the angels; she is
comforted in Abraham's bosom. And, as once the beggar Lazarus saw the
rich man, for all his purple, lying in torment, so does Lea see the
consul, not now in his triumphal robe but clothed in mourning, and
asking for a drop of water from her little finger. [690] How great a
change have we here! A few days ago the highest dignitaries of the city
walked before him as he ascended the ramparts of the capitol like a
general celebrating a triumph; the Roman people leapt up to welcome and
applaud him, and at the news of his death the whole city was moved. Now
he is desolate and naked, a prisoner in the foulest darkness, and not,
as his unhappy wife [691] falsely asserts, set in the royal abode of
the milky way. [692] On the other hand Lea, who was always shut up in
her one closet, who seemed poor and of little worth, and whose life was
accounted madness, [693] now follows Christ and sings, "Like as we have
heard, so have we seen in the city of our God." [694]
4. And now for the moral of all this, which, with tears and groans, I
conjure you to remember. While we run the way of this world, we must
not clothe ourselves with two coats, that is, with a twofold faith, or
burthen ourselves with leathern shoes, that is, with dead works; we
must not allow scrips filled with money to weigh us down, or lean upon
the staff of worldly power. [695] We must not seek to possess both
Christ and the world. No; things eternal must take the place of things
transitory; [696] and since, physically speaking, we daily anticipate
death, if we wish for immortality we must realize that we are but
mortal.
__________________________________________________________________
[678] In the English Version Ps. lxxiii.
[679] Ps. lxxii. 20.
[680] Ps. lxxiii. title.
[681] Ps. lxxiii. 15.
[682] I.e. the Old Latin Version superseded by Jerome's Vulgate.
[683] 2 Cor. iv. 7.
[684] Rom. iii. 2.
[685] One of the most distinguished men of his day, Prætextatus, had
filled the high position of Prefect of Rome. As such he ironically
assured Damasus that, if he could hope to obtain the papacy, he would
immediately embrace the Christian religion (Jerome, "Against John of
Jerusalem," § 8).
[686] De suis sæculis detrahentem. The text is clearly corrupt, and no
satisfactory emendation has yet been suggested.
[687] So the author of II. Peter speaks of God "tartartizing the angels
that sinned" (ii. 4).
[688] I.e. her conduct justified her official title.
[689] Cf. Matt. vi. 2.
[690] Luke xvi. 19-24.
[691] Paulina, chief priestess of Ceres.
[692] In the Roman mythology the abode of gods and heroes. Cf. Ovid, M.
i. 175, 176.
[693] Wisd. v. 4.
[694] Ps. xlviii. 8.
[695] Matt. x. 10.
[696] 2 Cor. iv. 18.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXIV. To Marcella.
Concerning the virgin Asella. Dedicated to God before her birth,
Marcella's sister had been made a church-virgin at the age of ten. From
that time she had lived a life of the severest asceticism, first as a
member and then as the head of Marcella's community upon the Aventine.
Jerome, who subsequently wrote her a letter (XLV) on his departure from
Rome, now holds her up as a model to be admired and imitated. Written
at Rome a.d. 384.
1. Let no one blame my letters for the eulogies and censures which are
contained in them. To arraign sinners is to admonish those in like
case, and to praise the virtuous is to quicken the zeal of those who
wish to do right. The day before yesterday I spoke to you concerning
Lea of blessed memory, [697] and I had hardly done so, when I was
pricked in my conscience. It would be wrong for me, I thought, to
ignore a virgin after speaking of one who, as a widow, held a lower
place. Accordingly, in my present letter, I mean to give you a brief
sketch of the life of our dear Asella. Please do not read it to her;
for she is sure to be displeased with eulogies of which she is herself
the object. Show it rather to the young girls of your acquaintance,
that they may guide themselves by her example, and may take her
behavior as the pattern of a perfect life.
2. I pass over the facts that, before her birth, she was blessed while
still in her mother's womb, and that, virgin-like, she was delivered to
her father in a dream in a bowl of shining glass brighter than a
mirror. And I say nothing of her consecration to the blessed life of
virginity, a ceremony which took place when she was hardly more than
ten years old, a mere babe still wrapped in swaddling clothes. For all
that comes before works should be counted of grace; [698] although,
doubtless, God foreknew the future when He sanctified Jeremiah as yet
unborn, [699] when He made John to leap in his mother's womb, [700] and
when, before the foundation of the world, He set apart Paul to preach
the gospel of His son. [701]
3. I come now to the life which after her twelfth year she, by her own
exertion, chose, laid hold of, held fast to, entered upon, and
fulfilled. Shut up in her narrow cell she roamed through paradise.
Fasting was her recreation and hunger her refreshment. If she took food
it was not from love of eating, but because of bodily exhaustion; and
the bread and salt and cold water to which she restricted herself
sharpened her appetite more than they appeased it.
But I have almost forgotten to mention that of which I should have
spoken first. When her resolution was still fresh she took her gold
necklace made in the lamprey pattern (so called because bars of metal
are linked together so as to form a flexible chain), and sold it
without her parents' knowledge. Then putting on a dark dress such as
her mother had never been willing that she should wear, she concluded
her pious enterprise by consecrating herself forthwith to the Lord. She
thus showed her relatives that they need hope to wring no farther
concessions from one who, by her very dress, had condemned the world.
4. To go on with my story, her ways were quiet and she lived in great
privacy. In fact, she rarely went abroad or spoke to a man. More
wonderful still, much as she loved her virgin sister, [702] she did not
care to see her. She worked with her own hands, for she knew that it
was written: "If any will not work neither shall he eat." [703] To the
Bridegroom she spoke constantly in prayer and psalmody. She hurried to
the martyrs' shrines unnoticed. Such visits gave her pleasure, and the
more so because she was never recognized. All the year round she
observed a continual fast, remaining without food for two or three days
at a time; but when Lent came she hoisted--if I may so speak--every
stitch of canvas and fasted well-nigh from week's end to week's end
with "a cheerful countenance." [704] What would perhaps be incredible,
were it not that "with God all things are possible," [705] is that she
lived this life until her fiftieth year without weakening her digestion
or bringing on herself the pain of colic. Lying on the dry ground did
not affect her limbs, and the rough sackcloth that she wore failed to
make her skin either foul or rough. With a sound body and a still
sounder soul [706] she sought all her delight in solitude, and found
for herself a monkish hermitage in the centre of busy Rome.
5. You are better acquainted with all this than I am, and the few
details that I have given I have learned from you. So intimate are you
with Asella that you have seen, with your own eyes, her holy knees
hardened like those of a camel from the frequency of her prayers. I
merely set forth what I can glean from you. She is alike pleasant in
her serious moods and serious in her pleasant ones: her manner, while
winning, is always grave, and while grave is always winning. Her pale
face indicates continence but does not betoken ostentation. Her speech
is silent and her silence is speech. Her pace is neither too fast nor
too slow. Her demeanor is always the same. She disregards refinement
and is careless about her dress. When she does attend to it it is
without attending. So entirely consistent has her life been that here
in Rome, the centre of vain shows, wanton license, and idle pleasure,
where to be humble is to be held spiritless, the good praise her
conduct and the bad do not venture to impugn it. Let widows and virgins
imitate her, let wedded wives make much of her, let sinful women fear
her, and let bishops [707] look up to her.
__________________________________________________________________
[697] Vide the preceding Letter.
[698] Rom. xi. 6.
[699] Jer. i. 5.
[700] Luke i. 41.
[701] Eph. i. 4.
[702] Probably Marcella before she was married.
[703] 2 Thess. iii. 10.
[704] Matt. vi. 17.
[705] Matt. xix. 26.
[706] Cf. Juvenal, Sat. x. 356.
[707] Sacerdotes.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXV. To Marcella.
An explanation of the ten names given to God in the Hebrew Scriptures.
The ten names are El, Elohim, Sabaôth, Eliôn, Asher yeheyeh (Ex. iii.
14), Adonai, Jah, the tetragram JHVH, and Shaddai. Written at Rome 384
a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXVI. To Marcella.
An explanation of certain Hebrew words which have been left
untranslated in the versions. The words are Alleluia, Amen, Maran atha.
Written at Rome 384 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXVII. To Marcella.
In this letter Jerome defends himself against the charge of having
altered the text of Scripture, and shows that he has merely brought the
Latin Version of the N.T. into agreement with the Greek original.
Written at Rome 384 a.d.
1. After I had written my former letter, [708] containing a few remarks
on some Hebrew words, a report suddenly reached me that certain
contemptible creatures were deliberately assailing me with the charge
that I had endeavored to correct passages in the gospels, against the
authority of the ancients and the opinion of the whole world. Now,
though I might--as far as strict right goes--treat these persons with
contempt (it is idle to play the lyre for an ass [709] ), yet, lest
they should follow their usual habit and reproach me with
superciliousness, let them take my answer as follows: I am not so
dull-wilted nor so coarsely ignorant (qualities which they take for
holiness, calling themselves the disciples of fishermen as if men were
made holy by knowing nothing)--I am not, I repeat, so ignorant as to
suppose that any of the Lord's words is either in need of correction or
is not divinely inspired; but the Latin manuscripts of the Scriptures
are proved to be faulty by the variations which all of them exhibit,
and my object has been to restore them to the form of the Greek
original, from which my detractors do not deny that they have been
translated. If they dislike water drawn from the clear spring, let them
drink of the muddy streamlet, and when they come to read the
Scriptures, let them lay aside [710] the keen eye which they turn on
woods frequented by game-birds and waters abounding in shellfish.
Easily satisfied in this instance alone, let them, if they will, regard
the words of Christ as rude sayings, albeit that over these so many
great intellects have labored for so many ages rather to divine than to
expound the meaning of each single word. Let them charge the great
apostle with want of literary skill, although it is said of him that
much learning made him mad. [711]
2. I know that as you read these words you will knit your brows, and
fear that my freedom of speech is sowing the seeds of fresh quarrels;
and that, if you could, you would gladly put your finger on my mouth to
prevent me from even speaking of things which others do not blush to
do. But, I ask you, wherein have I used too great license? Have I ever
embellished my dinner plates with engravings of idols? Have I ever, at
a Christian banquet, set before the eyes of virgins the polluting
spectacle of Satyrs embracing bacchanals? or have I ever assailed any
one in too bitter terms? Have I ever complained of beggars turned
millionaires? Have I ever censured heirs for the funerals which they
have given to their benefactors? [712] The one thing that I have
unfortunately said has been that virgins ought to live more in the
company of women than of men, [713] and by this I have made the whole
city look scandalized and caused every one to point at me the finger of
scorn. "They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of
mine head," [714] and I am become "a proverb to them." [715] Do you
suppose after this that I will now say anything rash?
3. But "when I set the wheel rolling I began to form a wine flagon; how
comes it that a waterpot is the result?" [716] Lest Horace laugh at me
I come back to my two-legged asses, and din into their ears, not the
music of the lute, but the blare of the trumpet. [717] They may say if
they will, "rejoicing in hope; serving the time," but we will say
"rejoicing in hope; serving the Lord." [718] They may see fit to
receive an accusation against a presbyter unconditionally; but we will
say in the words of Scripture, "Against an elder [719] receive not an
accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke
before all." [720] They may choose to read, "It is a man's saying, and
worthy of all acceptation;" we are content to err with the Greeks, that
is to say with the apostle himself, who spoke Greek. Our version,
therefore, is, it is "a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation." [721] Lastly, let them take as much pleasure as they
please in their Gallican "geldings;" [722] we will be satisfied with
the simple "ass" of Zechariah, loosed from its halter and made ready
for the Saviour's service, which received the Lord on its back, and so
fulfilled Isaiah's prediction: "Blessed is he that soweth beside all
waters, where the ox and the ass tread under foot." [723]
__________________________________________________________________
[708] XXVI.
[709] Ono lura was a Greek proverb.
[710] Reading nec diligentiam instead of et.
[711] Acts xxvi. 24.
[712] Hæreditarias sepulturas.
[713] The reference is to Letter XXII.
[714] Ps. lxix. 4.
[715] Ps. lxix. 11.
[716] Hor. A. P. 21, 22.
[717] Perhaps an allusion to the Greek proverb, onos luras ekouse kai
salpingos hus. "The ass listened to the lyre, and the pig to the
trumpet."
[718] Rom. xii. 11, 12. The reading kurio "Lord" is probably correct.
The R.V. says, "Some ancient authorities read the opportunity,"
(kairo).
[719] I.e. a "presbyter."
[720] 1 Tim. v. 19, 20.
[721] 1 Tim. i. 15.
[722] Jerome's detractors suggested this word instead of the simpler
"ass" in Zech. ix. 9 and Matt. xxi. 2-5. The phrase "Gallican geldings"
appears to be a quotation from Plaut. Aul. iii. 5, 21.
[723] Isa. xxxii. 20, LXX.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXVIII. To Marcella.
An explanation of the Hebrew word Selah. This word, rendered by the
LXX. diapsalma and by Aquila aei, was as much a crux in Jerome's day as
it is in ours. "Some," he writes, "make it a change of metre,' others a
pause for breath,' others the beginning of a new subject.' According to
yet others it has something to do with rhythm or marks a burst of
instrumental music." Jerome himself inclines to follow Aquila and
Origen, who make the word mean "forever," and suggests that it betokens
completion, like the "explicit" or "feliciter" in contemporary Latin
mss. Written at Rome a.d. 384.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXIX. To Marcella.
An explanation of the Hebrew words Ephod bad (1 Sam. ii. 18) and
Teraphim (Judges xvii. 5). Written at Rome to Marcella, also at Rome
a.d. 384.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXX. To Paula.
Some account of the so-called alphabetical psalms (XXXVII., CXI.,
CXII., CXIX., CXLV.). After explaining the mystical meaning of the
alphabet, Jerome goes on thus: "What honey is sweeter than to know the
wisdom of God? others, if they will, may possess riches, drink from a
jewelled cup, shine in silks, and try in vain to exhaust their wealth
in the most varied pleasures. Our riches are to meditate in the law of
the Lord day and night, [724] to knock at the closed door, [725] to
receive the three loaves' of the Trinity, [726] and, when the Lord goes
before us, to walk upon the water of the world." [727] Written at Rome
a.d. 384.
__________________________________________________________________
[724] Ps. i. 2.
[725] Matt. vii. 7.
[726] Luke xi. 5-8.
[727] Matt. xiv. 25-33.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXXI. To Eustochium.
Jerome writes to thank Eustochium for some presents sent to him by her
on the festival of St. Peter. He also moralizes on the mystical meaning
of the articles sent. The letter should be compared with Letter XLIV.,
of which the theme is similar. Written at Rome in 384 a.d. (on St.
Peter's Day).
1. Doves, bracelets, and a letter are outwardly but small gifts to
receive from a virgin, but the action which has prompted them enhances
their value. And since honey may not be offered in sacrifice to God,
[728] you have shown skill in taking off their overmuch sweetness and
making them pungent--if I may so say--with a dash of pepper. For
nothing that is simply pleasurable or merely sweet can please God.
Everything must have in it a sharp seasoning of truth. Christ's
passover must be eaten with bitter herbs. [729]
2. It is true that a festival such as the birthday [730] of Saint Peter
should be seasoned with more gladness than usual; still our merriment
must not forget the limit set by Scripture, and we must not stray too
far from the boundary of our wrestling-ground. Your presents, indeed,
remind me of the sacred volume, for in it Ezekiel decks Jerusalem with
bracelets, [731] Baruch receives letters from Jeremiah, [732] and the
Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove at the baptism of Christ.
[733] But to give you, too, a sprinkling of pepper and to remind you of
my former letter, [734] I send you to-day this three-fold warning.
Cease not to adorn yourself with good works--the true bracelets of a
Christian woman. [735] Rend not the letter written on your heart [736]
as the profane king cut with his penknife that delivered to him by
Baruch. [737] Let not Hosea say to you as to Ephraim, "Thou art like a
silly dove." [738]
My words are too harsh, you will say, and hardly suitable to a festival
like the present. If so, you have provoked me to it by the nature of
your own gifts. So long as you put bitter with sweet, you must expect
the same from me, sharp words that is, as well as praise.
3. However, I do not wish to make light of your gifts, least of all the
basket of fine cherries, blushing with such a virgin modesty that I can
fancy them freshly gathered by Lucullus [739] himself. For it was he
who first introduced the fruit at Rome after his conquest of Pontus and
Armenia; and the cherry tree is so called because he brought it from
Cerasus. Now as the Scriptures do not mention cherries, but do speak of
a basket of figs, [740] I will use these instead to point my moral. May
you be made of fruits such as those which grow before God's temple and
of which He says, "Behold they are good, very good." [741] The Saviour
likes nothing that is half and half, and, while he welcomes the hot and
does not shun the cold, he tells us in the Apocalypse that he will spew
the lukewarm out of his mouth. [742] Wherefore we must be careful to
celebrate our holy day not so much with abundance of food as with
exultation of spirit. For it is altogether unreasonable to wish to
honor a martyr by excess who himself, as you know, pleased God by
fasting. When you take food always recollect that eating should be
followed by reading, and also by prayer. And if, by taking this course,
you displease some, repeat to yourself the words of the Apostle: "If I
yet pleased men I should not be the servant of Christ" [743]
__________________________________________________________________
[728] Lev. ii. 11.
[729] Ex. xii. 8.
[730] I.e. the day of his martyrdom, his heavenly nativity.
[731] Ezek. xvi. 11.
[732] Jer. xxxvi.; Baruch vi.
[733] Matt. iii. 16.
[734] Letter XXII.
[735] 1 Tim. ii. 10.
[736] 2 Cor. iii. 2.
[737] Jer. xxxvi. 23.
[738] Hos. vii. 11.
[739] Celebrated for his campaigns against Mithridates, and also as a
prince of epicures.
[740] Jer. xxiv. 1-3.
[741] Jer. xxiv. 3.
[742] Rev. iii. 15, 16.
[743] Gal. i. 10.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXXII. To Marcella.
Jerome writes that he is busy collating Aquila's Greek version of the
Old Testament with the Hebrew, inquires after Marcella's mother, and
forwards the two preceding letters (XXX., XXXI.). Written at Rome in
384 a.d.
1. There are two reasons for the shortness of this letter, one that its
bearer is impatient to start, and the other that I am too busy to waste
time on trifles. You ask what business can be so urgent as to stop me
from a chat on paper. Let me tell you, then, that for some time past I
have been comparing Aquila's version [744] of the Old Testament with
the scrolls of the Hebrew, to see if from hatred to Christ the
synagogue has changed the text; and--to speak frankly to a friend--I
have found several variations which confirm our faith. After having
exactly revised the prophets, Solomon, [745] the psalter, and the books
of Kings, I am now engaged on Exodus (called by the Jews, from its
opening words, Eleh shemôth [746] ), and when I have finished this I
shall go on to Leviticus. Now you see why I can let no claim for a
letter withdraw me from my work. However, as I do not wish my friend
Currentius [747] to run altogether in vain, I have tacked on to this
little talk two letters [748] which I am sending to your sister Paula,
and to her dear child Eustochium. Read these, and if you find them
instructive or pleasant, take what I have said to them as meant for you
also.
2. I hope that Albina, your mother and mine, is well. In bodily health,
I mean, for I doubt not of her spiritual welfare. Pray salute her for
me, and cherish her with double affection, both as a Christian and as a
mother.
__________________________________________________________________
[744] This version, made in the reign of Hadrian by a Jewish proselyte
who is said by some to have been a renegade Christian, was marked by an
exaggerated literalism and a close following of the Hebrew original. By
the Church it was regarded with suspicion as being designedly
anti-Christian. Jerome, however, here acquits Aquila of the charge
brought against him.
[745] I.e. all the sapiential books, viz. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom.
[746] Exod. i. 1, 'lh smvt, A.V., "these are the names."
[747] The name means runner. Hence the allusion to Gal. ii. 2.
[748] XXX., XXXI.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXXIII. To Paula.
A fragment of a letter in which Jerome institutes a comparison between
the industry as writers of M. T. Varro and Origen. It is noteworthy as
passing an unqualified eulogium upon Origen, which contrasts strongly
with the tone adopted by the writer in subsequent years (see, e.g.,
Letter LXXXIV.). Its date is probably 384 a.d.
1. Antiquity marvels at Marcus Terentius Varro, [749] because of the
countless books which he wrote for Latin readers; and Greek writers are
extravagant in their praise of their man of brass, [750] because he has
written more works than one of us could so much as copy. But since
Latin ears would find a list of Greek writings tiresome, I shall
confine myself to the Latin Varro. I shall try to show that we of
to-day are sleeping the sleep of Epimenides, [751] and devoting to the
amassing of riches the energy which our predecessors gave to sound, if
secular, learning.
2. Varro's writings include forty-five books of antiquities, four
concerning the life of the Roman people.
3. But why, you ask me, have I thus mentioned Varro and the man of
brass? Simply to bring to your notice our Christian man of brass, or,
rather, man of adamant [752] --Origen, I mean--whose zeal for the study
of Scripture has fairly earned for him this latter name. Would you
learn what monuments of his genius he has left us? The following list
exhibits them. His writings comprise thirteen books on Genesis, two
books of Mystical Homilies, notes on Exodus, notes on Leviticus, * * *
* also single books, [753] four books on First Principles, two books on
the Resurrection, two dialogues on the same subject. [754]
* * * * * * * * * * *
4. So, you see, the labors of this one man have surpassed those of all
previous writers, Greek and Latin. Who has ever managed to read all
that he has written? Yet what reward have his exertions brought him? He
stands condemned by his bishop, Demetrius, [755] only the bishops of
Palestine, Arabia, Phenicia, and Achaia dissenting. Imperial Rome
consents to his condemnation, and even convenes a senate to censure
him, [756] not--as the rabid hounds who now pursue him cry--because of
the novelty or heterodoxy of his doctrines, but because men could not
tolerate the incomparable eloquence and knowledge which, when once he
opened his lips, made others seem dumb.
5. I have written the above quickly and incautiously, by the light of a
poor lantern. You will see why, if you think of those who to-day
represent Epicurus and Aristippus. [757]
__________________________________________________________________
[749] Of the 490 books composed by this voluminous writer only two are
extant, a treatise on husbandry and an essay on the Latin language.
[750] The epithet chalkenteros , "heart of brass," is applied by Suidas
to the grammarian Didymus, who, according to Athenæus, wrote 3,500
books. Of these not one is extant.
[751] Which lasted 57 years.
[752] 'Adamantios --Origen is so called by Eusebius (H. E. vi. 14, 10).
It appears to have been his proper name.
[753] "They may have been detached essays on particular
subjects."--Westcott.
[754] All the works mentioned have perished except the treatise on
First Principles, and this in its completeness is extant only in the
Latin version of Rufinus. The version made by Jerome has perished.
[755] Origen left Alexandria for good in 231 a.d., and it was in that
or the following year that Demetrius convoked the synod which condemned
not so much his writings as his conduct. He appears to have been
excommunicated as a heretic.
[756] For Origen's condemnation in a synod held at Rome this passage is
the principal authority. It is more than doubtful whether such a synod
ever met; if it did it must have been when Pontianus was pope, in 231
or 232 a.d. Jerome may only mean that the great men of Rome all agreed
in this condemnation.
[757] Both these philosophers were hedonists, and the latter was a
sensualist as well. Jerome is probably satirizing the worldly clergy of
Rome, just as in after-years he nicknames his opponent Jovinian "the
Christian Epicurus."
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Letter XXXIV. To Marcella.
In reply to a request from Marcella for information concerning two
phrases in Ps. cxxvii. ("bread of sorrow," v. 2, and "children of the
shaken off," A.V. "of the youth," v. 4). Jerome, after lamenting that
Origen's notes on the psalm are no longer extant, gives the following
explanations:
The Hebrew phrase "bread of sorrow" is rendered by the LXX. "bread of
idols"; by Aquila, "bread of troubles"; by Symmachus, "bread of
misery." Theodotion follows the LXX. So does Origen's Fifth Version.
The Sixth renders "bread of error." In support of the LXX. the word
used here is in Ps. cxv. 4, translated "idols." Either the troubles of
life are meant or else the tenets of heresy.
With the second phrase he deals at greater length. After showing that
Hilary of Poitiers's view (viz. that the persons meant are the
apostles, who were told to shake the dust off their feet, Matt. x. 14)
is untenable and would require "shakers off" to be substituted for
"shaken off," Jerome reverts to the Hebrew as before and declares that
the true rendering is that of Symmachus and Theodotion, viz. "children
of youth." He points out that the LXX. (by whom the Latin translators
had been misled) fall into the same mistake at Neh. iv. 16. Finally he
corrects a slip of Hilary as to Ps. cxxviii. 2, where, through a
misunderstanding of the LXX., the latter had substituted "the labors of
thy fruits" for "the labors of thy hands." He speaks throughout with
high respect of Hilary, and says that it was not the bishop's fault
that he was ignorant of Hebrew. The date of the letter is probably a.d.
384.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXXV. From Pope Damasus.
Damasus addresses five questions to Jerome with a request for
information concerning them. They are:
1. What is the meaning of the words "Whosoever slayeth Cain vengeance
shall be taken on him sevenfold"? (Gen. iv. 5.)
2. If God has made all things good, how comes it that He gives charge
to Noah concerning unclean animals, and says to Peter, "What God hath
cleansed that call not thou common"? (Acts x. 15.)
3. How is Gen. xv. 16, "in the fourth generation they shall come hither
again," to be reconciled with Ex. xiii. 18, LXX, "in the fifth
generation the children of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt"?
4. Why did Abraham receive circumcision as a seal of his faith? (Rom.
iv. 11.)
5. Why was Isaac, a righteous man and dear to God, allowed by God to
become the dupe of Jacob? (Gen. xxvii.) Written at Rome 384 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXXVI. To Pope Damasus.
Jerome's reply to the foregoing. For the second and fourth questions he
refers Damasus to the writings of Tertullian, Novatian, and Origen. The
remaining three he deals with in detail.
Gen. iv. 15, he understands to mean "the slayer of Cain shall complete
the sevenfold vengeance which is to be wreaked upon him."
Exodus xiii. 18, he proposes to reconcile with Gen. xv. 16, by
supposing that in the one place the tribe of Levi is referred to, in
the other the tribe of Judah. He suggests, however, that the words
rendered by the LXX. "in the fifth generation" more probably mean
"harnessed" (so A.V.) or "laden." In reply to the question about Isaac
he says: "No man save Him who for our salvation has deigned to put on
flesh has full knowledge and a complete grasp of the truth. Paul,
Samuel, David, Elisha, all make mistakes, and holy men only know what
God reveals to them." He then goes on to give a mystical interpretation
of the passage suggested by the martyr Hippolytus. Written the day
after the previous letter.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXXVII. To Marcella.
Marcella had asked Jerome to lend her a copy of a commentary by
Rhetitius, bishop of Augustodunum (Autun), on the Song of Songs. He now
refuses to do so on the ground that the work abounds with errors, of
which the two following are samples: (1) Rhetitius identifies Tharshish
with Tarsus, and (2) he supposes that Uphaz (in the phrase "gold of
Uphaz") is the same as Cephas. Written at Rome a.d. 384.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXXVIII. To Marcella.
Blæsilla, the daughter of Paula and sister of Eustochium, had lost her
husband seven months after her marriage. A dangerous illness had then
led to her conversion, and she was now famous throughout Rome for the
length to which she carried her austerities. Many censured her for what
they deemed her fanaticism, and Jerome, as her spiritual adviser, came
in for some of the blame. In the present letter he defends her conduct,
and declares that persons who cavil at lives like hers have no claim to
be considered Christians. Written at Rome in 385 a.d.
1. When Abraham is tempted to slay his son the trial only serves to
strengthen his faith. [758] When Joseph is sold into Egypt, his sojourn
there enables him to support his father and his brothers. [759] When
Hezekiah is panic-stricken at the near approach of death, his tears and
prayers obtain for him a respite of fifteen years. [760] If the faith
of the apostle, Peter, is shaken by his Lord's passion, it is that,
weeping bitterly, he may hear the soothing words: "Feed my sheep."
[761] If Paul, that ravening wolf, [762] that little Benjamin, [763] is
blinded in a trance, it is that he may receive his sight, and may be
led, by the sudden horror of surrounding darkness, to call Him Lord
Whom before he persecuted as man. [764]
2. So is it now, my dear Marcella, with our beloved Blæsilla. The
burning fever from which we have seen her suffering unceasingly for
nearly thirty days has been sent to teach her to renounce her
over-great attention to that body which the worms must shortly devour.
The Lord Jesus has come to her in her sickness, and has taken her by
the hand, and behold, she arises and ministers unto Him. [765] Formerly
her life savored somewhat of carelessness; and, fast bound in the bands
of wealth, she lay as one dead in the tomb of the world. But Jesus was
moved with indignation, [766] and was troubled in spirit, and cried
aloud and said, Blæsilla, come forth. [767] She, at His call, has
arisen and has come forth, and sits at meat with the Lord. [768] The
Jews, if they will, may threaten her in their wrath; they may seek to
slay her, because Christ has raised her up. [769] It is enough that the
apostles give God the glory. Blæsilla knows that her life is due to Him
who has given it back to her. She knows that now she can clasp the feet
of Him whom but a little while ago she dreaded as her judge. [770] Then
life had all but forsaken her body, and the approach of death made her
gasp and shiver. What succour did she obtain in that hour from her
kinsfolk? What comfort was there in their words lighter than smoke? She
owes no debt to you, ye unkindly kindred, now that she is dead to the
world and alive unto Christ. [771] The Christian must rejoice that it
is so, and he that is vexed must admit that he has no claim to be
called a Christian.
3. A widow who is "loosed from the law of her husband" [772] has, for
her one duty, to continue a widow. But, you will say, a sombre dress
vexes the world. In that case, John the Baptist would vex it, too; and
yet, among those that are born of women, there has not been a greater
than he. [773] He was called an angel; [774] he baptized the Lord
Himself, and yet he was clothed in raiment of camel's hair, and girded
with a leathern girdle. [775] Is the world displeased because a widow's
food is coarse? Nothing can be coarser than locusts, and yet these were
the food of John. The women who ought to scandalize Christians are
those who paint their eyes and lips with rouge and cosmetics; whose
chalked faces, unnaturally white, are like those of idols; upon whose
cheeks every chance tear leaves a furrow; who fail to realize that
years make them old; who heap their heads with hair not their own; who
smooth their faces, and rub out the wrinkles of age; and who, in the
presence of their grandsons, behave like trembling school-girls. A
Christian woman should blush to do violence to nature, or to stimulate
desire by bestowing care upon the flesh. "They that are in the flesh,"
the apostle tells us, "cannot please God." [776]
4. In days gone by our dear widow was extremely fastidious in her
dress, and spent whole days before her mirror to correct its
deficiencies. Now she boldly says: "We all with unveiled face,
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the
same image, from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord."
[777] In those days maids arranged her hair, and her head, which had
done no harm, was forced into a waving head-dress. Now she leaves her
hair alone, and her only head-dress is a veil. In those days the
softest feather-bed seemed hard to her, and she could scarcely find
rest on a pile of mattresses. Now she rises eager for prayer, her
shrill voice cries Alleluia before every other, she is the first to
praise her Lord. She kneels upon the bare ground, and with frequent
tears cleanses a face once defiled with white lead. After prayer comes
the singing of psalms, and it is only when her neck aches and her knees
totter, and her eyes begin to close with weariness, that she gives them
leave reluctantly to rest. As her dress is dark, lying on the ground
does not soil it. Cheap shoes permit her to give to the poor the price
of gilded ones. No gold and jewels adorn her girdle; it is made of
wool, plain and scrupulously clean. It is intended to keep her clothes
right, and not to cut her waist in two. Therefore, if the scorpion
looks askance upon her purpose, and with alluring words tempts her once
more to eat of the forbidden tree, she must crush him beneath her feet
with a curse, and say, as he lies dying in his allotted dust: [778]
"Get thee behind me, Satan." [779] Satan means adversary, [780] and one
who dislikes Christ's commandments, is more than Christ's adversary; he
is anti-christ.
5. But what, I ask you, have we ever done that men should be offended
at us? Have we ever imitated the apostles? We are told of the first
disciples that they forsook their boat and their nets, and even their
aged father. [781] The publican stood up from the receipt of custom and
followed the Saviour once for all. [782] And when a disciple wished to
return home, that he might take leave of his kinsfolk, the Master's
voice refused consent. [783] A son was even forbidden to bury his
father, [784] as if to show that it is sometimes a religious duty to be
undutiful for the Lord's sake. [785] With us it is different. We are
held to be monks if we refuse to dress in silk. We are called sour and
severe if we keep sober and refrain from excessive laughter. The mob
salutes us as Greeks and impostors [786] if our tunics are fresh and
clean. They may deal in still severer witticisms if they please; they
may parade every fat paunch [787] they can lay hold of, to turn us into
ridicule. Our Blæsilla will laugh at their efforts, and will bear with
patience the taunts of all such croaking frogs, for she will remember
that men called her Lord, Beelzebub. [788]
__________________________________________________________________
[758] Gen. xxii.
[759] Gen. xxxvii., xlvi.
[760] 2 Kings xx.; Isa. xxxviii.
[761] Luke xxii. 54-62; Joh. xxi. 16.
[762] Gen. xlix. 27.
[763] Ps. lxviii. 27.
[764] Acts ix. 3-18.
[765] Cf. Mark i. 30, 31.
[766] John xi. 38, R.V. marg.
[767] Joh. xi. 38-44.
[768] Joh. xii. 2.
[769] Joh. xii. 10.
[770] Luke vii. 38.
[771] Rom. vi. 11.
[772] Rom. vii. 2.
[773] Luke vii. 28.
[774] Luke vii. 27. The word "angel" means "messenger."
[775] Matt. iii. 4.
[776] Rom. viii. 8.
[777] 2 Cor. iii. 18, R.V.
[778] Gen. iii. 14.
[779] Matt. xvi. 23.
[780] 1 Pet. v. 8.
[781] Matt. iv. 18-22.
[782] Matt. ix. 9.
[783] Luke ix. 61, 62.
[784] Matt. viii. 21.
[785] Luke xiv. 26.
[786] Cf. Letter LIV. § 5.
[787] Pinguis aqualiculus--Pers. i. 57.
[788] Matt. x. 25.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XXXIX. To Paula.
Blæsilla died within three months of her conversion, and Jerome now
writes to Paula to offer her his sympathy and, if possible, to moderate
her grief. He asks her to remember that Blæsilla is now in paradise,
and so far to control herself as to prevent enemies of the faith from
cavilling at her conduct. Then he concludes with the prophecy (since
more than fulfilled) that in his writings Blæsilla's name shall never
die. Written at Rome in 389 a.d.
1. "Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears: that
I might weep," not as Jeremiah says, "For the slain of my people,"
[789] nor as Jesus, for the miserable fate of Jerusalem, [790] but for
holiness, mercy, innocence, chastity, and all the virtues, for all are
gone now that Blæsilla is dead. For her sake I do not grieve, but for
myself I must; my loss is too great to be borne with resignation. Who
can recall with dry eyes the glowing faith which induced a girl of
twenty to raise the standard of the Cross, and to mourn the loss of her
virginity more than the death of her husband? Who can recall without a
sigh the earnestness of her prayers, the brilliancy of her
conversation, the tenacity of her memory, and the quickness of her
intellect? Had you heard her speak Greek you would have deemed her
ignorant of Latin; yet when she used the tongue of Rome her words were
free from a foreign accent. She even rivalled the great Origen in those
acquirements which won for him the admiration of Greece. For in a few
months, or rather days, she so completely mastered the difficulties of
Hebrew as to emulate her mother's zeal in learning and singing the
psalms. Her attire was plain, but this plainness was not, as it often
is, a mark of pride. Indeed, her self-abasement was so perfect that she
dressed no better than her maids, and was only distinguished from them
by the greater ease of her walk. Her steps tottered with weakness, her
face was pale and quivering, her slender neck scarcely upheld her head.
Still she always had in her hand a prophet or a gospel. As I think of
her my eyes fill with tears, sobs impede my voice, and such is my
emotion that my tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth. As she lay
there dying, her poor frame parched with burning fever, and her
relatives gathered round her bed, her last words were: "Pray to the
Lord Jesus, that He may pardon me, because what I would have done I
have not been able to do." Be at peace, dear Blæsilla, in full
assurance that your garments are always white. [791] For yours is the
purity of an everlasting virginity. I feel confident that my words are
true: conversion can never be too late. The words to the dying robber
are a pledge of this: "Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with
me in paradise." [792] When at last her spirit was delivered from the
burden of the flesh, and had returned to Him who gave it; [793] when,
too, after her long pilgrimage, she had ascended up into her ancient
heritage, her obsequies were celebrated with customary splendor. People
of rank headed the procession, a pall made of cloth of gold covered her
bier. But I seemed to hear a voice from heaven, saying: "I do not
recognize these trappings; such is not the garb I used to wear; this
magnificence is strange to me."
2. But what is this? I wish to check a mother's weeping, and I groan
myself. I make no secret of my feelings; this entire letter is written
in tears. Even Jesus wept for Lazarus because He loved him. [794] But
he is a poor comforter who is overcome by his own sighs, and from whose
afflicted heart tears are wrung as well as words. Dear Paula, my agony
is as great as yours. Jesus knows it, whom Blæsilla now follows; the
holy angels know it, whose company she now enjoys. I was her father in
the spirit, her foster-father in affection. Sometimes I say: "Let the
day perish wherein I was born," [795] and again, "Woe is me, my mother,
that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the
whole earth." [796] I cry: "Righteous art thou, O Lord...yet let me
talk with thee of thy judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked
prosper?" [797] and "as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had
well-nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the
prosperity of the wicked, and I said: How doth God know? and is there
knowledge in the most high? Behold these are the ungodly who prosper in
the world; they increase in riches." [798] But again I recall other
words, "If I say I will speak thus, behold I should offend against the
generation of thy children." [799] Do not great waves of doubt surge up
over my soul as over yours? How comes it, I ask, that godless men live
to old age in the enjoyment of this world's riches? How comes it that
untutored youth and innocent childhood are cut down while still in the
bud? Why is it that children three years old or two, and even unweaned
infants, are possessed with devils, covered with leprosy, and eaten up
with jaundice, while godless men and profane, adulterers and murderers,
have health and strength to blaspheme God? Are we not told that the
unrighteousness of the father does not fall upon the son, [800] and
that "the soul that sinneth it shall die?" [801] Or if the old doctrine
holds good that the sins of the fathers must be visited upon the
children, [802] an old man's countless sins cannot fairly be avenged
upon a harmless infant. And I have said: "Verily, I have cleansed my
heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long
have I been plagued." [803] Yet when I have thought of these things,
like the prophet I have learned to say: "When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then
understood I their end." [804] Truly the judgments of the Lord are a
great deep. [805] "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past
finding out!" [806] God is good, and all that He does must be good
also. Does He decree that I must lose my husband? I mourn my loss, but
because it is His will I bear it with resignation. Is an only son
snatched from me? The blow is hard, yet it can be borne, for He who has
taken away is He who gave. [807] If I become blind a friend's reading
will console me. If I become deaf I shall escape from sinful words, and
my thoughts shall be of God alone. And if, besides such trials as
these, poverty, cold, sickness, and nakedness oppress me, I shall wait
for death, and regard them as passing evils, soon to give way to a
better issue. Let us reflect on the words of the sapiential psalm:
"Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments." [808] Only
he can speak thus who in all his troubles magnifies the Lord, and,
putting down his sufferings to his sins, thanks God for his clemency.
The daughters of Judah, we are told, rejoiced, because of all the
judgments of the Lord. [809] Therefore, since Judah means confession,
and since every believing soul confesses its faith, [810] he who claims
to believe in Christ must rejoice in all Christ's judgments. Am I in
health? I thank my Creator. Am I sick? In this case, too, I praise
God's will. For "when I am weak, then am I strong;" and the strength of
the spirit is made perfect in the weakness of the flesh. Even an
apostle must bear what he dislikes, that ailment for the removal of
which he besought the Lord thrice. God's reply was: "My grace is
sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness."
[811] Lest he should be unduly elated by his revelations, a reminder of
his human weakness was given to him, just as in the triumphal car of
the victorious general there was always a slave to whisper constantly,
amid the cheerings of the multitude, "Remember that thou art but man."
[812]
3. But why should that be hard to bear which we must one day ourselves
endure? And why do we grieve for the dead? We are not born to live
forever. Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah, Peter, James, and John, Paul, the
"chosen vessel," [813] and even the Son of God Himself have all died;
and are we vexed when a soul leaves its earthly tenement? Perhaps he is
taken away, "lest that wickedness should alter his understanding...for
his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted he to take him away from
the people" [814] --lest in life's long journey he should lose his way
in some trackless maze. We should indeed mourn for the dead, but only
for him whom Gehenna receives, whom Tartarus devours, and for whose
punishment the eternal fire burns. But we who, in departing, are
accompanied by an escort of angels, and met by Christ Himself, should
rather grieve that we have to tarry yet longer in this tabernacle of
death. [815] For "whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from
the Lord." [816] Our one longing should be that expressed by the
psalmist: "Woe is me that my pilgrimage is prolonged, that I have dwelt
with them that dwell in Kedar, that my soul hath made a far
pilgrimage." [817] Kedar means darkness, and darkness stands for this
present world (for, we are told, "the light shineth in darkness; and
the darkness comprehendeth it not" [818] ). Therefore we should
congratulate our dear Blæsilla that she has passed from darkness to
light, [819] and has in the first flush of her dawning faith received
the crown of her completed work. Had she been cut off (as I pray that
none may be) while her thoughts were full of worldly desires and
passing pleasures, then mourning would indeed have been her due, and no
tears shed for her would have been too many. As it is, by the mercy of
Christ she, four months ago, renewed her baptism in her vow of
widowhood, and for the rest of her days spurned the world, and thought
only of the religious life. Have you no fear, then, lest the Saviour
may say to you: "Are you angry, Paula, that your daughter has become my
daughter? Are you vexed at my decree, and do you, with rebellious
tears, grudge me the possession of Blæsilla? You ought to know what my
purpose is both for you and for yours. You deny yourself food, not to
fast but to gratify your grief; and such abstinence is displeasing to
me. Such fasts are my enemies. I receive no soul which forsakes the
body against my will. A foolish philosophy may boast of martyrs of this
kind; it may boast of a Zeno [820] a Cleombrotus, [821] or a Cato.
[822] My spirit rests only upon him "that is poor and of a contrite
spirit, and that trembleth at my word. [823] Is this the meaning of
your vow to me that you would lead a religious life? Is it for this
that you dress yourself differently from other matrons, and array
yourself in the garb of a nun? Mourning is for those who wear silk
dresses. In the midst of your tears the call will come, and you, too,
must die; yet you flee from me as from a cruel judge, and fancy that
you can avoid falling into my hands. Jonah, that headstrong prophet,
once fled from me, yet in the depths of the sea he was still mine.
[824] If you really believed your daughter to be alive, you would not
grieve that she had passed to a better world. This is the commandment
that I have given you through my apostle, that you sorrow not for them
that sleep, even as the Gentiles, which have no hope. [825] Blush, for
you are put to shame by the example of a heathen. The devil's handmaid
[826] is better than mine. For, while she imagines that her unbelieving
husband has been translated to heaven, you either do not or will not
believe that your daughter is at rest with me."
4. Why should I not mourn, you say? Jacob put on sackcloth for Joseph,
and when all his family gathered round him, refused to be comforted. "I
will go down," he said, "into the grave unto my son mourning." [827]
David also mourned for Absalom, covering his face, and crying: "O my
son, Absalom...my son, Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O
Absalom, my son!" [828] Moses, [829] too, and Aaron, [830] and the rest
of the saints were mourned for with a solemn mourning. The answer to
your reasoning is simple. Jacob, it is true, mourned for Joseph, whom
he fancied slain, and thought to meet only in the grave (his words
were: "I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning"), but he
only did so because Christ had not yet broken open the door of
paradise, nor quenched with his blood the flaming sword and the
whirling of the guardian cherubim. [831] (Hence in the story of Dives
and Lazarus, Abraham and the beggar, though really in a place of
refreshment, are described as being in hell. [832] ) And David, who,
after interceding in vain for the life of his infant child, refused to
weep for it, knowing that it had not sinned, did well to weep for a son
who had been a parricide--in will, if not in deed. [833] And when we
read that, for Moses and Aaron, lamentation was made after ancient
custom, this ought not to surprise us, for even in the Acts of the
Apostles, in the full blaze of the gospel, we see that the brethren at
Jerusalem made great lamentation for Stephen. [834] This great
lamentation, however, refers not to the mourners, but to the funeral
procession and to the crowds which accompanied it. This is what the
Scripture says of Jacob: "Joseph went up to bury his father: and with
him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and
all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the house of Joseph and
his brethren"; and a few lines farther on: "And there went up with him
both chariots and horsemen: and it was a great company." Finally, "they
mourned with a great and very sore lamentation." [835] This solemn
lamentation does not impose prolonged weeping upon the Egyptians, but
simply describes the funeral ceremony. In like manner, when we read of
weeping made for Moses and Aaron, [836] this is all that is meant.
I cannot adequately extol the mysteries of Scripture, nor sufficiently
admire the spiritual meaning conveyed in its most simple words. We are
told, for instance, that lamentation was made for Moses; yet when the
funeral of Joshua is described [837] no mention at all is made of
weeping. The reason, of course, is that under Moses--that is under the
old Law--all men were bound by the sentence passed on Adam's sin, and
when they descended into hell [838] were rightly accompanied with
tears. For, as the apostle says, "death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over them that had not sinned." [839] But under Jesus, [840] that
is, under the Gospel of Christ, who has unlocked for us the gate of
paradise, death is accompanied, not with sorrow, but with joy. The Jews
go on weeping to this day; they make bare their feet, they crouch in
sackcloth, they roll in ashes. And to make their superstition complete,
they follow a foolish custom of the Pharisees, and eat lentils, [841]
to show, it would seem, for what poor fare they have lost their
birthright. [842] Of course they are right to weep, for as they do not
believe in the Lord's resurrection they are being made ready for the
advent of antichrist. But we who have put on Christ [843] and according
to the apostle are a royal and priestly race, [844] we ought not to
grieve for the dead. "Moses," the Scripture tells us, "said unto Aaron
and unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left: Uncover
not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath
come upon all the people." [845] Rend not your clothes, he says,
neither mourn as pagans, lest you die. For, for us sin is death. In
this same book, Leviticus, there is a provision which may perhaps
strike some as cruel, yet is necessary to faith: the high priest is
forbidden to approach the dead bodies of his father and mother, of his
brothers and of his children; [846] to the end, that no grief may
distract a soul engaged in offering sacrifice to God, and wholly
devoted to the Divine mysteries. Are we not taught the same lesson in
the Gospel in other words? Is not the disciple forbidden to say
farewell to his home or to bury his dead father? [847] Of the high
priest, again, it is said: "He shall not go out of the sanctuary, and
the sanctification of his God shall not be contaminated, for the
anointing oil of his God is upon him." [848] Certainly, now that we
have believed in Christ, and bear Him within us, by reason of the oil
of His anointing which we have received, [849] we ought not to depart
from His temple--that is, from our Christian profession--we ought not
to go forth to mingle with the unbelieving Gentiles, but always to
remain within, as servants obedient to the will of the Lord.
5. I have spoken plainly, lest you might ignorantly suppose that
Scripture sanctions your grief; and that, if you err, you have reason
on your side. And, so far, my words have been addressed to the average
Christian woman. But now it will not be so. For in your case, as I well
know, renunciation of the world has been complete; you have rejected
and trampled on the delights of life, and you give yourself daily to
fasting, to reading, and to prayer. Like Abraham, [850] you desire to
leave your country and kindred, to forsake Mesopotamia and the
Chaldæans, to enter into the promised land. Dead to the world before
your death, you have spent all your mere worldly substance upon the
poor, or have bestowed it upon your children. I am the more surprised,
therefore, that you should act in a manner which in others would justly
call for reprehension. You call to mind Blæsilla's companionship, her
conversation, and her endearing ways; and you cannot endure the thought
that you have lost them all. I pardon you the tears of a mother, but I
ask you to restrain your grief. When I think of the parent I cannot
blame you for weeping: but when I think of the Christian and the
recluse, the mother disappears from my view. Your wound is still fresh,
and any touch of mine, however gentle, is more likely to inflame than
to heal it. Yet why do you not try to overcome by reason a grief which
time must inevitably assuage? Naomi, fleeing because of famine to the
land of Moab, there lost her husband and her sons. Yet when she was
thus deprived of her natural protectors, Ruth, a stranger, never left
her side. [851] And see what a great thing it is to comfort a lonely
woman! Ruth, for her reward, is made an ancestress of Christ. [852]
Consider the great trials which Job endured, and you will see that you
are over-delicate. Amid the ruins of his house, the pains of his sores,
his countless bereavements, and, last of all, the snares laid for him
by his wife, he still lifted up his eyes to heaven, and maintained his
patience unbroken. I know what you are going to say: "All this befell
him as a righteous man, to try his righteousness." Well, choose which
alternative you please. Either you are holy, in which case God is
putting your holiness to the proof; or else you are a sinner, in which
case you have no right to complain. For if so, you endure far less than
your deserts.
Why should I repeat old stories? Listen to a modern instance. The holy
Melanium, [853] eminent among Christians for her true nobility (may the
Lord grant that you and I may have part with her in His day!), while
the dead body of her husband was still unburied, still warm, had the
misfortune to lose at one stroke two of her sons. The sequel seems
incredible, but Christ is my witness that my words are true. Would you
not suppose that in her frenzy she would have unbound her hair, and
rent her clothes, and torn her breast? Yet not a tear fell from her
eyes. Motionless she stood there; then casting herself at the feet of
Christ, she smiled, as though she held Him with her hands. "Henceforth,
Lord," she said, "I will serve Thee more readily, for Thou hast freed
me from a great burden." But perhaps her remaining children overcame
her determination. No, indeed; she set so little store by them that she
gave up all that she had to her only son, and then, in spite of the
approaching winter, took ship for Jerusalem.
6. Spare yourself, I beseech you, spare Blæsilla, who now reigns with
Christ; at least spare Eustochium, whose tender years and inexperience
depend on you for guidance and instruction. Now does the devil rage and
complain that he is set at naught, because he sees one of your children
exalted in triumph. The victory which he failed to win over her that is
gone he hopes to obtain over her who still remains. Too great affection
towards one's children is disaffection towards God. Abraham gladly
prepares to slay his only son, and do you complain if one child out of
several has received her crown? I cannot say what I am going to say
without a groan. When you were carried fainting out of the funeral
procession, whispers such as these were audible in the crowd. "Is not
this what we have often said. She weeps for her daughter, killed with
fasting. She wanted her to marry again, that she might have
grandchildren. How long must we refrain from driving these detestable
monks out of Rome? Why do we not stone them or hurl them into the
Tiber? They have misled this unhappy lady; that she is not a nun from
choice is clear. No heathen mother ever wept for her children as she
does for Blæsilla." What sorrow, think you, must not Christ have
endured when He listened to such words as these! And how triumphantly
must Satan have exulted, eager as he is to snatch your soul! Luring you
with the claims of a grief which seems natural and right, and always
keeping before you the image of Blæsilla, his aim is to slay the mother
of the victress, and then to fall upon her forsaken sister. I do not
speak thus to terrify you. The Lord is my witness that I address you
now as though I were standing at His judgment seat. Tears which have no
meaning are an object of abhorrence. Yours are detestable tears,
sacrilegious tears, unbelieving tears; for they know no limits, and
bring you to the verge of death. You shriek and cry out as though on
fire within, and do your best to put an end to yourself. But to you and
others like you Jesus comes in His mercy and says: "Why weepest thou?
the damsel is not dead but sleepeth." [854] The bystanders may laugh
him to scorn; such unbelief is worthy of the Jews. If you prostrate
yourself in grief at your daughter's tomb you too will hear the chiding
of the angel, "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" [855] It was
because Mary Magdalene had done this that when she recognized the
Lord's voice calling her and fell at His feet, He said to her: "Touch
me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father;" [856] that is to say,
you are not worthy to touch, as risen, one whom you suppose still in
the tomb.
7. What crosses and tortures, think you, must not our Blæsilla endure
to see Christ angry with you, though it be but a little! At this moment
she cries to you as you weep: "If ever you loved me, mother, if I was
nourished at your breast, if I was taught by your precepts, do not
grudge me my exaltation, do not so act that we shall be separated
forever. Do you fancy that I am alone? In place of you I now have Mary
the mother of the Lord. Here I see many whom before I have not known.
My companions are infinitely better than any that I had on earth. Here
I have the company of Anna, the prophetess of the Gospel; [857]
and--what should kindle in you more fervent joy--I have gained in three
short months what cost her the labor of many years to win. Both of us
widows indeed, we have been both rewarded with the palm of chastity. Do
you pity me because I have left the world behind me? It is I who
should, and do, pity you who, still immured in its prison, daily fight
with anger, with covetousness, with lust, with this or that temptation
leading the soul to ruin. If you wish to be indeed my mother, you must
please Christ. She is not my mother who displeases my Lord." Many other
things does she say which here I pass over; she prays also to God for
you. For me, too, I feel sure, she makes intercession and asks God to
pardon my sins in return for the warnings and advice that I bestowed on
her, when to secure her salvation I braved the ill will of her family.
8. Therefore, so long as breath animates my body, so long as I continue
in the enjoyment of life, I engage, declare, and promise that
Blæsilla's name shall be forever on my tongue, that my labors shall be
dedicated to her honor, and that my talents shall be devoted to her
praise. No page will I write in which Blæsilla's name shall not occur.
Wherever the records of my utterance shall find their way, thither she,
too, will travel with my poor writings. Virgins, widows, monks and
priests, as they read, will see how deeply her image is impressed upon
my mind. Everlasting remembrance will make up for the shortness of her
life. Living as she does with Christ in heaven, she will live also on
the lips of men. The present will soon pass away and give place to the
future, and that future will judge her without partiality and without
prejudice. As a childless widow she will occupy a middle place between
Paula, the mother of children, and Eustochium the virgin. In my
writings she will never die. She will hear me conversing of her always,
either with her sister or with her mother.
__________________________________________________________________
[789] Jer. ix. 1.
[790] Luke xix. 41.
[791] Eccles. ix. 8.
[792] Luke xxiii. 43.
[793] Cf. Eccles. xii. 7.
[794] John xi. 35, 36.
[795] Job iii. 3: cf. Jer. xx. 14.
[796] Jer. xv. 10.
[797] Jer. xii. 1.
[798] Ps. lxxiii. 2, 3, 11, 12, Vulg.
[799] Ps. lxxiii. 15.
[800] Ezek. xviii. 20.
[801] Ezek. xviii. 4.
[802] Ex. xx. 5.
[803] Ps. lxxiii. 13, 14.
[804] Ps. lxxiii. 16, 17.
[805] Ps. xxxvi. 6.
[806] Rom. xi. 33.
[807] Job i. 21.
[808] Ps. cxix. 137.
[809] Ps. xcvii. 8.
[810] Rom. x. 10.
[811] 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9, 10.
[812] Cf. Tertullian, Apol. 33.
[813] Acts ix. 15.
[814] Wisd. iv. 11, 14.
[815] 2 Cor. v. 4.
[816] 2 Cor. v. 6.
[817] Ps. cxx. 5, 6, Vulg.
[818] Joh. i. 5.
[819] Eph. v. 8.
[820] A famous stoic who committed suicide in extreme old age. See
Diogenes Laertius (vii. 1) for an account of his death.
[821] An academic philosopher of Ambracia, who is said to have killed
himself after reading the Phædo of Plato.
[822] Cato of Utica, who, after the battle of Thapsus (46 b.c.),
committed suicide to avoid falling into the hands of Cæsar.
[823] Isa. lxvi. 2.
[824] Jon. ii. 2-7.
[825] 1 Thess. iv. 13.
[826] Viz. Paulina, wife of Prætextatus and priestess of Ceres. See
Letter XXIII. § 3.
[827] Gen. xxxvii. 35.
[828] 2 Sam. xviii. 33.
[829] Deut. xxxiv. 8.
[830] Nu. xx. 29.
[831] Gen. iii. 24: cf. Ezek. i. 15-20. Here as in his Comm. on Eccles.
iii. 16-22, Jerome follows Origen, who, in his homily de Engastrimytho,
lays down that until Christ came to set them free the patriarchs,
prophets, and saints of the Old Testament were all in hell.
[832] Apud inferos--Luke xvi. 23.
[833] 2 Sam. xvii. 1-4.
[834] Acts viii. 2.
[835] Gen. 1. 7-10.
[836] Nu. xx. 29; Deut. xxxiv. 6-8.
[837] Josh. xxiv. 30.
[838] Ad inferos. Hades is meant, not Gehenna.
[839] Rom. v. 14.
[840] The Greek form of Joshua. Cf. Acts vii. 45, A.V.
[841] I learn from Dr. Neubauer, of Oxford, that this is still a
practice during mourning among the Jews of the East. He refers to Tur
Joreh Deah. §378.
[842] Gen. xxv. 34.
[843] Gal. iii. 27.
[844] 1 Pet. ii. 9.
[845] Lev. x. 6, 12.
[846] Lev. xxi. 10-12.
[847] Luke ix. 59-62.
[848] Lev. xxi. 12, Vulg.
[849] 1 Joh. ii. 27.
[850] Gen. xii. 1-4.
[851] Ruth i.
[852] Matt. i. 5.
[853] Or Melania. She went with Rufinus to the East, and settled with
him on the Mt. of Olives; and incurred Jerome's resentment as Rufinus'
friend. See Ep. cxxxiii. 3. "She whose name of blackness attests the
darkness of her perfidy."
[854] Mark v. 39.
[855] Luke xxiv. 5.
[856] Joh. xx. 17.
[857] Luke ii. 36, 37.
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Letter XL. To Marcella.
Onasus, of Segesta, the subject of this letter, was among Jerome's
Roman opponents. He is here held up to ridicule in a manner which
reflects little credit on the writer's urbanity. The date of the letter
is 385 a.d.
1. The medical men called surgeons pass for being cruel, but really
deserve pity. For is it not pitiful to cut away the dead flesh of
another man with merciless knives without being moved by his pangs? Is
it not pitiful that the man who is curing the patient is callous to his
sufferings, and has to appear as his enemy? Yet such is the order of
nature. While truth is always bitter, pleasantness waits upon
evil-doing. Isaiah goes naked without blushing as a type of captivity
to come. [858] Jeremiah is sent from Jerusalem to the Euphrates (a
river in Mesopotamia), and leaves his girdle to be marred in the
Chaldæan camp, among the Assyrians hostile to his people. [859] Ezekiel
is told to eat bread made of mingled seeds and sprinkled with the dung
of men and cattle. [860] He has to see his wife die without shedding a
tear. [861] Amos is driven from Samaria. [862] Why is he driven from
it? Surely in this case as in the others, because he was a spiritual
surgeon, who cut away the parts diseased by sin and urged men to
repentance. The apostle Paul says: "Am I therefore become your enemy
because I tell you the truth?" [863] And so the Saviour Himself found
it, from whom many of the disciples went back because His sayings
seemed hard. [864]
2. It is not surprising, then, that by exposing their faults I have
offended many. I have arranged to operate on a cancerous nose; [865]
let him who suffers from wens tremble. I wish to rebuke a chattering
daw; let the crow realize that she is offensive. [866] Yet, after all,
is there but one person in Rome
"Whose nostrils are disfigured by a scar?" [867]
Is Onasus of Segesta alone in puffing out his cheeks like bladders and
balancing hollow phrases on his tongue?
I say that certain persons have, by crime, perjury, and false
pretences, attained to this or that high position. How does it hurt you
who know that the charge does not touch you? I laugh at a pleader who
has no clients, and sneer at a penny-a-liner's eloquence. What does it
matter to you who are such a refined speaker? It is my whim to inveigh
against mercenary priests. You are rich already, why should you be
angry? I wish to shut up Vulcan and burn him in his own flames. Are you
his guest or his neighbor that you try to save an idol's shrine from
the fire? I choose to make merry over ghosts and owls and monsters of
the Nile; and whatever I say, you take it as aimed at you. At whatever
fault I point my pen, you cry out that you are meant. You collar me and
drag me into court and absurdly charge me with writing satires when I
only write plain prose!
So you really think yourself a pretty fellow just because you have a
lucky name! [868] Why it does not follow at all. A brake is called a
brake just because the light does not break through it. [869] The Fates
are called "sparers," [870] just because they never spare. The Furies
are spoken of as gracious, [871] because they show no grace. And in
common speech Ethiopians go by the name of silverlings. Still, if the
showing up of faults always angers you, I will soothe you now with the
words of Persius: "May you be a catch for my lord and lady's daughter!
May the pretty ladies scramble for you! May the ground you walk on turn
to a rose-bed!" [872]
3. All the same, I will give you a hint what features to hide if you
want to look your best. Show no nose upon your face and keep your mouth
shut. You will then stand some chance of being counted both handsome
and eloquent.
__________________________________________________________________
[858] Isa. xx. 2.
[859] Jer. xiii. 6, 7.
[860] Ezek. iv. 9-16.
[861] Ezek. xxiv. 15-18.
[862] Amos vii. 12, 13.
[863] Gal. iv. 16.
[864] John vi. 60, 66.
[865] Nasus. A play on the name Onasus.
[866] Cf. Persius, l. 33.
[867] Virg. A. vi. 497.
[868] Onasus means "lucky" or "profitable;" it is another form of
Onesimus.
[869] Quoted from Quintilian i. 6, 34 (lucus a non lucendo).
[870] Parcæ, from parcere, to spare.
[871] Eumenides, the Greek name for the Furies.
[872] Pers. ii. 37, 38.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XLI. To Marcella.
An effort having been made to convert Marcella to Montanism, [873]
Jerome here summarizes for her its leading doctrines, which he
contrasts with those of the Church. Written at Rome in 385 a.d.
1. As regards the passages brought together from the gospel of John
with which a certain votary of Montanus has assailed you, passages in
which our Saviour promises that He will go to the Father, and that He
will send the Paraclete [874] --as regards these, the Acts of the
Apostles inform us both for what time the promises were made, and at
what time they were actually fulfilled. Ten days had elapsed, we are
told, from the Lord's ascension and fifty from His resurrection, when
the Holy Spirit came down, and the tongues of the believers were
cloven, so that each spoke every language. Then it was that, when
certain persons of those who as yet believed not declared that the
disciples were drunk with new wine, Peter standing in the midst of the
apostles, and of all the concourse said: "Ye men of Judæa and all ye
that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken to my
words: for these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the
third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken of by the
prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I
will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and daughters
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men
shall dream dreams: and on my servants, and on my handmaidens I will
pour out...of my spirit." [875]
2. If, then, the apostle Peter, upon whom the Lord has founded the
Church, [876] has expressly said that the prophecy and promise of the
Lord were then and there fulfilled, how can we claim another fulfilment
for ourselves? if the Montanists reply that Philip's four daughters
prophesied [877] at a later date, and that a prophet is mentioned named
Agabus, [878] and that in the partition of the spirit, prophets are
spoken of as well as apostles, teachers and others, [879] and that Paul
himself prophesied many things concerning heresies still future, and
the end of the world; we tell them that we do not so much reject
prophecy--for this is attested by the passion of the Lord--as refuse to
receive prophets whose utterances fail to accord with the Scriptures
old and new.
3. In the first place we differ from the Montanists regarding the rule
of faith. We distinguish the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as
three persons, but unite them as one substance. They, on the other
hand, following the doctrine of Sabellius, [880] force the Trinity into
the narrow limits of a single personality. We, while we do not
encourage them, yet allow second marriages, since Paul bids the younger
widows to marry. [881] They suppose a repetition of marriage a sin so
awful that he who has committed it is to be regarded as an adulterer.
We, according to the apostolic tradition (in which the whole world is
at one with us), fast through one Lent yearly; whereas they keep three
in the year as though three saviours had suffered. I do not mean, of
course, that it is unlawful to fast at other times through the
year--always excepting Pentecost [882] --only that while in Lent it is
a duty of obligation, at other seasons it is a matter of choice. With
us, again, the bishops occupy the place of the apostles, but with them
a bishop ranks not first but third. For while they put first the
patriarchs of Pepusa [883] in Phrygia, and place next to these the
ministers called stewards, [884] the bishops are relegated to the third
or almost the lowest rank. No doubt their object is to make their
religion more pretentious by putting that last which we put first.
Again they close the doors of the Church to almost every fault, whilst
we read daily, "I desire the repentance of a sinner rather than his
death," [885] and "Shall they fall and not arise, saith the Lord,"
[886] and once more "Return ye backsliding children and I will heal
your backslidings." [887] Their strictness does not prevent them from
themselves committing grave sins, far from it; but there is this
difference between us and them, that, whereas they in their
self-righteousness blush to confess their faults, we do penance for
ours, and so more readily gain pardon for them.
4. I pass over their sacraments [888] of sin, made up as they are said
to be, of sucking children subjected to a triumphant martyrdom. [889] I
prefer, I say, not to credit these; accusations of blood-shedding may
well be false. But I must confute the open blasphemy of men who say
that God first determined in the Old Testament to save the world by
Moses and the prophets, but that finding Himself unable to fulfil His
purpose He took to Himself a body of the Virgin, and preaching under
the form of the Son in Christ, underwent death for our salvation.
Moreover that, when by these two steps He was unable to save the world,
He last of all descended by the Holy Spirit upon Montanus and those
demented women Prisca and Maximilia; and that thus the mutilated and
emasculate [890] Montanus possessed a fulness of knowledge such as was
never claimed by Paul; for he was content to say, "We know in part, and
we prophesy in part," and again, "Now we see through a glass darkly."
[891]
These are statements which require no refutation. To expose the
infidelity of the Montanists is to triumph over it. Nor is it necessary
that in so short a letter as this I should overthrow the several
absurdities which they bring forward. You are well acquainted with the
Scriptures; and, as I take it, you have written, not because you have
been disturbed by their cavils, but only to learn my opinion about
them.
__________________________________________________________________
[873] Montanus lived at Ardaban, in Phrygia, in the second half of the
second century, and founded a sect of prophetic enthusiasts and
ascetics, which was afterward joined by Tertullian.
[874] Joh. xiv. 28; xv. 26.
[875] Acts ii. 14-18.
[876] Matt. xvi. 18.
[877] Acts xxi. 9.
[878] Acts xi. 28; xxi. 10, 11.
[879] 1 Cor. xii. 28; cf. Eph. iv. 11.
[880] A presbyter of the Libyan Pentapolis who taught at Rome in the
early years of the third century. He "confounded the persons" of the
Trinity and was subsequently accounted a heretic. Cf. Letter XV.
[881] 1 Tim. v. 14.
[882] Viz. the period between Easter Day and Whitsunday.
[883] Called by the Montanists the New Jerusalem.
[884] Oeconomos--according to a probable emendation. The text has
cenonas.
[885] Ezek. xviii. 23.
[886] Jer. viii. 4.
[887] Jer. iii. 22.
[888] Mysteria.
[889] Victuro martyre confarrata. The precise meaning of the words is
obscure.
[890] Some suppose him to have been a priest of Cybele, but it would be
a mistake to lay too much stress on Jerome's words.
[891] 1 Cor. xiii. 9, 12.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XLII. To Marcella.
At Marcella's request Jerome explains to her what is "the sin against
the Holy Ghost" spoken of by Christ, and shows Novatian's [892]
explanation of it to be untenable. Written at Rome in 385 a.d.
1. The question you send is short and the answer is clear. There is
this passage in the gospel: "Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son
of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world nor in
the world to come." [893] Now if Novatian affirms that none but
Christian renegades can sin against the Holy Ghost, it is plain that
the Jews who blasphemed Christ were not guilty of this sin. Yet they
were wicked husbandmen, they had slain the prophets, they were then
compassing the death of the Lord; [894] and so utterly lost were they
that the Son of God told them that it was they whom he had come to
save. [895] It must be proved to Novatian, therefore, that the sin
which shall never be forgiven is not the blasphemy of men disembowelled
by torture who in their agony deny their Lord, but is the captious
clamor of those who, while they see that God's works are the fruit of
virtue, ascribe the virtue to a demon and declare the signs wrought to
belong not to the divine excellence but to the devil. And this is the
whole gist of our Saviour's argument, when He teaches that Satan cannot
be cast out by Satan, and that his kingdom is not divided against
itself. [896] If it is the devil's object to injure God's creation, how
can he wish to cure the sick and to expel himself from the bodies
possessed by him? Let Novatian prove that of those who have been
compelled to sacrifice before a judge's tribunal any has declared of
the things written in the gospel that they were wrought not by the Son
of God but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils; [897] and then he
will be able to make good his contention that this [898] is the
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which shall never be forgiven.
2. But to put a more searching question still: let Novatian tell us how
he distinguishes speaking against the Son of Man from blasphemy against
the Holy Ghost. For I maintain that on his principles men who have
denied Christ under persecution have only spoken against the Son of
Man, and have not blasphemed the Holy Ghost. For when a man is asked if
he is a Christian, and declares that he is not; obviously in denying
Christ, that is the Son of Man, he does no despite to the Holy Ghost.
But if his denial of Christ involves a denial of the Holy Ghost, this
heretic can perhaps tell us how the Son of Man can be denied without
sinning against the Holy Ghost. If he thinks that we are here intended
by the term Holy Ghost to understand the Father, no mention at all of
the Father is made by the denier in his denial. When the apostle Peter,
taken aback by a maid's question, denied the Lord, did he sin against
the Son of Man or against the Holy Ghost? If Novatian absurdly twists
Peter's words, "I know not the man," [899] to mean a denial not of
Christ's Messiahship but of His humanity, he will make the Saviour a
liar, for He foretold [900] that He Himself, that is His divine
Sonship, must be denied. Now, when Peter denied the Son of God, he wept
bitterly and effaced his threefold denial by a threefold confession.
[901] His sin, therefore, was not the sin against the Holy Ghost which
can never be forgiven. It is obvious, then, that this sin involves
blasphemy, calling one Beelzebub for his actions, whose virtues prove
him to be God. If Novatian can bring an instance of a renegade who has
called Christ Beelzebub, I will at once give up my position and admit
that after such a fall the denier can win no forgiveness. To give way
under torture and to deny oneself to be a Christian is one thing, to
say that Christ is the devil is another. And this you will yourself see
if you read the passage [902] attentively.
3. I ought to have discussed the matter more fully, but some friends
have visited my humble abode, and I cannot refuse to give myself up to
them. Still, as it might seem arrogant not to answer you at once, I
have compressed a wide subject into a few words, and have sent you not
a letter but an explanatory note. [903]
__________________________________________________________________
[892] Novatian, a Roman presbyter in the middle of the third century,
held that the "lapsed," who had failed during the persecutions, could
not be readmitted to the church. His sect upheld an extreme moral
puritanism, as is shown in the speech of Constantine to their bishop at
the Council of Nicæa: "Acesius, you should set up a ladder to heaven,
and go up by yourself alone."
[893] Matt. xii. 32.
[894] Matt. xxi. 33.
[895] Matt. xviii. 11.
[896] Matt. xii. 25, 26.
[897] Matt. xii. 24.
[898] Viz. denial of Christ by Christians.
[899] Matt. xxvi. 74.
[900] Matt. xxvi. 33-35; Joh. xiii. 38.
[901] Joh. xxi. 15-17.
[902] Viz. Matt. xii. 32, quoted above.
[903] Commentariolum.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XLIII. To Marcella.
Jerome draws a contrast between his daily life and that of Origen, and
sorrowfully admits his own shortcomings. He then suggests to Marcella
the advantages which life in the country offers over life in town, and
hints that he is himself disposed to make trial of it. Written at Rome
in 385 a.d.
1. Ambrose who supplied Origen, true man of adamant and of brass, [904]
with money, materials and amanuenses to bring out his countless
books--Ambrose, in a letter to his friend from Athens, states that they
never took a meal together without something being read, and never went
to bed till some portion of Scripture had been brought home to them by
a brother's voice. Night and day, in fact, were so ordered that prayer
only gave place to reading and reading to prayer.
2. Have we, brute beasts that we are, ever done the like? Why, we yawn
if we read for over an hour; we rub our foreheads and vainly try to
suppress our languor. And then, after this great feat, we plunge for
relief into worldly business once more.
I say nothing of the meals with which we dull our faculties, and I
would rather not estimate the time that we spend in paying and
receiving visits. Next we fall into conversation; we waste our words,
we attack people behind their backs, we detail their way of living, we
carp at them and are carped at by them in turn. Such is the fare that
engages our attention at dinner and afterwards. Then, when our guests
have retired, we make up our accounts, and these are sure to cause us
either anger or anxiety. The first makes us like raging lions, and the
second seeks vainly to make provision for years to come. We do not
recollect the words of the Gospel: "Thou fool, this night thy soul
shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou
hast provided?" [905] The clothing which we buy is designed not merely
for use but for display. Where there is a chance of saving money we
quicken our pace, speak promptly, and keep our ears open. If we hear of
household losses--such as often occur--our looks become dejected and
gloomy. The gain of a penny [906] fills us with joy; the loss of a
half-penny [907] plunges us into sorrow. One man is of so many minds
that the prophet's prayer is: "Lord, in thy city scatter their image."
[908] For created as we are in the image of God and after His likeness,
[909] it is our own wickedness which makes us assume masks. [910] Just
as on the stage the same actor now figures as a brawny Hercules, now
softens into a tender Venus, now shivers in the role of Cybele; so
we--who, if we were not of the world, would be hated by the world [911]
--for every sin that we commit have a corresponding mask.
3. Wherefore, seeing that we have journeyed for much of our life
through a troubled sea, and that our vessel has been in turn shaken by
raging blasts and shattered upon treacherous reefs, let us, as soon as
may be, make for the haven of rural quietude. There such country
dainties as milk and household bread, and greens watered by our own
hands, will supply us with coarse but harmless fare. So living, sleep
will not call us away from prayer, nor satiety from reading. In summer
the shade of a tree will afford us privacy. In autumn the quality of
the air and the leaves strewn under foot will invite us to stop and
rest. In springtime the fields will be bright with flowers, and our
psalms will sound the sweeter for the twittering of the birds. When
winter comes with its frost and snow, I shall not have to buy fuel,
and, whether I sleep or keep vigil, shall be warmer than in town. At
least, so far as I know, I shall keep off the cold at less expense. Let
Rome keep to itself its noise and bustle, let the cruel shows of the
arena go on, let the crowd rave at the circus, let the playgoers revel
in the theatres and--for I must not altogether pass over our Christian
friends--let the House of Ladies [912] hold its daily sittings. It is
good for us to cleave to the Lord, [913] and to put our hope in the
Lord God, so that when we have exchanged our present poverty for the
kingdom of heaven, we may be able to exclaim: "Whom have I in heaven
but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee."
[914] Surely if we can find such blessedness in heaven we may well
grieve to have sought after pleasures poor and passing here upon earth.
Farewell.
__________________________________________________________________
[904] For the meaning of these epithets as applied to Origen see Letter
XXXIII. § 1.
[905] Luke xii. 20.
[906] Nummus. Sc. Sestertius = 4 cents = 2 pence.
[907] Obolus = 3 1-2 cents = 1 penny 3 farthings.
[908] Ps. lxxiii. 20, Vulg.
[909] Gen. i. 26.
[910] These were worn by both Greek and Roman actors.
[911] Joh. xv. 19.
[912] Ps. lxxiii. 28.
[913] Senatus Matronarum. Comp. Letter XXXIII. 4: "Rome calls together
its senate to condemn him."
[914] Ps. lxxiii. 25.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XLIV. To Marcella.
Marcella had sent some small articles as a present (probably to Paula
and Eustochium) and Jerome now writes in their name to thank her for
them. He notices the appropriateness of the gifts, not only to the
ladies, but also to himself. Written at Rome in 385 a.d.
When absent in body we are wont to converse together in spirit. [915]
Each of us does what he or she can. You send us gifts, we send you back
letters of thanks. And as we are virgins who have taken the veil, [916]
it is our duty to show that hidden meanings lurk under your nice
presents. Sackcloth, then, is a token of prayer and fasting, the chairs
remind us that a virgin should never stir abroad, and the wax tapers
that we should look for the bridegroom's coming with our lights
burning. [917] The cups also warn us to mortify the flesh and always to
be ready for martyrdom. "How bright," says the psalmist, "is the cup of
the Lord, intoxicating them that drink it!" [918] Moreover, when you
offer to matrons little fly-flaps to brush away mosquitoes, it is a
charming way of hinting that they should at once check voluptuous
feelings, for "dying flies," we are told, "spoil sweet ointment." [919]
In such presents, then, as these, virgins can find a model, and matrons
a pattern. To me, too, your gifts convey a lesson, although one of an
opposite kind. For chairs suit idlers, sackcloth does for penitents,
and cups are wanted for the thirsty. And I shall be glad to light your
tapers, if only to banish the terrors of the night and the fears of an
evil conscience.
__________________________________________________________________
[915] Cf. Col. ii. 5.
[916] Cf. Letter CXXX. § 2.
[917] Matt. xxv. 1.
[918] Ps. xxiii. 5, according to the Gallican psalter.
[919] Eccles. x. 1, Vulg.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XLV. To Asella.
After leaving Rome for the East, Jerome writes to Asella to refute the
calumnies by which he had been assailed, especially as regards his
intimacy with Paula and Eustochium. Written on board ship at Ostia, in
August, 385 a.d.
1. Were I to think myself able to requite your kindness I should be
foolish. God is able in my stead to reward a soul which is consecrated
to Him. So unworthy, indeed, am I of your regard that I have never
ventured to estimate its value or even to wish that it might be given
me for Christ's sake. Some consider me a wicked man, laden with
iniquity; and such language is more than justified by my actual sins.
Yet in dealing with the bad you do well to account them good. It is
dangerous to judge another man's servant; [920] and to speak evil of
the righteous is a sin not easily pardoned. The day will surely come
when you and I shall mourn for others; for not a few will be in the
flames.
2. I am said to be an infamous turncoat, a slippery knave, one who lies
and deceives others by Satanic arts. Which is the safer course, I
should like to know, to invent or credit these charges against innocent
persons, or to refuse to believe them, even of the guilty? Some kissed
my hands, yet attacked me with the tongues of vipers; sympathy was on
their lips, but malignant joy in their hearts. The Lord saw them and
had them in derision, [921] reserving my poor self and them for
judgment to come. One would attack my gait or my way of laughing;
another would find something amiss in my looks; another would suspect
the simplicity of my manner. Such is the company in which I have lived
for almost three years.
It often happened that I found myself surrounded with virgins, and to
some of these I expounded the divine books as best I could. Our studies
brought about constant intercourse, this soon ripened into intimacy,
and this, in turn, produced mutual confidence. If they have ever seen
anything in my conduct unbecoming a Christian let them say so. Have I
taken any one's money? Have I not disdained all gifts, whether small or
great? Has the chink of any one's coin been heard in my hand? [922] Has
my language been equivocal, or my eye wanton? No; my sex is my one
crime, and even on this score I am not assailed, save when there is a
talk of Paula going to Jerusalem. Very well, then. They believed my
accuser when he lied; why do they not believe him when he retracts? He
is the same man now that he was then, and yet he who before declared me
guilty now confesses that I am innocent. Surely a man's words under
torture are more trustworthy than in moments of gayety, except, indeed,
that people are prone to believe falsehoods designed to gratify their
ears, or, worse still, stories which, till then uninvented, they have
urged others to invent.
3. Before I became acquainted with the family of the saintly Paula, all
Rome resounded with my praises. Almost every one concurred in judging
me worthy of the episcopate. Damasus, of blessed memory, spoke no words
but mine. [923] Men called me holy, humble, eloquent.
Did I ever cross the threshold of a light woman? Was I ever fascinated
by silk dresses, or glowing gems, or rouged faces, or display of gold?
Of all the ladies in Rome but one had power to subdue me, and that one
was Paula. She mourned and fasted, she was squalid with dirt, her eyes
were dim from weeping. For whole nights she would pray to the Lord for
mercy, and often the rising sun found her still at her prayers. The
psalms were her only songs, the Gospel her whole speech, continence her
one indulgence, fasting the staple of her life. The only woman who took
my fancy was one whom I had not so much as seen at table. But when I
began to revere, respect, and venerate her as her conspicuous chastity
deserved, all my former virtues forsook me on the spot.
4. Oh! envy, that dost begin by tearing thyself! Oh! cunning malignity
of Satan, that dost always persecute things holy! Of all the ladies in
Rome, the only ones that caused scandal were Paula and Melanium, who,
despising their wealth and deserting their children, uplifted the cross
of the Lord as a standard of religion. Had they frequented the baths,
or chosen to use perfumes, or taken advantage of their wealth and
position as widows to enjoy life and to be independent, they would have
been saluted as ladies of high rank and saintliness. As it is, of
course, it is in order to appear beautiful that they put on sackcloth
and ashes, and they endure fasting and filth merely to go down into the
Gehenna of fire! As if they could not perish with the crowd whom the
mob applauds! [924] If it were Gentiles or Jews who thus assailed their
mode of life, they would at least have the consolation of failing to
please only those whom Christ Himself has failed to please. But,
shameful to say, it is Christians who thus neglect the care of their
own households, and, disregarding the beams in their own eyes, look for
motes in those of their neighbors. [925] They pull to pieces every
profession of religion, and think that they have found a remedy for
their own doom, if they can disprove the holiness of others, if they
can detract from every one, if they can show that those who perish are
many, and sinners, a great multitude.
5. You bathe daily; another regards such over-niceness as defilement.
You surfeit yourself on wild fowl and pride yourself on eating
sturgeon; I, on the contrary, fill my belly with beans. You find
pleasure in troops of laughing girls; I prefer Paula and Melanium who
weep. You covet what belongs to others; they disdain what is their own.
You like wines flavored with honey; they drink cold water, more
delicious still. You count as lost what you cannot have, eat up, and
devour on the moment; they believe in the Scriptures, and look for good
things to come. And if they are wrong, and if the resurrection of the
body on which they rely is a foolish delusion, what does it matter to
you? We, on our side, look with disfavor on such a life as yours. You
can fatten yourself on your good things as much as you please; I for my
part prefer paleness and emaciation. You suppose that men like me are
unhappy; we regard you as more unhappy still. Thus we reciprocate each
other's thoughts, and appear to each other mutually insane.
6. I write this in haste, dear Lady Asella, as I go on board,
overwhelmed with grief and tears; yet I thank my God that I am counted
worthy of the world's hatred. [926] Pray for me that, after Babylon, I
may see Jerusalem once more; that Joshua, the son of Josedech, may have
dominion over me, [927] and not Nebuchadnezzar, that Ezra, whose name
means helper, may come and restore me to my own country. I was a fool
in wishing to sing the Lord's song in a strange land, [928] and in
leaving Mount Sinai, to seek the help of Egypt. I forgot that the
Gospel warns us [929] that he who goes down from Jerusalem immediately
falls among robbers, is spoiled, is wounded, is left for dead. But,
although priest and Levite may disregard me, there is still the good
Samaritan who, when men said to him, "Thou art a Samaritan and hast a
devil," [930] disclaimed having a devil, but did not disclaim being a
Samaritan, [931] this being the Hebrew equivalent for our word
guardian. Men call me a mischief-maker, and I take the title as a
recognition of my faith. For I am but a servant, and the Jews still
call my master a magician. The apostle, [932] likewise, is spoken of as
a deceiver. There hath no temptation taken me but such as is common to
man. [933] How few distresses have I endured, I who am yet a soldier of
the cross! Men have laid to my charge a crime of which I am not guilty;
[934] but I know that I must enter the kingdom of heaven through evil
report as well as through good. [935]
7. Salute Paula and Eustochium, who, whatever the world may think, are
always mine in Christ. Salute Albina, your mother, and Marcella, your
sister; Marcellina also, and the holy Felicitas; and say to them all:
"We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, [936] and there
shall be revealed the principle by which each has lived."
And now, illustrious model of chastity and virginity, remember me, I
beseech you, in your prayers, and by your intercessions calm the waves
of the sea.
__________________________________________________________________
[920] Rom. xiv. 4.
[921] Ps. ii. 4.
[922] Cf. 1 Sam. xii. 3.
[923] Damasus meus sermo erat, or "spoke of none but me."
[924] Ironical.
[925] Matt. vii. 3.
[926] Joh. xv. 18.
[927] Haggai i. 1.
[928] Ps. cxxxvii. 4.
[929] Luke x. 30-35.
[930] Joh. viii. 48.
[931] Joh. viii. 49.
[932] I.e. Paul. See 2 Cor. vi. 9.
[933] 1 Cor. x. 13.
[934] He means the sin of incontinence.
[935] 2 Cor. vi. 8.
[936] Rom. xiv. 10.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XLVI. Paula and Eustochium to Marcella.
Jerome writes to Marcella in the name of Paula and Eustochium,
describing the charms of the Holy Land, and urging her to leave Rome
and to join her old companions at Bethlehem. Much of the letter is
devoted to disposing of the objection that since the Passion of Christ
the Holy Land has been under a curse. The date of the letter is a.d.
386. It is written from Bethlehem, which now becomes Jerome's home for
the remainder of his life.
1. Love cannot be measured, impatience knows no bounds, and eagerness
can brook no delay. Wherefore we, oblivious of our weakness, and
relying more on our will than our capacity, desire--pupils though we
be--to instruct our mistress. We are like the sow in the proverb, [937]
which sets up to teach the goddess of invention. You were the first to
set our tinder alight; the first, by precept and example, to urge us to
adopt our present life. As a hen gathers her chickens, so did you take
us under your wing. [938] And will you now let us fly about at random
with no mother near us? Will you leave us to dread the swoop of the
hawk and the shadow of each passing bird of prey? Separated from you,
we do what we can: we utter our mournful plaint, and more by sobs than
by tears we adjure you to give back to us the Marcella whom we love.
She is mild, she is suave, she is sweeter than the sweetest honey. She
must not, therefore, be stern and morose to us, whom her winning ways
have roused to adopt a life like her own.
2. Assuming that what we ask is for the best, our eagerness to obtain
it is nothing to be ashamed of. And if all the Scriptures agree with
our view, we are not too bold in urging you to a course to which you
have yourself often urged us.
What are God's first words to Abraham? "Get thee out of thy country and
from thy kindred unto a land that I will show thee." [939] The
patriarch--the first to receive a promise of Christ--is here told to
leave the Chaldees, to leave the city of confusion [940] and its
rehoboth [941] or broad places; to leave also the plain of Shinar,
where the tower of pride had been raised to heaven. [942] He has to
pass through the waves of this world, and to ford its rivers; those by
which the saints sat down and wept when they remembered Zion, [943] and
Chebar's flood, whence Ezekiel was carried to Jerusalem by the hair of
his head. [944] All this Abraham undergoes that he may dwell in a land
of promise watered from above, and not like Egypt, from below, [945] no
producer of herbs for the weak and ailing, [946] but a land that looks
for the early and the latter rain from heaven. [947] It is a land of
hills and valleys, [948] and stands high above the sea. The attractions
of the world it entirely wants, but its spiritual attractions are for
this all the greater. Mary, the mother of the Lord, left the lowlands
and made her way to the hill country, when, after receiving the angel's
message, she realized that she bore within her womb the Son of God.
[949] When of old the Philistines had been overcome, when their
devilish audacity had been smitten, when their champion had fallen on
his face to the earth, [950] it was from this city that there went
forth a procession of jubilant souls, a harmonious choir to sing our
David's victory over tens of thousands. [951] Here, too, it was that
the angel grasped his sword, and while he laid waste the whole of the
ungodly city, marked out the temple of the Lord in the threshing floor
of Ornan, king of the Jebusites. [952] Thus early was it made plain
that Christ's church would grow up, not in Israel, but among the
Gentiles. Turn back to Genesis, [953] and you will find that this was
the city over which Melchizedek held sway, that king of Salem who, as a
type of Christ, offered to Abraham bread and wine, and even then
consecrated the mystery which Christians consecrate in the body and
blood of the Saviour. [954]
3. Perhaps you will tacitly reprove us for deserting the order of
Scripture, and letting our confused account ramble this way and that,
as one thing or another strikes us. If so, we say once more what we
said at the outset: love has no logic, and impatience knows no rule. In
the Song of Songs the precept is given as a hard one: "Regulate your
love towards me." [955] And so we plead that, if we err, we do so not
from ignorance but from feeling.
Well, then, to bring forward something still more out of place, we must
go back to yet remoter times. Tradition has it that in this city, nay,
more, on this very spot, Adam lived and died. The place where our Lord
was crucified is called Calvary, [956] because the skull of the
primitive man was buried there. So it came to pass that the second
Adam, that is the blood [957] of Christ, as it dropped from the cross,
washed away the sins of the buried protoplast, [958] the first Adam,
and thus the words of the apostle were fulfilled: "Awake, thou that
sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."
[959]
It would be tedious to enumerate all the prophets and holy men who have
been sent forth from this place. All that is strange and mysterious to
us is familiar and natural to this city and country. By its very names,
three in number, it proves the doctrine of the trinity. For it is
called first Jebus, then Salem, then Jerusalem: names of which the
first means "down-trodden," the second "peace," and the third "vision
of peace." [960] For it is only by slow stages that we reach our goal;
it is only after we have been trodden down that we are lifted up to see
the vision of peace. Because of this peace Solomon, [961] the man of
peace, was born there, and "in peace was his place made." [962] King of
kings, and lord of lords, his name and that of the city show him to be
a type of Christ. Need we speak of David and his descendants, all of
whom reigned here? As Judæa is exalted above all other provinces, so is
this city exalted above all Judæa. To speak more tersely, the glory of
the province is derived from its capital; and whatever fame the members
possess is in every case due to the head.
4. You have long been anxious to break forth into speech; the very
letters we have formed perceive it, and our paper already understands
the question you are going to put. You will reply to us by saying: it
was so of old, when "the Lord loved the gates of Zion more than all the
dwellings of Jacob," and when her foundations were in the holy
mountains. [963] Even these verses, however, are susceptible of a
deeper interpretation. But things are changed since then. The risen
Lord has proclaimed in tones of thunder: "Your house is left unto you
desolate." With tears He has prophesied its downfall: "O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are
sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together
even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.
Behold your house is left unto you desolate." [964] The veil of the
temple has been rent; [965] an army has encompassed Jerusalem, it has
been stained by the blood of the Lord. Now, therefore, its guardian
angels have forsaken it and the grace of Christ has been withdrawn.
Josephus, himself a Jewish writer, asserts [966] that at the Lord's
crucifixion there broke from the temple voices of heavenly powers,
saying: "Let us depart hence." These and other considerations show that
where grace abounded there did sin much more abound. [967] Again, when
the apostles received the command: "Go ye and teach all nations," [968]
and when they said themselves: "It was necessary that the word of God
should first have been spoken to you, but seeing ye put it from
you...lo we turn to the Gentiles," [969] then all the spiritual
importance [970] of Judæa and its old intimacy with God were
transferred by the apostles to the nations.
5. The difficulty is strongly stated, and may well puzzle even those
proficient in Scripture; but for all that, it admits of an easy
solution. The Lord wept for the fall of Jerusalem, [971] and He would
not have done so if He did not love it. He wept for Lazarus because He
loved him. [972] The truth is that it was the people who sinned and not
the place. The capture of a city is involved in the slaying of its
inhabitants. If Jerusalem was destroyed, it was that its people might
be punished; if the temple was overthrown, it was that its figurative
sacrifices might be abolished. As regards its site, lapse of time has
but invested it with fresh grandeur. The Jews of old reverenced the
Holy of Holies, because of the things contained in it--the cherubim,
the mercy-seat, the ark of the covenant, the manna, Aaron's rod, and
the golden altar. [973] Does the Lord's sepulchre seem less worthy of
veneration? As often as we enter it we see the Saviour in His grave
clothes, and if we linger we see again the angel sitting at His feet,
and the napkin folded at His head. [974] Long before this sepulchre was
hewn out by Joseph, [975] its glory was foretold in Isaiah's
prediction, "his rest shall be glorious," [976] meaning that the place
of the Lord's burial should be held in universal honor.
6. How, then, you will say, do we read in the apocalypse written by
John: "The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall...kill
them [that is, obviously, the prophets], and their dead bodies shall
lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom
and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified?" [977] If the great
city where the Lord was crucified is Jerusalem, and if the place of His
crucifixion is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt; then as the Lord was
crucified at Jerusalem, Jerusalem must be Sodom and Egypt. Holy
Scripture, I reply first of all, cannot contradict itself. One book
cannot invalidate the drift of the whole. A single verse cannot annul
the meaning of a book. Ten lines earlier in the apocalypse it is
written: "Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them
that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave
out and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy
city shall they tread under foot forty and two months." [978] The
apocalypse was written by John long after the Lord's passion, yet in it
he speaks of Jerusalem as the holy city. But if so, how can he
spiritually call it Sodom and Egypt? It is no answer to say that the
Jerusalem which is called holy is the heavenly one which is to be,
while that which is called Sodom is the earthly one tottering to its
downfall. For it is the Jerusalem to come that is referred to in the
description of the beast, "which shall ascend out of the bottomless
pit, and shall make war against the two prophets, and shall overcome
them and kill them, and their dead bodies shall lie in the street of
the great city." [979] At the close of the book it is farther described
thus: "And the city lieth four-square, and the length of it and the
breadth are the same as the height; and he measured the city with the
golden reed twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and
the height of it are equal. And he measured the walls thereof, an
hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man,
that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was of
jasper; and the city was pure gold" [980] --and so on. Now where there
is a square there can be neither length nor breadth. And what kind of
measurement is that which makes length and breadth equal to height? And
how can there be walls of jasper, or a whole city of pure gold; its
foundations and its streets of precious stones, and its twelve gates
each glowing with pearls?
7. Evidently this description cannot be taken literally (in fact, it is
absurd to suppose a city the length, breadth and height of which are
all twelve thousand furlongs), and therefore the details of it must be
mystically understood. The great city which Cain first built and called
after his son [981] must be taken to represent this world, which the
devil, that accuser of his brethren, that fratricide who is doomed to
perish, has built of vice cemented with crime, and filled with
iniquity. Therefore it is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt. Thus it
is written, "Sodom shall return to her former estate," [982] that is to
say, the world must be restored as it has been before. For we cannot
believe that Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim [983] are to be built
again: they must be left to lie in ashes forever. We never read of
Egypt as put for Jerusalem: it always stands for this world. To collect
from Scripture the countless proofs of this would be tedious: I shall
adduce but one passage, a passage in which this world is most clearly
called Egypt. The apostle Jude, the brother of James, writes thus in
his catholic epistle: "I will, therefore, put you in remembrance,
though ye once knew this how that Jesus, [984] having saved the people
out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not."
[985] And, lest you should fancy Joshua the son of Nun to be meant, the
passage goes on thus: "And the angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting
chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." [986]
Moreover, to convince you that in every place where Egypt, Sodom and
Gomorrah are named together it is not these spots, but the present
world, which is meant, he mentions them immediately in this sense.
"Even as Sodom and Gomorrah," he writes, "and the cities about them, in
like manner giving themselves over to fornication and going after
strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of
eternal fire." [987] But what need is there to collect more proofs
when, after the passion and the resurrection of the Lord, the
evangelist Matthew tells us: "The rocks rent, and the graves were
opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of
the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city and
appeared unto many"? [988] We must not interpret this passage straight
off, as many people [989] absurdly do, of the heavenly Jerusalem: the
apparition there of the bodies of the saints could be no sign to men of
the Lord's rising. Since, therefore, the evangelists and all the
Scriptures speak of Jerusalem as the holy city, and since the psalmist
commands us to worship the Lord "at his footstool;" [990] allow no one
to call it Sodom and Egypt, for by it the Lord forbids men to swear
because "it is the city of the great king." [991]
8. The land is accursed, you say, because it has drunk in the blood of
the Lord. On what grounds, then, do men regard as blessed those spots
where Peter and Paul, the leaders of the Christian host, have shed
their blood for Christ? If the confession of men and servants is
glorious, must there not be glory likewise in the confession of their
Lord and God? Everywhere we venerate the tombs of the martyrs; we apply
their holy ashes to our eyes; we even touch them, if we may, with our
lips. And yet some think that we should neglect the tomb in which the
Lord Himself is buried. If we refuse to believe human testimony, let us
at least credit the devil and his angels. [992] For when in front of
the Holy Sepulchre they are driven out of those bodies which they have
possessed, they moan and tremble as if they stood before Christ's
judgment-seat, and grieve, too late that they have crucified Him in
whose presence they now cower. If--as a wicked theory maintains--this
holy place has, since the Lord's passion, become an abomination, why
was Paul in such haste to reach Jerusalem to keep Pentecost in it?
[993] Yet to those who held him back he said: "What mean ye to weep and
to break my heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die
at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus." [994] Need I speak of
those other holy and illustrious men who, after the preaching of
Christ, brought their votive gifts and offerings to the brethren who
were at Jerusalem?
9. Time forbids me to survey the period which has passed since the
Lord's ascension, or to recount the bishops, the martyrs, the divines,
who have come to Jerusalem from a feeling that their devotion and
knowledge would be incomplete and their virtue without the finishing
touch, unless they adored Christ in the very spot where the gospel
first flashed from the gibbet. If a famous orator [995] blames a man
for having learned Greek at Lilybæum instead of at Athens, and Latin in
Sicily instead of at Rome (on the ground, obviously, that each province
has its own characteristics), can we suppose a Christian's education
complete who has not visited the Christian Athens?
10. In speaking thus we do not mean to deny that the kingdom of God is
within us, [996] or to say that there are no holy men elsewhere; we
merely assert in the strongest manner that those who stand first
throughout the world are here gathered side by side. We ourselves are
among the last, not the first; yet we have come hither to see the first
of all nations. Of all the ornaments of the Church our company of monks
and virgins is one of the finest; it is like a fair flower or a
priceless gem. Every man of note in Gaul hastens hither. The Briton,
"sundered from our world," [997] no sooner makes progress in religion
than he leaves the setting sun in quest of a spot of which he knows
only through Scripture and common report. Need we recall the Armenians,
the Persians, the peoples of India and Arabia? Or those of our
neighbor, Egypt, so rich in monks; of Pontus and Cappadocia; of
Cæle-Syria and Mesopotamia and the teeming east? In fulfilment of the
Saviour's words, "Wherever the body is, thither will the eagles be
gathered together," [998] they all assemble here and exhibit in this
one city the most varied virtues. Differing in speech, they are one in
religion, and almost every nation has a choir of its own. Yet amid this
great concourse there is no arrogance, no disdain of self-restraint;
all strive after humility, that greatest of Christian virtues.
Whosoever is last is here regarded as first. [999] Their dress neither
provokes remark nor calls for admiration. In whatever guise a man shows
himself he is neither censured nor flattered. Long fasts help no one
here. Starvation wins no deference, and the taking of food in
moderation is not condemned. "To his own master" each one "standeth or
falleth." [1000] No man judges another lest he be judged of the Lord.
[1001] Backbiting, so common in other parts, is wholly unknown here.
Sensuality and excess are far removed from us. And in the city there
are so many places of prayer that a day would not be sufficient to go
round them all.
11. But, as every one praises most what is within his reach, let us
pass now to the cottage-inn which sheltered Christ and Mary. [1002]
With what expressions and what language can we set before you the cave
of the Saviour? The stall where he cried as a babe can be best honored
by silence; for words are inadequate to speak its praise. Where are the
spacious porticoes? Where are the gilded ceilings? Where are the
mansions furnished by the miserable toil of doomed wretches? Where are
the costly halls raised by untitled opulence for man's vile body to
walk in? Where are the roofs that intercept the sky, as if anything
could be finer than the expanse of heaven? Behold, in this poor crevice
of the earth the Creator of the heavens was born; here He was wrapped
in swaddling clothes; here He was seen by the shepherds; here He was
pointed out by the star; here He was adored by the wise men. This spot
is holier, me-thinks, than that Tarpeian rock [1003] which has shown
itself displeasing to God by the frequency with which it has been
struck by lightning.
12. Read the apocalypse of John, and consider what is sung therein of
the woman arrayed in purple, and of the blasphemy written upon her
brow, of the seven mountains, of the many waters, and of the end of
Babylon. [1004] "Come out of her, my people," so the Lord says, "that
ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues." [1005] Turn back also to Jeremiah and pay heed to what he has
written of like import: "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver
every man his soul." [1006] For "Babylon the great is fallen, is
fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every
foul spirit." [1007] It is true that Rome has a holy church, trophies
of apostles and martyrs, a true confession of Christ. The faith has
been preached there by an apostle, heathenism has been trodden down,
the name of Christian is daily exalted higher and higher. But the
display, power, and size of the city, the seeing and the being seen,
the paying and the receiving of visits, the alternate flattery and
detraction, talking and listening, as well as the necessity of facing
so great a throng even when one is least in the mood to do so--all
these things are alike foreign to the principles and fatal to the
repose of the monastic life. For when people come in our way we either
see them coming and are compelled to speak, or we do not see them and
lay ourselves open to the charge of haughtiness. Sometimes, also, in
returning visits we are obliged to pass through proud portals and
gilded doors and to face the clamor of carping lackeys. But, as we have
said above, in the cottage of Christ all is simple and rustic: and
except for the chanting of psalms there is complete silence. Wherever
one turns the laborer at his plough sings alleluia, the toiling mower
cheers himself with psalms, and the vine-dresser while he prunes his
vine sings one of the lays of David. These are the songs of the
country; these, in popular phrase, its love ditties: these the shepherd
whistles; these the tiller uses to aid his toil.
13. But what are we doing? Forgetting what is required of us, we are
taken up with what we wish. Will the time never come when a breathless
messenger shall bring the news that our dear Marcella has reached the
shores of Palestine, and when every band of monks and every troop of
virgins shall unite in a song of welcome? In our excitement we are
already hurrying to meet you: without waiting for a vehicle, we hasten
off at once on foot. We shall clasp you by the hand, we shall look upon
your face; and when, after long waiting, we at last embrace you, we
shall find it hard to tear ourselves away. Will the day never come when
we shall together enter the Saviour's cave, and together weep in the
sepulchre of the Lord with His sister and with His mother? [1008] Then
shall we touch with our lips the wood of the cross, and rise in prayer
and resolve upon the Mount of Olives with the ascending Lord. [1009] We
shall see Lazarus come forth bound with grave clothes, [1010] we shall
look upon the waters of Jordan purified for the washing of the Lord.
[1011] Thence we shall pass to the folds of the shepherds, [1012] we
shall pray together in the mausoleum of David. [1013] We shall see the
prophet, Amos, [1014] upon his crag blowing his shepherd's horn. We
shall hasten, if not to the tents, to the monuments of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, and of their three illustrious wives. [1015] We shall see
the fountain in which the eunuch was immersed by Philip. [1016] We
shall make a pilgrimage to Samaria, and side by side venerate the ashes
of John the Baptist, of Elisha, [1017] and of Obadiah. We shall enter
the very caves where in the time of persecution and famine the
companies of the prophets were fed. [1018] If only you will come, we
shall go to see Nazareth, as its name denotes, the flower [1019] of
Galilee. Not far off Cana will be visible, where the water was turned
into wine. [1020] We shall make our way to Tabor, [1021] and see the
tabernacles there which the Saviour shares, not, as Peter once wished,
with Moses and Elijah, but with the Father and with the Holy Ghost.
Thence we shall come to the Sea of Gennesaret, and when there we shall
see the spots where the five thousand were filled with five loaves,
[1022] and the four thousand with seven. [1023] The town of Nain will
meet our eyes, at the gate of which the widow's son was raised to life.
[1024] Hermon too will be visible, and the torrent of Endor, at which
Sisera was vanquished. [1025] Our eyes will look also on Capernaum, the
scene of so many of our Lord's signs--yes, and on all Galilee besides.
And when, accompanied by Christ, we shall have made our way back to our
cave through Shiloh and Bethel, and those other places where churches
are set up like standards to commemorate the Lord's victories, then we
shall sing heartily, we shall weep copiously, we shall pray
unceasingly. Wounded with the Saviour's shaft, we shall say one to
another: "I have found Him whom my soul loveth; I will hold Him and
will not let Him go." [1026]
__________________________________________________________________
[937] Sus Minervam.
[938] 2 Esdras. i. 30; Matt. xxiii. 37.
[939] Gen. xii. 1.
[940] I.e. Babel--Gen. xi. 9.
[941] Gen. x. 11.
[942] Gen. xi. 2, 4.
[943] Ps. cxxxvii. 1.
[944] Ezek. viii. 3.
[945] Deut. xi. 10.
[946] Rom. xiv. 2.
[947] Deut. xi. 14.
[948] Deut. xi. 11.
[949] Luke i. 26-31, 39.
[950] 1 Sam. xvii. 49.
[951] 1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7.
[952] 1 Chron. xxi. 15, 18; 2 Chron. iii. 1.
[953] Gen. xiv. 18.
[954] Mysterium christianum in salvatoris sanguine et corpore
dedicavit.
[955] Cant. ii. 4 b, Vulg. Hebrew = A.V.
[956] I.e. the place of a skull (Latin, Calvaria).
[957] One of Jerome's fanciful ideas. Haddam hrs is the Hebrew for "the
blood."
[958] ho protoplastos = "the first-formed." The word is applied to Adam
in Wisd. vii. 1.
[959] Eph. v. 14.
[960] Cf. Hymns Ancient and Modern, No. 235. "Truly Jerusalem name we
that shore Vision of peace that brings joy evermore."
[961] Hebrew, Shelomoh, connected with shalem, peace.
[962] Ps. lxxvi. 2, LXX.
[963] Ps. lxxxvii. 1, 2.
[964] Matt. xxiii. 37, 38.
[965] Matt. xxvii. 51.
[966] Bellum Judaicum, vi. 5.
[967] Rom. v. 20.
[968] Matt. xxviii. 19.
[969] Acts xiii. 46.
[970] Sacramentum.
[971] Luke xix. 41.
[972] Joh. xi. 35, 36.
[973] Heb. ix. 3-5.
[974] John xx. 6, 7, 12.
[975] I.e. Joseph of Arimathæa.--Joh. xix. 38 sqq.
[976] Isa. xi. 10.
[977] Rev. xi. 7, 8, R.V.
[978] Rev. xi. 2.
[979] Rev. xi. 7, 8.
[980] Rev. xxi. 16-18.
[981] Gen. iv. 17.
[982] Ezek. xvi. 55.
[983] Deut. xxix. 23.
[984] A.V. "the Lord."
[985] Jude 5.
[986] Jude 6.
[987] Jude 7.
[988] Matt. xxvii. 51, 53.
[989] E.g. Origen in his commentary on the passage.
[990] Ps. cxxxii. 7.
[991] Matt. v. 35.
[992] Matt. xxv. 41.
[993] Acts xx. 16.
[994] Acts xxi. 13.
[995] Cicero of Cæcilius (in Q. Cæc. xii.).
[996] Luke xvii. 21.
[997] Virgil, E. i. 67.
[998] Luke xvii. 37.
[999] Cf. Matt. xix. 30.
[1000] Rom. xiv. 4.
[1001] Matt. vii. 1.
[1002] Luke ii. 7.
[1003] Otherwise called the capitol. Here stood the great temple of
Jupiter, which was to the religion of Rome what the Parthenon was to
that of Athens.
[1004] Rev. xvii. 4, 5, 9; i. 15; xvii; xviii.
[1005] Rev. xviii. 4.
[1006] Jer. li. 6.
[1007] Rev. xviii. 2.
[1008] Joh. xix. 25.
[1009] Acts i. 9, 12.
[1010] Joh. xi. 43, 44.
[1011] Matt. iii. 13.
[1012] Luke ii. 8.
[1013] 1 Kings ii. 10.
[1014] "Who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa"--Am. i. 1.
[1015] Sarah, Rebekah, Leah--Gen. xlix. 31.
[1016] Acts viii. 36.
[1017] 2 Kings xiii. 21.
[1018] 1 Kings xviii. 3, 4.
[1019] Lit. "sprout." In Isa. xi. 1 it is rendered by A.V. "branch."
[1020] Joh. ii. 1-11.
[1021] Matt. xvii. 1-9.
[1022] Matt. xiv. 15, sqq.
[1023] Matt. xv. 32, sqq.
[1024] Luke vii. 11, sqq.
[1025] Ps. lxxxiii. 9, 10.
[1026] Cant. iii. 4, Vulg.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XLVII. To Desiderius.
Jerome invites two of his old friends at Rome, Desiderius and his
sister (or wife) Serenilla, to join him at Bethlehem. It is possible
but not probable that this Desiderius is the same with Desiderius of
Aquitaine, who afterwards induced Jerome to write against Vigilantius.
An interval of seven years separates this letter (of which the date is
393 a.d.) from the preceding, and all the letters written during this
period have wholly perished.
1. Surprised as I have been, my excellent friend, to read the language
which your kindness has prompted you to hold concerning me, I have
rejoiced that I possess the testimony of one both eloquent and sincere;
but when I turn from you to myself I feel vexed that, owing to my
unworthiness, your words of praise and eulogy rather weigh me down than
lift me up. You know, of course, that I make it a principle to raise
the standard of humility, and to prepare for scaling the heights by
walking for the present in the lowest places. For what am I or what is
my significance that I should have the voice of learning raised to bear
witness of me, or that the palm of eloquence should be laid at my feet
by one whose style is so charming that it has almost deterred me from
writing a letter at all? I must, however, make the attempt in order
that charity which seeks not her own [1027] but always her neighbor's
good, may at least return a compliment, since it cannot convey a
lesson.
2. I offer my congratulations to you and to your holy and revered
sister, [1028] Serenilla, who, true to her name, [1029] has trodden
down the troubled waves of the world, and has passed to Christ's calm
haven: a happiness which--if we may trust the augury of your name--is
in store for you also. For we read that the holy Daniel was called "a
man of desires," [1030] and the friend of God, because he desired to
know His mysteries. Therefore, I do with pleasure what the revered
Paula has asked of me. I urge and implore you both by the charity of
the Lord that you will give your presence to us, and that a visit to
the holy places may induce you to enrich us with this great gift. Even
supposing that you do not care for our society, it is still your duty
as believers to worship on the spot where the Lord's feet once stood
and to see for yourselves the still fresh traces of His birth, His
cross, and His passion.
3. Several of my little pieces have flown away out of their nest, and
have rashly sought for themselves the honor of publication. I have not
sent you any lest I should send works which you already have. But if
you care to borrow copies of them, you can do so either from our holy
sister, Marcella, who has her abode upon the Aventine, or from that
holy man, Domnio, who is the Lot of our times. [1031] Meantime, I look
for your arrival, and will give you all I have when you once come; or,
if any hindrances prevent you from joining us, I will gladly send you
such treatises as you shall desire. Following the example of
Tranquillus [1032] and of Apollonius the Greek, [1033] I have written a
book concerning illustrious men [1034] from the apostles' time to our
own; and after enumerating a great number I have put myself down on the
last page as one born out of due time, and the least of all Christians.
[1035] Here I have found it necessary to give a short account of my
writings down to the fourteenth year [1036] of the Emperor Theodosius.
If you find, on procuring this treatise from the persons mentioned
above, that there are any pieces mentioned which you have not already
got, I will have them copied for you by degrees, if you wish it.
__________________________________________________________________
[1027] 1 Cor. xiii. 5.
[1028] I.e. his wife. Cf. 1 Cor. ix. 5.
[1029] Serenilla, "calm."
[1030] Dan. ix. 23, A.V. marg. Desiderius means "one who is an object
of desire."
[1031] Cf. 2 Peter ii. 7, 8.
[1032] I.e. the historian Suetonius.
[1033] Probably Apollonius of Tyre, who appears to have written an
account of the principal philosophers who followed Zeno.
[1034] See this work in Vol. III. of this series.
[1035] Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 8, 9.
[1036] a.d. 392-3.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XLVIII. To Pammachius.
An "apology" for the two books "against Jovinian" which Jerome had
written a short time previously, and of which he had sent copies to
Rome. These Pammachius and his other friends had withheld from
publication, thinking that Jerome had unduly exalted virginity at the
expense of marriage. He now writes to make good his position, and to do
this makes copious extracts from the obnoxious treatise. The date of
the letter is 393 or 394 a.d.
1. Your own silence is my reason for not having written hitherto. For I
feared that, if I were to write to you without first hearing from you,
you would consider me not so much a conscientious as a troublesome
correspondent. But, now that I have been challenged by your most
delightful letter, a letter which calls upon me to defend my views by
an appeal to first principles, I receive my old fellow-learner,
companion, and friend with open arms, as the saying goes; and I look
forward to having in you a champion of my poor writings; if, that is to
say, I can first conciliate your judgment to give sentence in my favor,
and can instruct my advocate in all those points on which I am
assailed. For both your favorite, Cicero, and before him--in his one
short treatise--Antonius, [1037] write to this effect, that the chief
requisite for victory is to acquaint one's self carefully with the case
which one has to plead.
2. Certain persons find fault with me because in the books which I have
written against Jovinian I have been excessive (so they say) in praise
of virginity and in depreciation of marriage; and they affirm that to
preach up chastity till no comparison is left between a wife and a
virgin is equivalent to a condemnation of matrimony. If I remember
aright the point of the dispute, the question at issue between myself
and Jovinian is that he puts marriage on a level with virginity, while
I make it inferior; he declares that there is little or no difference
between the two states, I assert that there is a great deal. Finally--a
result due under God to your agency--he has been condemned because he
has dared to set matrimony on an equality with perpetual chastity. Or,
if a virgin and a wife are to be looked on as the same, how comes it
that Rome has refused to listen to this impious doctrine? A virgin owes
her being to a man, but a man does not owe his to a virgin. There can
be no middle course. Either my view of the matter must be embraced, or
else that of Jovinian. If I am blamed for putting wedlock below
virginity, he must be praised for putting the two states on a level.
If, on the other hand, he is condemned for supposing them equal, his
condemnation must be taken as testimony in favor of my treatise. If men
of the world chafe under the notion that they occupy a position
inferior to that of virgins, I wonder that clergymen and monks--who
both live celibate lives--refrain from praising what they consistently
practise. They cut themselves off from their wives to imitate the
chastity of virgins, and yet they will have it that married women are
as good as these. They should either be joined again to their wives
whom they have renounced, or, if they persist in living apart from
them, they will have to confess--by their lives if not by their
words--that, in preferring virginity to marriage, they have chosen the
better course. Am I then a mere novice in the Scriptures, reading the
sacred volumes for the first time? And is the line there drawn between
virginity and marriage so fine that I have been unable to observe it? I
could know nothing, forsooth, of the saying, "Be not righteous
overmuch!" [1038] Thus, while I try to protect myself on one side, I am
wounded on the other; to speak more plainly still, while I close with
Jovinian in hand-to-hand combat, Manichæus stabs me in the back. Have I
not, I would ask, in the very forefront of my work set the following
preface: [1039] "We are no disciples of Marcion [1040] or of Manichæus,
[1041] to detract from marriage. Nor are we deceived by the error of
Tatian, [1042] the chief of the Encratites, [1043] into supposing all
cohabitation unclean. For he condemns and reprobates not marriage only,
but foods also which God has created for us to enjoy. [1044] We know
that in a large house there are vessels not only of silver and of gold,
but of wood also and of earth. [1045] We know, too, that on the
foundation of Christ which Paul the master builder has laid, some build
up gold, silver, and precious stones; others, on the contrary, hay,
wood, and stubble. [1046] We are not ignorant that marriage is
honorable...and the bed undefiled.' [1047] We have read the first
decree of God: Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.'
[1048] But while we allow marriage, we prefer the virginity which
springs from it. Gold is more precious than silver, but is silver on
that account the less silver? Is it an insult to a tree to prefer its
apples to its roots or its leaves? Is it an injury to corn to put the
ear before the stalk and the blade? As apples come from the tree and
grain from the straw, so virginity comes from wedlock. Yields of one
hundredfold, of sixtyfold, and of thirtyfold [1049] may all come from
one soil and from one sowing, yet they will differ widely in quantity.
The yield thirtyfold signifies wedlock, for the joining together of the
fingers to express that number, suggestive as it is of a loving gentle
kiss or embracing, aptly represents the relation of husband and wife.
The yield sixtyfold refers to widows who are placed in a position of
distress and tribulation. Accordingly, they are typified by that finger
which is placed under the other to express the number sixty; for, as it
is extremely trying when one has once tasted pleasure to abstain from
its enticements, so the reward of doing this is proportionately great.
Moreover, a hundred--I ask the reader to give me his best
attention--necessitates a change from the left hand to the right; but
while the hand is different the fingers are the same as those which on
the left hand signify married women and widows; only in this instance
the circle formed by them indicates the crown of virginity." [1050]
3. Does a man who speaks thus, I would ask you, condemn marriage? If I
have called virginity gold, I have spoken of marriage as silver. I have
set forth that the yields an hundredfold, sixtyfold, and
thirtyfold--all spring from one soil and from one sowing, although in
amount they differ widely. Will any of my readers be so unfair as to
judge me, not by my words, but by his own opinion? At any rate, I have
dealt much more gently with marriage than most Latin and Greek writers;
[1051] who, by referring the hundredfold yield to martyrs, the
sixtyfold to virgins, and the thirtyfold to widows, show that in their
opinion married persons are excluded from the good ground and from the
seed of the great Father. [1052] But, lest it might be supposed that,
though cautious at the outset, I was imprudent in the remainder of my
work, have I not, after marking out the divisions of it, on coming to
the actual questions immediately introduced the following: [1053] "I
ask all of you of both sexes, at once those who are virgins and
continent and those who are married or twice married, to aid my efforts
with your prayers." Jovinian is the foe of all indiscriminately, but
can I condemn as Manichæan heretics persons whose prayers I need and
whose assistance I entreat to help me in my work?
4. As the brief compass of a letter does not suffer us to delay too
long on a single point, let us now pass to those which remain. In
explaining the testimony of the apostle, "The wife hath not power of
her own body, but the husband; and likewise, also, the husband hath not
power of his own body, but the wife," [1054] we have subjoined the
following: [1055] "The entire question relates to those who are living
in wedlock, whether it is lawful for them to put away their wives, a
thing which the Lord also has forbidden in the Gospel. [1056] Hence,
also, the apostle says: It is good for a man not to touch' a wife or a
woman,' [1057] as if there were danger in the contact which he who
should so touch one could not escape. Accordingly, when the Egyptian
woman desired to touch Joseph he flung away his cloak and fled from her
hands. [1058] But as he who has once married a wife cannot, except by
consent, abstain from intercourse with her or repudiate her, so long as
she does not sin, he must render unto his wife her due, [1059] because
he has of his own free will bound himself to render it under
compulsion." Can one who declares that it is a precept of the Lord that
wives should not be put away, and that what God has joined together man
must not, without consent, put asunder [1060] --can such an one be said
to condemn marriage? Again, in the verses which follow, the apostle
says: "But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this
manner, and another after that." [1061] In explanation of this saying
we made the following remarks: [1062] "What I myself would wish, he
says, is clear. But since there are diversities of gifts in the church,
[1063] I allow marriage as well, that I may not appear to condemn
nature. Reflect, too, that the gift of virginity is one thing, that of
marriage another. For had there been one reward for married women and
for virgins he would never, after giving the counsel of continence,
have gone on to say: But every man hath his proper gift of God, one
after this manner and another after that.' Where each class has its
proper gift, there must be some distinction between the classes. I
allow that marriage, as well as virginity, is the gift of God, but
there is a great difference between gift and gift. Finally, the apostle
himself says of one who had lived in incest and afterwards repented:
Contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him and comfort him,' [1064]
and To whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also.' [1065] And, lest we
might suppose a man's gift to be but a small thing, he has added: For
if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I
it in the sight [1066] of Christ.' [1067] The gifts of Christ are
different. Hence Joseph as a type of Him had a coat of many colors.
[1068] So in the forty-fourth psalm [1069] we read of the Church: Upon
thy right hand did stand the queen in a vesture of gold, wrought about
with divers colors.' [1070] The apostle Peter, too, speaks (of husbands
and wives) as being heirs together of the manifold grace of God.'
[1071] In Greek the expression is still more striking, the word used
being poikile, that is, many-colored.'"
5. I ask, then, what is the meaning of men's obstinate determination to
shut their eyes and to refuse to look on what is as clear as day? I
have said that there are diversities of gifts in the Church, and that
virginity is one gift and wedlock another. And shortly after I have
used the words: "I allow marriage also to be a gift of God, but there
is a great difference between gift and gift." Can it be said that I
condemn that which in the clearest terms I declare to be the gift of
God? Moreover, if Joseph is taken as a type of the Lord, his coat of
many colors is a type of virgins and widows, celibates and wedded. Can
any one who has any part in Christ's tunic be regarded as an alien?
Have we not spoken of the very queen herself--that is, the Church of
the Saviour--as wearing a vesture of gold wrought about with divers
colors? Moreover, when I came to discuss marriage in connection with
the following verses, [1072] I still adhered to the same view. [1073]
"This passage," I said, "has indeed no relation to the present
controversy; for, following the decision of the Lord, the apostle
teaches that a wife must not be put away saving for fornication, and
that, if she has been put away, she cannot during the lifetime of her
husband marry another man, or, at any rate, that she ought, if
possible, to be reconciled to her husband. In another verse he speaks
to the same effect: The wife is bound...as long as her husband liveth;
but if her husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband;
[1074] she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the
Lord,' [1075] that is to a Christian. Thus the apostle, while he allows
a second or a third marriage in the Lord, forbids even a first with a
heathen."
6. I ask my detractors to open their ears and to realize the fact that
I have allowed second and third marriages "in the Lord." If, then, I
have not condemned second and third marriages, how can I have
proscribed a first? Moreover, in the passage where I interpret the
words of the apostle, "Is any man called being circumcised? Let him not
become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be
circumcised" [1076] (a passage, it is true, which some most careful
interpreters of Scripture refer to the circumcision and slavery of the
Law), do I not in the clearest terms stand up for the marriage-tie? My
words are these: [1077] "If any man is called in uncircumcision, let
him not be circumcised.' You had a wife, the apostle says, when you
believed. Do not fancy your faith in Christ to be a reason for parting
from her. For God hath called us in peace.' [1078] Circumcision is
nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the
commandments of God.' [1079] Neither celibacy nor wedlock is of the
slightest use without works, since even faith, the distinguishing mark
of Christians, if it have not works, is said to be dead, [1080] and on
such terms as these the virgins of Vesta or of Juno, who was constant
to one [1081] husband, might claim to be numbered among the saints. And
a little further on he says: Art thou called being a servant, care not
for it; but, if thou mayest be made free, use it rather;' [1082] that
is to say, if you have a wife, and are bound to her, and render her her
due, and have not power of your own body--or, to speak yet more
plainly--if you are the slave of a wife, do not allow this to cause you
sorrow, do not sigh over the loss of your virginity. Even if you can
find pretexts for parting from her to enjoy the freedom of chastity, do
not seek your own welfare at the price of another's ruin. Keep your
wife for a little, and do not try too hastily to overcome her
reluctance. Wait till she follows your example. If you only have
patience, your wife will some day become your sister."
7. In another passage we have discussed the reasons which led Paul to
say: "Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I
give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be
faithful." [1083] Here also, while we have extolled virginity, we have
been careful to give marriage its due. [1084] "Had the Lord commanded
virginity," we said, "He would have seemed to condemn marriage and to
do away with that seed-plot of humanity from which virginity itself
springs. Had He cut away the root how could He have looked for fruit?
Unless He had first laid the foundations, how could He have built the
edifice or crowned it with a roof made to cover its whole extent?" If
we have spoken of marriage as the root whose fruit is virginity, and if
we have made wedlock the foundation on which the building or the roof
of perpetual chastity is raised, which of my detractors can be so
captious or so blind as to ignore the foundation on which the fabric
and its roof are built, while he has before his eyes both the fabric
and the roof themselves? Once more, in another place, we have brought
forward the testimony of the apostle to this effect: "Art thou bound
unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek
not a wife." [1085] To this we have appended the following remarks:
[1086] "Each of us has his own sphere allotted to him. Let me have
mine, and do you keep yours. If you are bound to a wife, do not put her
away. If I am loosed from a wife, let me not seek a wife. Just as I do
not loose marriage-ties when they are once made, so do you refrain from
binding together what at present is loosed from such ties." Yet another
passage bears unmistakable testimony to the view which we have taken of
virginity and of wedlock: [1087] "The apostle casts no snare upon us,
[1088] nor does he compel us to be what we do not wish. He only urges
us to what is honorable and seemly, inciting us earnestly to serve the
Lord, to be anxious always to please Him, and to look for His will
which He has prepared for us to do. We are to be like alert and armed
soldiers, who immediately execute the orders given to them and perform
them without that travail of mind [1089] which, according to the
preacher, is given to the men of this world to be exercised
therewith.'" [1090] At the end, also, of our comparison of virgins and
married women we have summed up the discussion thus: [1091] "When one
thing is good and another thing is better; when that which is good has
a different reward from that which is better; and when there are more
rewards than one, then, obviously, there exists a diversity of gifts.
The difference between marriage and virginity is as great as that
between not doing evil and doing good--or, to speak more favorably
still, as that between what is good and what is still better."
8. In the sequel we go on to speak thus: [1092] "The apostle, in
concluding his discussion of marriage and of virginity, is careful to
observe a mean course in discriminating between them, and, turning
neither to the right hand nor to the left, he keeps to the King's
highway, [1093] and thus fulfils the injunction, Be not righteous
overmuch.' [1094] Moreover, when he goes on to compare monogamy with
digamy, he puts digamy after monogamy, just as before he subordinated
marriage to virginity." Do we not clearly show by this language what is
typified in the Holy Scriptures by the terms right and left, and also
what we take to be the meaning of the words "Be not righteous
overmuch"? We turn to the left if, following the lust of Jews and
Gentiles, we burn for sexual intercourse; we turn to the right if,
following the error of the Manichæans, we under a pretence of chastity
entangle ourselves in the meshes of unchastity. But we keep to the
King's highway if we aspire to virginity yet refrain from condemning
marriage. Can any one, moreover, be so unfair in his criticism of my
poor treatise as to allege that I condemn first marriages, when he
reads my opinion on second ones as follows: [1095] "The apostle, it is
true, allows second marriages, but only to such women as are bent upon
them, to such as cannot contain, [1096] lest when they have begun to
wax wanton against Christ they marry, having condemnation because they
have rejected their first faith,' [1097] and he makes this concession
because many are turned aside after Satan.' [1098] But they will be
happier if they abide as widows. To this he immediately adds his
apostolical authority, after my judgment.' Moreover, lest any should
consider that authority, being human, to be of small weight, he goes on
to say, and I think also that I have the spirit of God.' [1099] Thus,
where he urges men to continence he appeals not to human authority, but
to the Spirit of God; but when he gives them permission to marry he
does not mention the Spirit of God, but allows prudential
considerations to turn the balance, relaxing the strictness of his code
in favor of individuals according to their several needs." Having thus
brought forward proofs that second marriages are allowed by the
apostle, we at once added the remarks which follow: [1100] "As marriage
is permitted to virgins by reason of the danger of fornication, and as
what in itself is not desirable is thus made excusable, so by reason of
the same danger widows are permitted to marry a second time. For it is
better that a woman should know one man (though he should be a second
husband or a third) than that she should know several. In other words,
it is preferable that she should prostitute herself to one rather than
to many." Calumny may do its worst. We have spoken here not of a first
marriage, but of a second, of a third, or (if you like) of a fourth.
But lest any one should apply my words (that it is better for a woman
to prostitute herself to one man than to several) to a first marriage
when my whole argument dealt with digamy and trigamy, I marked my own
view of these practices with the words: [1101] "All things are lawful,
but all things are not expedient.' [1102] I do not condemn digamists
nor yet trigamists, nor even, to put an extreme, case, octogamists. I
will make a still greater concession: I am ready to receive even a
whore-monger, if penitent. In every case where fairness is possible,
fair consideration must be shown."
9. My calumniator should blush at his assertion that I condemn first
marriages when he reads my words just now quoted: "I do not condemn
digamists or trigamists, or even, to put an extreme case, octogamists."
Not to condemn is one thing, to commend is another. I may concede a
practice as allowable and yet not praise it as meritorious. But if I
seem severe in saying, "In every case where fairness is possible, fair
consideration must be shown," no one, I fancy, will judge me either
cruel or stern who reads that the places prepared for virgins and for
wedded persons are different from those prepared for trigamists,
octogamists, and penitents. That Christ Himself, although in the flesh
a virgin, was in the spirit a monogamist, having one wife, even the
Church, [1103] I have shown in the latter part of my argument. [1104]
And yet I am supposed to condemn marriage! I am said to condemn it,
although I use such words as these: [1105] "It is an undoubted fact
that the levitical priests were descended from the stock of Aaron,
Eleazar, and Phinehas; and, as all these were married men, we might
well be confronted with them if, led away by the error of the
Encratites, we were to contend that marriage is in itself deserving of
condemnation." Here I blame Tatian, the chief of the Encratites, for
his rejection of marriage, and yet I myself am said to condemn it! Once
more, when I contrast virgins with widows, my own words show what my
view is concerning wedlock, and set forth the threefold gradation which
I propose of virgins, widows--whether in practice or in fact [1106]
--and wedded wives. "I do not deny"--these are my words [1107] --"the
blessedness of widows who continue such after their baptism, nor do I
undervalue the merit of wives who live in chastity with their husbands;
but, just as widows receive a greater reward from God than wives
obedient to their husbands, they, too, must be content to see virgins
preferred before themselves."
10. Again, when explaining the witness of the apostle to the Galatians,
"By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified," I have spoken to
the following effect: "Marriages also are works of the law. And for
this reason there is a curse upon such as do not produce offspring.
They are permitted, it is true, even under the Gospel; but it is one
thing to concede an indulgence to what is a weakness and quite another
to promise a reward to what is a virtue." See my express declaration
that marriage is allowed in the Gospel, yet that those who are married
cannot receive the rewards of chastity so long as they render their due
one to another. If married men feel indignant at this statement, let
them vent their anger not on me but on the Holy Scriptures; nay, more,
upon all bishops, presbyters, and deacons, and the whole company of
priests and levites, who know that they cannot offer sacrifices if they
fulfil the obligations of marriage. Again, when I adduce evidence from
the Apocalypse, [1108] is it not clear what view I take concerning
virgins, widows, and wives? "These are they who sing a new song [1109]
which no man can sing except he be a virgin. These are the first fruits
unto God and unto the Lamb,' [1110] and they are without spot. If
virgins are the first fruits unto God, then widows and wives who live
in continence must come after the first fruits--that is to say, in the
second place and in the third." We place widows, then, and wives in the
second place and in the third, and for this we are charged by the
frenzy of a heretic with condemning marriage altogether.
11. Throughout the book I have made many remarks in a tone of great
moderation on virginity, widowhood, and marriage. But for the sake of
brevity, I will here adduce but one passage, and that of such a kind
that no one, I think, will be found to gainsay it save some one who
wishes to prove himself malicious or mad. In describing our Lord's
visit to the marriage at Cana in Galilee, [1111] after some other
remarks I have added these: [1112] "He who went but once to a marriage
has taught us that a woman should marry but once; and this fact might
tell against virginity if we failed to give marriage its due
place--after virginity that is, and chaste widowhood. But, as it is
only heretics who condemn marriage and tread under foot the ordinance
of God, we listen with gladness to every word said by our Lord in
praise of marriage. For the Church does not condemn marriage, but only
subordinates it. It does not reject it altogether, but regulates it,
knowing (as I have said above) that in a great house there are not only
vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some
to honor and some to dishonor. If a man, therefore, purge himself...he
shall be a vessel unto honor meet...and prepared unto every good
work.'" [1113] I listen with gladness, I say here, to every word said
by the apostle in praise of marriage. Do I listen with gladness to the
praise of marriage, and do I yet condemn marriage? The Church, I say,
does not condemn wedlock, but subordinates it. Whether you like it or
not, marriage is subordinated to virginity and widowhood. Even when
marriage continues to fulfil its function, the Church does not condemn
it, but only subordinates it; it does not reject it, but only regulates
it. It is in your power, if you will, to mount the second step of
chastity. [1114] Why are you angry if, standing on the third and lowest
step, you will not make haste to go up higher?
12. Since, then, I have so often reminded my reader of my views; and
since I have picked my way like a prudent traveller over every inch of
the road, stating repeatedly that, while I receive marriage as a thing
in itself admissible, I yet prefer continence, widowhood, and
virginity, the wise and generous reader ought to have judged what
seemed hard sayings by my general drift, and not to have charged me
with putting forward inconsistent opinions in one and the same book.
For who is so dull or so inexperienced in writing as to praise and to
condemn one and the same object, as to destroy what he has built up,
and to build up what he has destroyed; and when he has vanquished his
opponent, to turn his sword, last of all against himself? Were my
detractors country bred or unacquainted with the arts of rhetoric or of
logic, I should pardon their want of insight; nor should I censure them
for accusing me if I saw that their ignorance was in fault and not
their will. As it is men of intellect who have enjoyed a liberal
education make it their object less to understand me than to wound me,
and for such I have this short answer, that they should correct my
faults and not merely censure me for them. The lists are open, I cry;
your enemy has marshalled his forces, his position is plain, and (if I
may quote Virgil [1115] )--
The foeman calls you: meet him face to face.
Such men should answer their opponent. They ought to keep within the
limits of debate, and not to wield the schoolmaster's rod. Their books
should aim at showing in what my statements have fallen short of the
truth, and in what they have exceeded it. For, although I will not
listen to fault-finders, I will follow the advice of teachers. To
direct the fighter how to fight when you yourself occupy a post of
vantage on the wall is a kind of teaching that does not commend itself;
and when you are yourself bathed in perfumes, it is unworthy to charge
a bleeding soldier with cowardice. Nor in saying this do I lay myself
open to a charge of boasting that while others have slept I only have
entered the lists. My meaning simply is that men who have seen me
wounded in this warfare may possibly be a little too cautious in their
methods of fighting. I would not have you engage in an encounter in
which you will have nothing to do but to protect yourself, your right
hand remaining motionless while your left manages your shield. You must
either strike or fall. I cannot account you a victor unless I see your
opponent put to the sword.
13. You are, no doubt, men of vast acquirements; but we too have
studied in the schools, and, like you, we have learned from the
precepts of Aristotle--or, rather, from those which he has derived from
Gorgias--that there are different ways of speaking; and we know, among
other things, that he who writes for display uses one style, and he who
writes to convince, another. [1116] In the former case the debate is
desultory; to confute the opposer, now this argument is adduced and now
that. One argues as one pleases, saying one thing while one means
another. To quote the proverb, "With one hand one offers bread, in the
other one holds a stone." [1117] In the latter case a certain frankness
and openness of countenance are necessary. For it is one thing to start
a problem and another to expound what is already proved. The first
calls for a disputant, the second for a teacher. I stand in the thick
of the fray, my life in constant danger: you who profess to teach me
are a man of books. "Do not," you say, "attack unexpectedly or wound by
a side-thrust. Strike straight at your opponent. You should be ashamed
to resort to feints instead of force." As if it were not the perfection
of fighting to menace one part and to strike another. Read, I beg of
you, Demosthenes or Cicero, or (if you do not care for pleaders whose
aim is to speak plausibly rather than truly) read Plato, Theophrastus,
Xenophon, Aristotle, and the rest of those who draw their respective
rills of wisdom from the Socratic fountain-head. Do they show any
openness? Are they devoid of artifice? Is not every word they say
filled with meaning? And does not this meaning always make for victory?
Origen, Methodius, Eusebius, and Apollinaris [1118] write at great
length against Celsus and Porphyry. [1119] Consider how subtle are the
arguments, how insidious the engines with which they overthrow what the
spirit of the devil has wrought. Sometimes, it is true, they are
compelled to say not what they think but what is needful; and for this
reason they employ against their opponents the assertions of the
Gentiles themselves. I say nothing of the Latin authors, of Tertullian,
Cyprian, Minutius, Victorinus, Lactantius, Hilary, lest I should appear
not so much to be defending myself as to be assailing others. I will
only mention the Apostle Paul, whose words seem to me, as often as I
hear them, to be not words, but peals of thunder. Read his epistles,
and especially those addressed to the Romans, to the Galatians, and to
the Ephesians, in all of which he stands in the thick of the battle,
and you will see how skilful and how careful he is in the proofs which
he draws from the Old Testament, and how warily he cloaks the object
which he has in view. His words seem simplicity itself: the expressions
of a guileless and unsophisticated person--one who has no skill either
to plan a dilemma or to avoid it. Still, whichever way you look, they
are thunderbolts. His pleading halts, yet he carries every point which
he takes up. He turns his back upon his foe only to overcome him; he
simulates flight, but only that he may slay. He, then, if any one,
ought to be calumniated; we should speak thus to him: "The proofs which
you have used against the Jews or against other heretics bear a
different meaning in their own contexts to that which they bear in your
epistles. We see passages taken captive by your pen and pressed into
service to win you a victory which in the volumes from which they are
taken have no controversial bearing at all." May he not reply to us in
the words of the Saviour: "I have one mode of speech for those that are
without and another for those that are within; the crowds hear my
parables, but their interpretation is for my disciples alone"? [1120]
The Lord puts questions to the Pharisees, but does not elucidate them.
To teach a disciple is one thing; to vanquish an opponent, another. "My
mystery is for me," says the prophet; "my mystery is for me and for
them that are mine." [1121]
14. You are indignant with me because I have merely silenced Jovinian
and not instructed him. You, do I say? Nay, rather, they who grieve to
hear him anathematized, and who impeach their own pretended orthodoxy
by eulogizing in another the heresy which they hold themselves. I
should have asked him, forsooth, to surrender peaceably! I had no right
to disregard his struggles and to drag him against his will into the
bonds of truth! I might use such language had the desire of victory
induced me to say anything counter to the rule laid down in Scripture,
and had I taken the line--so often adopted by strong men in
controversy--of justifying the means by the result. As it is, however,
I have been an exponent of the apostle rather than a dogmatist on my
own account; and my function has been simply that of a commentator.
Anything, therefore, which seems a hard saying should be imputed to the
writer expounded by me rather than to me the expounder; unless, indeed,
he spoke otherwise than he is represented to have done, and I have by
an unfair interpretation wrested the plain meaning of his words. If any
one charges me with this disingenuousness let him prove his charge from
the Scriptures themselves.
I have said in my book, [1122] "If it is good for a man not to touch a
woman,' then it is bad for him to touch one, for bad, and bad only, is
the opposite of good. But, if though bad it is made venial, then it is
allowed to prevent something which would be worse than bad," and so on
down to the commencement of the next chapter. The above is my comment
upon the apostle's words: "It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife,
and let every woman have her own husband." [1123] In what way does my
meaning differ from that intended by the apostle? Except that where he
speaks decidedly I do so with hesitation. He defines a dogma, I hazard
an inquiry. He openly says: "It is good for a man not to touch a
woman." I timidly ask if it is good for a man not to touch one. If I
thus waver, I cannot be said to speak positively. He says: "It is good
not to touch." I add what is a possible antithesis to "good." And
immediately afterwards I speak thus: [1124] "Notice the apostle's
carefulness. He does not say: It is good for a man not to have a wife,'
but, It is good for a man not to touch a woman'; as if there is danger
in the very touching of one--danger which he who touches cannot
escape." You see, therefore, that I am not expounding the law as to
husbands and wives, but simply discussing the general question of
sexual intercourse--how in comparison with chastity and virginity, the
life of angels, "It is good for a man not to touch a woman."
"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "all is vanity." [1125] But if
all created things are good, [1126] as being the handiwork of a good
Creator, how comes it that all things are vanity? If the earth is
vanity, are the heavens vanity too?--and the angels, the thrones, the
dominations, the powers, and the rest of the virtues? [1127] No; if
things which are good in themselves as being the handiwork of a good
Creator are called vanity, it is because they are compared with things
which are better still. For example, compared with a lamp, a lantern is
good for nothing; compared with a star, a lamp does not shine at all;
the brightest star pales before the moon; put the moon beside the sun,
and it no longer looks bright; compare the sun with Christ, and it is
darkness. "I am that I am," God says; [1128] and if you compare all
created things with Him they have no existence. "Give not thy sceptre,"
says Esther, "unto them that be nothing" [1129] --that is to say, to
idols and demons. And certainly they were idols and demons to whom she
prayed that she and hers might not be given over. In Job also we read
how Bildad says of the wicked man: "His confidence shall be rooted out
of his tabernacle, and destruction as a king shall trample upon him.
The companions also of him who is not shall abide in his tabernacle."
[1130] This evidently relates to the devil, who must be in existence,
otherwise he could not be said to have companions. Still, because he is
lost to God, he is said not to be.
Now it was in a similar sense that I declared it to be a bad thing to
touch a woman--I did not say a wife--because it is a good thing not to
touch one. And I added: [1131] "I call virginity fine corn, wedlock
barley, and fornication cow-dung." Surely both corn and barley are
creatures of God. But of the two multitudes miraculously supplied in
the Gospel the larger was fed upon barley loaves, and the smaller on
corn bread. [1132] "Thou, Lord," says the psalmist, "shalt save both
man and beast." [1133] I have myself said the same thing in other
words, when I have spoken of virginity as gold and of wedlock as
silver. [1134] Again, in discussing [1135] the one hundred and
forty-four thousand sealed virgins who were not defiled with women,
[1136] I have tried to show that all who have not remained virgins are
reckoned as defiled when compared with the perfect chastity of the
angels and of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if any one thinks it hard or
reprehensible that I have placed the same interval between virginity
and wedlock as there is between fine corn and barley, let him read the
book of the holy Ambrose "On Widows," and he will find, among other
statements concerning virginity and marriage, the following: [1137]
"The apostle has not expressed his preference for marriage so
unreservedly as to quench in men the aspiration after virginity; he
commences with a recommendation of continence, and it is only
subsequently that he stoops to mention the remedies for its opposite.
And although to the strong he has pointed out the prize of their high
calling, [1138] yet he suffers none to faint by the way; [1139] whilst
he applauds those who lead the van, he does not despise those who bring
up the rear. For he had himself learned that the Lord Jesus gave to
some barley bread, lest they should faint by the way, but offered to
others His own body, that they should strive to attain His kingdom;"
[1140] and immediately afterwards: "The nuptial tie, then, is not to be
avoided as a crime, but to be refused as a hard burden. For the law
binds the wife to bring forth children in labor and in sorrow. Her
desire is to be to her husband that he should rule over her. [1141] It
is not the widow, then, but the bride, who is handed over to labor and
sorrow in childbearing. It is not the virgin, but the married woman,
who is subjected to the sway of a husband." And in another place, "Ye
are bought," says the apostle, "with a price; [1142] be not therefore
the servants of men." [1143] You see how clearly he defines the
servitude which attends the married state. And a little farther on:
"If, then, even a good marriage is servitude, what must a bad one be,
in which husband and wife cannot sanctify, but only mutually destroy
each other?" What I have said about virginity and marriage diffusely,
Ambrose has stated tersely and pointedly, compressing much meaning into
a few words. Virginity is described by him as a means of recommending
continence, marriage as a remedy for incontinence. And when he descends
from broad principles to particular details, he significantly holds out
to virgins the prize of the high calling, yet comforts the married,
that they may not faint by the way. While eulogizing the one class, he
does not despise the other. Marriage he compares to the barley bread
set before the multitude, virginity to the body of Christ given to the
disciples. There is much less difference, it seems to me, between
barley and fine corn than between barley and the body of Christ.
Finally, he speaks of marriage as a hard burden, to be avoided if
possible, and as a badge of the most unmistakable servitude. He makes,
also, many other statements, which he has followed up at length in his
three books "On Virgins."
15. From all which considerations it is clear that I have said nothing
at all new concerning virginity and marriage, but have followed in all
respects the judgment of older writers--of Ambrose, that is to say, and
others who have discussed the doctrines of the Church. "And I would
sooner follow them in their faults than copy the dull pedantry of the
writers of to-day." [1144] Let married men, if they please, swell with
rage because I have said, [1145] "I ask you, what kind of good thing is
that which forbids a man to pray, and which prevents him from receiving
the body of Christ?" When I do my duty as a husband, I cannot fulfil
the requirements of continence. The same apostle, in another place,
commands us to pray always. [1146] "But if we are always to pray we
must never yield to the claims of wedlock for, as often as I render her
due to my wife, I incapacitate myself for prayer." When I spoke thus it
is clear that I relied on the words of the apostle: "Defraud ye not one
the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give
yourselves to...prayer." [1147] The Apostle Paul tells us that when we
have intercourse with our wives we cannot pray. If, then, sexual
intercourse prevents what is less important--that is, prayer--how much
more does it prevent what is more important--that is, the reception of
the body of Christ? Peter, too, exhorts us to continence, that our
"prayers be not hindered." [1148] How, I should like to know, have I
sinned in all this? What have I done? How have I been in fault? If the
waters of a stream are thick and muddy, it is not the river-bed which
is to blame, but the source. Am I attacked because I have ventured to
add to the words of the apostle these words of my own: "What kind of
good thing is that which prevents a man from receiving the body of
Christ?" If so, I will make answer briefly thus: Which is the more
important, to pray or to receive Christ's body? Surely to receive
Christ's body. If, then, sexual intercourse hinders the less important
thing, much more does it hinder that which is the more important.
I have said in the same treatise [1149] that David and they that were
with him could not have lawfully eaten the shew-bread had they not made
answer that for three days they had not been defiled with women [1150]
--not, of course, with harlots, intercourse with whom was forbidden by
the law, but with their own wives, to whom they were lawfully united.
Moreover, when the people were about to receive the law on Mount Sinai
they were commanded to keep away from their wives for three days.
[1151] I know that at Rome it is customary for the faithful always to
receive the body of Christ, a custom which I neither censure nor
indorse. "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." [1152] But
I appeal to the consciences of those persons who after indulging in
sexual intercourse on the same day receive the communion--having first,
as Persius puts it, "washed off the night in a flowing stream," [1153]
and I ask such why they do not presume to approach the martyrs or to
enter the churches. [1154] Is Christ of one mind abroad and of another
at home? What is unlawful in church cannot be lawful at home. Nothing
is hidden from God. "The night shineth as the day" before Him. [1155]
Let each man examine himself, and so let him approach the body of
Christ. [1156] Not, of course, that the deferring of communion for one
day or for two makes a Christian any the holier or that what I have not
deserved to-day I shall deserve to-morrow or the day after. But if I
grieve that I have not shared in Christ's body it does help me to avoid
for a little while my wife's embraces, and to prefer to wedded love the
love of Christ. A hard discipline, you will say, and one not to be
borne. What man of the world could bear it? He that can bear it, I
reply, let him bear it; [1157] he that cannot must look to himself. It
is my business to say, not what each man can do or will do, but what
the Scriptures inculcate.
16. Again, objection has been taken to my comments on the apostle in
the following passage: [1158] "But lest any should suppose from the
context of the words before quoted (namely, that ye may give
yourselves...to prayer and come together again') that the apostle
desires this consummation, and does not merely concede it to obviate a
worse downfall, he immediately adds, that Satan tempt you not for your
incontinency.' [1159] And come together again.' What a noble indulgence
the words convey! One which he blushes to speak of in plainer words,
which he prefers only to Satan's temptation, and which has its root in
incontinence. Do we labor to expound this as a dark saying when the
writer has himself explained his meaning? "I speak this," he says, by
way of permission, and not as a command.' [1160] Do we still hesitate
to speak of wedlock as a thing permitted instead of as a thing
enjoined? or are we afraid that such permission will exclude second or
third marriages or some other case?" What have I said here which the
apostle has not said? The phrase, I suppose, "which he blushes to speak
of in plainer words." I imagine that when he says "come together," and
does not mention for what, he takes a modest way of indicating what he
does not like to name openly--that is, sexual intercourse. Or is the
objection to the words which follow--"which he prefers only to Satan's
temptation, and which has its root in incontinence"? Are they not the
very words of the apostle, only differently arranged--"that Satan tempt
you not for your incontinency"? Or do people cavil because I said, "Do
we still hesitate to speak of wedlock as a thing permitted instead of
as a thing enjoined?" If this seems a hard saying, it should be
ascribed to the apostle, who says, "But I speak this by way of
permission, and not as a command," and not to me, who, except that I
have rearranged their order, have changed neither the words nor their
meaning.
17. The shortness of a letter compels me to hasten on. I pass,
accordingly, to the points which remain. "I say," remarks the apostle,
"to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as
I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry; for it is better to
marry than to burn." [1161] This section I have interpreted thus:
[1162] "When he has granted to those who are married the use of
wedlock, and has made clear his own wishes and concessions, he passes
on to those who are unmarried or widows, and sets before them his own
example. He calls them happy if they abide even as he, [1163] but he
goes on, if they cannot contain, let them marry.' He thus repeats his
former language, but only to avoid fornication,' and that Satan tempt
you not for your incontinence.' And when he says, If they cannot
contain, let them marry,' he gives as a reason for his words that it is
better to marry than to burn.' It is only good to marry, because it is
bad to burn. But take away the fire of lust, and he will not say it is
better to marry.' For a thing is said to be better in antithesis to
something which is worse, and not simply in contrast with what is
admittedly good. It is as though he said, It is better to have one eye
than none.'" Shortly afterwards, apostrophizing the apostle, I spoke
thus: [1164] "If marriage is good in itself, do not compare it with a
conflagration, but simply say, It is good to marry.' I must suspect the
goodness of a thing which only becomes a lesser evil in the presence of
a greater one. I, for my part, would have it not a lighter evil but a
downright good." The apostle wishes unmarried women and widows to
abstain from sexual intercourse, incites them to follow his own
example, and calls them happy if they abide even as he. But if they
cannot contain, and are tempted to quench the fire of lust by
fornication rather than by continence, it is better, he tells them, to
marry than to burn. Upon which precept I have made this comment: "It is
good to marry, simply because it is bad to burn," not putting forward a
view of my own, but only explaining the apostle's precept, "It is
better to marry than to burn;" that is, it is better to take a husband
than to commit fornication. If, then, you teach that burning or
fornication is good, the good will still be surpassed by what is still
better. [1165] But if marriage is only a degree better than the evil to
which it is preferred, it cannot be of that unblemished perfection and
blessedness which suggest a comparison with the life of angels. Suppose
I say, "It is better to be a virgin than a married woman;" in this case
I have preferred to what is good what is still better. But suppose I go
a step further and say, "It is better to marry than to commit
fornication;" in that case I have preferred, not a better thing to a
good thing, but a good thing to a bad one. There is a wide difference
between the two cases; for, while virginity is related to marriage as
better is to good, marriage is related to fornication as good is to
bad. How, I should like to know, have I sinned in this explanation? My
fixed purpose was not to bend the Scriptures to my own wishes, but
simply to say what I took to be their meaning. A commentator has no
business to dilate on his own views; his duty is to make plain the
meaning of the author whom he professes to interpret. For, if he
contradicts the writer whom he is trying to expound, he will prove to
be his opponent rather than his interpreter. When I am freely
expressing my own opinion, and not commenting upon the Scriptures, then
any one that pleases may charge me with having spoken hardly of
marriage. But if he can find no ground for such a charge, he should
attribute such passages in my commentaries as appear severe or harsh to
the author commented on, and not to me, who am only his interpreter.
18. Another charge brought against me is simply intolerable! It is
urged that in explaining the apostle's words concerning husbands and
wives, "Such shall have trouble in the flesh," I have said: [1166] "We
in our ignorance had supposed that in the flesh at least wedlock would
have rejoicing. But if married persons are to have trouble in the
flesh, the only thing in which they seemed likely to have pleasure,
what motive will be left to make women marry? for, besides having
trouble in spirit and soul, they will also have it even in the flesh."
[1167] Do I condemn marriage if I enumerate its troubles, such as the
crying of infants, the death of children, the chance of abortion,
domestic losses, and so forth? Whilst Damasus of holy memory was still
living, I wrote a book against Helvidius "On the Perpetual Virginity of
the Blessed Mary," in which, duly to extol the bliss of virginity, I
was forced to say much of the troubles of marriage. Did that excellent
man--versed in Scripture as he was, and a virgin doctor of the virgin
Church--find anything to censure in my discourse? Moreover, in the
treatise which I addressed to Eustochium [1168] I used much harsher
language regarding marriage, and yet no one was offended at it. Nay,
every lover of chastity strained his ears to catch my eulogy of
continence. Read Tertullian, read Cyprian, read Ambrose, and either
accuse me with them or acquit me with them. My critics resemble the
characters of Plautus. Their only wit lies in detraction; and they try
to make themselves out men of learning by assailing all parties in
turn. Thus they bestow their censure impartially upon myself and upon
my opponent, and maintain that we are both beaten, although one or
other of us must have succeeded.
Moreover, when in discussing digamy and trigamy I have said, [1169] "It
is better for a woman to know one man, even though he be a second
husband or a third, than several; it is more tolerable for her to
prostitute herself to one man than to many," have I not immediately
subjoined my reason for so saying? "The Samaritan woman in the Gospel,
when she declares that her present husband is her sixth, is rebuked by
the Lord on the ground that he is not her husband." [1170] For my own
part, I now once more freely proclaim that digamy is not condemned in
the Church--no, nor yet trigamy--and that a woman may marry a fifth
husband, or a sixth, or a greater number still just as lawfully as she
may marry a second; but that, while such marriages are not condemned,
neither are they commended. They are meant as alleviations of an
unhappy lot, and in no way redound to the glory of continence. I have
spoken to the same effect elsewhere. [1171] "When a woman marries more
than once--whether she does so twice or three times matters little--she
ceases to be a monogamist. All things are lawful...but all things are
not expedient.' [1172] I do not condemn digamists or trigamists, or
even, to put an impossible case, octogamists. Let a woman have an
eighth husband if she must; only let her cease to prostitute herself."
19. I will come now to the passage in which I am accused of saying
that--at least according to the true Hebrew text--the words "God saw
that it was good" [1173] are not inserted after the second day of the
creation, as they are after the first, third, and remaining ones, and
of adding immediately the following comment: [1174] "We are meant to
understand that there is something not good in the number two,
separating us as it does from unity, and prefiguring the marriage-tie.
Just as in the account of Noah's ark all the animals that enter by twos
are unclean, but those of which an uneven number is taken are clean."
[1175] In this statement a passing objection is made to what I have
said concerning the second day, whether on the ground that the words
mentioned really occur in the passage, although I say that they do not
occur, or because, assuming them to occur, I have understood them in a
sense different from that which the context evidently requires. As
regards the non-occurrence of the words in question (viz., "God saw
that it was good"), let them take not my evidence, but that of all the
Jewish and other translators--Aquila [1176] namely, Symmachus, [1177]
and Theodotion. [1178] But if the words, although occurring in the
account of the other days, do not occur in the account of this, either
let them give a more plausible reason than I have done for their
non-occurrence, or, failing such, let them, whether they like it or
not, accept the suggestion which I have made. Furthermore, if in Noah's
ark all the animals that enter by twos are unclean, whilst those of
which an uneven number is taken are clean, and if there is no dispute
about the accuracy of the text, let them explain if they can why it is
so written. But if they cannot explain it, then, whether they will or
not, they must embrace my explanation of the matter. Either produce
better fare and ask me to be your guest, or else rest content with the
meal that I offer you, however poor it may be. [1179]
I must now mention the ecclesiastical writers who have dealt with this
question of the odd number. They are, among the Greeks, Clement,
Hippolytus, Origen, Dionysius, Eusebius, Didymus; and, among ourselves,
Tertullian, Cyprian, Victorinus, Lactantius, Hilary. What Cyprian said
to Fortunatus about the number seven is clear from the letter which he
sent to him. [1180] Or perhaps I ought to bring forward the reasonings
of Pythagoras, Archytas of Tarentum, and Publius Scipio in (Cicero's)
sixth book "Concerning the Common Weal." If my detractors will not
listen to any of these I will make the grammar schools shout in their
ears the words of Virgil:
Uneven numbers are the joy of God. [1181]
20. To say, as I have done, that virginity is cleaner than wedlock,
that the even numbers must give way to the odd, that the types of the
Old Testament establish the truth of the Gospel: this, it appears, is a
great sin subversive of the churches and intolerable to the world. The
remaining points which are censured in my treatise are, I take it, of
less importance, or else resolve themselves into this. I have,
therefore, refrained from answering them, both that I may not exceed
the limit at my disposal, and that I may not seem to distrust your
intelligence, knowing as I do that you are ready to be my champion even
before I ask you. With my last breath, then, I protest that neither now
nor at any former time have I condemned marriage. I have merely
answered an opponent without any fear that they of my own party would
lay snares for me. I extol virginity to the skies, not because I myself
possess it, but because, not possessing it, I admire it all the more.
Surely it is a modest and ingenuous confession to praise in others that
which you lack yourself. The weight of my body keeps me fixed to the
ground, but do I fail to admire the flying birds or to praise the dove
because, in the words of Virgil, [1182] it
Glides on its liquid path with motionless swift wings?
Let no man deceive himself, let no man, giving ear to the voice of
flattery, rush upon ruin. The first virginity man derives from his
birth, the second from his second birth. [1183] The words are not mine;
it is an old saying, "No man can serve two masters;" [1184] that is,
the flesh and the spirit. For "the flesh lusteth against the spirit,
and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the
other," so that we cannot do the things that we would. [1185] When,
then, anything in my little work seems to you harsh, have regard not to
my words, but to the Scripture, whence they are taken.
21. Christ Himself is a virgin; [1186] and His mother is also a virgin;
yea, though she is His mother, she is a virgin still. For Jesus has
entered in through the closed doors, [1187] and in His sepulchre--a new
one hewn out of the hardest rock--no man is laid either before Him or
after Him. [1188] Mary is "a garden enclosed...a fountain sealed,"
[1189] and from that fountain flows, according to Joel, [1190] the
river which waters the torrent bed either [1191] of cords or of thorns;
[1192] of cords being those of the sins by which we were beforetime
bound, [1193] the thorns those which choked the seed the goodman of the
house had sown. [1194] She is the east gate, spoken of by the prophet
Ezekiel, [1195] always shut and always shining, and either concealing
or revealing the Holy of Holies; and through her "the Sun of
Righteousness," [1196] our "high priest after the order of
Melchizedek," [1197] goes in and out. Let my critics explain to me how
Jesus can have entered in through closed doors when He allowed His
hands and His side to be handled, and showed that He had bones and
flesh, [1198] thus proving that His was a true body and no mere phantom
of one, and I will explain how the holy Mary can be at once a mother
and a virgin. A mother before she was wedded, she remained a virgin
after bearing her son. Therefore, as I was going to say, the virgin
Christ and the virgin Mary have dedicated in themselves the first
fruits of virginity for both sexes. [1199] The apostles have either
been virgins or, though married, have lived celibate lives. Those
persons who are chosen to be bishops, priests, and deacons are either
virgins or widowers; or at least when once they have received the
priesthood, are vowed to perpetual chastity. Why do we delude ourselves
and feel vexed if while we are continually straining after sexual
indulgence, we find the palm of chastity denied to us? We wish to fare
sumptuously, and to enjoy the embraces of our wives, yet at the same
time we desire to reign with Christ among virgins and widows. Shall
there be but one reward, then, for hunger and for excess, for filth and
for finery, for sackcloth and for silk? Lazarus, [1200] in his
lifetime, received evil things, and the rich man, clothed in purple,
fat and sleek, while he lived enjoyed the good things of the flesh but,
now that they are dead, they occupy different positions. Misery has
given place to satisfaction, and satisfaction to misery. And it rests
with us whether we will follow Lazarus or the rich man.
__________________________________________________________________
[1037] Marcus Antonius, a Roman orator spoken of by Cicero. Orator c.
5, De Oratore i. c. 21, 47, 48. His treatise "De ratione dicendi" is
lost. See Quintal iii. 1, 192.
[1038] Eccl. vii. 16: see Ag. Jov. i. 14.
[1039] Against Jov. i. 3.
[1040] A Gnostic presbyter of the second century who rejected the Old
Testament.
[1041] An Eastern teacher of the third century, a.d., the main feature
of whose system was its uncompromising dualism.
[1042] A Syrian rhetorician converted to Christianity by Justin Martyr.
He wrote a harmony of the Gospels called Diatessaron.
[1043] I.e. "the abstainers," or "the continent," a Gnostic sect in the
second century.
[1044] 1 Tim. iv. 3.
[1045] 2 Tim. ii. 20.
[1046] 1 Cor. iii. 10-12.
[1047] Heb. xiii. 4.
[1048] Gen. i. 28.
[1049] Matt. xiii. 8.
[1050] From this passage compared with Ep. cxxiii. 9, and Bede De
Temporum Ratione, c. 1. (De Loquetâ Digitorum), it appears that the
number thirty was indicated by joining the tips of the thumb and
forefinger of the left hand, sixty was indicated by curling up the
forefinger of the same hand and then doubling the thumb over it, while
one hundred was expressed by joining the tips of the thumb and
forefinger of the right hand. See Prof. Mayor's learned note on Juv. x.
249.
[1051] E.g. Cyprian and Origen (Hom. i. in Jos.).
[1052] Paterfamilias. Vide Cypr. de Hab. Virg. 21.
[1053] Ag. Jov. i. 4.
[1054] 1 Cor. vii. 4.
[1055] Ag. Jov. i. 7.
[1056] Matt. xix. 9.
[1057] 1 Cor. vii. 1.
[1058] Gen. xxxix. 12, 13.
[1059] 1 Cor. vii. 3, R.V.
[1060] Matt. xix. 6.
[1061] 1 Cor. vii. 7.
[1062] Ag. Jov. i. 8.
[1063] 1 Cor. xii. 4.
[1064] 2 Cor. ii. 7.
[1065] 2 Cor. ii. 10.
[1066] A.V. marg.
[1067] 2 Cor. ii. 10.
[1068] Gen. xxxvii. 23.
[1069] Acc. to the Vulgate. In A.V. it is the 45th.
[1070] Ps. xlv. 10, P.B.V.
[1071] 1 Pet. iii. 7; iv. 10.
[1072] 1 Cor. vii. 8-10.
[1073] Ag. Jov. i. 10.
[1074] Rom. vii. 2.
[1075] 1 Cor. vii. 39.
[1076] 1 Cor. vii. 18.
[1077] Ag. Jov. i. 11.
[1078] 1 Cor. vii. 15, R.V.
[1079] 1 Cor. vii. 19.
[1080] Jas. ii. 17.
[1081] Univira.
[1082] 1 Cor. vii. 21.
[1083] 1 Cor. vii. 25.
[1084] Ag. Jov. i. 12.
[1085] 1 Cor. vii. 21.
[1086] Ag. Jov. i. 12.
[1087] Ag. Jov. i. 13.
[1088] 1 Cor. vii. 35.
[1089] Jerome here explains the word aperispastos (A.V. "without
distraction") in 1 Cor. vii. 35.
[1090] Eccles. i. 13; iii. 10.
[1091] Ag. Jov. i. 13.
[1092] Ag. Jov. i. 14.
[1093] Nu. xx. 17.
[1094] Eccles. vii. 16.
[1095] Ag. Jov. i. 14.
[1096] 1 Cor. vii. 9.
[1097] 1 Tim. v. 11, 12, R.V.
[1098] 1 Tim. v. 15.
[1099] 1 Cor. vii. 40.
[1100] Ag. Jov. i. 14.
[1101] Ag. Jov. i. 15.
[1102] 1 Cor. vi. 12.
[1103] Eph. v. 23, 24.
[1104] Ag. Jov. i. 9.
[1105] Ag. Jov. i. 23.
[1106] Viduitas vel continentia.
[1107] Ag. Jov. i. 33.
[1108] Ag. Jov. i. 40.
[1109] Rev. xiv. 3.
[1110] Rev. xiv. 4.
[1111] Joh. ii. 1, 2.
[1112] Ag. Jov. i. 40.
[1113] 2 Tim. ii. 20, 21.
[1114] I.e. continence in marriage.
[1115] Virg. A. xi. 374, 5.
[1116] Aliud esse gumnastikos scribere, aliud dogmatikos . The words do
not appear to be used in this sense in the extant works of Aristotle.
[1117] Plaut. Aul. ii. 2, 18.
[1118] The reply of Origen to Celsus is still extant; those of
Methodius, Eusebius and Apollinaris to Porphyry have perished. Cf.
Letter LXX. § 3.
[1119] Two philosophic opponents of Christianity who flourished, the
first in the second, the second in the third, century of our era.
[1120] Matt. xiii. 10-17.
[1121] Isa. xxiv. 16, Vulg.
[1122] Ag. Jov. i. 7.
[1123] 1 Cor. vii. 1, 2.
[1124] Ag. Jov. i. 7.
[1125] Eccles. i. 2.
[1126] Gen. i. 31; 1 Tim. iv. 4.
[1127] Col. i. 16. Cf. Milton, P. L. v. 601.
[1128] Ex. iii. 14.
[1129] Esth. xiv. 11.
[1130] Job xviii. 14, 15, Vulg.
[1131] Ag. Jov. i. 7.
[1132] Matt. xiv. 15-21; xv. 32-38. Cf. Joh. vi. 5-13.
[1133] Ps. xxxvi. 7, P.B.V.
[1134] Ag. Jov. i. 3.
[1135] Ag. Jov. i. 40.
[1136] Rev. xiv. 1, 4.
[1137] Ambrose, On Widowhood, xiii. 79; xiii. 81; xi. 69.
[1138] Phil. iii. 14.
[1139] Matt. xv. 32.
[1140] Matt. xxvi. 26, 29.
[1141] Gen. iii. 16.
[1142] 1 Cor. vi. 20; vii. 23.
[1143] Cf. Eph. vi. 6.
[1144] Ter. Andria Prol. 20, 21.
[1145] Ag. Jov. i. 7.
[1146] 1 Th. v. 17.
[1147] 1 Cor. vii. 5.
[1148] 1 Pet. iii. 7.
[1149] Ag. Jov. i. 20.
[1150] 1 Sam. xxi. 4, 5.
[1151] Ex. xix. 15.
[1152] Rom. xiv. 5.
[1153] Pers. ii. 16.
[1154] That what is now known as reservation of the elements was
practised in the early church there is abundant evidence to show.
Justin Martyr (Apol. I. 65) writes: "The deacons communicate each of
those present and carry away to the absent of the blest bread and wine
and water." And those to whom the eucharist was thus taken were not
bound to consume it immediately, or all at once, but might reserve a
part or all for future occasions. According to Basil (Ep. 93), "in
Egypt the laity for the most part had every one the communion in their
own houses"--and "all those who dwell alone in the desert, when there
is no priest, keep the communion at home and receive it at their own
hands." So Jerome speaks (Letter CXXV. 20) of Exuperius as "carrying
the Lord's body in a wicker basket, His blood in a vessel of glass."
See the article "Reservation" in Smith and Cheetham's Dict. of
Christian Antiquities.
[1155] Ps. cxxxix. 11, 12.
[1156] Cf. 1 Cor. xi. 28.
[1157] Cf. Matt. xix. 12.
[1158] Against Jov. i. 8.
[1159] 1 Cor. vii. 5.
[1160] 1 Cor. vii. 6, Vulg.
[1161] 1 Cor. vii. 8, 9.
[1162] Ag. Jov. i. 9.
[1163] 1 Cor. vii. 8.
[1164] Ag. Jov. i. 9.
[1165] Fornication must still be subordinated to marriage.
[1166] Ag. Jov. i. 13.
[1167] 1 Th. v. 23.
[1168] Letter XXII.
[1169] Ag. Jov. i. 14.
[1170] Joh. iv. 16-18. Jerome's version of the story is inaccurate.
[1171] Ag. Jov. i. 15.
[1172] 1 Cor. vi. 12.
[1173] Gen. i. 10.
[1174] Ag. Jov. i. 16.
[1175] Gen. vii. 2.
[1176] The author of a literal Greek version of the O.T. made in the
second century.
[1177] An ebionitic translator, free, not literal, in style.
[1178] A careful reviser of the LXX. whose work was welcomed by the
Church. His version of Daniel completely superseded the older one.
[1179] Cf. Hor. Ep. i. 6, 67, 68.
[1180] Cyprian, Letter to Fortunatus, xiii. 11.
[1181] Virg. E. viii. 75.
[1182] Virg. A. v. 217.
[1183] Tert. de Exh. Cast. I.
[1184] Matt. vi. 24.
[1185] Gal. v. 17.
[1186] Ag. Jov. i. 31.
[1187] Joh. xx. 19.
[1188] Joh. xix. 41.
[1189] Cant. iv. 12.
[1190] Joel iii. 18; according to the LXX. and Hebrew. A.V. has "vale
of Shittim" (thorns).
[1191] LXX.
[1192] Hebrew.
[1193] Cf. Prov. v. 22.
[1194] Matt. xiii. 7.
[1195] Ezek. xliv. 2, 3.
[1196] Mal. iv. 2.
[1197] Heb. v. 10.
[1198] Joh. xx. 19, 27.
[1199] Cf. Letter XXII. § 18.
[1200] Luke xvi. 19-25.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XLIX. To Pammachius.
Jerome encloses the preceding letter, thanks Pammachius for his efforts
to suppress his treatise "against Jovinian," but declares these to be
useless, and exhorts him, if he still has any hesitation in his mind,
to turn to the Scriptures and the commentaries made upon them by Origen
and others. Written at the same time as the preceding letter.
1. Christian modesty sometimes requires us to be silent even to our
friends, and to nurse our humility in peace, where the renewal of an
old friendship would expose us to the charge of self-seeking. Thus,
when you have kept silence I have kept silence too, and have not cared
to remonstrate with you, lest I should be thought more anxious to
conciliate a person of influence than to cultivate a friend. But, now
that it has become a duty to reply to your letter, I will endeavor
always to be beforehand with you, and not so much to answer your
queries as to write independently of them. Thus, if I have shown my
modesty hitherto by silence, I will henceforth show it still more by
coming forward to speak.
2. I quite recognize the kindness and forethought which have induced
you to withdraw from circulation some copies of my work against
Jovinian. Your diligence, however, has been of no avail, for several
people coming from the city have repeatedly read aloud to me passages
which they have come across in Rome. In this province, also, the books
have already been circulated; and, as you have read yourself in Horace,
"Words once uttered cannot be recalled." [1201] I am not so fortunate
as are most of the writers of the day--able, that is, to correct my
trifles whenever I like. When once I have written anything, either my
admirers or my ill-wishers--from different motives, but with equal
zeal--sow my work broadcast among the public; and their language,
whether it is that of eulogy or of criticism, is apt to run to excess.
[1202] They are guided not by the merits of the piece, but by their own
angry feelings. Accordingly, I have done what I could. I have dedicated
to you a defence of the work in question, feeling sure that when you
have read it you will yourself satisfy the doubts of others on my
behalf; or else, if you too turn up your nose at the task, you will
have to explain in some new manner that section of the apostle [1203]
in which he discusses virginity and marriage.
3. I do not speak thus that I may provoke you to write on the subject
yourself--although I know your zeal in the study of the sacred writings
to be greater than my own--but that you may compel my tormentors to do
so. They are educated; in their own eyes no mean scholars; competent
not merely to censure but to instruct me. If they write on the subject,
my view will be the sooner neglected when it is compared with theirs.
Read, I pray you, and diligently consider the words of the apostle, and
you will then see that--with a view to avoid misrepresentation--I have
been much more gentle towards married persons than he was disposed to
be. Origen, Dionysius, Pierius, Eusebius of Cæsarea, Didymus,
Apollinaris, have used great latitude in the interpretation of this
epistle. [1204] When Pierius, sifting and expounding the apostle's
meaning, comes to the words, "I would that all men were even as I
myself," [1205] he makes this comment upon them: "In saying this Paul
plainly preaches abstinence from marriage." Is the fault here mine, or
am I responsible for harshness? Compared with this sentence of Pierius,
[1206] all that I have ever written is mild indeed. Consult the
commentaries of the above-named writers and take advantage of the
Church libraries; you will then more speedily finish as you would wish
the enterprise which you have so happily begun. [1207]
4. I hear that the hopes of the entire city are centred in you, and
that bishop [1208] and people are agreed in wishing for your
exaltation. To be a bishop [1209] is much, to deserve to be one is
more.
If you read the books of the sixteen prophets [1210] which I have
rendered into Latin from the Hebrew; and if, when you have done so, you
express satisfaction with my labors, the news will encourage me to take
out of my desk some other works now shut up in it. I have lately
translated Job into our mother tongue: you will be able to borrow a
copy of it from your cousin, the saintly Marcella. Read it both in
Greek and in Latin, and compare the old version with my rendering. You
will then clearly see that the difference between them is that between
truth and falsehood. Some of my commentaries upon the twelve prophets I
have sent to the reverend father Domnio, also the four books of
Kings--that is, the two called Samuel and the two called Malâchim.
[1211] If you care to read these you will learn for yourself how
difficult it is to understand the Holy Scriptures, and particularly the
prophets; and how through the fault of the translators passages which
for the Jews flow clearly on for us abound with mistakes. Once more,
you must not in my small writings look for any such eloquence as that
which for Christ's sake you disregard in Cicero. A version made for the
use of the Church, even though it may possess a literary charm, ought
to disguise and avoid it as far as possible; in order that it may not
speak to the idle schools and few disciples of the philosophers, but
may address itself rather to the entire human race.
__________________________________________________________________
[1201] Hor. AP. 390.
[1202] See the Preface to Jerome's Comm. on Daniel.
[1203] 1 Cor. vii.
[1204] 1 Corinthians.
[1205] 1 Cor. vii. 7.
[1206] Master of the catechetical school of Alexandria, 265 a.d. His
writings have perished. His name occurs again in Letter LXX. § 4.
[1207] Ad optata cæptaque pervenies.
[1208] Pontifex.
[1209] Sacerdos.
[1210] Thus including Daniel.
[1211] The Hebrew word for "Kings."
__________________________________________________________________
Letter L. To Domnio.
Domnio, a Roman (called in Letter XLV. "the Lot of our time"), had
written to Jerome to tell him that an ignorant monk had been traducing
his books "against Jovinian." Jerome, in reply, sharply rebukes the
folly of his critic and comments on the want of straightforwardness in
his conduct. He concludes the letter with an emphatic restatement of
his original position. Written in 394 a.d.
1. Your letter is full at once of affection and of complaining. The
affection is your own, which prompts you unceasingly to warn me of
impending danger, and which makes you on my behalf
Of safest things distrustful and afraid. [1212]
The complaining is of those who have no love for me, and seek an
occasion against me in my sins. They speak against their brother, they
slander their own mother's son. [1213] You write to me of these--nay,
of one in particular--a lounger who is to be seen in the streets, at
crossings, and in public places; a monk who is a noisy news-monger,
clever only in detraction, and eager, in spite of the beam in his own
eye, to remove the mote in his neighbor's. [1214] And you tell me that
he preaches publicly against me, gnawing, rending, and tearing asunder
with his fangs the books that I have written against Jovinian. You
inform me, moreover, that this home-grown dialectician, this mainstay
of the Plautine company, has read neither the "Categories" of Aristotle
nor his treatise "On Interpretation," nor his "Analytics," nor yet the
"Topics" of Cicero, but that, moving as he does only in uneducated
circles, and frequenting no society but that of weak women, he ventures
to construct illogical syllogisms and to unravel by subtle arguments
what he is pleased to call my sophisms. How foolish I have been to
suppose that without philosophy there can be no knowledge of these
subjects; and to account it a more important part of composition to
erase than to write! In vain have I perused the commentaries of
Alexander; to no purpose has a skilled teacher used the "Introduction"
of Porphyry to instruct me in logic; and--to make light of human
learning--I have gained nothing at all by having Gregory of Nazianzum
and Didymus as my catechists in the Holy Scriptures. My acquisition of
Hebrew has been wasted labor; and so also has been the daily study
which from my youth I have bestowed upon the Law and the Prophets, the
Gospels and the Apostles.
2. Here we have a man who has reached perfection without a teacher, so
as to be a vehicle of the spirit and a self-taught genius. He surpasses
Cicero in eloquence, Aristotle in argument, Plato in discretion,
Aristarchus in learning, Didymus, that man of brass, in the number of
his books; and not only Didymus, but all the writers of his time in his
knowledge of the Scriptures. It is reported that you have only to give
him a theme and he is always ready--like Carneades [1215] --to argue on
this side or on that, for justice or against it. The world escaped a
great danger, and civil actions and suits concerning succession were
saved from a yawning gulf on the day when, despising the bar, he
transferred himself to the Church. For, had he been unwilling, who
could ever have been proved innocent? And, if he once began to reckon
the points of the case upon his fingers, and to spread his syllogistic
nets, what criminal would his pleading have failed to save? Had he but
stamped his foot, or fixed his eyes, or knitted his brow, or moved his
hand, or twirled his beard, he would at once have thrown dust in the
eyes of the jury. No wonder that such a complete Latinist and so
profound a master of eloquence overcomes poor me, who--as I have been
some time [1216] away (from Rome), and without opportunities for
speaking Latin--am half a Greek if not altogether a barbarian. No
wonder, I say, that he overcomes me when his eloquence has crushed
Jovinian in person. Good Jesus! what! even Jovinian that great and
clever man! So clever, indeed, that no one can understand his writings,
and that when he sings it is only for himself--and for the muses!
3. Pray, my dear father, warn this man not to hold language contrary to
his profession, and not to undo with his words the chastity which he
professes by his garb. Whether he elects to be a virgin or a married
celibate--and the choice must rest with himself--he must not compare
wives with virgins, for that would be to have striven in vain against
Jovinian's eloquence. He likes, I am told, to visit the cells of widows
and virgins, and to lecture them with his brows knit on sacred
literature. What is it that he teaches these poor women in the privacy
of their own chambers? Is it to feel assured that virgins are no better
than wives? Is it to make the most of the flower of their age, to eat
and drink, to frequent the baths, to live in luxury, and not to disdain
the use of perfumes? Or does he preach to them chastity, fasting, and
neglect of their persons? No doubt the precepts that he inculcates are
full of virtue. But if so, let him admit publicly what he says
privately. Or, if his private teaching is the same as his public, he
should keep aloof altogether from the society of girls. He is a young
man--a monk, and in his own eyes an eloquent one (do not pearls fall
from his lips, and are not his elegant phrases sprinkled with comic
salt and humor?)--I am surprised, therefore, that he can without a
blush frequent noblemen's houses, pay constant visits to married
ladies, make our religion a subject of contention, distort the faith of
Christ by misapplying words, and--in addition to all this--detract from
one who is his brother in the Lord. He may, however, have supposed me
to be in error (for "in many things we offend all," and "if any man
offend not in word he is a perfect man" [1217] ). In that case he
should have written to convict me or to question me, the course taken
by Pammachius, a man of high attainments and position. To this latter I
defended myself as best I could, and in a lengthy letter explained the
exact sense of my words. He might at least have copied the diffidence
which led you to extract and arrange such passages as seemed to give
offence; asking me for corrections or explanations, and not supposing
me so mad that in one and the same book I should write for marriage and
against it.
4. Let him spare himself, let him spare me, let him spare the Christian
name. Let him realize his position as a monk, not by talking and
arguing, but by holding his peace and sitting still. Let him read the
words of Jeremiah: "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his
youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it
upon him." [1218] Or if he has really the right to apply the censor's
rod to all writers, and fancies himself a man of learning because he
alone understands Jovinian (you know the proverb: Balbus best knows
what Balbus means); yet, as Atilius [1219] reminds us, "we are not all
writers." Jovinian himself--an unlettered man of letters if ever there
was one--will with most justice proclaim the fact to him. "That the
bishops condemn me," he says, "is not reason but treason. I want no
answers from nobodies, who, while they have authority to put me down,
have not the wit to teach me. Let one write against me who has a tongue
that I can understand, and whom to vanquish will be to vanquish all.
"I know full well: believe me, I have felt
The hero's force when rising o'er his shield
He hurls his whizzing spear.' [1220]
He is strong in argument, intricate and tenacious, one to fight with
his head down. Often has he cried out against me in the streets from
late one night till early the next. He is a well-built man, and his
thews are those of an athlete. Secretly I believe him to be a follower
of my teaching. He never blushes or stops to weigh his words: his only
aim is to speak as loud as possible. So famous is he for his eloquence
that his sayings are held up as models to our curly-headed youngsters.
[1221] How often, when I have met him at meetings, has he aroused my
wrath and put me into a passion! How often has he spat upon me, and
then departed spat upon! But these are vulgar methods, and any of my
followers can use them. I appeal to books, to those memorials which
must be handed down to posterity. Let us speak by our writings, that
the silent reader may judge between us; and that, as I have a flock of
disciples, he may have one also--flatterers and parasites worthy of the
Gnatho and Phormio [1222] who is their master."
5. It is no difficult matter, my dear Domnio, to chatter at street
corners or in apothecaries' shops and to pass judgment on the world.
"So-and-so has made a good speech, so-and-so a bad one; this man knows
the Scriptures, that one is crazy; this man talks glibly, that never
says a word at all." But who considers him worthy thus to judge every
one? To make an outcry against a man in every street, and to heap, not
definite charges, but vague imputations, on his head, is nothing. Any
buffoon or litigiously disposed person can do as much. Let him put
forth his hand, put pen to paper, and bestir himself; let him write
books and prove in them all he can. Let him give me a chance of
replying to his eloquence. I can return bite for bite, if I like; when
hurt myself, I can fix my teeth in my opponent. I too have had a
liberal education. As Juvenal says, "I also have often withdrawn my
hand from the ferule." [1223] Of me, too, it may be said in the words
of Horace, "Flee from him; he has hay on his horn." [1224] But I prefer
to be a disciple of Him who says, "I gave my back to the smiters...I
hid not my face from shame and spitting." [1225] When He was reviled He
reviled not again. [1226] After the buffeting, the cross, the scourge,
the blasphemies, at the very last He prayed for His crucifiers, saying,
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." [1227] I, too,
pardon the error of a brother. He has been deceived, I feel sure, by
the art of the devil. Among the women he was held clever and eloquent;
but, when my poor writings reached Rome, dreading me as a rival, he
tried to rob me of my laurels. No man on earth, he resolved, should
please his eloquent self, unless such as commanded respect rather than
sought it, and showed themselves men to be feared more than favored. A
man of consummate address, he desired, like an old soldier, with one
stroke of the sword to strike down both his enemies, [1228] and to make
clear to every one that, whatever view he might take, Scripture was
always with him. Well, he must condescend to send me his account of the
matter, and to correct my indiscreet language, not by censure but by
instruction. If he tries to do this, he will find that what seems
forcible on a lounge is not equally forcible in court; and that it is
one thing to discuss the doctrines of the divine law amid the spindles
and work-baskets of girls and another to argue concerning them among
men of education. As it is, without hesitation or shame, he raises
again and again the noisy shout, "Jerome condemns marriage," and,
whilst he constantly moves among women with child, crying infants, and
marriage-beds, he suppresses the words of the apostle just to cover
me--poor me--with odium. However, when he comes by and by to write
books and to grapple with me at close quarters, then he will feel it,
then he will stick fast; Epicurus and Aristippus [1229] will not be
near him then; the swineherds [1230] will not come to his aid; the
prolific sow [1231] will not so much as grunt. For I also may say, with
Turnus:
Father, I too can launch a forceful spear,
And when I strike blood follows from the wound. [1232]
But if he refuses to write, and fancies that abuse is as effective as
criticism, then, in spite of all the lands and seas and peoples which
lie between us, he must hear at least the echo of my cry, "I do not
condemn marriage," "I do not condemn wedlock." Indeed--and this I say
to make my meaning quite clear to him--I should like every one to take
a wife who, because they get frightened in the night, cannot manage to
sleep alone. [1233]
__________________________________________________________________
[1212] Virg. A. iv. 298.
[1213] Ps. l. 20.
[1214] Matt. vii. 3-5.
[1215] A philosopher of the Academy noted for his opposition to
stoicism.
[1216] Eight years.
[1217] Jas. iii. 2.
[1218] Lam. iii. 27, 28.
[1219] An early Roman dramatist of whose works only a few fragments
remain. He is said to have translated the Electra of Sophocles, but for
the most part to have preferred comedy to tragedy.
[1220] Virgil, Æn. xi. 283, 284.
[1221] Persius i. 29.
[1222] Characters in the Eunuchus and Phormio of Terence.
[1223] Juv. i. 15.
[1224] Hor. S. i. iv. 34.
[1225] Isa. l. 6.
[1226] 1 Pet. ii. 23.
[1227] Luke xxiii. 34.
[1228] Viz. Jerome and Jovinian.
[1229] According to both these philosophers pleasure is the highest
good.
[1230] The followers of Jovinian.
[1231] Jovinian himself.
[1232] Virg. A. xii. 50, 51.
[1233] Cic. pro Cælio xv.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LI. From Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, in Cyprus, to John,
Bishop of Jerusalem.
A coolness had arisen between these two bishops in connection with the
Origenistic controversy, which at this time was at its height.
Epiphanius had openly charged John with being an Origenist, and had
also uncanonically conferred priests' orders on Jerome's brother
Paulinian, in order that the monastery at Bethlehem might henceforth be
entirely independent of John. Naturally, John resented this conduct and
showed his resentment. The present letter is a kind of half-apology
made by Epiphanius for what he had done, and like all such, it only
seems to have made matters worse. The controversy is fully detailed in
the treatise "Against John of Jerusalem" in this volume, esp. §11-14.
An interesting paragraph (§9) narrates how Epiphanius destroyed at
Anablatha a church-curtain on which was depicted "a likeness of Christ
or of some saint"--an early instance of the iconoclastic spirit.
Originally written in Greek, the letter was (by the writer's request)
rendered into Latin by Jerome. Its date is 394 a.d.
To the lord bishop and dearly beloved brother, John, Epiphanius sends
greeting.
1. It surely becomes us, dearly beloved, not to abuse our rank as
clergy, so as to make it an occasion of pride, but by diligently
keeping and observing God's commandments, to be in reality what in name
we profess to be. For, if the Holy Scriptures say, "Their lots shall
not profit them," [1234] what pride in our clerical position [1235]
will be able to avail us who sin not only in thought and feeling, but
in speech? I have heard, of course, that you are incensed against me,
that you are angry, and that you threaten to write about me--not merely
to particular places and provinces, but to the uttermost ends of the
earth. Where is that fear of God which should make us tremble with the
trembling spoken of by the Lord--"Whosoever is angry with his brother
without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment"? [1236] Not that I
greatly care for your writing what you please. For Isaiah tells us
[1237] of letters written on papyrus and cast upon the waters--missives
soon carried away by time and tide. I have done you no harm, I have
inflicted no injury upon you, I have extorted nothing from you by
violence. My action concerned a monastery whose inmates were foreigners
in no way subject to your provincial jurisdiction. Moreover their
regard for my insignificance and for the letters which I frequently
addressed to them had commenced to produce a feeling of dislike to
communion with you. Feeling, therefore, that too great strictness or
scrupulosity on my part might have the effect of alienating them from
the Church with its ancient faith, I ordained one of the brothers
deacon, and after he had ministered as such, admitted him to the
priesthood. You should, I think, have been grateful to me for this,
knowing, as you surely must, that it is the fear of God which has
compelled me to act in this way, and particularly when you recollect
that God's priesthood is everywhere the same, and that I have simply
made provision for the wants of the Church. For, although each
individual bishop of the Church has under him churches which are placed
in his charge, and although no man may stretch himself beyond his
measure, [1238] yet the love of Christ, which is without dissimulation,
[1239] is set up as an example to us all; and we must consider not so
much the thing done as the time and place, the mode and motive, of
doing it. I saw that the monastery contained a large number of reverend
brothers, and that the reverend presbyters, Jerome and Vincent, through
modesty and humility, were unwilling to offer the sacrifices permitted
to their rank, and to labor in that part of their calling which
ministers more than any other to the salvation of Christians. I knew,
moreover, that you could not find or lay hands on this servant of God
[1240] who had several times fled from you simply because he was
reluctant to undertake the onerous duties of the priesthood, and that
no other bishop could easily find him. Accordingly, I was a good deal
surprised when, by the ordering of God, he came to me with the deacons
of the monastery and others of the brethren, to make satisfaction to me
for some grievance or other which I had against them. While, therefore,
the Collect [1241] was being celebrated in the church of the villa
which adjoins our monastery--he being quite ignorant and wholly
unsuspicious of my purpose--I gave orders to a number of deacons to
seize him and to stop his mouth, lest in his eagerness to free himself
he might adjure me in the name of Christ. First of all, then, I
ordained him deacon, setting before him the fear of God, and forcing
him to minister; for he made a hard struggle against it, crying out
that he was unworthy, and protesting that this heavy burden was beyond
his strength. It was with difficulty, then, that I overcame his
reluctance, persuading him as well as I could with passages from
Scripture, and setting before him the commandments of God. And when he
had ministered in the offering of the holy sacrifices, once more with
great difficulty I closed his mouth and ordained him presbyter. Then,
using the same arguments as before, I induced him to sit in the place
set apart for the presbyters. After this I wrote to the reverend
presbyters and other brothers of the monastery, chiding them for not
having written to me about him. For a year before I had heard many of
them complain that they had no one to celebrate for them the sacraments
of the Lord. All then agreed in asking him to undertake the duty,
pointing out how great his usefulness would be to the community of the
monastery. I blamed them for omitting to write to me and to propose
that I should ordain him, when the opportunity was given to them to do
so.
2. All this I have done, as I said just now, relying on that Christian
love which you, I feel sure, cherish towards my insignificance; not to
mention the fact that I held the ordination in a monastery, and not
within the limits of your jurisdiction. How truly blessed is the
mildness and complacency of the bishops of (my own) Cyprus, as well as
their simplicity, though to your refinement and discrimination it
appears deserving only of God's pity! For many bishops in communion
with me have ordained presbyters in my province whom I had been unable
to capture, and have sent to me deacons and subdeacons [1242] whom I
have been glad to receive. I myself, too, have urged the bishop Philo
of blessed memory, and the reverend Theoprepus, to make provision for
the Church of Christ by ordaining presbyters in those churches of
Cyprus which, although they were accounted to belong to my see,
happened to be close to them, and this for the reason that my province
was large and straggling. But for my part I have never ordained
deaconesses nor sent them into the provinces of others, [1243] nor have
I done anything to rend the Church. Why, then, have you thought fit to
be so angry and indignant with me for that work of God which I have
wrought for the edification of the brethren, and not for their
destruction? [1244] Moreover, I have been much surprised at the
assertion which you have made to my clergy, that you sent me a message
by that reverend presbyter, the abbot Gregory, that I was to ordain no
one, and that I promised to comply, saying, "Am I a stripling, or do I
not know the canons?" By God's word I am telling you the truth when I
say that I know and have heard nothing of all this, and that I have not
the slightest recollection of using any language of the sort. As,
however, I have had misgivings, lest possibly, being only a man, I may
have forgotten this among so many other matters, I have made inquiry of
the reverend Gregory, and of the presbyter Zeno, who is with him. Of
these, the abbot Gregory replies that he knows nothing whatever about
the matter, while Zeno says that the presbyter Rufinus, in the course
of some desultory remarks, spoke these words. "Will the reverend
bishop, think you, venture to ordain any persons?" but that the
conversation went no further. I, Epiphanius, however, have never either
received the message or answered it. Do not, then, dearly beloved,
allow your anger to overcome you or your indignation to get the better
of you, lest you should disquiet yourself in vain; and lest you should
be thought to be putting forward this grievance only to get scope for
tendencies of another kind, [1245] and thus to have sought out an
occasion of sinning. It is to avoid this that the prophet prays to the
Lord, saying: "Turn not aside my heart to words of wickedness, to
making excuses for my sins." [1246]
3. This also I have been surprised to hear, that certain persons who
are in the habit of carrying tales backwards and forwards, and of
always adding something fresh to what they have heard, to stir up
grievances and disputes between brothers, have succeeded in disquieting
you by saying that, when I offer sacrifices to God, I am wont to say
this prayer on your behalf: "Grant, O Lord, to John grace to believe
aright." Do not suppose me so untutored as to be capable of saying this
so openly. To tell you the simple truth, my dearest brother, although I
continually use this prayer mentally, I have never confided it to the
ears of others, lest I should seem to dishonor you. But when I repeat
the prayers required by the ritual of the mysteries, then I say on
behalf of all and of you as well as others, "Guard him, that he may
preach the truth," or at least this, "Do Thou, O Lord, grant him Thine
aid, and guard him, that he may preach the word of truth," as occasion
offers itself for the words, and as the turn comes for the particular
prayer. Wherefore I beseech you, dearly beloved, and, casting myself
down at your feet, I entreat you to grant to me and to yourself this
one prayer, that you would save yourself, as it is written, "from an
untoward generation." [1247] Withdraw, dearly beloved, from the heresy
of Origen and from all heresies. For I see that all your indignation
has been roused against me simply because I have told you that you
ought not to eulogize one who is the spiritual father of Arius, and the
root and parent of all heresies. And when I appealed to you not to go
astray, and warned you of the consequences, you traversed my words, and
reduced me to tears and sadness; and not me only, but many other
Catholics who were present. [1248] This I take to be the origin of your
indignation and of your passion on the present occasion. On this
account you threaten to send out letters against me, and to circulate
your version of the matter in all directions; [1249] and thus, while
with a view to defending your heresy you kindle men's passions against
me, you break through the charity which I have shown towards you, and
act with so little discretion that you make me regret that I have held
communion with you, and that I have by so doing upheld the erroneous
opinions of Origen.
4. I speak plainly. To use the language of Scripture, I do not spare to
pluck out my own eye if it cause me to offend, nor to cut off my hand
and my foot if they cause me to do so. [1250] And you must be treated
in the same way whether you are my eyes, or my hands, or my feet. For
what Catholic, what Christian who adorns his faith with good works, can
hear with calmness Origen's teaching and counsel, or believe in his
extraordinary preaching? "The Son," he tells us, "cannot see the
Father, and the Holy Spirit cannot see the Son." These words occur in
his book "On First Principles;" thus we read, and thus Origen has
spoken. "For as it is unsuitable to say that the Son can see the
Father, it is consequently unsuitable to suppose that the Spirit can
see the Son." [1251] Can any one, moreover, brook Origen's assertion
that men's souls were once angels in heaven, and that having sinned in
the upper world, they have been cast down into this, and have been
confined in bodies as in barrows or tombs, to pay the penalty for their
former sins; and that the bodies of believers are not temples of
Christ, [1252] but prisons of the condemned? Again, he tampers with the
true meaning of the narrative by a false use of allegory, multiplying
words without limit; and undermines the faith of the simple by the most
varied arguments. Now he maintains that souls, in Greek the "cool
things," from a word meaning to be cool, [1253] are so called because
in coming down from the heavenly places to the lower world they have
lost their former heat; [1254] and now, that our bodies are called by
the Greeks chains, from a word meaning chain, [1255] or else (on the
analogy of our own Latin word) "things fallen," [1256] because our
souls have fallen from heaven; and that the other word for body which
the abundance of the Greek idiom supplies [1257] is by many taken to
mean a funeral monument, [1258] because the soul is shut up within it
in the same way as the corpses of the dead are shut up in tombs and
barrows. If this doctrine is true what becomes of our faith? Where is
the preaching of the resurrection? Where is the teaching of the
apostles, which lasts on to this day in the churches of Christ? Where
is the blessing to Adam, and to his seed, and to Noah and his sons? "Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." [1259] According to
Origen, these words must be a curse and not a blessing; for he turns
angels into human souls, compelling them to leave the place of highest
rank and to come down lower, as though God were unable through the
action of His blessing to grant souls to the human race, had the angels
not sinned, and as though for every birth on earth there must be a fall
in heaven. We are to give up, then, the teaching of apostles and
prophets, of the law, and of our Lord and Saviour Himself, in spite of
His language loud as thunder in the gospel. Origen, on the other hand,
commands and urges--not to say binds--his disciples not to pray to
ascend into heaven, lest sinning once more worse than they had sinned
on earth they should be hurled down into the world again. Such foolish
and insane notions he generally confirms by distorting the sense of the
Scriptures and making them mean what they do not mean at all. He quotes
this passage from the Psalms: "Before thou didst humble me by reason of
my wickedness, I went wrong;" [1260] and this, "Return unto thy rest, O
my soul;" [1261] this also, "Bring my soul out of prison;" [1262] and
this, "I will make confession unto the Lord in the land of the living,"
[1263] although there can be no doubt that the meaning of the divine
Scripture is different from the interpretation by which he unfairly
wrests it to the support of his own heresy. This way of acting is
common to the Manichæans, the Gnostics, the Ebionites, the Marcionites,
and the votaries of the other eighty heresies, [1264] all of whom draw
their proofs from the pure well of the Scriptures, not, however,
interpreting it in the sense in which it is written, but trying to make
the simple language of the Church's writers accord with their own
wishes.
5. Of one position which he strives to maintain I hardly know whether
it calls for my tears or my laughter. This wonderful doctor presumes to
teach that the devil will once more be what he at one time was, that he
will return to his former dignity and rise again to the kingdom of
heaven. Oh horror! that a man should be so frantic and foolish as to
hold that John the Baptist, Peter, the apostle and evangelist John,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest of the prophets, are made co-heirs of
the devil in the kingdom of heaven! I pass over his idle explanation of
the coats of skins, [1265] and say nothing of the efforts and arguments
he has used to induce us to believe that these coats of skins represent
human bodies. Among many other things, he says this: "Was God a tanner
or a saddler, that He should prepare the hides of animals, and should
stitch from them coats of skins for Adam and Eve?" "It is clear," he
goes on, "that he is speaking of human bodies." If this is so, how is
it that before the coats of skins, and the disobedience, and the fall
from paradise, Adam speaks not in an allegory, but literally, thus:
"This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;" [1266] or what is
the ground of the divine narrative, "And the Lord God caused a deep
sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and
closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib which the Lord God had
taken from man, made He a woman" [1267] for him? Or what bodies can
Adam and Eve have covered with fig-leaves after eating of the forbidden
tree? [1268] Who can patiently listen to the perilous arguments of
Origen when he denies the resurrection of this flesh, as he most
clearly does in his book of explanations of the first psalm and in many
other places? Or who can tolerate him when he gives us a paradise in
the third heaven, and transfers that which the Scripture mentions from
earth to the heavenly places, and when he explains allegorically all
the trees which are mentioned in Genesis, saying in effect that the
trees are angelic potencies, a sense which the true drift of the
passage does not admit? For the divine Scripture has not said, "God put
down Adam and Eve upon the earth," but "He drove them out of the
paradise, and made them dwell over against the paradise." [1269] He
does not say "under the paradise." "He placed...cherubims and a flaming
sword...to keep the way of [1270] the tree of life." [1271] He says
nothing about an ascent to it. "And a river went out of Eden." [1272]
He does not say "went down from Eden." "It was parted and became into
four heads. The name of the first is Pison...and the name of the second
is Gihon." [1273] I myself have seen the waters of Gihon, have seen
them with my bodily eyes. It is this Gihon to which Jeremiah points
when he says, "What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt to drink the
muddy water of Gihon?" [1274] I have drunk also from the great river
Euphrates, not spiritual but actual water, such as you can touch with
your hand and imbibe with your mouth. But where there are rivers which
admit of being seen and of being drunk, it follows that there also
there will be fig-trees and other trees; and it is of these that the
Lord says, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat." [1275]
They are like other trees and timber, just as the rivers are like other
rivers and waters. But if the water is visible and real, then the
fig-tree and the rest of the timber must be real also, and Adam and Eve
must have been originally formed with real and not phantasmal bodies,
and not, as Origen would have us believe, have afterwards received them
on account of their sin. But, you say, "we read that Saint Paul was
caught up to the third heaven, into paradise." [1276] You explain the
words rightly: "When he mentions the third heaven, and then adds the
word paradise, he shows that heaven is in one place and paradise in
another." Must not every one reject and despise such special pleading
as that by which Origen says of the waters that are above the firmament
[1277] that they are not waters, but heroic beings of angelic power,
[1278] and again of the waters that are over the earth--that is, below
the firmament--that they are potencies [1279] of the contrary
sort--that is, demons? If so, why do we read in the account of the
deluge that the windows of heaven were opened, and that the waters of
the deluge prevailed? in consequence of which the fountains of the deep
were opened, and the whole earth was covered with the waters. [1280]
6. Oh! the madness and folly of those who have forsaken the teaching of
the book of Proverbs, "My son, keep thy father's commandment, and
forsake not the law of thy mother," [1281] and have turned to error,
and say to the fool that he shall be their leader, and do not despise
the foolish things which are said by the foolish man, even as the
scripture bears witness, "The foolish man speaketh foolishly, and his
heart understandeth vanity." [1282] I beseech you, dearly beloved, and
by the love which I feel towards you, I implore you--as though it were
my own members on which I would have pity [1283] --by word and letter
to fulfil that which is written, "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate
thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?"
[1284] Origen's words are the words of an enemy, hateful and repugnant
to God and to His saints; and not only those which I have quoted, but
countless others. For it is not now my intention to argue against all
his opinions. Origen has not lived in my day, nor has he robbed me. I
have not conceived a dislike to him nor quarrelled with him because of
an inheritance or of any worldly matter; but--to speak plainly--I
grieve, and grieve bitterly, to see numbers of my brothers, and of
those in particular who show the most promise, and have reached the
highest rank in the sacred ministry, [1285] deceived by his persuasive
arguments, and made by his most perverse teaching the food of the
devil, whereby the saying is fulfilled: "He derides every stronghold,
and his fare is choice, and he hath gathered captives as the sand."
[1286] But may God free you, my brother, and the holy people of Christ
which is intrusted to you, and all the brothers who are with you, and
especially the presbyter Rufinus, from the heresy of Origen, and other
heresies, and from the perdition to which they lead. For, if for one
word or for two opposed to the faith many heresies have been rejected
by the Church, how much more shall he be held a heretic who has
contrived such perverse interpretations and such mischievous doctrines
to destroy the faith, and has in fact declared himself the enemy of the
Church! For, among other wicked things, he has presumed to say this,
too, that Adam lost the image of God, although Scripture nowhere
declares that he did. Were it so, never would all the creatures in the
world be subject to Adam's seed--that is, to the entire human race;
yet, in the words of the apostle, everything "is tamed and hath been
tamed of mankind." [1287] For never would all things be subjected to
men if men had not--together with their authority over all--the image
of God. But the divine Scripture conjoins and associates with this the
grace of the blessing which was conferred upon Adam and upon the
generations which descended from him. No one can by twisting the
meaning of words presume to say that this grace of God was given to one
only, and that he alone was made in the image of God (he and his wife,
that is, for while he was formed of clay she was made of one of his
ribs), but that those who were subsequently conceived in the womb and
not born as was Adam did not possess God's image, for the Scripture
immediately subjoins the following statement: "And Adam lived two
hundred and thirty years, [1288] and knew Eve his wife, and she bare
him a son in his image and after his likeness, and called his name
Seth." [1289] And again, in the tenth generation, two thousand two
hundred and forty-two years afterwards, [1290] God, to vindicate His
own image and to show that the grace which He had given to men still
continued in them, gives the following commandment: "Flesh...with the
blood thereof shall ye not eat. And surely your blood will I require at
the hand of every man that sheddeth it; for in the image of God have I
made man." [1291] From Noah to Abraham ten generations passed away,
[1292] and from Abraham's time to David's, fourteen more, [1293] and
these twenty-four generations make up, taken together, two thousand one
hundred and seventeen years. [1294] Yet the Holy Spirit in the
thirty-ninth [1295] psalm, while lamenting that all men walk in a vain
show, and that they are subject to sins, speaks thus: "For all that
every man walketh in the image." [1296] Also after David's time, in the
reign of Solomon his son, we read a somewhat similar reference to the
divine likeness. For in the book of Wisdom, which is inscribed with his
name, Solomon says: "God created man to be immortal, and made him to be
an image of His own eternity." [1297] And again, about eleven hundred
and eleven years afterwards, we read in the New Testament that men have
not lost the image of God. For James, an apostle and brother of the
Lord, whom I have mentioned above--that we may not be entangled in the
snares of Origen--teaches us that man does possess God's image and
likeness. For, after a somewhat discursive account of the human tongue,
he has gone on to say of it: "It is an unruly evil...therewith bless we
God, even the Father and therewith curse we men, which are made after
the similitude of God." [1298] Paul, too, the "chosen vessel," [1299]
who in his preaching has fully maintained the doctrine of the gospel,
instructs us that man is made in the image and after the likeness of
God. "A man," he says, "ought not to wear long hair, forasmuch as he is
the image and glory of God." [1300] He speaks of "the image" simply,
but explains the nature of the likeness by the word "glory."
7. Instead of the three proofs from Holy Scripture which you said would
satisfy you if I could produce them, behold I have given you seven.
Who, then, will put up with the follies of Origen? I will not use a
severer word and so make myself like him or his followers, who presume
at the peril of their soul to assert dogmatically whatever first comes
into their head, and to dictate to God, whereas they ought either to
pray to Him or to learn the truth from Him. For some of them say that
the image of God which Adam had previously received was lost when he
sinned. Others surmise that the body which the Son of God was destined
to take of Mary was the image of the Creator. Some identify this image
with the soul, others with sensation, others with virtue. These make it
baptism, those assert that it is in virtue of God's image that man
exercises universal sway. Like drunkards in their cups, they ejaculate
now this, now that, when they ought rather to have avoided so serious a
risk, and to have obtained salvation by simple faith, not denying the
words of God. To God they ought to have left the sure and exact
knowledge of His own gift, and of the particular way in which He has
created men in His image and after His likeness. Forsaking this course,
they have involved themselves in many subtle questions, and through
these they have been plunged into the mire of sin. But we, dearly
beloved, believe the words of the Lord, and know that God's image
remains in all men, and we leave it to Him to know in what respect man
is created in His image. And let no one be deceived by that passage in
the epistle of John, which some readers fail to understand, where he
says: "Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him;
for we shall see Him as He is." [1301] For this refers to the glory
which is then to be revealed [1302] to His saints; just as also in
another place we read the words "from glory to glory," [1303] of which
glory the saints have even in this world received an earnest and a
small portion. At their head stands Moses, whose face shone
exceedingly, and was bright with the brightness of the sun. [1304] Next
to him comes Elijah, who was caught up into heaven in a chariot of
fire, [1305] and did not feel the effects of the flame. Stephen, too,
when he was being stoned, had the face of an angel visible to all.
[1306] And this which we have verified in a few cases is to be
understood of all, that what is written may be fulfilled. "Every one
that sanctifieth himself shall be numbered among the blessed." For,
"blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." [1307]
8. These things being so, dearly beloved, keep watch over your own soul
and cease to murmur against me. For the divine Scripture says: "Neither
murmur ye [one against another [1308] ] as some of them also murmured,
and were destroyed of serpents." [1309] Rather give way to the truth
and love me who love both you and the truth. And may the God of peace,
according to His mercy, grant to us that Satan may be bruised under the
feet of Christians, [1310] and that every occasion of evil may be
shunned, so that the bond of love and peace may not be rent asunder
between us, or the preaching of the right faith be anywise hindered.
9. Moreover, I have heard that certain persons have this grievance
against me: When I accompanied you to the holy place called Bethel,
there to join you in celebrating the Collect, [1311] after the use of
the Church, I came to a villa called Anablatha and, as I was passing,
saw a lamp burning there. Asking what place it was, and learning it to
be a church, I went in to pray, and found there a curtain hanging on
the doors of the said church, dyed and embroidered. [1312] It bore an
image either of Christ or of one of the saints; I do not rightly
remember whose the image was. Seeing this, and being loth that an image
of a man should be hung up in Christ's church contrary to the teaching
of the Scriptures, I tore it asunder and advised the custodians of the
place to use it as a winding sheet for some poor person. They, however,
murmured, and said that if I made up my mind to tear it, it was only
fair that I should give them another curtain in its place. As soon as I
heard this, I promised that I would give one, and said that I would
send it at once. Since then there has been some little delay, due to
the fact that I have been seeking a curtain of the best quality to give
to them instead of the former one, and thought it right to send to
Cyprus for one. I have now sent the best that I could find, and I beg
that you will order the presbyter of the place to take the curtain
which I have sent from the hands of the Reader, and that you will
afterwards give directions that curtains of the other sort--opposed as
they are to our religion--shall not be hung up in any church of Christ.
A man of your uprightness should be careful to remove an occasion of
offence [1313] unworthy alike of the Church of Christ and of those
Christians who are committed to your charge. Beware of Palladius of
Galatia--a man once dear to me, but who now sorely needs God's
pity--for he preaches and teaches the heresy of Origen; and see to it
that he does not seduce any of those who are intrusted to your keeping
into the perverse ways of his erroneous doctrine. I pray that you may
fare well in the Lord.
__________________________________________________________________
[1234] Jer. xii. 13, LXX.
[1235] A play on words. Clericatus ("clerical position") is a
derivative of clerus (kleros), the word used in the LXX. for "lot."
[1236] Matt. v. 22.
[1237] Isa. xviii. 2, LXX.
[1238] Cf. 2 Cor. x. 14.
[1239] Rom. xii. 9.
[1240] Paulinian, Jerome's brother, at this time about 28 years of age.
[1241] I.e. the short service which preceded the eucharist. The words
might, however, be rendered, "When the congregation was gathered
together."
[1242] Subdeacons cannot be traced back earlier than the third century.
At first their province seems to have been to keep the church doors
during divine service.
[1243] It seems to be implied that John had done so.
[1244] 2 Cor. x. 8.
[1245] That is, Origenistic heresies.
[1246] Ps. cxli. 4, acc. to the Gallican Psalter.
[1247] Acts ii. 40.
[1248] Epiphanius, on a visit to Jerusalem, had preached against
Origenism in the presence of John. See "Ag. John of Jerus.," § 11.
[1249] John actually did write to Theophilus of Alexandria giving a
full account of the controversy from his (John's) point of view. (Ag.
J. of Jerus., §37.)
[1250] Matt. xviii. 8, 9.
[1251] First Principles, i. 1; ii. 4.
[1252] 1 Cor. vi. 15, 19.
[1253] psuchai apo tou psuchesthai. The etymology is right, but the
explanation of it wrong.
[1254] First Principles ii. 8.
[1255] demas as if from deo, "I bind."
[1256] ptoma, from piptein: cadaver, from cado.
[1257] soma.
[1258] sema.
[1259] Gen. i. 28; ix. 7.
[1260] Ps. cxix. 67. From memory, or perhaps from the old Latin
version.
[1261] Ps. cxvi. 7.
[1262] Ps. cxlii. 7.
[1263] Ps. cxvi. 9. This form of the verse is peculiar to Jerome.
[1264] Epiphanius had written a book "against all the heresies."
[1265] In his note on Gen. iii. 21.
[1266] Gen. ii. 23.
[1267] Gen. ii. 21, 22.
[1268] Gen. iii. 7.
[1269] Gen. iii. 23, LXX.
[1270] Introitus.
[1271] Gen. iii. 24.
[1272] Gen. ii. 10.
[1273] Gen. ii. 10, 11, 13.
[1274] Jer. ii. 18, LXX. and Vulg.
[1275] Gen. ii. 16.
[1276] 2 Cor. xii. 2, 4.
[1277] In his note on Gen. i. 7.
[1278] Fortitudines angelicæ potestatis.
[1279] Virtues.
[1280] Gen. vii. 11.
[1281] Prov. vi. 20.
[1282] Isa. xxxii. 6, Vulg.
[1283] Cf. Philem. 12.
[1284] Ps. cxxxix. 21.
[1285] Sacerdotium.
[1286] Hab. i. 10, 16, 9, LXX.
[1287] Jas. iii. 7.
[1288] LXX. The Heb. text which A.V. follows gives "an hundred and
thirty years."
[1289] Gen. iv. 25; v. 3; i. 26.
[1290] According to the LXX. The chronology of the Hebrew text gives a
period of 1656 years (Gen. v.).
[1291] Gen. ix. 4-6; substantially as in A.V.
[1292] Gen. xi. 10-26.
[1293] Matt. i. 17.
[1294] This calculation appears to be based on the LXX.
[1295] Acc. to the Vulg., which Jerome here follows, the thirty-eighth.
[1296] Ps. xxxix. 6. "In a vain show," R.V.
[1297] Wisd. ii. 23.
[1298] Jas. iii. 8, 9.
[1299] Acts. ix. 15.
[1300] 1 Cor. xi. 7.
[1301] 1 Joh. iii. 2.
[1302] 1 Pet. v. 1.
[1303] 2 Cor. iii. 18.
[1304] Exod. xxxiv. 29 sqq.; 2 Cor. iii. 7.
[1305] 2 Kings ii. 11.
[1306] Acts vi. 15.
[1307] Matt. v. 8.
[1308] Words added by this writer.
[1309] 1 Cor. x. 10.
[1310] Rom. xvi. 20.
[1311] See note on § 1 above.
[1312] Velum...tinctum atque depictum.
[1313] Scrupulositas.
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Letter LII. To Nepotian.
Nepotian, the nephew of Heliodorus (for whom see Letter XIV.), had,
like his uncle, abandoned the military for the clerical calling, and
was now a presbyter at Altinum, where Heliodorus was bishop. The letter
is a systematic treatise on the duties of the clergy and on the rule of
life which they ought to adopt. It had a great vogue, and called forth
much indignation against Jerome. Its date is 394 a.d.
1. Again and again you ask me, my dear Nepotian, in your letters from
over the sea, to draw for you a few rules of life, showing how one who
has renounced the service of the world to become a monk or a clergyman
may keep the straight path of Christ, and not be drawn aside into the
haunts of vice. As a young man, or rather as a boy, and while I was
curbing by the hard life of the desert the first onslaughts of youthful
passion, I sent a letter of remonstrance [1314] to your reverend uncle,
Heliodorus, which, by the tears and complainings with which it was
filled, showed him the feelings of the friend whom he had deserted. In
it I acted the part suited to my age, and as I was still aglow with the
methods and maxims of the rhetoricians, I decked it out a good deal
with the flourishes of the schools. Now, however, my head is gray, my
brow is furrowed, a dewlap like that of an ox hangs from my chin, and,
as Virgil says,
The chilly blood stands still around my heart. [1315]
Elsewhere he sings:
Old age bears all, even the mind, away.
And a little further on:
So many of my songs are gone from me,
And even my very voice has left me now. [1316]
2. But that I may not seem to quote only profane literature, listen to
the mystical teaching of the sacred writings. Once David had been a man
of war, but at seventy age had chilled him so that nothing would make
him warm. A girl is accordingly sought from the coasts of
Israel--Abishag the Shunamite--to sleep with the king and warm his aged
frame. [1317] Does it not seem to you--if you keep to the letter that
killeth [1318] --like some farcical story or some broad jest from an
Atellan play? [1319] A chilly old man is wrapped up in blankets, and
only grows warm in a girl's embrace. Bathsheba was still living,
Abigail was still left, and the remainder of those wives and concubines
whose names the Scripture mentions. Yet they are all rejected as cold,
and only in the one young girl's embrace does the old man become warm.
Abraham was far older than David; still, so long as Sarah lived he
sought no other wife. Isaac counted twice the years of David, yet never
felt cold with Rebekah, old though she was. I say nothing of the
antediluvians, who, although after nine hundred years their limbs must
have been not old merely, but decayed with age, had no recourse to
girls' embraces. Moses, the leader of the Israelites, counted one
hundred and twenty years, yet sought no change from Zipporah.
3. Who, then, is this Shunamite, this wife and maid, so glowing as to
warm the cold, yet so holy as not to arouse passion in him whom she
warmed? [1320] Let Solomon, wisest of men, tell us of his father's
favorite; let the man of peace [1321] recount to us the embraces of the
man of war. [1322] "Get wisdom," he writes, "get understanding: forget
it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not and
she shall preserve thee: love her and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is
the principal thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting get
understanding. Exalt her and she shall promote thee. She shall bring
thee to honor when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head
an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee."
[1323]
Almost all bodily excellences alter with age, and while wisdom alone
increases all things else decay. Fasts and vigils and almsdeeds become
harder. So also do sleeping on the ground, moving from place to place,
hospitality to travellers, pleading for the poor, earnestness and
steadfastness in prayer, the visitation of the sick, manual labor to
supply money for alms-giving. All acts, in short, of which the body is
the medium decrease with its decay.
Now, there are young men still full of life and vigor who, by toil and
burning zeal, as well as by holiness of life and constant prayer to the
Lord Jesus, have obtained knowledge. I do not speak of these, or say
that in them the love of wisdom is cold, for this withers in many of
the old by reason of age. What I mean is that youth, as such, has to
cope with the assaults of passion, and amid the allurements of vice and
the tinglings of the flesh is stifled like a fire among green boughs,
and cannot develop its proper brightness. But when men have employed
their youth in commendable pursuits and have meditated on the law of
the Lord day and night, [1324] they learn with the lapse of time, fresh
experience and wisdom come as the years go by, and so from the pursuits
of the past their old age reaps a harvest of delight. Hence that wise
man of Greece, Themistocles, [1325] perceiving, after the expiration of
one hundred and seven years, that he was on the verge of the grave, is
reported to have said that he regretted extremely having to leave life
just when he was beginning to grow wise. Plato died in his eighty-first
year, his pen still in his hand. Isocrates completed ninety years and
nine in the midst of literary and scholastic work. [1326] I say nothing
of other philosophers, such as Pythagoras, Democritus, Xenocrates,
Zeno, and Cleanthes, who in extreme old age displayed the vigor of
youth in the pursuit of wisdom. I pass on to the poets, Homer, Hesiod,
Simonides, Stesichorus, who all lived to a great age, yet at the
approach of death sang each of them a swan song sweeter than their
wont. [1327] Sophocles, when charged by his sons with dotage on account
of his advanced years and his neglect of his property, read out to his
judges his recently composed play of OEdipus, and made so great a
display of wisdom--in spite of the inroads of time--that he changed the
decorous silence of the law court into the applause of the theatre.
[1328] And no wonder, when Cato the censor, that most eloquent of
Romans, in his old age neither blushed at the thought of learning Greek
nor despaired of succeeding. [1329] Homer, for his part, relates that
from the tongue of Nestor, even when quite aged and helpless, there
flowed speech sweeter than honey. [1330]
Even the very name Abishag in its mystic meaning points to the greater
wisdom of old men. For the translation of it is, "My father is over and
above," or "my father's roaring." The term "over and above" is obscure,
but in this passage is indicative of excellence, and implies that the
old have a larger stock of wisdom, and that it even overflows by reason
of its abundance. In another passage "over and above" forms an
antithesis to "necessary." Moreover, Abishag, that is, "roaring," is
properly used of the sound which the waves make, and of the murmur
which we hear coming from the sea. From which it is plain that the
thunder of the divine voice dwells in old men's ears with a volume of
sound beyond the voices of men. Again, in our tongue Shunamite means
"scarlet," a hint that the love of wisdom becomes warm and glowing
through religious study. For though the color may point to the mystery
of the Lord's blood, it also sets forth the warm glow of wisdom. Hence
it is a scarlet thread that in Genesis the midwife binds upon the hand
of Pharez--Pharez "the divider," so called because he divided the
partition which had before separated two peoples. [1331] So, too, with
a mystic reference to the shedding of blood, it was a scarlet cord
which the harlot Rahab (a type of the church) hung in her window to
preserve her house in the destruction of Jericho. [1332] Hence, in
another place Scripture says of holy men: "These are they which came
from the warmth of the house of the father of Rechab." [1333] And in
the gospel the Lord says: "I am come to cast fire upon the earth, and
fain am I to see it kindled." [1334] This was the fire which, when it
was kindled in the disciples' hearts, constrained them to say: "Did not
our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and while
He opened to us the Scriptures?" [1335]
4. To what end, you ask, these recondite references? To show that you
need not expect from me boyish declamation, flowery sentiments, a
meretricious style, and at the close of every paragraph the terse and
pointed aphorisms which call forth approving shouts from those who hear
them. Let Wisdom alone embrace me; let her nestle in my bosom, my
Abishag who grows not old. Undefiled truly is she, and a virgin forever
for although she daily conceives and unceasingly brings to the birth,
like Mary she remains undeflowered. When the apostle says "be fervent
in spirit," [1336] he means "be true to wisdom." And when our Lord in
the gospel declares that in the end of the world--when the shepherd
shall grow foolish, according to the prophecy of Zechariah [1337]
--"the love of many shall wax cold," [1338] He means that wisdom shall
decay. Hear, therefore--to quote the sainted Cyprian--"words forcible
rather than elegant." [1339] Hear one who, though he is your brother in
orders, is in years your father; who can conduct you from the cradle of
faith to spiritual manhood; and who, while he builds up stage by stage
the rules of holy living, can instruct others in instructing you. I
know, of course, that from your reverend uncle, Heliodorus, now a
bishop of Christ, you have learned and are daily learning all that is
holy; and that in him you have before you a rule of life and a pattern
of virtue. Take, then, my suggestions for what they are worth, and
compare my precepts with his. He will teach you the perfection of a
monk, and I shall show you the whole duty of a clergyman.
5. A clergyman, then, as he serves Christ's church, must first
understand what his name means; and then, when he realizes this, must
endeavor to be that which he is called. For since the Greek word kleros
means "lot," or "inheritance," the clergy are so called either because
they are the lot of the Lord, or else because the Lord Himself is their
lot and portion. Now, he who in his own person is the Lord's portion,
or has the Lord for his portion, must so bear himself as to possess the
Lord and to be possessed by Him. He who possesses the Lord, and who
says with the prophet, "The Lord is my portion," [1340] can hold to
nothing beside the Lord. For if he hold to something beside the Lord,
the Lord will not be his portion. Suppose, for instance, that he holds
to gold or silver, or possessions or inlaid furniture; with such
portions as these the Lord will not deign to be his portion. I, if I am
the portion of the Lord, and the line of His heritage, [1341] receive
no portion among the remaining tribes; but, like the Priest and the
Levite, I live on the tithe, [1342] and serving the altar, am supported
by its offerings. [1343] Having food and raiment, I shall be content
with these, [1344] and as a disciple of the Cross shall share its
poverty. I beseech you, therefore, and
Again and yet again admonish you; [1345]
do not look to your military experience for a standard of clerical
obligation. Under Christ's banner seek for no worldly gain, lest having
more than when you first became a clergyman, you hear men say, to your
shame, "Their portion shall not profit them." [1346] Welcome poor men
and strangers to your homely board, that with them Christ may be your
guest. A clergyman who engages in business, and who rises from poverty
to wealth, and from obscurity to a high position, avoid as you would
the plague. For "evil communications corrupt good manners." [1347] You
despise gold; he loves it. You spurn wealth; he eagerly pursues it. You
love silence, meekness, privacy; he takes delight in talking and
effrontery, in squares, and streets, and apothecaries' shops. What
unity of feeling can there be where there is so wide a divergency of
manners?
A woman's foot should seldom, if ever, cross the threshold of your
home. To all who are Christ's virgins show the same regard or the same
disregard. Do not linger under the same roof with them, and do not rely
on your past continence. You cannot be holier than David or wiser than
Solomon. Always bear in mind that it was a woman who expelled the
tiller of paradise from his heritage. [1348] In case you are sick one
of the brethren may attend you; your sister also or your mother or some
woman whose faith is approved with all. But if you have no persons so
connected with you or so marked out by chaste behaviour, the Church
maintains many elderly women who by their ministrations may oblige you
and benefit themselves so that even your sickness may bear fruit in the
shape of almsdeeds. I know of cases where the recovery of the body has
but preluded the sickness of the soul. There is danger for you in the
service of one for whose face you constantly watch. If in the course of
your clerical duty you have to visit a widow or a virgin, never enter
the house alone. Let your companions be persons association with whom
will not disgrace you. If you take a reader with you or an acolyte or a
psalm-singer, let their character not their garb be their adornment;
let them use no tongs to curl their hair; rather let their mien be an
index of their chastity. You must not sit alone with a woman or see one
without witnesses. If she has anything confidential to disclose, she is
sure to have some nurse or housekeeper, [1349] some virgin, some widow,
some married woman. She cannot be so friendless as to have none save
you to whom she can venture to confide her secret. Beware of all that
gives occasion for suspicion; and, to avoid scandal, shun every act
that may give colour to it. Frequent gifts of handkerchiefs and
garters, of face-cloths and dishes first tasted by the giver--to say
nothing of notes full of fond expressions--of such things as these a
holy love knows nothing. Such endearing and alluring expressions as my
honey' and my darling,' you who are all my charm and my delight' the
ridiculous courtesies of lovers and their foolish doings, we blush for
on the stage and abhor in men of the world. How much more do we loathe
them in monks and clergymen who adorn the priesthood by their vows
[1350] while their vows are adorned by the priesthood. I speak thus not
because I dread such evils for you or for men of saintly life, but
because in all ranks and callings and among both men and women there
are found both good and bad and in condemning the bad I commend the
good.
6. Shameful to say, idol-priests, play-actors, jockeys, and prostitutes
can inherit property: clergymen and monks alone lie under a legal
disability, a disability enacted not by persecutors but by Christian
emperors. [1351] I do not complain of the law, but I grieve that we
have deserved a statute so harsh. Cauterizing is a good thing, no
doubt; but how is it that I have a wound which makes me need it? The
law is strict and far-seeing, yet even so rapacity goes on unchecked.
By a fiction of trusteeship we set the statute at defiance; and, as if
imperial decrees outweigh the mandates of Christ, we fear the laws and
despise the Gospels. If heir there must be, the mother has first claim
upon her children, the Church upon her flock--the members of which she
has borne and reared and nourished. Why do we thrust ourselves in
between mother and children?
It is the glory of a bishop to make provision for the wants of the
poor; but it is the shame of all priests to amass private fortunes. I
who was born (suppose) in a poor man's house, in a country cottage, and
who could scarcely get of common millet and household bread enough to
fill an empty stomach, am now come to disdain the finest wheat flour
and honey. I know the several kinds of fish by name. I can tell
unerringly on what coast a mussel has been picked. I can distinguish by
the flavour the province from which a bird comes. Dainty dishes delight
me because their ingredients are scarce and I end by finding pleasure
in their ruinous cost.
I hear also of servile attention shewn by some towards old men and
women when these are childless. They fetch the basin, beset the bed and
perform with their own hands the most revolting offices. They anxiously
await the advent of the doctor and with trembling lips they ask whether
the patient is better. If for a little while the old fellow shews signs
of returning vigour, they are in agonies. They pretend to be delighted,
but their covetous hearts undergo secret torture. For they are afraid
that their labours may go for nothing and compare an old man with a
clinging to life to the patriarch Methuselah. How great a reward might
they have with God if their hearts were not set on a temporal prize!
With what great exertions do they pursue an empty heritage! Less labour
might have purchased for them the pearl of Christ.
7. Read the divine scriptures constantly; never, indeed, let the sacred
volume be out of your hand. Learn what you have to teach. "Hold fast
the faithful word as you have been taught that you may be able by sound
doctrine to exhort and convince the gainsayers. Continue thou in the
things that thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom
thou hast learned them;" [1352] and "be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope and faith that are in
you." [1353] Do not let your deeds belie your words; lest when you
speak in church someone may mentally reply "Why do you not practise
what you profess? Here is a lover of dainties turned censor! his
stomach is full and he reads us a homily on fasting. As well might a
robber accuse others of covetousness." In a priest of Christ mouth,
mind, and hand should be at one.
Be obedient to your bishop and welcome him as the parent of your soul.
Sons love their fathers and slaves fear their masters. "If I be a
father," He says, "where is mine honour? And if I am a master where is
my fear?" [1354] In your case the bishop combines in himself many
titles to your respect. He is at once a monk, a prelate, and an uncle
who has before now instructed you in all holy things. This also I say
that the bishops should know themselves to be priests not lords. Let
them render to the clergy the honour which is their due that the clergy
may offer to them the respect which belongs to bishops. There is a
witty saying of the orator Domitius which is here to the point: "Why am
I to recognize you as leader of the Senate when you will not recognize
my rights as a private member?" [1355] We should realize that a bishop
and his presbyters are like Aaron and his sons. As there is but one
Lord and one Temple; so also should there be but one ministry. Let us
ever bear in mind the charge which the apostle Peter gives to priests:
"feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof
not by constraint but willingly as God would have you; [1356] not for
filthy lucre but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God's
heritage but being ensamples to the flock," and that gladly; that "when
the chief-shepherd shall appear ye may receive a crown of glory that
fadeth not away." [1357] It is a bad custom which prevails in certain
churches for presbyters to be silent when bishops are present on the
ground that they would be jealous or impatient hearers. "If anything,"
writes the apostle Paul, "be revealed to another that sitteth by, let
the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one that all
may learn and all may be comforted; and the spirits of the prophets are
subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion but of
peace." [1358] "A wise son maketh a glad father;" [1359] and a bishop
should rejoice in the discrimination which has led him to choose such
for the priests of Christ.
8. When teaching in church seek to call forth not plaudits but groans.
Let the tears of your hearers be your glory. A presbyter's words ought
to be seasoned by his reading of scripture. Be not a declaimer or a
ranter, one who gabbles without rhyme or reason; but shew yourself
skilled in the deep things and versed in the mysteries of God. To mouth
your words and by your quickness of utterance astonish the unlettered
crowd is a mark of ignorance. Assurance often explains that of which it
knows nothing; and when it has convinced others imposes on itself. My
teacher, Gregory of Nazianzus, when I once asked him to explain Luke's
phrase sabbaton deuteroproton , that is "the second-first Sabbath,"
playfully evaded my request saying: "I will tell you about it in
church, and there, when all the people applaud me, you will be forced
against your will to know what you do not know at all. For, if you
alone remain silent, every one will put you down for a fool." There is
nothing so easy as by sheer volubility to deceive a common crowd or an
uneducated congregation: such most admire what they fail to understand.
Hear Marcus Tullius, the subject of that noble eulogy: "You would have
been the first of orators but for Demosthenes: he would have been the
only one but for you." Hear what in his speech for Quintus Gallius
[1360] he has to say about unskilled speakers and popular applause and
then you will not be the sport of such illusions. "What I am telling
you," said he, "is a recent experience of my own. One who has the name
of a poet and a man of culture has written a book entitled
Conversations of Poets and Philosophers. In this he represents
Euripides as conversing with Menander and Socrates with Epicurus--men
whose lives we know to be separated not by years but by centuries.
Nevertheless he calls forth limitless applause and endless
acclamations. For the theatre contains many who belong to the same
school as he: like him they have never learned letters."
9. In dress avoid sombre colours as much as bright ones. Showiness and
slovenliness are alike to be shunned; for the one savours of vanity and
the other of pride. To go about without a linen scarf on is nothing:
what is praiseworthy is to be without money to buy one. It is
disgraceful and absurd to boast of having neither napkin nor
handkerchief and yet to carry a well-filled purse.
Some bestow a trifle on the poor to receive a larger sum themselves and
under the cloak of almsgiving do but seek for riches. Such are
almshunters rather than almsgivers. Their methods are those by which
birds, beasts, and fishes are taken. A morsel of bait is put on the
hook--to land a married lady's purse! The church is committed to the
bishop; let him take heed whom he appoints to be his almoner. It is
better for me to have no money to give away than shamelessly to beg
what I mean to hoard. It is arrogance too to wish to seem more liberal
than he who is Christ's bishop. "All things are not open to us all."
[1361] In the church one is the eye, another is the tongue, another the
hand, another the foot, others ears, belly, and so on. Read Paul's
epistle to the Corinthians and learn how the one body is made up of
different members. [1362] The rude and simple brother must not suppose
himself a saint just because he knows nothing; and he who is educated
and eloquent must not measure his saintliness merely by his fluency. Of
two imperfect things holy rusticity is better than sinful eloquence.
10. Many build churches nowadays; their walls and pillars of glowing
marble, their ceilings glittering with gold, their altars studded with
jewels. Yet to the choice of Christ's ministers no heed is paid. And
let no one allege against me the wealth of the temple in Judæa, its
table, its lamps, its censers, its dishes, its cups, its spoons, [1363]
and the rest of its golden vessels. If these were approved by the Lord
it was at a time when the priests had to offer victims and when the
blood of sheep was the redemption of sins. They were figures typifying
things still future and were "written for our admonition upon whom the
ends of the world are come." [1364] But now our Lord by His poverty has
consecrated the poverty of His house. Let us, therefore, think of His
cross and count riches to be but dirt. Why do we admire what Christ
calls "the mammon of unrighteousness"? [1365] Why do we cherish and
love what it is Peter's boast not to possess? [1366] Or if we insist on
keeping to the letter and find the mention of gold and wealth so
pleasing, let us keep to everything else as well as the gold. Let the
bishops of Christ be bound to marry wives, who must be virgins. [1367]
Let the best-intentioned priest be deprived of his office if he bear a
scar and be disfigured. [1368] Let bodily leprosy be counted worse than
spots upon the soul. Let us be fruitful and multiply and replenish the
earth, [1369] but let us slay no lamb and celebrate no mystic passover,
for where there is no temple, [1370] the law forbids these acts. Let us
pitch tents in the seventh month [1371] and noise abroad a solemn fast
with the sound of a horn. [1372] But if we compare all these things as
spiritual with things which are spiritual; [1373] and if we allow with
Paul that "the Law is spiritual" [1374] and call to mind David's words:
"open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law;"
[1375] and if on these grounds we interpret it as our Lord interprets
it--He has explained the Sabbath in this way: [1376] then, rejecting
the superstitions of the Jews, we must also reject the gold; or,
approving the gold, we must approve the Jews as well. For we must
either accept them with the gold or condemn them with it.
11. Avoid entertaining men of the world, especially those whose honours
make them swell with pride. You are the priest of Christ--one poor and
crucified who lived on the bread of strangers. It is a disgrace to you
if the consul's lictors or soldiers keep watch before your door, and if
the Judge of the province has a better dinner with you than in his own
palace. If you plead as an excuse your wish to intercede for the
unhappy and the oppressed, I reply that a worldly judge will defer more
to a clergyman who is self-denying than to one who is rich; he will pay
more regard to your holiness than to your wealth. Or if he is a man who
will not hear the clergy on behalf of the distressed except over the
bowl, I will readily forego his aid and will appeal to Christ who can
help more effectively and speedily than any judge. Truly "it is better
to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to
trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." [1377]
Let your breath never smell of wine lest the philosopher's words be
said to you: "instead of offering me a kiss you are giving me a taste
of wine." Priests given to wine are both condemned by the apostle
[1378] and forbidden by the old Law. Those who serve the altar, we are
told, must drink neither wine nor shechar. [1379] Now every
intoxicating drink is in Hebrew called shechar whether it is made of
corn or of the juice of apples, whether you distil from the honeycomb a
rude kind of mead or make a liquor by squeezing dates or strain a thick
syrup from a decoction of corn. Whatever intoxicates and disturbs the
balance of the mind avoid as you would wine. I do not say that we are
to condemn what is a creature of God. The Lord Himself was called a
"wine-bibber" and wine in moderation was allowed to Timothy because of
his weak stomach. I only require that drinkers should observe that
limit which their age, their health, or their constitution requires.
But if without drinking wine at all I am aglow with youth and am
inflamed by the heat of my blood and am of a strong and lusty habit of
body, I will readily forego the cup in which I cannot but suspect
poison. The Greeks have an excellent saying which will perhaps bear
translation,
Fat bellies have no sentiments refined. [1380]
12. Lay upon yourself only as much fasting as you can bear, and let
your fasts be pure, chaste, simple, moderate, and not superstitious.
What good is it to use no oil if you seek after the most troublesome
and out-of-the-way kinds of food, dried figs, pepper, nuts, dates, fine
flour, honey, pistachios? All the resources of gardening are strained
to save us from eating household bread; and to pursue dainties we turn
our backs on the kingdom of heaven. There are some, I am told, who
reverse the laws of nature and the race; for they neither eat bread nor
drink water but imbibe thin decoctions of crushed herbs and
beet-juice--not from a cup but from a shell. Shame on us that we have
no blushes for such follies and that we feel no disgust at such
superstition! To crown all, in the midst of our dainties we seek a
reputation for abstinence. The strictest fast is bread and water. But
because it brings with it no glory and because we all of us live on
bread and water, it is reckoned no fast at all but an ordinary and
common matter.
13. Do not angle for compliments, lest, while you win the popular
applause, you do despite to God. "If I yet pleased men," says the
apostle, "I should not be the servant of Christ." [1381] He ceased to
please men when he became Christ's servant. Christ's soldier marches on
through good report and evil report, [1382] the one on the right hand
and the other on the left. No praise elates him, no reproaches crush
him. He is not puffed up by riches, nor does he shrink into himself
because of poverty. Joy and sorrow he alike despises. The sun does not
burn him by day nor the moon by night. [1383] Do not pray at the
corners of the streets, [1384] lest the applause of men interrupt the
straight course of your prayers. Do not broaden your fringes and for
show wear phylacteries, [1385] or, despite of conscience, wrap yourself
in the self-seeking of the Pharisee. [1386] Would you know what mode of
apparel the Lord requires? Have prudence, justice, temperance,
fortitude. [1387] Let these be the four quarters of your horizon, let
them be a four-horse team to bear you, Christ's charioteer, at full
speed to your goal. No necklace can be more precious than these; no
gems can form a brighter galaxy. By them you are decorated, you are
girt about, you are protected on every side. They are your defence as
well as your glory; for every gem is turned into a shield.
14. Beware also of a blabbing tongue and of itching ears. Neither
detract from others nor listen to detractors. "Thou sittest," says the
psalmist, "and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own
mother's son. These things hast thou done and I kept silence; thou
thoughtest wickedly that I was such an one as thyself, but I will
reprove thee and set them [1388] in order before thine eyes." [1389]
Keep your tongue from cavilling and watch over your words. Know that in
judging others you are passing sentence on yourself and that you are
yourself guilty of the faults which you blame in them. It is no excuse
to say: "if others tell me things I cannot be rude to them." No one
cares to speak to an unwilling listener. An arrow never lodges in a
stone: often it recoils upon the shooter of it. Let the detractor learn
from your unwillingness to listen not to be so ready to detract.
Solomon says:--"meddle not with them that are given to detraction: for
their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the destruction of
them both?" [1390] --of the detractor, that is, and of the person who
lends an ear to his detraction.
15. It is your duty to visit the sick, to know the homes and children
of ladies who are married, and to guard the secrets of noblemen. Make
it your object, therefore, to keep your tongue chaste as well as your
eyes. Never discuss a woman's figure nor let one house know what is
going on in another. Hippocrates, [1391] before he will teach his
pupils, makes them take an oath and compels them to swear fealty to
him. He binds them over to silence, and prescribes for them their
language, their gait, their dress, their manners. How much more reason
have we to whom the medicine of the soul has been committed to love the
houses of all Christians as our own homes. Let them know us as
comforters in sorrow rather than as guests in time of mirth. That
clergyman soon becomes an object of contempt who being often asked out
to dinner never refuses to go.
16. Let us never seek for presents and rarely accept them when we are
asked to do so. For "it is more blessed to give than to receive."
[1392] Somehow or other the very man who begs leave to offer you a gift
holds you the cheaper for your acceptance of it; while, if you refuse
it, it is wonderful how much more he will come to respect you. The
preacher of continence must not be a maker of marriages. Why does he
who reads the apostle's words "it remaineth that they that have wives
be as though they had none" [1393] --why does he press a virgin to
marry? Why does a priest, who must be a monogamist, [1394] urge a widow
to marry again? How can the clergy be managers and stewards of other
men's households, when they are bidden to disregard even their own
interests? To wrest a thing from a friend is theft but to cheat the
Church is sacrilege. When you have received money to be doled out to
the poor, to be cautious or to hesitate while crowds are starving is to
be worse than a robber; and to subtract a portion for yourself is to
commit a crime of the deepest dye. I am tortured with hunger and are
you to judge what will satisfy my cravings? Either divide immediately
what you have received, or, if you are a timid almoner, send the donor
to distribute his own gifts. Your purse ought not to remain full while
I am in need. No one can look after what is mine better than I can. He
is the best almoner who keeps nothing for himself.
17. You have compelled me, my dear Nepotian, in spite of the
castigation which my treatise on Virginity has had to endure--the one
which I wrote for the saintly Eustochium at Rome: [1395] --you have
compelled me after ten years have passed once more to open my mouth at
Bethlehem and to expose myself to the stabs of every tongue. For I
could only escape from criticism by writing nothing--a course made
impossible by your request; and I knew when I took up my pen that the
shafts of all gainsayers would be launched against me. I beg such to
hold their peace and to desist from gainsaying: for I have written to
them not as to opponents but as to friends. I have not inveighed
against those who sin: I have but warned them to sin no more. My
judgment of myself has been as strict as my judgment of them. When I
have wished to remove the mote from my neighbour's eye, I have first
cast out the beam in my own. [1396] I have calumniated no one. Not a
name has been hinted at. My words have not been aimed at individuals
and my criticism of shortcomings has been quite general. If any one
wishes to be angry with me he will have first to own that he himself
suits my description.
__________________________________________________________________
[1314] Letter XIV. 9 v.
[1315] Virgil, G. ii. 484.
[1316] Virgil, Ec. ix. 51, 54, 55.
[1317] 1 Kings i. 1-4.
[1318] 2 Cor. iii. 6.
[1319] So called because first devised in the Oscan town of Atella.
[1320] 1 Kings i. 4.
[1321] The name Solomon means "man of peace."
[1322] 1 Chr. xxviii. 3.
[1323] Prov. iv. 5-9.
[1324] Ps. i. 2.
[1325] A slip of the pen for Theophrastus.
[1326] Cicero, de Sen. v.
[1327] Cicero, de Sen. vii.
[1328] Id. ibid.
[1329] Cic. de Sen. viii.
[1330] Homer, Il. i. 249; Cic. de Sen. x.
[1331] Gen. xxxviii. 28, 29.
[1332] Josh. ii. 18.
[1333] 1 Chron. ii. 55, Vulg.
[1334] Luke xii. 49.
[1335] Luke xxiv. 32.
[1336] Rom. xii. 11.
[1337] Zech. xi. 15.
[1338] Matt. xxiv. 12.
[1339] Cyprian, Ep. ad Donatum.
[1340] Psa. xvi. 5; lxxiii. 26.
[1341] Ps. xvi. 5, 6.
[1342] Nu. xviii. 24.
[1343] 1 Cor. ix. 13.
[1344] 1 Tim. vi. 8.
[1345] Virgil, Æn. iii. 436.
[1346] Jer. xii. 13, LXX. There is a play on the word kleros, which
means (1) portion, (2) clergy.
[1347] 1 Cor. xv. 33.
[1348] Another allusion to the word kleros.
[1349] Major domus.
[1350] The vow of celibacy is probably intended.
[1351] The disability alluded to was enacted by Valentinian.
[1352] Titus i. 9; 2 Tim. iii. 14.
[1353] 1 Pet. iii. 15.
[1354] Mal. i. 6.
[1355] Cicero, de Orat. iii. 1.
[1356] So the Vulgate.
[1357] 1 Pet. v. 4.
[1358] 1 Cor. xiv. 30-33.
[1359] Prov. x. 1.
[1360] This is not extant.
[1361] Virgil, Ec. viii. 63.
[1362] 1 Cor. xii. 12-27.
[1363] Mortariola. See Nu. vii. 24, Vulg.
[1364] 1 Cor. x. 11.
[1365] Luke xvi. 9.
[1366] Acts iii. 6.
[1367] Levit. xxi. 14.
[1368] Levit. xxi. 17-23.
[1369] Gen. i. 28.
[1370] Deut. xvi. 5.
[1371] Levit. xxiii. 40-42.
[1372] Joel ii. 15.
[1373] 1 Cor. ii. 13.
[1374] Rom. vii. 14.
[1375] Ps. cxix. 18.
[1376] Matt. xii. 1-9.
[1377] Ps. cxviii. 8, 9.
[1378] 1 Tim. iii. 3.
[1379] Levit. x. 9; the word shechar occurs in the Greek text of Luke
i. 15.
[1380] Cf. Shakespeare:-- Fat paunches have lean pates, and dainty bits
Make rich the ribs, but bankrupt quite the wits.
[1381] Gal. i. 10.
[1382] 2 Cor. vi. 8.
[1383] Ps. cxxi. 6.
[1384] Matt. vi. 5.
[1385] Matt. xxiii. 5.
[1386] Some irrelevant sentences are found here in the ordinary text
which are obviously an interpolation.
[1387] Wisd. viii. 7, the cardinal virtues of Greek philosophy.
[1388] Viz. thy misdeeds.
[1389] Ps. l. 20, 21.
[1390] Prov. xxiv. 21, 22, Vulg.
[1391] The principal physician of this name flourished in the fifth
century, b.c.
[1392] Acts xx. 35.
[1393] 1 Cor. vii. 29.
[1394] 1 Tim. iii. 2.
[1395] Viz. Letter XXII.
[1396] Matt. vii. 3-5.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LIII. To Paulinus.
Jerome urges Paulinus, bishop of Nola, (for whom see Letter LVIII.) to
make a diligent study of the Scriptures and to this end reminds him of
the zeal for learning displayed not only by the wisest of the pagans
but also by the apostle Paul. Then going through the two Testaments in
detail he describes the contents of the several books and the lessons
which may be learned from them. He concludes with an appeal to Paulinus
to divest himself wholly of his earthly wealth and to devote himself
altogether to God. Written in 394 a.d.
1. Our brother Ambrose along with your little gifts has delivered to me
a most charming letter which, though it comes at the beginning of our
friendship, gives assurance of tried fidelity and of long continued
attachment. A true intimacy cemented by Christ Himself is not one which
depends upon material considerations, or upon the presence of the
persons, or upon an insincere and exaggerated flattery; but one such as
ours, wrought by a common fear of God and a joint study of the divine
scriptures.
We read in old tales that men traversed provinces, crossed seas, and
visited strange peoples, simply to see face to face persons whom they
only knew from books. Thus Pythagoras visited the prophets of Memphis;
and Plato, besides visiting Egypt and Archytas of Tarentum, most
carefully explored that part of the coast of Italy which was formerly
called Great Greece. In this way the influential Athenian master with
whose lessons the schools [1397] of the Academy resounded became at
once a pilgrim and a pupil choosing modestly to learn what others had
to teach rather than over confidently to propound views of his own.
Indeed his pursuit of learning--which seemed to fly before him all the
world over--finally led to his capture by pirates who sold him into
slavery to a cruel tyrant. [1398] Thus he became a prisoner, a
bond-man, and a slave; yet, as he was always a philosopher, he was
greater still than the man who purchased him. Again we read that
certain noblemen journeyed from the most remote parts of Spain and Gaul
to visit Titus Livius, [1399] and listen to his eloquence which flowed
like a fountain of milk. Thus the fame of an individual had more power
to draw men to Rome than the attractions of the city itself; and the
age displayed an unheard of and noteworthy portent in the shape of men
who, entering the great city, bestowed their attention not upon it but
upon something else. Apollonius [1400] too was a traveller--the one I
mean who is called the sorcerer [1401] by ordinary people and the
philosopher by such as follow Pythagoras. He entered Persia, traversed
the Caucasus and made his way through the Albanians, the Scythians, the
Massagetæ, and the richest districts of India. At last, after crossing
that wide river the Pison, [1402] he came to the Brahmans. There he saw
Hiarcas [1403] sitting upon his golden throne and drinking from his
Tantalus-fountain, and heard him instructing a few disciples upon the
nature, motions, and orbits of the heavenly bodies. After this he
travelled among the Elamites, the Babylonians, the Chaldeans, the
Medes, the Assyrians, the Parthians, the Syrians, the Phenicians, the
Arabians, and the Philistines. [1404] Then returning to Alexandria he
made his way to Ethiopia to see the gymnosophists and the famous table
of the sun spread in the sands of the desert. [1405] Everywhere he
found something to learn, and as he was always going to new places, he
became constantly wiser and better. Philostratus has written the story
of his life at length in eight books.
2. But why should I confine my allusions to the men of this world, when
the Apostle Paul, the chosen vessel [1406] the doctor [1407] of the
Gentiles, who could boldly say: "Do ye seek a proof of Christ speaking
in me?" [1408] knowing that he really had within him that greatest of
guests--when even he after visiting Damascus and Arabia "went up to
Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him fifteen days." [1409] For he
who was to be a preacher to the Gentiles had to be instructed in the
mystical numbers seven and eight. And again fourteen years after he
took Barnabas and Titus and communicated his gospel to the apostles
lest by any means he should have run or had run in vain. [1410] Spoken
words possess an indefinable hidden power, and teaching that passed
directly from the mouth of the speaker into the ears of the disciples
is more impressive than any other. When the speech of Demosthenes
against Æschines was recited before the latter during his exile at
Rhodes, amid all the admiration and applause he sighed "if you could
but have heard the brute deliver his own periods!" [1411]
3. I do not adduce these instances because I have anything in me from
which you either can or will learn a lesson, but to show you that your
zeal and eagerness to learn--even though you cannot rely on help from
me--are in themselves worthy of praise. A mind willing to learn
deserves commendation even when it has no teacher. What is of
importance to me is not what you find but what you seek to find. Wax is
soft and easy to mould even where the hands of craftsman and modeller
are wanting to work it. It is already potentially all that it can be
made. The apostle Paul learned the Law of Moses and the prophets at the
feet of Gamaliel and was glad that he had done so, for armed with this
spiritual armour, he was able to say boldly "the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of
strongholds;" armed with these we war "casting down imaginations and
every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and
being in a readiness to revenge all disobedience." [1412] He writes to
Timothy who had been trained in the holy writings from a child
exhorting him to study them diligently [1413] and not to neglect the
gift which was given him with the laying on of the hands of the
presbytery. [1414] To Titus he gives commandment that among a bishop's
other virtues (which he briefly describes) he should be careful to seek
a knowledge of the scriptures: A bishop, he says, must hold fast "the
faithful word as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound
doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers." [1415] In fact
want of education in a clergyman [1416] prevents him from doing good to
any one but himself and much as the virtue of his life may build up
Christ's church, he does it an injury as great by failing to resist
those who are trying to pull it down. The prophet Haggai says--or
rather the Lord says it by the mouth of Haggai--"Ask now the priests
concerning the law." [1417] For such is the important function of the
priesthood to give answers to those who question them concerning the
law. And in Deuteronomy we read "Ask thy father and he will shew thee;
thy elders and they will tell thee." [1418] Also in the one hundred and
nineteenth psalm "thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my
pilgrimage." [1419] David too, in the description of the righteous man
whom he compares to the tree of life in paradise, amongst his other
excellences speaks of this, "His delight is in the law of the Lord; and
in his law doth he meditate day and night." [1420] In the close of his
most solemn vision Daniel declares that "the righteous shall shine as
the stars; and the wise, that is the learned, as the firmament." [1421]
You can see, therefore, how great is the difference between righteous
ignorance and instructed righteousness. Those who have the first are
compared with the stars, those who have the second with the heavens.
Yet, according to the exact sense of the Hebrew, both statements may be
understood of the learned, for it is to be read in this way:--"They
that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they
that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." Why is
the apostle Paul called a chosen vessel? [1422] Assuredly because he is
a repertory of the Law and of the holy scriptures. The learned teaching
of our Lord strikes the Pharisees dumb with amazement, and they are
filled with astonishment to find that Peter and John know the Law
although they have not learned letters. For to these the Holy Ghost
immediately suggested what comes to others by daily study and
meditation; and, as it is written, [1423] they were "taught of God."
The Saviour had only accomplished his twelfth year when the scene in
the temple took place; [1424] but when he interrogated the elders
concerning the Law His wise questions conveyed rather than sought
information.
4. But perhaps we ought to call Peter and John ignorant, both of whom
could say of themselves, "though I be rude in speech, yet not in
knowledge." [1425] Was John a mere fisherman, rude and untaught? If so,
whence did he get the words "In the beginning was the word, and the
word was with God and the word was God." [1426] Logos in Greek has many
meanings. It signifies word and reason and reckoning and the cause of
individual things by which those which are subsist. All of which things
we rightly predicate of Christ. This truth Plato with all his learning
did not know, of this Demosthenes with all his eloquence was ignorant.
"I will destroy," it is said, "the wisdom of the wise, and will bring
to nothing the understanding of the prudent." [1427] The true wisdom
must destroy the false, and, although the foolishness of preaching
[1428] is inseparable from the Cross, Paul speaks "wisdom among them
that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes
of this world that come to nought," but he speaks "the wisdom of God in
a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the
world." [1429] God's wisdom is Christ, for Christ, we are told, is "the
power of God and the wisdom of God." [1430] He is the wisdom which is
hidden in a mystery, of which also we read in the heading of the ninth
psalm "for the hidden things of the son." [1431] In Him are hidden all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He also who was hidden in a
mystery is the same that was foreordained before the world. Now it was
in the Law and in the Prophets that he was foreordained and prefigured.
For this reason too the prophets were called seers, [1432] because they
saw Him whom others did not see. Abraham saw His day and was glad.
[1433] The heavens which were sealed to a rebellious people were opened
to Ezekiel. "Open thou mine eyes," saith David, "that I may behold
wonderful things out of thy Law." [1434] For "the law is spiritual"
[1435] and a revelation is needed to enable us to comprehend it and,
when God uncovers His face, to behold His glory.
5. In the apocalypse a book is shewn sealed with seven seals, [1436]
which if you deliver to one that is learned saying, Read this, he will
answer you, I cannot, for it is sealed. [1437] How many there are
to-day who fancy themselves learned, yet the scriptures are a sealed
book to them, and one which they cannot open save through Him who has
the key of David, "he that openeth and no man shutteth; and shutteth
and no man openeth." [1438] In the Acts of the Apostles the holy eunuch
(or rather "man" for so the scripture calls him [1439] ) when reading
Isaiah he is asked by Philip "Understandest thou what thou readest?",
makes answer:--"How can I except some man should guide me?" [1440] To
digress for a moment to myself, I am neither holier nor more diligent
than this eunuch, who came from Ethiopia, that is from the ends of the
world, to the Temple leaving behind him a queen's palace, and was so
great a lover of the Law and of divine knowledge that he read the holy
scriptures even in his chariot. Yet although he had the book in his
hand and took into his mind the words of the Lord, nay even had them on
his tongue and uttered them with his lips, he still knew not Him,
whom--not knowing--he worshipped in the book. Then Philip came and
shewed him Jesus, who was concealed beneath the letter. Wondrous
excellence of the teacher! In the same hour the eunuch believed and was
baptized; he became one of the faithful and a saint. He was no longer a
pupil but a master; and he found more in the church's font there in the
wilderness than he had ever done in the gilded temple of the synagogue.
6. These instances have been just touched upon by me (the limits of a
letter forbid a more discursive treatment of them) to convince you that
in the holy scriptures you can make no progress unless you have a guide
to shew you the way. I say nothing of the knowledge of grammarians,
rhetoricians, philosophers, geometers, logicians, musicians,
astronomers, astrologers, physicians, whose several kinds of skill are
most useful to mankind, and may be ranged under the three heads of
teaching, method, and proficiency. I will pass to the less important
crafts which require manual dexterity more than mental ability.
Husbandmen, masons, carpenters, workers in wood and metal,
wool-dressers and fullers, as well as those artisans who make furniture
and cheap utensils, cannot attain the ends they seek without
instruction from qualified persons. As Horace says [1441]
Doctors alone profess the healing art
And none but joiners ever try to join.
7. The art of interpreting the scriptures is the only one of which all
men everywhere claim to be masters. To quote Horace again
Taught or untaught we all write poetry. [1442]
The chatty old woman, the doting old man, and the wordy sophist, one
and all take in hand the Scriptures, rend them in pieces and teach them
before they have learned them. Some with brows knit and bombastic
words, balanced one against the other philosophize concerning the
sacred writings among weak women. Others--I blush to say it--learn of
women what they are to teach men; and as if even this were not enough,
they boldly explain to others what they themselves by no means
understand. I say nothing of persons who, like myself have been
familiar with secular literature before they have come to the study of
the holy scriptures. Such men when they charm the popular ear by the
finish of their style suppose every word they say to be a law of God.
They do not deign to notice what Prophets and apostles have intended
but they adapt conflicting passages to suit their own meaning, as if it
were a grand way of teaching--and not rather the faultiest of all--to
misrepresent a writer's views and to force the scriptures reluctantly
to do their will. They forget that we have read centos from Homer and
Virgil; but we never think of calling the Christless Maro [1443] a
Christian because of his lines:--
Now comes the Virgin back and Saturn's reign,
Now from high heaven comes a Child newborn. [1444]
Another line might be addressed by the Father to the Son:--
Hail, only Son, my Might and Majesty. [1445]
And yet another might follow the Saviour's words on the cross:--
Such words he spake and there transfixed remained. [1446]
But all this is puerile, and resembles the sleight-of-hand of a
mountebank. It is idle to try to teach what you do not know, and--if I
may speak with some warmth--is worse still to be ignorant of your
ignorance.
8. Genesis, we shall be told, needs no explanation; its topics are too
simple--the birth of the world, the origin of the human race, [1447]
the division of the earth, [1448] the confusion of tongues, [1449] and
the descent of the Hebrews into Egypt! [1450] Exodus, no doubt, is
equally plain, containing as it does merely an account of the ten
plagues, [1451] the decalogue, [1452] and sundry mysterious and divine
precepts! The meaning of Leviticus is of course self-evident, although
every sacrifice that it describes, nay more every word that it
contains, the description of Aaron's vestments, [1453] and all the
regulations connected with the Levites are symbols of things heavenly!
The book of Numbers too--are not its very figures, [1454] and Balaam's
prophecy, [1455] and the forty-two camping places in the wilderness
[1456] so many mysteries? Deuteronomy also, that is the second law or
the foreshadowing of the law of the gospel,--does it not, while
exhibiting things known before, put old truths in a new light? So far
the five words' of the Pentateuch, with which the apostle boasts his
wish to speak in the Church. [1457] Then, as for Job, [1458] that
pattern of patience, what mysteries are there not contained in his
discourses? Commencing in prose the book soon glides into verse and at
the end once more reverts to prose. By the way in which it lays down
propositions, assumes postulates, adduces proofs, and draws inferences,
it illustrates all the laws of logic. Single words occurring in the
book are full of meaning. To say nothing of other topics, it prophesies
the resurrection of men's bodies at once with more clearness and with
more caution than any one has yet shewn. "I know," Job says, "that my
redeemer liveth, and that at the last day I shall rise again from the
earth; and I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh shall
I see God. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and
not another. This my hope is stored up in my own bosom." [1459] I will
pass on to Jesus the son of Nave [1460] --a type of the Lord in name as
well as in deed--who crossed over Jordan, subdued hostile kingdoms,
divided the land among the conquering people and who, in every city,
village, mountain, river, hill-torrent, and boundary which he dealt
with, marked out the spiritual realms of the heavenly Jerusalem, that
is, of the church. [1461] In the book of Judges every one of the
popular leaders is a type. Ruth the Moabitess fulfils the prophecy of
Isaiah:--"Send thou a lamb, O Lord, as ruler of the land from the rock
of the wilderness to the mount of the daughter of Zion." [1462] Under
the figures of Eli's death and the slaying of Saul Samuel shews the
abolition of the old law. Again in Zadok and in David he bears witness
to the mysteries of the new priesthood and of the new royalty. The
third and fourth books of Kings called in Hebrew Malâchim give the
history of the kingdom of Judah from Solomon to Jeconiah, [1463] and of
that of Israel from Jeroboam the son of Nebat to Hoshea who was carried
away into Assyria. If you merely regard the narrative, the words are
simple enough, but if you look beneath the surface at the hidden
meaning of it, you find a description of the small numbers of the
church and of the wars which the heretics wage against it. The twelve
prophets whose writings are compressed within the narrow limits of a
single volume, [1464] have typical meanings far different from their
literal ones. Hosea speaks many times of Ephraim, of Samaria, of
Joseph, of Jezreel, of a wife of whoredoms and of children of
whoredoms, [1465] of an adulteress shut up within the chamber of her
husband, sitting for a long time in widowhood and in the garb of
mourning, awaiting the time when her husband will return to her. [1466]
Joel the son of Pethuel describes the land of the twelve tribes as
spoiled and devastated by the palmerworm, the canker-worm, the locust,
and the blight, [1467] and predicts that after the overthrow of the
former people the Holy Spirit shall be poured out upon God's servants
and handmaids; [1468] the same spirit, that is, which was to be poured
out in the upper chamber at Zion upon the one hundred and twenty
believers. [1469] These believers rising by gradual and regular
gradations from one to fifteen form the steps to which there is a
mystical allusion in the "psalms of degrees." [1470] Amos, although he
is only "an herdman" from the country, "a gatherer of sycomore fruit,"
[1471] cannot be explained in a few words. For who can adequately speak
of the three transgressions and the four of Damascus, of Gaza, of Tyre,
of Idumæa, of Moab, of the children of Ammon, and in the seventh and
eighth place of Judah and of Israel? He speaks to the fat kine that are
in the mountain of Samaria, [1472] and bears witness that the great
house and the little house shall fall. [1473] He sees now the maker of
the grasshopper, [1474] now the Lord, standing upon a wall [1475]
daubed [1476] or made of adamant, [1477] now a basket of apples [1478]
that brings doom to the transgressors, and now a famine upon the earth
"not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the
words of the Lord." [1479] Obadiah, whose name means the servant of
God, thunders against Edom red with blood and against the creature born
of earth. [1480] He smites him with the spear of the spirit because of
his continual rivalry with his brother Jacob. Jonah, fairest of doves,
whose shipwreck shews in a figure the passion of the Lord, recalls the
world to penitence, and while he preaches to Nineveh, announces
salvation to all the heathen. Micah the Morasthite a joint heir with
Christ [1481] announces the spoiling of the daughter of the robber and
lays siege against her, because she has smitten the jawbone of the
judge of Israel. [1482] Nahum, the consoler of the world, rebukes "the
bloody city" [1483] and when it is overthrown cries:--"Behold upon the
mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings." [1484] Habakkuk,
like a strong and unyielding wrestler, [1485] stands upon his watch and
sets his foot upon the tower [1486] that he may contemplate Christ upon
the cross and say "His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full
of his praise. And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming
out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power." [1487]
Zephaniah, that is the bodyguard and knower of the secrets of the Lord,
[1488] hears "a cry from the fishgate, and an howling from the second,
and a great crashing from the hills." [1489] He proclaims "howling to
the inhabitants of the mortar; [1490] for all the people of Canaan are
undone; all they that were laden with silver are cut off." [1491]
Haggai, that is he who is glad or joyful, who has sown in tears to reap
in joy, [1492] is occupied with the rebuilding of the temple. He
represents the Lord (the Father, that is) as saying "Yet once, it is a
little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea,
and the dry land; and I will shake all nations and he who is desired
[1493] of all nations shall come." [1494] Zechariah, he that is mindful
of his Lord, [1495] gives us many prophecies. He sees Jesus, [1496]
"clothed with filthy garments," [1497] a stone with seven eyes, [1498]
a candle-stick all of gold with lamps as many as the eyes, and two
olive trees on the right side of the bowl [1499] and on the left. After
he has described the horses, red, black, white, and grisled, [1500] and
the cutting off of the chariot from Ephraim and of the horse from
Jerusalem [1501] he goes on to prophesy and predict a king who shall be
a poor man and who shall sit "upon a colt the foal of an ass." [1502]
Malachi, the last of all the prophets, speaks openly of the rejection
of Israel and the calling of the nations. "I have no pleasure in you,
saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your
hand. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the
same, my name is great among the Gentiles: and in every place incense
[1503] is offered unto my name, and a pure offering." [1504] As for
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, who can fully understand or
adequately explain them? The first of them seems to compose not a
prophecy but a gospel. The second speaks of a rod of an almond tree
[1505] and of a seething pot with its face toward the north, [1506] and
of a leopard which has changed its spots. [1507] He also goes four
times through the alphabet in different metres. [1508] The beginning
and ending of Ezekiel, the third of the four, are involved in so great
obscurity that like the commencement of Genesis they are not studied by
the Hebrews until they are thirty years old. Daniel, the fourth and
last of the four prophets, having knowledge of the times and being
interested in the whole world, in clear language proclaims the stone
cut out of the mountain without hands that overthrows all kingdoms.
[1509] David, who is our Simonides, Pindar, and Alcæus, our Horace, our
Catullus, and our Serenus all in one, sings of Christ to his lyre; and
on a psaltery with ten strings calls him from the lower world to rise
again. Solomon, a lover of peace [1510] and of the Lord, corrects
morals, teaches nature, unites Christ and the church, and sings a sweet
marriage song [1511] to celebrate that holy bridal. Esther, a type of
the church, frees her people from danger and, after having slain Haman
whose name means iniquity, hands down to posterity a memorable day and
a great feast. [1512] The book of things omitted [1513] or epitome of
the old dispensation [1514] is of such importance and value that
without it any one who should claim to himself a knowledge of the
scriptures would make himself a laughing stock in his own eyes. Every
name used in it, nay even the conjunction of the words, serves to throw
light on narratives passed over in the books of Kings and upon
questions suggested by the gospel. Ezra and Nehemiah, that is the
Lord's helper and His consoler, are united in a single book. They
restore the Temple and build up the walls of the city. In their pages
we see the throng of the Israelites returning to their native land, we
read of priests and Levites, of Israel proper and of proselytes; and we
are even told the several families to which the task of building the
walls and towers was assigned. These references convey one meaning upon
the surface, but another below it.
9. [In Migne, 8.] You see how, carried away by my love of the
scriptures, I have exceeded the limits of a letter yet have not fully
accomplished my object. We have heard only what it is that we ought to
know and to desire, so that we too may be able to say with the
psalmist:--"My soul breaketh out for the very fervent desire that it
hath alway unto thy judgments." [1515] But the saying of Socrates about
himself--"this only I know that I know nothing" [1516] --is fulfilled
in our case also. The New Testament I will briefly deal with. Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John are the Lord's team of four, [1517] the true
cherubim or store of knowledge. [1518] With them the whole body is full
of eyes, [1519] they glitter as sparks, [1520] they run and return like
lightning, [1521] their feet are straight feet, [1522] and lifted up,
their backs also are winged, ready to fly in all directions. They hold
together each by each and are interwoven one with another: [1523] like
wheels within wheels they roll along [1524] and go whithersoever the
breath of the Holy Spirit wafts them. [1525] The apostle Paul writes to
seven churches [1526] (for the eighth epistle--that to the Hebrews--is
not generally counted in with the others). He instructs Timothy and
Titus; he intercedes with Philemon for his runaway slave. [1527] Of him
I think it better to say nothing than to write inadequately. The Acts
of the Apostles seem to relate a mere unvarnished narrative descriptive
of the infancy of the newly born church; but when once we realize that
their author is Luke the physician whose praise is in the gospel,
[1528] we shall see that all his words are medicine for the sick soul.
The apostles James, Peter, John, and Jude, have published seven
epistles at once spiritual and to the point, short and long, short that
is in words but lengthy in substance so that there are few indeed who
do not find themselves in the dark when they read them. The apocalypse
of John has as many mysteries as words. In saying this I have said less
than the book deserves. All praise of it is inadequate; manifold
meanings lie hid in its every word.
10. [In Migne, 9.] I beg of you, my dear brother, to live among these
books, to meditate upon them, to know nothing else, to seek nothing
else. Does not such a life seem to you a foretaste of heaven here on
earth? Let not the simplicity of the scripture or the poorness of its
vocabulary offend you; for these are due either to the faults of
translators or else to deliberate purpose: for in this way it is better
fitted for the instruction of an unlettered congregation as the
educated person can take one meaning and the uneducated another from
one and the same sentence. I am not so dull or so forward as to profess
that I myself know it, or that I can pluck upon the earth the fruit
which has its root in heaven, but I confess that I should like to do
so. I put myself before the man who sits idle and, while I lay no claim
to be a master, I readily pledge myself to be a fellow-student. "Every
one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that
knocketh it shall be opened." [1529] Let us learn upon earth that
knowledge which will continue with us in heaven.
11. [In Migne, 10.] I will receive you with open hands and--if I may
boast and speak foolishly like Hermagoras [1530] --I will strive to
learn with you whatever you desire to study. Eusebius who is here
regards you with the affection of a brother; he [1531] has made your
letter twice as precious by telling me of your sincerity of character,
your contempt for the world, your constancy in friendship, and your
love to Christ. The letter bears on its face (without any aid from him)
your prudence and the charm of your style. Make haste then, I beseech
you, and cut instead of loosing the hawser which prevents your vessel
from moving in the sea. The man who sells his goods because he despises
them and means to renounce the world can have no desire to sell them
dear. Count as money gained the sum that you must expend upon your
outfit. There is an old saying that a miser lacks as much what he has
as what he has not. The believer has a whole world of wealth; the
unbeliever has not a single farthing. Let us always live "as having
nothing and yet possessing all things." [1532] Food and raiment, these
are the Christian's wealth. [1533] If your property is in your own
power, [1534] sell it: if not, cast it from you. "If any man...will
take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also." [1535] You are all
for delay, you wish to defer action: unless--so you argue--unless I
sell my goods piecemeal and with caution, Christ will be at a loss to
feed his poor. Nay, he who has offered himself to God, has given Him
everything once for all. The apostles did but forsake ships and nets.
[1536] The widow cast but two brass coins into the treasury [1537] and
yet she shall be preferred before Croesus [1538] with all his wealth.
He readily despises all things who reflects always that he must die.
__________________________________________________________________
[1397] Gymnasia.
[1398] Dionysius of Syracuse.
[1399] Cf. Quint. X. i. 32.
[1400] Apollonius of Tyana, whose strange life and adventures have been
written for us by Philostratus.
[1401] Magus.
[1402] Gen. ii. 11.
[1403] Philostratus iii. 7.
[1404] i.e. dwellers in Palestine.
[1405] Herod. iii. 17, 18.
[1406] Acts ix. 15.
[1407] A favourite title for theologians in the Middle Ages.
[1408] 2 Cor. xiii. 3.
[1409] Gal. i. 17, 18.
[1410] Gal. ii. 1, 2.
[1411] Cic. de Orat. iii. 56, the word brute' is inserted by Jerome.
[1412] 2 Cor. x. 4-6.
[1413] 2 Tim. iii. 14, 15.
[1414] 1 Tim. iv. 14.
[1415] Tit. i. 9.
[1416] Sancta rusticitas.
[1417] Hag. ii. 11.
[1418] Deut. xxxii. 7.
[1419] v. 54. In the Vulg. this psalm is the 118th.
[1420] Ps. i. 2.
[1421] Dan. xii. 3.
[1422] Acts ix. 15.
[1423] 1 Thess. iv. 9.
[1424] Luke ii. 46.
[1425] 2 Cor. xi. 6.
[1426] Joh. i. 1.
[1427] 1 Cor. i. 19.
[1428] 1 Cor. i. 21.
[1429] 1 Cor. ii. 6, 7.
[1430] 1 Cor. i. 24.
[1431] "Upon Muthlabben" A.V. See Perowne on the words.
[1432] 1 Sam. ix. 9.
[1433] Joh. viii. 56.
[1434] Ps. cxix. 18.
[1435] Rom. vii. 14.
[1436] Rev. v. 1.
[1437] Isa. xxix. 11.
[1438] Rev. iii. 7.
[1439] Acts viii. 27.
[1440] Acts viii. 30, 31.
[1441] Hor. Ep. II. 1. 115, 116.
[1442] Hor. Ep. II. i. 117.
[1443] Virgil's full name was Publius Vergilius Maro.
[1444] Virg. E. iv. 6, 7.
[1445] Virg. A. i. 664.
[1446] Virg. A. ii. 650.
[1447] Cc. 1-2.
[1448] C. x.
[1449] C. xi.
[1450] C. xlvi.
[1451] Cc. vii-xii.
[1452] C. xx.
[1453] C. viii.
[1454] C. xxvi.
[1455] Cc. xxiii., xxiv.
[1456] C. xxxiii. See Letter lxxviii.
[1457] 1 Cor. xiv. 19.
[1458] The mention of Job at this point is curious: it would seem that
in Jerome's opinion he was coæval with or very little later than Moses.
[1459] Job xix. 25-27, Vulg.
[1460] i.e., Joshua the son of Nun whose name is so rendered by the
LXX. Cf. Ecclus. xlvi. 1, A.V.
[1461] Gal. iv. 26.
[1462] Isa. xvi. 1, Vulg. the rock of the wilderness'=Moab.
[1463] Also called Coniah and Jehoiachin.
[1464] They are reckoned as forming one book in the Hebrew Bible.
[1465] Hos. i. 2.
[1466] Hos. iii. 1, 3, 4.
[1467] Joel i. 4.
[1468] Joel ii. 29.
[1469] Acts i. 13, 15.
[1470] The allusion is to Psalms cxx.-cxxxiv. One hundred and twenty is
the sum of the numerals one to fifteen.
[1471] Amos vii. 14.
[1472] Amos iv. 1.
[1473] Amos vi. 11.
[1474] Amos vii. 1.
[1475] Amos vii. 7.
[1476] So the Vulgate.
[1477] So the LXX.
[1478] Amos viii. 1.
[1479] Amos viii. 11.
[1480] Edom' means red' and is connected with Adâmâh'=the earth.'
[1481] Jerome interprets the Hebrew word Morasthite' to mean my
possession.'
[1482] Mic. v. 1, Vulg.
[1483] i.e., Nineveh--Nahum iii. 1.
[1484] Nahum i. 15.
[1485] The name strictly means embrace.'
[1486] Hab. ii. 1.
[1487] Hab. iii. 3, 4.
[1488] Strictly the Lord guards' or hides.'
[1489] Zeph. i. 10.
[1490] So R.V. marg. Probably a place in Jerusalem.
[1491] Zeph. i. 11, R.V.
[1492] Ps. cxxvi. 5.
[1493] So Vulg. the desire' A.V.
[1494] Hag. ii. 6, 7.
[1495] Strictly the Lord is mindful.'
[1496] i.e., Joshua the High Priest.
[1497] Zech. iii. 3.
[1498] Zech. iii. 9.
[1499] Zech. iv. 2, 3.
[1500] Zech. vi. 1-3.
[1501] Zech. ix. 10.
[1502] Zech. ix. 9.
[1503] This word is not in the Vulg.
[1504] Mal. i. 10, 11, R.V.
[1505] Jer. i. 11.
[1506] Jer. i. 13.
[1507] Jer. xiii. 23.
[1508] Lamentations cc. I.-IV., each verse in which begins with a
different letter of the alphabet.
[1509] Dan. ii. 45.
[1510] See note on LII. 3, p.
[1511] The Song of Songs.
[1512] i.e. the feast of Purim--Esth. ix. 20-32.
[1513] Paraleipomena, the name given in the LXX. to the books of
Chronicles.
[1514] Veteris instrumenti 'epitome.
[1515] Ps. cxix. 20, PBV.
[1516] Plato, Ap. Soc. 21, 22.
[1517] Quadriga. cf. Irenæus, Adv. Hær. III. ii. 8.
[1518] Clement of Alexandria, following Philo, makes cherub mean
wisdom.
[1519] Ezek. i. 18, Vulg.
[1520] Ezek. i. 7.
[1521] Ezek. i. 14.
[1522] Ezek. i. 7.
[1523] Ezek. i. 11.
[1524] Ezek. i. 16.
[1525] Ezek. i. 20.
[1526] i.e. those of Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi,
Colosse, Thessalonica.
[1527] Onesimus.
[1528] Col. iv. 14; 2 Cor. viii. 18.
[1529] Matt. vii. 8.
[1530] A verbose rhetorician mentioned by Cic. de Inv. i. 6.
[1531] Eusebius of Cremona, who for the next five years remained with
Jerome, and afterwards corresponded with him from Italy. See Letter
LVII. § 2. Rufinus, Apol. i. 19. Jerome, Apol. iii. 4, 5, etc.
[1532] 2 Cor. vi. 10.
[1533] 1 Tim. vi. 8.
[1534] Cf. Acts v. 4.
[1535] Matt. v. 40.
[1536] Matt. iv. 18-22.
[1537] Mark xii. 41-44.
[1538] The last king of Lydia, celebrated for his riches.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LIV. To Furia.
A letter of guidance to a widow on the best means of preserving her
widowhood (according to Jerome the second of the three degrees of
chastity'). Furia had at one time thought of marrying again but
eventually abandoned her intention and devoted herself to the care of
her young children and her aged father. Jerome draws a vivid picture of
the dangers to which she is exposed at Rome, lays down rules of conduct
for her guidance, and commends her to the care of the presbyter
Exuperius (afterwards bishop of Toulouse). The date of the letter is
394 a.d.
1. You beg and implore me in your letter to write to you--or rather
write back to you--what mode of life you ought to adopt to preserve the
crown of widowhood and to keep your reputation for chastity unsullied.
My mind rejoices, my reins exult, and my heart is glad that you desire
to be after marriage what your mother Titiana of holy memory was for a
long time in marriage. [1539] Her prayers and supplications are heard.
She has succeeded in winning afresh in her only daughter that which she
herself when living possessed. It is a high privilege of your family
that from the time of Camillus [1540] few or none of your house are
described as contracting second marriages. Therefore it will not
redound so much to your praise if you continue a widow as to your shame
if being a Christian you fail to keep what heathen women have jealously
guarded for so many centuries.
2. I say nothing of Paula and Eustochium, the fairest flowers of your
stock; for, as my object is to exhort you, I do not wish it to appear
that I am praising them. Blæsilla too I pass over who following her
husband--your brother--to the grave, fulfilled in a short time of life
a long time of virtue. [1541] Would that men would imitate the laudable
examples of women, and that wrinkled old age would pay at last what
youth gladly offers at first! In saying this I am putting my hand into
the fire deliberately and with my eyes open. Men will knit their brows
and shake their clenched fists at me;
In swelling tones will angry Chremes rave. [1542]
The leaders will rise as one man against my epistle; the mob of
patricians will thunder at me. They will cry out that I am a sorcerer
and a seducer; and that I should be transported to the ends of the
earth. They may add, if they will, the title of Samaritan; for in it I
shall but recognize a name given to my Lord. But one thing is certain.
I do not sever the daughter from the mother, I do not use the words of
the gospel: "let the dead bury their dead." [1543] For whosoever
believes in Christ is alive; and he who believes in Him "ought himself
also so to walk even as He walked." [1544]
3. A truce to the calumnies which the malice of backbiters continually
fastens upon all who call themselves Christians to keep them through
fear of shame from aspiring to virtue. Except by letter we have no
knowledge of each other; and where there is no knowledge after the
flesh, there can be no motive for intercourse save a religious one.
"Honour thy father," [1545] the commandment says, but only if he does
not separate you from your true Father. Recognize the tie of blood but
only so long as your parent recognizes his Creator. Should he fail to
do so, David will sing to you: "hearken, O daughter, and consider, and
incline thine ear; forget also thine own people and thy father's house.
So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty, for he is thy Lord."
[1546] Great is the prize offered for the forgetting of a parent, "the
king shall desire thy beauty." You have heard, you have considered, you
have inclined your ear, you have forgotten your people and your
father's house; therefore the king shall desire your beauty and shall
say to you:--"thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee."
[1547] What can be fairer than a soul which is called the daughter of
God, [1548] and which seeks for herself no outward adorning. [1549] She
believes in Christ, and, dowered with this hope of greatness [1550]
makes her way to her spouse; for Christ is at once her bridegroom and
her Lord.
4. What troubles matrimony involves you have learned in the marriage
state itself; you have been surfeited with quails' flesh [1551] even to
loathing; your mouth has been filled with the gall of bitterness; you
have expelled the indigestible and unwholesome food; you have relieved
a heaving stomach. Why will you again swallow what has disagreed with
you? "The dog is turned to his own vomit again and the sow that was
washed to her wallowing in the mire." [1552] Even brute beasts and
flying birds do not fall into the same snares twice. Do you fear
extinction for the line of Camillus if you do not present your father
with some little fellow to crawl upon his breast and slobber his neck?
As if all who marry have children! and as if when they do come, they
always resemble their forefathers! Did Cicero's son exhibit his
father's eloquence? Had your own Cornelia, [1553] pattern at once of
chastity and of fruitfulness, cause to rejoice that she was mother of
her Gracchi? It is ridiculous to expect as certain the offspring which
many, as you can see, have not got, while others who have had it have
lost it again. To whom then are you to leave your great riches? To
Christ who cannot die. Whom shall you make your heir? The same who is
already your Lord. Your father will be sorry but Christ will be glad;
your family will grieve but the angels will rejoice with you. Let your
father do what he likes with what is his own. You are not his to whom
you have been born, but His to whom you have been born again, and who
has purchased you at a great price with His own blood. [1554]
5. Beware of nurses and waiting maids and similar venomous creatures
who try to satisfy their greed by sucking your blood. They advise you
to do not what is best for you but what is best for them. They are for
ever dinning into your ears Virgil's lines:--
Will you waste all your youth in lonely grief
And children sweet, the gifts of love, forswear? [1555]
Wherever there is holy chastity, there is also frugal living; and
wherever there is frugal living, servants lose by it. What they do not
get is in their minds so much taken from them. The actual sum received
is what they look to, and not its relative amount. The moment they see
a Christian they at once repeat the hackneyed saying:--"The Greek! The
impostor!" [1556] They spread the most scandalous reports and, when any
such emanates from themselves, they pretend that they have heard it
from others, managing thus at once to originate the story and to
exaggerate it. A lying rumour goes forth; and this, when it has reached
the married ladies and has been fanned by their tongues, spreads
through the provinces. You may see numbers of these--their faces
painted, their eyes like those of vipers, their teeth rubbed with
pumice-stone--raving and carping at Christians with insane fury. One of
these ladies,
A violet mantle round her shoulders thrown,
Drawls out some mawkish stuff, speaks through her nose,
And minces half her words with tripping tongue. [1557]
Hereupon the rest chime in and every bench expresses hoarse approval.
They are backed up by men of my own order who, finding themselves
assailed, assail others. Always fluent in attacking me, they are dumb
in their own defence; just as though they were not monks themselves,
and as though every word said against monks did not tell also against
their spiritual progenitors the clergy. Harm done to the flock brings
discredit on the shepherd. On the other hand we cannot but praise the
life of a monk who holds up to veneration the priests of Christ and
refuses to detract from that order to which he owes it that he is a
Christian.
6. I have spoken thus, my daughter in Christ, not because I doubt that
you will be faithful to your vows, [1558] (you would never have asked
for a letter of advice had you been uncertain as to the blessedness of
monogamy): but that you may realize the wickedness of servants who
merely wish to sell you for their own advantage, the snares which
relations may set for you and the well meant but mistaken suggestions
of a father. While I allow that this latter feels love toward you, I
cannot admit that it is love according to knowledge. I must say with
the apostle: "I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not
according to knowledge." [1559] Imitate rather--I cannot say it too
often--your holy mother [1560] whose zeal for Christ comes into my mind
as often as I remember her, and not her zeal only but the paleness
induced in her by fasting, the alms given by her to the poor, the
courtesy shewn by her to the servants of God, the lowliness of her garb
and heart, and the constant moderation of her language. Of your father
too I speak with respect, not because he is a patrician and of consular
rank but because he is a Christian. Let him be true to his profession
as such. Let him rejoice that he has begotten a daughter for Christ and
not for the world. Nay rather let him grieve that you have in vain lost
your virginity as the fruits of matrimony have not been yours. Where is
the husband whom he gave to you? Even had he been lovable and good,
death would still have snatched all away, and his decease would have
terminated the fleshly bond between you. Seize the opportunity, I beg
of you, and make a virtue of necessity. In the lives of Christians we
look not to the beginnings but to the endings. Paul began badly but
ended well. The start of Judas wins praise; his end is condemned
because of his treachery. Read Ezekiel, "The righteousness of the
righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for
the wickedness of the wicked he shall not fall thereby in the day that
he turneth from his wickedness." [1561] The Christian life is the true
Jacob's ladder on which the angels ascend and descend, [1562] while the
Lord stands above it holding out His hand to those who slip and
sustaining by the vision of Himself the weary steps of those who
ascend. But while He does not wish the death of a sinner, but only that
he should be converted and live, He hates the lukewarm [1563] and they
quickly cause him loathing. To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth
much. [1564]
7. In the gospel a harlot wins salvation. How? She is baptized in her
tears and wipes the Lord's feet with that same hair with which she had
before deceived many. She does not wear a waving headdress or creaking
boots, she does not darken her eyes with antimony. Yet in her squalor
she is lovelier than ever. What place have rouge and white lead on the
face of a Christian woman? The one simulates the natural red of the
cheeks and of the lips; the other the whiteness of the face and of the
neck. They serve only to inflame young men's passions, to stimulate
lust, and to indicate an unchaste mind. How can a woman weep for her
sins whose tears lay bare her true complexion and mark furrows on her
cheeks? Such adorning is not of the Lord; a mask of this kind belongs
to Antichrist. With what confidence can a woman raise features to
heaven which her Creator must fail to recognize? It is idle to allege
in excuse for such practices girlishness and youthful vanity. A widow
who has ceased to have a husband to please, and who in the apostle's
language is a widow indeed, [1565] needs nothing more but perseverance
only. She is mindful of past enjoyments, she knows what gave her
pleasure and what she has now lost. By rigid fast and vigil she must
quench the fiery darts of the devil. [1566] If we are widows, we must
either speak as we are dressed, or else dress as we speak. Why do we
profess one thing, and practise another? The tongue talks of chastity,
but the rest of the body reveals incontinence.
8. So much for dress and adornment. But a widow "that liveth in
pleasure"--the words are not mine but those of the apostle--"is dead
while she liveth." [1567] What does that mean--"is dead while she
liveth"? To those who know no better she seems to be alive and not, as
she is, dead in sin; yes, and in another sense dead to Christ, from
whom no secrets are hid. "The soul that sinneth it shall die." [1568]
"Some men's sins are open...going before to judgment: and some they
follow after. Likewise also good works are manifest, and they that are
otherwise cannot be hid. [1569] The words mean this:--Certain persons
sin so deliberately and flagrantly that you no sooner see them than you
know them at once to be sinners. But the defects of others are so
cunningly concealed that we only learn them from subsequent
information. Similarly the good deeds of some people are public
property, while those of others we come to know only through long
intimacy with them. Why then must we needs boast of our chastity, a
thing which cannot prove itself to be genuine without its companions
and attendants, continence and plain living? The apostle macerates his
body and brings it into subjection to the soul lest what he has
preached to others he should himself fail to keep; [1570] and can a
mere girl whose passions are kindled by abundance of food, can a mere
girl afford to be confident of her own chastity?
9. In saying this, I do not of course condemn food which God created to
be enjoyed with thanksgiving, [1571] but I seek to remove from youths
and girls what are incentives to sensual pleasure. Neither the fiery
Etna nor the country of Vulcan, [1572] nor Vesuvius, nor Olympus, burns
with such violent heat as the youthful marrow of those who are flushed
with wine and filled with food. Many trample covetousness under foot,
and lay it down as readily as they lay down their purse. An enforced
silence serves to make amends for a railing tongue. The outward
appearance and the mode of dress can be changed in a single hour. All
other sins are external, and what is external can easily be cast away.
Desire alone, implanted in men by God to lead them to procreate
children, is internal; and this, if it once oversteps its own bounds,
becomes a sin, and by a law of nature cries out for sexual intercourse.
It is therefore a work of great merit, and one which requires
unremitting diligence to overcome that which is innate in you; while
living in the flesh not to live after the flesh; to strive with
yourself day by day and to watch the foe shut up within you with the
hundred eyes of the fabled Argus. [1573] This is what the apostle says
in other words: "Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he
that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body." [1574]
Physicians and others who have written on the nature of the human body,
and particularly Galen in his books entitled On matters of health, say
that the bodies of boys and of young men and of full grown men and
women glow with an interior heat and consequently that for persons of
these ages all food is injurious which tends to promote this heat:
while on the other hand it is highly conducive to health in eating and
in drinking to take things cold and cooling. Contrariwise they tell us
that warm food and old wine are good for the old who suffer from
humours and from chilliness. Hence it is that the Saviour says "Take
heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with
surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life." [1575] So too
speaks the apostle: "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess." [1576]
No wonder that the potter spoke thus of the vessel which He had made
when even the comic poet whose only object is to know and to describe
the ways of men tells us that
Where Ceres fails and Liber, Venus droops. [1577]
10. In the first place then, till you have passed the years of early
womanhood, take only water to drink, for this is by nature of all
drinks the most cooling. This, if your stomach is strong enough to bear
it; but if your digestion is weak, hear what the apostle says to
Timothy: "use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often
infirmities." [1578] Then as regards your food you must avoid all
heating dishes. I do not speak of flesh dishes only (although of these
the chosen vessel declares his mind thus: "it is good neither to eat
flesh nor to drink wine" [1579] ) but of vegetables as well. Everything
provocative or indigestible is to be refused. Be assured that nothing
is so good for young Christians as the eating of herbs. Accordingly in
another place he says: "another who is weak eateth herbs." [1580] Thus
the heat of the body must be tempered with cold food. Daniel and the
three children lived on pulse. [1581] They were still boys and had not
come yet to that frying-pan on which the King of Babylon fried the
elders [1582] who were judges. Moreover, by an express privilege of
God's own giving their bodily condition was improved by their regimen.
We do not expect that it will be so with us, but we look for increased
vigour of soul which becomes stronger as the flesh grows weaker. Some
persons who aspire to the life of chastity fall midway in their journey
from supposing that they need only abstain from flesh. They load their
stomachs with vegetables which are only harmless when taken sparingly
and in moderation. If I am to say what I think, there is nothing which
so much heats the body and inflames the passions as undigested food and
breathing broken with hiccoughs. As for you, my daughter, I would
rather wound your modesty than endanger my case by understatement.
Regard everything as poison which bears within it the seeds of sensual
pleasure. A meagre diet which leaves the appetite always unsatisfied is
to be preferred to fasts three days long. It is much better to take a
little every day than some days to abstain wholly and on others to
surfeit oneself. That rain is best which falls slowly to the ground.
Showers that come down suddenly and with violence wash away the soil.
11. When you eat your meals, reflect that you must immediately
afterwards pray and read. Have a fixed number of lines of holy
scripture, and render it as your task to your Lord. On no account
resign yourself to sleep until you have filled the basket of your
breast with a woof of this weaving. After the holy scriptures you
should read the writings of learned men; of those at any rate whose
faith is well known. You need not go into the mire to seek for gold;
you have many pearls, buy the one pearl with these. [1583] Stand, as
Jeremiah says, in more ways than one that so you may come on the true
way that leads to the Father. [1584] Exchange your love of necklaces
and of gems and of silk dresses for earnestness in studying the
scriptures. Enter the land of promise that flows with milk and honey.
[1585] Eat fine flour and oil. Let your clothing be, like Joseph's, of
many colors. [1586] Let your ears like those of Jerusalem [1587] be
pierced by the word of God that the precious grains of new corn may
hang from them. In that reverend man Exuperius [1588] you have a man of
tried years and faith ready to give you constant support with his
advice.
12. Make to yourself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that they
may receive you into everlasting habitations. [1589] Give your riches
not to those who feed on pheasants but to those who have none but
common bread to eat, such as stays hunger while it does not stimulate
lust. Consider the poor and needy. [1590] Give to everyone that asks of
you, [1591] but especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
[1592] Clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the sick. [1593] Every
time that you hold out your hand, think of Christ. See to it that you
do not, when the Lord your God asks an alms of you, increase riches
which are none of His.
13. Avoid the company of young men. Let long baited youths dandified
and wanton never be seen under your roof. Repel a singer as you would
some bane. Hurry from your house women who live by playing and singing,
the devil's choir whose songs are the fatal ones of sirens. Do not
arrogate to yourself a widow's license and appear in public preceded by
a host of eunuchs. It is a most mischievous thing for those who are
weak owing to their sex and youth to misuse their own discretion and to
suppose that things are lawful because they are pleasant. "All things
are lawful, but all things are not expedient." [1594] No frizzled
steward nor shapely foster brother nor fair and ruddy footman must
dangle at your heels. Sometimes the tone of the mistress is inferred
from the dress of the maid. Seek the society of holy virgins and
widows; and, if need arises for holding converse with men, do not shun
having witnesses, and let your conversation be marked with such
confidence that the entry of a third person shall neither startle you
nor make you blush. The face is the mirror of the mind and a woman's
eyes without a word betray the secrets of her heart. I have lately seen
a most miserable scandal traverse the entire East. The lady's age and
style, her dress and mien, the indiscriminate company she kept, her
dainty table and her regal appointments bespoke her the bride of a Nero
or of a Sardanapallus. The scars of others should teach us caution.
When he that causeth trouble is scourged the fool will be wiser.'
[1595] A holy love knows no impatience. A false rumor is quickly
crushed and the after life passes judgment on that which has gone
before. It is not indeed possible that any one should come to the end
of life's race without suffering from calumny; the wicked find it a
consolation to carp at the good, supposing the guilt of sin to be less,
in proportion as the number of those who commit it is greater. Still a
fire of straw quickly dies out and a spreading flame soon expires if
fuel to it be wanting. Whether the report which prevailed a year ago
was true or false, when once the sin ceases, the scandal also will
cease. I do not say this because I fear anything wrong in your case but
because, owing to my deep affection for you, there is no safety that I
do not fear. [1596] Oh! that you could see your sister [1597] and that
it might be yours to hear the eloquence of her holy lips and to behold
the mighty spirit which animates her diminutive frame. You might hear
the whole contents of the old and new testaments come bubbling up out
of her heart. Fasting is her sport, and prayer she makes her pastime.
Like Miriam after the drowning Pharaoh she takes up her timbrel and
sings to the virgin choir, "Let us sing to the Lord for He hath
triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the
sea." [1598] She teaches her companions to be music girls but music
girls for Christ, to be luteplayers but luteplayers for the Saviour. In
this occupation she passes both day and night and with oil ready to put
in the lamps she waits the coming of the Bridegroom. [1599] Do you
therefore imitate your kinswoman. Let Rome have in you what a grander
city than Rome, I mean Bethlehem, has in her.
14. You have wealth and can easily therefore supply food to those who
want it. Let virtue consume what was provided for self-indulgence; one
who means to despise matrimony need fear no degree of want. Have about
you troops of virgins whom you may lead into the king's chamber.
Support widows that you may mingle them as a kind of violets with the
virgins' lilies and the martyrs' roses. Such are the garlands you must
weave for Christ in place of that crown of thorns [1600] in which he
bore the sins of the world. Let your most noble father thus find in you
his joy and support, let him learn from his daughter the lessons he
used to learn from his wife. His hair is already gray, his knees
tremble, his teeth fall out, his brow is furrowed through years, death
is nigh even at the doors, the pyre is all but laid out hard by.
Whether we like it or not, we grow old. Let him provide for himself the
provision which is needful for his long journey. Let him take with him
what otherwise he must unwillingly leave behind, nay let him send
before him to heaven what if he declines it, will be appropriated by
earth.
15. Young widows, of whom some "are already turned aside after Satan,
when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ " [1601] and wish to
marry, generally make such excuses as these. "My little patrimony is
daily decreasing, the property which I have inherited is being
squandered, a servant has spoken insultingly to me, a maid has
neglected my orders. Who will appear for me before the authorities? Who
will be responsible for the rents of my estates? [1602] Who will see to
the education of my children, and to the bringing up of my slaves?"
Thus, shameful to say, they put that forward as a reason for marrying
again, which alone should deter them from doing so. For by marrying
again a mother places over her sons not a guardian but a foe, not a
father but a tyrant. Inflamed by her passions she forgets the fruit of
her womb, and among the children who know nothing of their sad fate the
lately weeping widow dresses herself once more as a bride. Why these
excuses about your property and the insolence of slaves? Confess the
shameful truth. No woman marries to avoid cohabiting with a husband. At
least, if passion is not your motive, it is mere madness to play the
harlot just to increase wealth. You do but purchase a paltry and
passing gain at the price of a grace which is precious and eternal! If
you have children already, why do you want to marry? If you have none,
why do you not fear a recurrence of your former sterility? Why do you
put an uncertain gain before a certain loss of self-respect?
A marriage-settlement is made in your favour to-day but in a short time
you will be constrained to make your will. Your husband will feign
sickness and will do for you what he wants you to do for him. Yet he is
sure to live and you are sure to die. Or if it happens that you have
sons by the second husband, domestic strife is certain to result and
intestine disputes. You will not be allowed to love your first
children, nor to look kindly on those to whom you have yourself given
birth. You will have to give them their food secretly; yet even so your
present husband will bear a grudge against your previous one and,
unless you hate your sons, he will think that you still love their
father. But your husband may have issue by a former wife. If so when he
takes you to his home, though you should be the kindest person in the
world, all the commonplaces of rhetoricians and declamations of comic
poets and writers of mimes will be hurled at you as a cruel stepmother.
If your stepson fall sick or have a headache you will be calumniated as
a poisoner. If you refuse him food, you will be cruel, while if you
give it, you will be held to have bewitched him. I ask you what benefit
has a second marriage to confer great enough to compensate for these
evils?
16. Do we wish to know what widows ought to be? Let us read the gospel
according to Luke. "There was one Anna," he says, "a prophetess, the
daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Aser." [1603] The meaning of the
name Anna is grace. Phanuel is in our tongue the face of God. Aser may
be translated either as blessedness or as wealth. From her youth up to
the age of fourscore and four years she had borne the burden of
widowhood, not departing from the temple and giving herself to fastings
and prayers night and day; therefore she earned spiritual grace,
received the title daughter of the face of God,' [1604] and obtained a
share in the blessedness and wealth' [1605] which belonged to her
ancestry. Let us recall to mind the widow of Zarephath [1606] who
thought more of satisfying Elijah's hunger than of preserving her own
life and that of her son. Though she believed that she and he must die
that very night unless they had food, she determined that her guest
should survive. She preferred to sacrifice her life rather than to
neglect the duty of almsgiving. In her handful of meal she found the
seed from which she was to reap a harvest sent her by the Lord. She
sows her meal and lo! a cruse of oil comes from it. In the land of
Judah grain was scarce for the corn of wheat had died there; [1607] but
in the house of a heathen widow oil flowed in streams. In the book of
Judith--if any one is of opinion that it should be received as
canonical--we read of a widow wasted with fasting and wearing the
sombre garb of a mourner, whose outward squalor indicated not so much
the regret which she felt for her dead husband as the temper [1608] in
which she looked forward to the coming of the Bridegroom. I see her
hand armed with the sword and stained with blood. I recognize the head
of Holofernes which she has carried away from the camp of the enemy.
Here a woman vanquishes men, and chastity beheads lust. Quickly
changing her garb, she puts on once more in the hour of victory her own
mean dress finer than all the splendours of the world. [1609]
17. Some from a misapprehension number Deborah among the widows, and
suppose that Barak the leader of the army is her son, though the
scripture tells a different story. I will mention her here because she
was a prophetess and is reckoned among the judges, and again because
she might have said with the psalmist:--"How sweet are thy words unto
my taste! yea sweeter than honey to my mouth." [1610] Well was she
called the bee [1611] for she fed on the flowers of scripture, was
enveloped with the fragrance of the Holy Spirit, and gathered into one
with prophetic lips the sweet juices of the nectar. Then there is
Naomi, in Greek parakeklemene [1612] or she who is consoled, who, when
her husband and her children died abroad, carried her chastity back
home and, being supported on the road by its aid, kept with her her
Moabitish daughter-in-law, that in her the prophecy of Isaiah [1613]
might find a fulfilment. "Send out the lamb, O Lord, to rule over the
land from the rock of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Zion."
[1614] I pass on to the widow in the gospel who, though she was but a
poor widow was yet richer than all the people of Israel. [1615] She had
but a grain of mustard seed, but she put her leaven in three measures
of flour; and, combining her confession of the Father and of the Son
with the grace of the Holy Spirit, she cast her two mites into the
treasury. All the substance that she had, her entire possessions, she
offered in the two testaments of her faith. These are the two seraphim
which glorify the Trinity with threefold song [1616] and are stored
among the treasures of the church. They also form the legs of the tongs
by which the live coal is caught up to purge the sinner's lips. [1617]
18. But why should I recall instances from history and bring from books
types of saintly women, when in your own city you have many before your
eyes whose example you may well imitate? I shall not recount their
merits here lest I should seem to flatter them. It will suffice to
mention the saintly Marcella [1618] who, while she is true to the
claims of her birth and station, has set before us a life which is
worthy of the gospel. Anna "lived with an husband seven years from her
virginity"; [1619] Marcella lived with one for seven months. Anna
looked for the coming of Christ; Marcella holds fast the Lord whom Anna
received in her arms. Anna sang His praise when He was still a wailing
infant; Marcella proclaims His glory now that He has won His triumph.
Anna spoke of Him to all those who waited for the redemption of Israel;
Marcella cries out with the nations of the redeemed: "A brother
redeemeth not, yet a man shall redeem," [1620] and from another psalm:
"A man was born in her, and the Highest Himself hath established her."
[1621]
About two years ago, as I well remember, I published a book against
Jovinian in which by the authority of scripture I crushed the
objections raised on the other side on account of the apostle's
concession of second marriages. It is unnecessary that I should repeat
my arguments afresh here, as you can find them all in this treatise.
That I may not exceed the limits of a letter, I will only give you this
one last piece of advice. Think every day that you must die, and you
will then never think of marrying again.
__________________________________________________________________
[1539] i.e. a celibate.
[1540] Lucius Furius Camillus, the hero who conquered Veii and freed
Rome from the Gauls.
[1541] Wisdom iv. 13.
[1542] Horace, A. P. 94: the allusion is to a scene in the Heauton
Timorumenus of Terence.
[1543] Matt. viii. 22.
[1544] 1 Joh. ii. 6.
[1545] Ex. xx. 12.
[1546] Ps. xlv. 10, 11.
[1547] Cant. iv. 7.
[1548] Ps. xlv. 10.
[1549] Cf. 1 Pet. iii. 3.
[1550] Hac ambitione ditata.
[1551] Numb. xi. 20, 31-4.
[1552] 1 Pet. ii. 22.
[1553] Furia's sister-in-law Blæsilla was through her mother Paula
descended from the Gracchi. See Letter CVIII. § 33.
[1554] Acts xx. 28.
[1555] Virg. A. iv. 32.
[1556] See Letter XXXVIII. § 5.
[1557] Persius i. 32 sqq.
[1558] Propositum. The word was passing from the meaning of a purpose
into that of a formal vow.
[1559] Rom. x. 2.
[1560] Titiana.
[1561] Ezek. xxxiii. 12.
[1562] Gen. xxviii. 12.
[1563] Rev. iii. 16.
[1564] Luke vii. 47.
[1565] 1 Tim. v. 5.
[1566] Eph. vi. 16.
[1567] 1 Tim. v. 6.
[1568] Ezek. xviii. 20.
[1569] 1 Tim. v. 24, 25.
[1570] 1 Cor. ix. 27.
[1571] 1 Tim. iv. 4.
[1572] The island of Lemnos in the Ægean Sea.
[1573] The hundred-eyed son of Inachus appointed by Hera to be the
guardian of Io.
[1574] 1 Cor. vi. 18.
[1575] Luke xxi. 34.
[1576] Eph. v. 18.
[1577] Ter. Enn. iv. 5, 6.
[1578] 1 Tim. v. 23.
[1579] Rom. xiv. 21.
[1580] Rom. xiv. 2.
[1581] Dan. i. 16.
[1582] i.e. Ahab and Zedekiah whose fate is recorded Jer. xxix. 20-23.
According to Jerome tradition identified them with the elders who
tempted Susannah, although these latter are said to have been stoned
and not burned.
[1583] Matt. xiii. 45, 46.
[1584] Jer. vi. 16. The ways.' Vulg. VA V. More than one' is Jerome's
Gloss.
[1585] Ex. xxxiii. 3.
[1586] Gen. xxxvii. 23.
[1587] Ezek. xvi. 12.
[1588] Afterwards Bishop of Tolosa (Toulouse). He is mentioned again in
Letters CXXIII. and CXXV.
[1589] Luke xvi. 9.
[1590] Ps. xli. i, PBV.
[1591] Matt. v. 42.
[1592] Gal. vi. 10.
[1593] Cf. Matt. xxv. 35, 36.
[1594] 1 Cor. vi. 12.
[1595] Prov. xix. 25, Vulg.
[1596] Cf. Virg. A. iv. 298.
[1597] Her cousin Eustochium seems to be meant.
[1598] Ex. xv. 21.
[1599] Matt. xxv. 4.
[1600] Matt. xxvii. 29.
[1601] 1 Tim. v. 15, 11.
[1602] Agrorum tributa.
[1603] Luke ii. 36.
[1604] Penuel (A.V. Phanuel) means face of God' cf. Gen. xxxii. 30.
[1605] Asher = blessedness or wealth.'
[1606] 1 Kings xvii.
[1607] Joh. xii. 24.
[1608] i.e., that of penitence.
[1609] Judith xiii.
[1610] Ps. cxix. 103.
[1611] The meaning of Deborah.
[1612] Jerome appears to have read ntmy for nmy. The latter means my
pleasantness.'
[1613] Made long afterwards.
[1614] Isa. xvi. 1 Vulg. the rock of the desert' is a poetical name for
Moab.
[1615] Mark xii. 43.
[1616] Isa. vi. 2, 3. See Letter, XVIII. ante.
[1617] Isa. vi. 6.
[1618] See Letters XXIII., LXXVII., etc.
[1619] Luke ii. 36.
[1620] Ps. xlix. 7. Vulg.
[1621] Ps. lxxxvii. 5.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LV. To Amandus.
A very interesting letter. Amandus a presbyter of Burdigala (Bourdeaux)
had written to Jerome for an explanation of three passages of
scripture, viz. Matt. vi. 34, 1 Cor. vi. 18, 1 Cor. xv. 25, 26, and had
in the same letter on behalf of a sister' (supposed by Thierry to have
been Fabiola) put the following question: Can a woman who has divorced
her first husband on account of his vices and who has during his
lifetime under compulsion married again, communicate with the Church
without first doing penance?' Jerome in his reply gives the
explanations asked for but answers the farther question, that
concerning the sister,' with an emphatic negative. Written about the
year 394 a.d.
1. A short letter does not admit of long explanations; compressing much
matter into a small space it can only give a few words to topics which
suggest many thoughts. You ask me what is the meaning of the passage in
the gospel according to Matthew, "take no thought for the morrow.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." [1622] In the holy
scriptures "the morrow" signifies the time to come. Thus in Genesis
Jacob says: "So shall my righteousness answer for me to-morrow." [1623]
Again when the two tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of
Manasseh had built an altar and when all Israel had sent to them an
embassy, they made answer to Phinehas the high priest that they had
built the altar lest "to-morrow" it might be said to their children,
"ye have no part in the Lord." [1624] You may find many similar
passages in the old instrument. [1625] While then Christ forbids us to
take thought for things future, He has allowed us to do so for things
present, knowing as He does the frailty of our mortal condition. His
remaining words "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" are to be
understood as meaning that it is sufficient for us to think of the
present troubles of this life. Why need we extend our thoughts to
contingencies, to objects which we either cannot obtain or else having
obtained must soon relinquish? The Greek word kakia rendered in the
Latin version "wickedness" has two distinct meanings, wickedness and
tribulation, which latter the Greek call kakosin and in this passage
"tribulation" would be a better rendering than "wickedness." But if any
one demurs to this and insists that the word kakia must mean
"wickedness" and not "tribulation" or "trouble," the meaning must be
the same as in the words "the whole world lieth in wickedness" [1626]
and as in the Lord's prayer in the clause, "deliver us from evil:"
[1627] the purport of the passage will then be that our present
conflict with the wickedness of this world should be enough for us.
2. Secondly, you ask me concerning the passage in the first epistle of
the blessed apostle Paul to the Corinthians where he says: "every sin
that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth
fornication sinneth against his own body." [1628] Let us go back a
little farther and read on until we come to these words, for we must
not seek to learn the whole meaning of the section, from the concluding
parts of it, or, if I may so say, from the tail of the chapter. [1629]
"The body is not for fornication but for the Lord; and the Lord for the
body. And God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us
[with Him] by his own power. Know ye not that your bodies are the
members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make
them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What! Know ye not that he
which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be
one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee
fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he
that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body," [1630] and
so on. The holy apostle has been arguing against excess and has just
before said "meats for the belly and the belly for meats: but God shall
destroy both it and them." [1631] Now he comes to treat of fornication.
For excess in eating is the mother of lust; a belly that is distended
with food and saturated with draughts of wine is sure to lead to
sensual passion. As has been elsewhere said "the arrangement of man's
organs suggests the course of his vices." [1632] Accordingly all such
sins as theft, manslaughter, pillage, perjury, and the like can be
repented of after they have been committed; and, however much interest
may tempt him, conscience always smites the offender. It is only lust
and sensual pleasure that in the very hour of penitence undergo once
more the temptations of the past, the itch of the flesh, and the
allurements of sin; so that the very thought which we bestow on the
correction of such transgressions becomes in itself a new source of
sin. Or to put the matter in a different light: other sins are outside
of us; and whatever we do we do against others. But fornication defiles
the fornicator both in conscience and body; and in accordance with the
words of the Lord, "for this cause shall a man leave father and mother,
and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh,"
[1633] he too becomes one body with a harlot and sins against his own
body by making what is the temple of Christ the body of a harlot. Not
to pass over any suggestion of the Greek commentators, I shall give you
one more explanation. It is one thing, they say, to sin with the body,
and another to sin in the body. Theft, manslaughter, and all other sins
except fornication we commit with our hands outside ourselves.
Fornication alone we commit inside ourselves in our bodies and not with
our bodies upon others. The preposition with' denotes the instrument
used in sinning, while the preposition in' signifies the sphere of the
passion is ourselves. Some again give this explanation that according
to the scripture a man's body is his wife and that when a man commits
fornication he is said to sin against his own body that is against his
wife inasmuch as he defiles her by his own fornication and causes her
though herself free from sin to become a sinner through her intercourse
with him.
3. I find joined to your letter of inquiries a short paper containing
the following words: "ask him, (that is me,) whether a woman who has
left her husband on the ground that he is an adulterer and sodomite and
has found herself compelled to take another may in the lifetime of him
whom she first left be in communion with the church without doing
penance for her fault." As I read the case put I recall the verse "they
make excuses for their sins." [1634] We are all human and all indulgent
to our own faults; and what our own will leads us to do we attribute to
a necessity of nature. It is as though a young man were to say, "I am
over-borne by my body, the glow of nature kindles my passions, the
structure of my frame and its reproductive organs call for sexual
intercourse." Or again a murderer might say, "I was in want, I stood in
need of food, I had nothing to cover me. If I shed the blood of
another, it was to save myself from dying of cold and hunger." Tell the
sister, therefore, who thus enquires of me concerning her condition,
not my sentence but that of the apostle. "Know ye not, brethren (for I
speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a
man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound
by the law to her husband, so long as he liveth; but if the husband be
dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then, if, while her
husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an
adulteress." [1635] And in another place: "the wife is bound by the law
as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at
liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord." [1636] The
apostle has thus cut away every plea and has clearly declared that, if
a woman marries again while her husband is living, she is an
adulteress. You must not speak to me of the violence of a ravisher, a
mother's pleading, a father's bidding, the influence of relatives, the
insolence and the intrigues of servants, household losses. A husband
may be an adulterer or a sodomite, he may be stained with every crime
and may have been left by his wife because of his sins; yet he is still
her husband and, so long as he lives, she may not marry another. The
apostle does not promulgate this decree on his own authority but on
that of Christ who speaks in him. For he has followed the words of
Christ in the gospel: "whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for
the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever
shall marry her that is divorced, committeth adultery." [1637] Mark
what he says: "whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth
adultery." Whether she has put away her husband or her husband her, the
man who marries her is still an adulterer. Wherefore the apostles
seeing how heavy the yoke of marriage was thus made said to Him: "if
the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry," and
the Lord replied, "he that is able to receive it, let him receive it."
And immediately by the instance of the three eunuchs he shows the
blessedness of virginity which is bound by no carnal tie. [1638]
4. I have not been able quite to determine what it is that she means by
the words "has found herself compelled" to marry again. What is this
compulsion of which she speaks? Was she overborne by a crowd and
ravished against her will? If so, why has she not, thus victimized,
subsequently put away her ravisher? Let her read the books of Moses and
she will find that if violence is offered to a betrothed virgin in a
city and she does not cry out, she is punished as an adulteress: but if
she is forced in the field, she is innocent of sin and her ravisher
alone is amenable to the laws. [1639] Therefore if your sister, who, as
she says, has been forced into a second union, wishes to receive the
body of Christ and not to be accounted an adulteress, let her do
penance; so far at least as from the time she begins to repent to have
no farther intercourse with that second husband who ought to be called
not a husband but an adulterer. If this seems hard to her and if she
cannot leave one whom she has once loved and will not prefer the Lord
to sensual pleasure, let her hear the declaration of the apostle: "ye
cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils: ye cannot be
partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils," [1640] and
in another place: "what communion hath light with darkness? and what
concord hath Christ with Belial?" [1641] What I am about to say may
sound novel but after all it is not new but old for it is supported by
the witness of the old testament. If she leaves her second husband and
desires to be reconciled with her first, she cannot be so now; for it
is written in Deuteronomy: "When a man hath taken a wife, and married
her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because
he hath found some uncleanness in her; then let him write her a bill of
divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another
man's wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of
divorcement and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his
house; or if the latter husband die which took her to be his wife; her
former husband, which sent her away may not take her again to be his
wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the
Lord: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the Lord thy God
giveth thee for an inheritance." [1642] Wherefore, I beseech you, do
your best to comfort her and to urge her to seek salvation. Diseased
flesh calls for the knife and the searing-iron. The wound is to blame
and not the healing art, if with a cruelty that is really kindness a
physician to spare does not spare, and to be merciful is cruel. [1643]
5. Your third and last question relates to the passage in the same
epistle where the apostle in discussing the resurrection, comes to the
words: "for he must reign, till he hath put all things under his feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all
things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him,
it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also
himself be subject unto him that put all things under him that God may
be all in all." [1644] I am surprised that you have resolved to
question me about this passage when that reverend man, Hilary, bishop
of Poictiers, has occupied the eleventh book of his treatise against
the Arians with a full examination and explanation of it. Yet I may at
least say a few words. The chief stumbling-block in the passage is that
the Son is said to be subject to the Father. Now which is the more
shameful and humiliating, to be subject to the Father (often a mark of
loving devotion as in the psalm "truly my soul is subject unto God"
[1645] ) or to be crucified and made the curse of the cross? For
"cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree." [1646] If Christ then for
our sakes was made a curse that He might deliver us from the curse of
the law, are you surprised that He is also for our sakes subject to the
Father to make us too subject to Him as He says in the gospel: "No man
cometh unto the Father but by me," [1647] and "I, if I be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all men unto me." [1648] Christ then is
subject to the Father in the faithful; for all believers, nay the whole
human race, are accounted members of His body. But in unbelievers, that
is in Jews, heathens, and heretics, He is said to be not subject; for
these members of His body are not subject to the faith. But in the end
of the world when all His members shall see Christ, that is their own
body, reigning, they also shall be made subject to Christ, that is to
their own body, that the whole of Christ's body may be subject unto God
and the Father, and that God may be all in all. He does not say "that
the Father may be all in all" but that "God" may be, a title which
properly belongs to the Trinity and may be referred not only to the
Father but also to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. His meaning therefore
is "that humanity may be subject to the Godhead." By humanity we here
intend not that gentleness and kindness which the Greeks call
philanthropy but the whole human race. Moreover when he says "that God
may be all in all," it is to be taken in this sense. At present our
Lord and Saviour is not all in all, but only a part in each of us. For
instance He is wisdom in Solomon, generosity in David, patience in Job,
knowledge of things to come in Daniel, faith in Peter, zeal in Phinehas
and Paul, virginity in John, and other virtues in others. But when the
end of all things shall come, then shall He be all in all, for then the
saints shall severally possess all the virtues and all will possess
Christ in His entirety.
__________________________________________________________________
[1622] Matt. vi. 34.
[1623] Gen. xxx. 33, A.V. marg.
[1624] Josh. xxii. 27: A.V. and R.V. have "in time to come."
[1625] Instrumentum--a legal term introduced by Tertullian. He uses it
both of the Christian dispensation and of its written record.
[1626] 1 Joh. v. 19. Where, however, the word is ento poneeo.
[1627] Matt. vi. 13. apo tou ponerou.
[1628] 1 Cor. vi. 18.
[1629] Capitulum, "Passage." The present division of the Bible into
chapters did not exist in Jerome's time. It is ascribed by some to Abp.
Stephen Langton and by others to Card. Hugh de St. Cher.
[1630] 1 Cor. vi. 13-18.
[1631] 1 Cor. vi. 13.
[1632] Tertullian, on Fasting, I.
[1633] Matt. xix. 5; 1 Cor. vi. 16.
[1634] Ps. clxi. 4, Vulg.
[1635] Rom. vii. 1-3.
[1636] 1 Cor. vii. 39.
[1637] Matt. v. 32.
[1638] Matt. xix. 10-12.
[1639] Deut. xxii. 23-27.
[1640] 1 Cor. x. 21.
[1641] 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.
[1642] Deut. xxiv. 1-4.
[1643] Cf. Letter XL. § 1.
[1644] 1 Cor. xv. 25-28.
[1645] Ps. lxii. 1, Vulg.
[1646] Gal. iii. 13.
[1647] Joh. xiv. 6.
[1648] Joh. xii. 32.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LVI. From Augustine.
Augustine's first letter to Jerome (printed in his correspondence in
this Library as Letter XXVIII.): through a series of accidents it was
not delivered until nine years after it had been written. In it
Augustine comments on Jerome's new Latin version of the O.T. and
advises him in his future labours to adhere more closely to the text of
the LXX. He also discusses Jerome's account (in his commentary on the
epistle to the Galatians) of the quarrel between Paul and Peter at
Antioch. This according to Jerome was not a real misunderstanding but
only one artificially got up' to put clearly before the Church the
mischief of Christians conforming to the now obsolete Mosaic Law.
Augustine strongly controverts this view and maintains that it is fatal
to the veracity and authority claimed for scripture. Written from Hippo
about the year 394 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LVII. To Pammachius on the Best Method of Translating.
Written to Pammachius (for whom see Letter LXVI.) in a.d. 395. In the
previous year Jerome had rendered into Latin Letter LI. (from
Epiphanius to John of Jerusalem) under circumstances which he here
describes (§2). His version soon became public and incurred severe
criticism from some person not named by Jerome but supposed by him to
have been instigated by Rufinus (§12). Charged with having falsified
his original he now repudiates the charge and defends his method of
translation ("to give sense for sense and not word for word" §5) by an
appeal to the practice of classical (§5), ecclesiastical (§6), and N.T.
(§§7-10) writers.
When at a subsequent period Rufinus gave to the world what was in
Jerome's opinion a misleading version of Origen's First Principles, he
appealed to this letter as giving him ample warranty for what he had
done. See Letters LXXX, and LXXXI, and Rufinus' Preface to the peri
'Aechon in Vol. iii. of this series.
1. The apostle Paul when he appeared before King Agrippa to answer the
charges which were brought against him, wishing to use language
intelligible to his hearers and confident of the success of his cause,
began by congratulating himself in these words: "I think myself happy,
King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee
touching all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews: especially
because thou art expert in all customs and questions which are among
the Jews." [1649] He had read the saying of Jesus: [1650] "Well is him
that speaketh in the ears of them that will hear;" [1651] and he knew
that a pleader only succeeds in proportion as he impresses his judge.
On this occasion I too think myself happy that learned ears will hear
my defence. For a rash tongue charges me with ignorance or falsehood;
it alleges that in translating another man's letter I have made
mistakes through incapacity or carelessness; it convicts me of either
an involuntary error or a deliberate offence. And lest it should happen
that my accuser--encouraged by a volubility which stops at nothing and
by an impunity which arrogates to itself an unlimited license--should
accuse me as he has already done our father (Pope) Epiphanius; I send
this letter to inform you--and through you others who think me worthy
of their regard--of the true order of the facts.
2. About two years ago the aforesaid Pope Epiphanius sent a letter
[1652] to Bishop John, first finding fault with him as regarded some of
his opinions and then mildly calling him to penitence. Such was the
repute of the writer or else the elegance of the letter that all
Palestine fought for copies of it. Now there was in our monastery a man
of no small estimation in his country, Eusebius of Cremona, who, when
he found that this letter was in everybody's mouth and that the
ignorant and the educated alike admired it for its teaching and for the
purity of its style, set to work to beg me to translate it for him into
Latin and at the same time to simplify the argument so that he might
more readily understand it; for he was himself altogether unacquainted
with the Greek language. I consented to his request and calling to my
aid a secretary speedily dictated my version, briefly marking on the
side of the page the contents of the several chapters. The fact is that
he asked me to do this merely for himself, and I requested of him in
return to keep his copy private and not too readily to circulate it. A
year and six months went by, and then the aforesaid translation found
its way by a novel stratagem from his desk to Jerusalem. For a
pretended monk--either bribed as there is much reason to believe or
actuated by malice of his own as his tempter vainly tries to convince
us--shewed himself a second Judas by robbing Eusebius of his literary
property and gave to the adversary an occasion of railing [1653]
against me. They tell the unlearned that I have falsified the original,
that I have not rendered word for word, that I have put dear friend' in
place of honourable sir,' and more shameful still! that I have cut down
my translation by omitting the words aidesimotate Pappa. [1654] These
and similar trifles form the substance of the charges brought against
me.
3. At the outset before I defend my version I wish to ask those persons
who confound wisdom with cunning, some few questions. Where did you get
your copy of the letter? Who gave it to you? How have you the
effrontery to bring forward what you have procured by fraud? What place
of safety will be left us if we cannot conceal our secrets even within
our own walls and our own writing-desks? Were I to press such a charge
against you before a legal tribunal, I could make you amenable to the
laws which even in fiscal cases appoint penalties for meddlesome
informers and condemn the traitor even while they accept his treachery.
For though they welcome the profit which the information gives them,
they disapprove the motive which actuates the informer. A little while
ago a man of consular rank named Hesychius (against whom the patriarch
Gamaliel waged an implacable war) was condemned to death by the emperor
Theodosius simply because he had laid hold of imperial papers through a
secretary whom he had tempted. We read also in old histories [1655]
that the schoolmaster who betrayed the children of the Faliscans was
sent back to his boys and handed over to them in bonds, the Roman
people refusing to accept a dishonourable victory. When Pyrrhus king of
Epirus was lying in his camp ill from the effects of a wound, his
physician offered to poison him, but Fabricius thinking it shame that
the king should die by treachery sent the traitor back in chains to his
master, refusing to sanction crime even when its victim was an enemy.
[1656] A principle which the laws uphold, which is maintained by
enemies, which warfare and the sword fail to violate, has hitherto been
held unquestioned among the monks and priests of Christ. And can any
one of them presume now, knitting his brow and snapping his fingers,
[1657] to spend his breath in saying: "What if he did use bribes or
other inducements! he did what suited his purpose." A strange plea
truly to defend a fraud as though robbers, thieves, and pirates did not
do the same. Certainly, when Annas and Caiaphas led hapless Judas
astray, they only did what they believed to be expedient for
themselves.
4. Suppose that I wish to write down in my note books this or that
silly trifle, or to make comments upon the scriptures, to retort upon
my calumniators, to digest my wrath, to practise myself in the use of
commonplaces and to stow away sharp shafts for the day of battle. So
long as I do not publish my thoughts, they are only unkind words not
matter for a charge of libel; in fact they are not even unkind words
for the public ear never hears them. You [1658] may bribe my slaves and
tamper with my clients. You may, as the fable has it, penetrate by
means of your gold to the chamber of Danaë; [1659] and then,
dissembling what you have done, you may call me a falsifier; but, if
you do so, you will have to plead guilty yourself to a worse charge
than any that you can bring against me. One man inveighs against you as
a heretic, another as a perverter of doctrine. You are silent yourself;
you do not venture to answer; you assail the translator; you cavil
about syllables and you fancy your defence complete if your calumnies
provoke no reply. Suppose that I have made a mistake or an omission in
my rendering. Your whole case turns upon this; this is the defence
which you offer to your accusers. Are you no heretic because I am a bad
translator? Mind, I do not say that I know you to be a heretic; I leave
such knowledge to your accuser, to him who wrote the letter: [1660]
what I do say is that it is the height of folly for you when you are
accused by one man to attack another, and when you are covered with
wounds yourself to seek comfort by wounding one who is still quiescent
and unaggressive.
5. In the above remarks I have assumed that I have made alterations in
the letter and that a simple translation may contain errors though not
wilful ones. As, however the letter itself shews that no changes have
been made in the sense, that nothing has been added, and that no
doctrine has been foisted into it, "obviously their object is
understanding to understand nothing;" [1661] and while they desire to
arraign another's want of skill, they betray their own. For I myself
not only admit but freely proclaim that in translating from the Greek
(except in the case of the holy scriptures where even the order of the
words is a mystery) I render sense for sense and not word for word. For
this course I have the authority of Tully who has so translated the
Protagoras of Plato, the OEconomicus of Xenophon, and the two beautiful
orations [1662] which Æschines and Demosthenes delivered one against
the other. What omissions, additions, and alterations he has made
substituting the idioms of his own for those of another tongue, this is
not the time to say. I am satisfied to quote the authority of the
translator who has spoken as follows in a prologue [1663] prefixed to
the orations. "I have thought it right to embrace a labour which though
not necessary for myself will prove useful to those who study. I have
translated the noblest speeches of the two most eloquent of the Attic
orators, the speeches which Æschines and Demosthenes delivered one
against the other; but I have rendered them not as a translator but as
an orator, keeping the sense but altering the form by adapting both the
metaphors and the words to suit our own idiom. I have not deemed it
necessary to render word for word but I have reproduced the general
style and emphasis. I have not supposed myself bound to pay the words
out one by one to the reader but only to give him an equivalent in
value." Again at the close of his task he says, "I shall be well
satisfied if my rendering is found, as I trust it will be, true to this
standard. In making it I have utilized all the excellences of the
originals, I mean the sentiments, the forms of expression and the
arrangement of the topics, while I have followed the actual wording
only so far as I could do so without offending our notions of taste. If
all that I have written is not to be found in the Greek, I have at any
rate striven to make it correspond with it." Horace too, an acute and
learned writer, in his Art of Poetry gives the same advice to the
skilled translator:--
And care not thou with over anxious thought
To render word for word. [1664]
Terence has translated Menander; Plautus and Cæcilius the old comic
poets. [1665] Do they ever stick at words? Do they not rather in their
versions think first of preserving the beauty and charm of their
originals? What men like you call fidelity in transcription, the
learned term pestilent minuteness. [1666] Such were my teachers about
twenty years ago; and even then [1667] I was the victim of a similar
error to that which is now imputed to me, though indeed I never
imagined that you would charge me with it. In translating the Chronicle
of Eusebius of Cæsarea into Latin, I made among others the following
prefatory observations: "It is difficult in following lines laid down
by others not sometimes to diverge from them, and it is hard to
preserve in a translation the charm of expressions which in another
language are most felicitous. Each particular word conveys a meaning of
its own, and possibly I have no equivalent by which to render it, and
if I make a circuit to reach my goal, I have to go many miles to cover
a short distance. [1668] To these difficulties must be added the
windings of hyperbata, differences in the use of cases, divergencies of
metaphor; and last of all the peculiar and if I may so call it, inbred
character of the language. If I render word for word, the result will
sound uncouth, and if compelled by necessity I alter anything in the
order or wording, I shall seem to have departed from the function of a
translator." [1669] And after a long discussion which it would be
tedious to follow out here, I added what follows:--"If any one imagines
that translation does not impair the charm of style, let him render
Homer word for word into Latin, nay I will go farther still and say,
let him render it into Latin prose, and the result will be that the
order of the words will seem ridiculous and the most eloquent of poets
scarcely articulate." [1670]
6. In quoting my own writings my only object has been to prove that
from my youth up I at least have always aimed at rendering sense not
words, but if such authority as they supply is deemed insufficient,
read and consider the short preface dealing with this matter which
occurs in a book narrating the life of the blessed Antony. [1671] "A
literal translation from one language into another obscures the sense;
the exuberance of the growth lessens the yield. For while one's diction
is enslaved to cases and metaphors, it has to explain by tedious
circumlocutions what a few words would otherwise have sufficed to make
plain. I have tried to avoid this error in the translation which at
your request I have made of the story of the blessed Antony. My version
always preserves the sense although it does not invariably keep the
words of the original. Leave others to catch at syllables and letters,
do you for your part look for the meaning." Time would fail me were I
to unfold the testimonies of all who have translated only according to
the sense. It is sufficient for the present to name Hilary the
confessor [1672] who has turned some homilies on Job and several
treatises on the Psalms from Greek into Latin; yet has not bound
himself to the drowsiness of the letter or fettered himself by the
stale literalism of inadequate culture. Like a conqueror he has led
away captive into his own tongue the meaning of his originals.
7. That secular and church writers should have adopted this line need
not surprise us when we consider that the translators of the
Septuagint, [1673] the evangelists, and the apostles, have done the
same in dealing with the sacred writings. We read in Mark [1674] of the
Lord saying Talitha cumi and it is immediately added "which is
interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise." The evangelist may be
charged with falsehood for having added the words "I say unto thee" for
the Hebrew is only "Damsel arise." To emphasize this and to give the
impression of one calling and commanding he has added "I say unto
thee." Again in Matthew [1675] when the thirty pieces of silver are
returned by the traitor Judas and the potter's field is purchased with
them, it is written:--"Then was fulfilled that which was spoken of by
Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver
the price of him that was valued which [1676] they of the children of
Israel did value, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord
appointed me.'" This passage is not found in Jeremiah at all but in
Zechariah, in quite different words and an altogether different order.
In fact the Vulgate renders it as follows:--"And I will say unto them,
If it is good in your sight, give ye me a price or refuse it: So they
weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto
me, Put them into the melting furnace and consider if it is tried as I
have been tried by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and
cast them into the house of the Lord." [1677] It is evident that the
rendering of the Septuagint differs widely from the quotation of the
evangelist. In the Hebrew also, though the sense is the same, the words
are quite different and differently arranged. It says: "And I said unto
them, If ye think good, give me my price; and, if not, forbear. So they
weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto
me, Cast it unto the potter; [1678] a goodly price that I was priced at
of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the
potter in the house of the Lord." [1679] They may accuse the apostle of
falsifying his version seeing that it agrees neither with the Hebrew
nor with the translators of the Septuagint: and worse than this, they
may say that he has mistaken the author's name putting down Jeremiah
when it should be Zechariah. Far be it from us to speak thus of a
follower [1680] of Christ, who made it his care to formulate dogmas
rather than to hunt for words and syllables. To take another instance
from Zechariah, the evangelist John quotes from the Hebrew, "They shall
look on him whom they pierced," [1681] for which we read in the
Septuagint, "And they shall look upon me because they have mocked me,"
and in the Latin version, "And they shall look upon me for the things
which they have mocked or insulted." Here the evangelist, the
Septuagint, and our own version [1682] all differ; yet the divergence
of language is atoned by oneness of spirit. In Matthew again we read of
the Lord preaching flight to the apostles and confirming His counsel
with a passage from Zechariah. "It is written," he says, "I will smite
the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad."
[1683] But in the Septuagint and in the Hebrew it reads differently,
for it is not God who speaks, as the evangelist makes out, but the
prophet who appeals to God the Father saying:--"Smite the shepherd, and
the sheep shall be scattered." In this instance according to my
judgment--and I have some careful critics with me--the evangelist is
guilty of a fault in presuming to ascribe to God what are the words of
the prophet. Again the same evangelist writes that at the warning of an
angel Joseph took the young child and his mother and went into Egypt
and remained there till the death of Herod; "that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, Out of Egypt have I
called my son." [1684] The Latin manuscripts do not so give the
passage, but in Hosea [1685] the true Hebrew text has the
following:--"When Israel was a child then I loved him, and called my
son out of Egypt." Which the Septuagint renders thus:--"When Israel was
a child then I loved him, and called his sons out of Egypt." Are they
[1686] altogether to be rejected because they have given another turn
to a passage which refers primarily to the mystery of Christ? Or should
we not rather pardon the shortcomings of the translators on the score
of their human frailty according to the saying of James, "In many
things we offend all. If any man offend not in word the same is a
perfect man and able also to bridle the whole body." [1687] Once more
it is written in the pages of the same evangelist, "And he came and
dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene." [1688] Let
these word fanciers and nice critics of all composition tell us where
they have read the words; and if they cannot, let me tell them that
they are in Isaiah. [1689] For in the place where we read and
translate, "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and
a branch shall grow out of his roots," [1690] in the Hebrew idiom it is
written thus, "There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse
and a Nazarene shall grow from his root." How can the Septuagint leave
out the word Nazarene,' if it is unlawful to substitute one word for
another? It is sacrilege either to conceal or to set at naught a
mystery.
8. Let us pass on to other passages, for the brief limits of a letter
do not suffer us to dwell too long on any one point. The same Matthew
says:--"Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, Behold a virgin shall be with
child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name
Emmanuel." [1691] The rendering of the Septuagint is, "Behold a virgin
shall receive seed and shall bring forth a son, and ye shall call his
name Emmanuel." If people cavil at words, obviously to receive seed' is
not the exact equivalent of to be with child,' and ye shall call'
differs from they shall call.' Moreover in the Hebrew we read thus,
"Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name
Immanuel." [1692] Ahaz shall not call him so for he was convicted of
want of faith, nor the Jews for they were destined to deny him, but she
who is to conceive him, and bear him, the virgin herself. In the same
evangelist we read that Herod was troubled at the coming of the Magi
and that gathering together the scribes and the priests he demanded of
them where Christ should be born and that they answered him, "In
Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet; And thou
Bethlehem in the land of Judah art not the least among the princes of
Judah, for out of thee shall come a governour that shall rule my people
Israel." [1693] In the Vulgate [1694] this passage appears as
follows:--"And thou Bethlehem, the house of Ephratah, art small to be
among the thousands of Judah, yet one shall come out of thee for me to
be a prince in Israel." You will be more surprised still at the
difference in words and order between Matthew and the Septuagint if you
look at the Hebrew which runs thus:--"But thou Bethlehem Ephratah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee
shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel." [1695]
Consider one by one the words of the evangelist:--"And thou Bethlehem
in the land of Judah." For "the land of Judah" the Hebrew has
"Ephratah" while the Septuagint gives "the house of Ephratah." The
evangelist writes, "art not the least among the princes of Judah." In
the Septuagint this is, "art small to be among the thousands of Judah,"
while the Hebrew gives, "though thou be little among the thousands of
Judah." There is a contradiction here--and that not merely
verbal--between the evangelist and the prophet; for in this place at
any rate both Septuagint and Hebrew agree. The evangelist says that he
is not little among the princes of Judah, while the passage from which
he queries says exactly the opposite of this, "Thou art small indeed
and little; but yet out of thee, small and little as thou art, there
shall come forth for me a leader in Israel," a sentiment in harmony
with that of the apostle, "God hath chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty." [1696] Moreover the last
clause "to rule" or "to feed my people Israel" clearly runs differently
in the original.
9. I refer to these passages, not to convict the evangelists of
falsification--a charge worthy only of impious men like Celsus,
Porphyry, and Julian--but to bring home to my critics their own want of
knowledge, and to gain from them such consideration that they may
concede to me in the case of a simple letter what, whether they like it
or not, they will have to concede to the Apostles in the Holy
Scriptures. Mark, the disciple of Peter, begins his gospel thus:--"The
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in the
prophet Isaiah: Behold I send my messenger before thy face which shall
prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." [1697] This
quotation is made up from two prophets, Malachi that is to say and
Isaiah. For the first part: "Behold I send my messenger before thy face
which shall prepare thy way before thee," occurs at the close of
Malachi. [1698] But the second part: "The voice of one crying, etc.,"
we read in Isaiah. [1699] On what grounds then has Mark in the very
beginning of his book set the words: "As it is written in the prophet
Isaiah, Behold I send my messenger," when, as we have said, it is not
written in Isaiah at all, but in Malachi the last of the twelve
prophets? Let ignorant presumption solve this nice question if it can,
and I will ask pardon for being in the wrong. The same Mark brings
before us the Saviour thus addressing the Pharisees: "Have ye never
read what David did when he had need and was an hungred, he and they
that were with him, how he went into the house of God in the days of
Abiathar the highpriest, and did eat the shew-bread which is not lawful
to eat but for the priests?" [1700] Now let us turn to the books of
Samuel, or, as they are commonly called, of Kings, and we shall find
there that the highpriest's name was not Abiathar but Ahimelech, [1701]
the same that was afterwards put to death with the rest of the priests
by Doeg at the command of Saul. [1702] Let us pass on now to the
apostle Paul who writes thus to the Corinthians: "For had they known
it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is
written, Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love
Him." [1703] Some writers on this passage betake themselves to the
ravings of the apocryphal books and assert that the quotation comes
from the Revelation of Elijah; [1704] whereas the truth is that it is
found in Isaiah according to the Hebrew text: "Since the beginning of
the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the
eye seen, O God, beside thee what thou hast prepared for them that wait
for thee." [1705] The Septuagint has rendered the words quite
differently: "Since the beginning of the world we have not heard,
neither have our eyes seen any God beside thee and thy true works, and
thou wilt shew mercy to them that wait for thee." We see then from what
place the quotation is taken and yet the apostle has not rendered his
original word for word, but, using a paraphrase, he has given the sense
in different terms. In his epistle to the Romans the same apostle
quotes these words from Isaiah: "Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone
and rock of offence," [1706] a rendering which is at variance with the
Greek version [1707] yet agrees with the original Hebrew. The
Septuagint gives an opposite meaning, "that you fall not on a
stumblingstone nor on a rock of offence." The apostle Peter agrees with
Paul and the Hebrew, writing: "but to them that do not believe, a stone
of stumbling and a rock of offence." [1708] From all these passages it
is clear that the apostles and evangelists in translating the old
testament scriptures have sought to give the meaning rather than the
words, and that they have not greatly cared to preserve forms or
constructions, so long as they could make clear the subject to the
understanding.
10. Luke the evangelist and companion of apostles describes Christ's
first martyr Stephen as relating what follows in a Jewish assembly.
"With threescore and fifteen souls Jacob went down into Egypt, and died
himself, and our fathers were carried over [1709] into Sychem, and laid
in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of
Emmor [1710] the father of Sychem." [1711] In Genesis this passage is
quite differently given, for it is Abraham that buys of Ephron the
Hittite, the son of Zohar, near Hebron, for four hundred shekels [1712]
of silver, a double cave, [1713] and the field that is about it, and
that buries in it Sarah his wife. And in the same book we read that,
after his return from Mesopotamia with his wives and his sons, Jacob
pitched his tent before Salem, a city of Shechem which is in the land
of Canaan, and that he dwelt there and "bought a parcel of a field
where he had spread his tent at the hand of Hamor, the father of
Sychem, for an hundred lambs," [1714] and that "he erected there an
altar and called there upon the God of Israel." [1715] Abraham does not
buy the cave from Hamor the father of Sychem, but from Ephron the son
of Zohar, and he is not buried in Sychem but in Hebron which is
corruptly called Arboch. Whereas the twelve patriarchs are not buried
in Arboch but in Sychem, in the field purchased not by Abraham but by
Jacob. I postpone the solution of this delicate problem to enable those
who cavil at me to search and see that in dealing with the scriptures
it is the sense we have to look to and not the words. In the Hebrew the
twenty-second psalm begins with the exact words which the Lord uttered
on the cross: Eli Eli lama azabthani, which means, "My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?" [1716] Let my critics tell me why the
Septuagint introduces here the words "look thou upon me." For its
rendering is as follows: "My God, my God, look thou upon me, why hast
thou forsaken me?" They will answer no doubt that no harm is done to
the sense by the addition of a couple of words. Let them acknowledge
then that, if in the haste of dictation I have omitted a few, I have
not by so doing endangered the position of the churches.
11. It would be tedious now to enumerate, what great additions and
omissions the Septuagint has made, and all the passages which in
church-copies are marked with daggers and asterisks. The Jews generally
laugh when they hear our version of this passage of Isaiah, "Blessed is
he that hath seed in Zion and servants in Jerusalem." [1717] In Amos
also [1718] after a description of self-indulgence [1719] there come
these words: "They have thought of these things as halting and not
likely to fly," a very rhetorical sentence quite worthy of Tully. But
how shall we deal with the Hebrew originals in which these passages and
others like them are omitted, passages so numerous that to reproduce
them all would require books without number? The number of the
omissions is shown alike by the asterisks mentioned above and by my own
version when compared by a careful reader with the old translation.
[1720] Yet the Septuagint has rightly kept its place in the churches,
either because it is the first of all the versions in time, made before
the coming of Christ, or else because it has been used by the apostles
(only however in places where it does not disagree with the Hebrew
[1721] ). On the other hand we do right to reject Aquila, the proselyte
and controversial translator, who has striven to translate not words
only but their etymologies as well. Who could accept as renderings of
"corn and wine and oil" [1722] such words as cheima oporismos
stilpnotes , or, as we might say, pouring,' and fruitgathering,' and
shining'? or, because Hebrew has in addition to the article other
prefixes [1723] as well, he must with an unhappy pedantry translate
syllable by syllable and letter by letter thus: sun ton ouranon kai sun
ten gen, a construction which neither Greek nor Latin admits of, [1724]
as many passages in our own writers shew. How many are the phrases
charming in Greek which, if rendered word for word, do not sound well
in Latin, and again how many there are that are pleasing to us in
Latin, but which--assuming the order of the words not to be
altered--would not please in Greek.
12. But to pass by this limitless field of discussion and to shew you,
most Christian of nobles, and most noble of Christians, what is the
kind of falsification which is censured in my translation, I will set
before you the opening words of the letter in the Greek original and as
rendered by me, that from one count in the indictment you may form an
opinion of all. The letter begins Edei hemas, agapete, me te oi&
208;sei ton kleron pheresthai which I remember to have rendered as
follows: "Dearly beloved, we ought not to misuse our position as
ministers to gratify our pride." See there, they cry, what a number of
falsehoods in a single line! In the first place agapetos means loved,'
not dearly beloved.' Then oiesis means estimate,' not pride,' for this
and not oidema is the word used. Oidema signifies a swelling' but oi&
208;sis means judgment.' All the rest, say they: "not to misuse our
position to gratify our pride" is your own. What is this you are
saying, O pillar of learning [1725] and latter day Aristarchus, [1726]
who are so ready to pass judgment upon all writers? It is all for
nothing then that I have studied so long; that, as Juvenal says, [1727]
"I have so often withdrawn my hand from the ferule." The moment I leave
the harbour I run aground. Well, to err is human and to confess one's
error wise. Do you therefore, who are so ready to criticise and to
instruct me, set me right and give me a word for word rendering of the
passage. You tell me I should have said: "Beloved, we ought not to be
carried away by the estimation of the clergy." Here, indeed we have
eloquence worthy of Plautus, here we have Attic grace, the true style
of the Muses. The common proverb is true of me: "He who trains an ox
for athletics loses both oil and money." [1728] Still he is not to
blame who merely puts on the mask and plays the tragedy for another:
his teachers [1729] are the real culprits; since they for a great price
have taught him--to know nothing. I do not think the worse of any
Christian because he lacks skill to express himself; and I heartily
wish that we could all say with Socrates "I know that I know nothing;"
[1730] and carry out the precept of another wise man, "Know thyself."
[1731] I have always held in esteem a holy simplicity but not a wordy
rudeness. He who declares that he imitates the style of apostles should
first imitate the virtue of their lives; the great holiness of which
made up for much plainness of speech. They confuted the syllogisms of
Aristotle and the perverse ingenuities of Chrysippus by raising the
dead. Still it would be absurd for one of us--living as we do amid the
riches of Croesus and the luxuries of Sardanapalus--to make his boast
of mere ignorance. We might as well say that all robbers and criminals
would be men of culture if they were to hide their blood-stained swords
in books of philosophy and not in trunks of trees.
13. I have exceeded the limits of a letter, but I have not exceeded in
the expression of my chagrin. For, though I am called a falsifier, and
have my reputation torn to shreds, wherever there are shuttles and
looms and women to work them; I am content to repudiate the charge
without retaliating in kind. I leave everything to your discretion. You
can read the letter of Epiphanius both in Greek and in Latin; and, if
you do so, you will see at once the value of my accusers' lamentations
and insulting complaints. For the rest, I am satisfied to have
instructed one of my dearest friends and am content simply to stay
quiet in my cell and to wait for the day of judgment. If it may be so,
and if my enemies allow it, I hope to write for you, not philippics
like those of Demosthenes or Tully, but commentaries upon the
scriptures.
__________________________________________________________________
[1649] Acts xxvi. 2, 3.
[1650] i.e., the son of Sirach.
[1651] Ecclus. xxv. 9.
[1652] Letter LI. to John Bp. of Jerusalem.
[1653] Cf. Jude 9.
[1654] i.e., most reverend pope.' This title at first given to all
bishops was in Jerome's time becoming restricted to metropolitans and
patriarchs. Jerome, however, still uses it in the wider sense. The
omission of the title here may well have seemed deliberate, as Jerome
was known to entertain very bitter feelings towards John of Jerusalem.
[1655] Livy v. 27.
[1656] Plutarch, Life of Pyrrhus.
[1657] Jerome constantly speaks of Rufinus in this way. See Letter
CXXV. 18 and Apol. c. Ruf. I. 13, 32.
[1658] Rufinus is meant.
[1659] Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius, was confined by her father in a
brazen tower to which Zeus obtained access in the shape of a shower of
gold.
[1660] Epiphanius.
[1661] Ter. And. prol. 17.
[1662] The two speeches on the Crown.
[1663] Only a small part of this is extant.
[1664] Hor. A. P. 133.
[1665] i.e. the poets of the so called New Comedy.
[1666] kakozelian .
[1667] That is, five years later. Jerome translated the Chronicle of
Eusebius at Constantinople in 381-2.
[1668] Vix brevis viæ spatia consummo.
[1669] Preface, translated in this Volume, § 1.
[1670] Preface §2.
[1671] This life long supposed to have been the work of Athanasius was
originally composed in Greek but had been rendered into Latin by
Evagrius bishop of Antioch.
[1672] i.e., Hilary of Poitiers.
[1673] Lit. the seventy translators.
[1674] Mark v. 41.
[1675] Matthew xxvii. 9, 10.
[1676] Quod. A.V. has whom.'
[1677] Zech. xi. 12, 13, Vulg.
[1678] Statuarius.
[1679] Zech. xi. 12, 13, A.V.
[1680] Pedissequus.
[1681] Joh. xix. 37; Zech. xii. 10.
[1682] i.e., the Italic, for the Vulgate, which was not then published,
accurately represents the Hebrew.
[1683] Matt. xxvi. 31; Zech. xiii. 7.
[1684] Matt. ii. 13-15.
[1685] Hos. xi. 1.
[1686] i.e., the Septuagint and Vulgate versions.
[1687] James iii. 2.
[1688] Matt. ii. 23.
[1689] Isa. xi. 1.
[1690] So A.V. the Vulg. varies slightly.
[1691] Matt. i. 22, 23; Isa. vii. 14.
[1692] A.V.
[1693] Matt. ii. 5, 6.
[1694] i.e. the Versio Itala which was vulgata or commonly used' at
this time as Jerome's Version was afterwards.
[1695] Mic. v. 2.
[1696] 1 Cor. i. 27.
[1697] Mark i. 1-3; see R.V.
[1698] Mal. iii. 1.
[1699] Isa. xl. 3.
[1700] Mark ii. 25, 26.
[1701] 1 Sam. xxi. 1.
[1702] 1 Sam. xxii. 16-18.
[1703] 1 Cor. ii. 8, 9.
[1704] This book is no longer extant. It belonged to the same class as
the Book of Enoch.
[1705] Isa. lxiv. 4, lxx. A.V. has what he hath prepared for him that
waiteth for him.'
[1706] Rom. ix. 33.
[1707] Lit. with the old version.'
[1708] 1 Pet. ii. 8. A.V. is different.
[1709] So the Vulg.: A.V. punctuates differently.
[1710] i.e. Hamor.
[1711] Acts vii. 15-16.
[1712] Drachmæ.
[1713] Spelunca duplex.
[1714] A.V. marg.
[1715] Gen. xxxiii. 18-20. A.V. varies slightly.
[1716] Ps. xxii. 1.
[1717] Isa. xxxi. 9, LXX.
[1718] According to the LXX.
[1719] Amos vi. 4-6.
[1720] Jerome's Vulgate version supplied from the Hebrew the omissions
and removed the redundancies of the old Latin version. These were due
to the uncertain text of the LXX., on which alone the old Latin version
was founded.
[1721] This statement is not borne out by the facts.
[1722] Cf. Deut. vii. 13.
[1723] proarthra.
[1724] Lit. with the heaven and with the earth' (Gen. i. 1). In Hebrew
the preposition with' is identical in form with the sign of the accus.
Hence Aquila's rendering.
[1725] Jerome apostrophises his critic.
[1726] The famous grammarian and critic of Homer.
[1727] Juv. i. 15.
[1728] Oleum perdit et impensas qui bovem mittit ad ceroma.
[1729] Rufinus and Melania, who were believed by Jerome to have
instigated the theft. Their names are inserted in some copies.
[1730] Plato, Apol. Soc. 21, 22.
[1731] This saying is variously attributed to Chilon and others of the
seven wise men of Greece.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LVIII. To Paulinus.
In this his second letter to Paulinus of Nola Jerome dissuades him from
making a pilgrimage to the Holy Places, and describes Jerusalem not as
it ought to be but as it is. He then gives his friend counsels for his
life similar to those which he has previously addressed to Nepotian,
praises Paulinus for his Panegyric (now no longer extant) on the
Emperor Theodosius, compares his style with those of the great writers
of the Latin Church, and concludes with a commendation of his
messenger, that Vigilantius who was soon to become the object of his
bitterest contempt. Written about the year 395 a.d.
1. "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth
good things," [1732] and "every tree is known by his fruit." [1733] You
measure me by the scale of your own virtues and because of your own
greatness magnify my littleness. You take the lowest room at the
banquet that the goodman of the house may bid you to go up higher.
[1734] For what is there in me or what qualities do I possess that I
should merit praise from a man of learning? that I, small and lowly as
I am, should be eulogized by lips which have pleaded on behalf of our
most religious sovereign? Do not, my dearest brother, estimate my worth
by the number of my years. Gray hairs are not wisdom; it is wisdom
which is as good as gray hairs. At least that is what Solomon says:
"wisdom is the gray hair unto men." [1735] Moses too in choosing the
seventy elders is told to take those whom he knows to be elders indeed,
and to select them not for their years but for their discretion. [1736]
And, as a boy, Daniel judges old men and in the flower of youth
condemns the incontinence of age. [1737] Do not, I repeat, weigh faith
by years, nor suppose me better than yourself merely because I have
enlisted under Christ's banner earlier than you. The apostle Paul, that
chosen vessel framed out of a persecutor, [1738] though last in the
apostolic order is first in merit. For though last he has laboured more
than they all. [1739] To Judas it was once said: thou art a man who
didst take sweet food with me, my guide and mine acquaintance; we
walked in the house of God with company:" [1740] yet the Saviour
accuses him of betraying his friend and master. A line of Virgil well
describes his end:
From a high beam he knots a hideous death. [1741]
The dying robber, on the contrary, exchanges the cross for paradise and
turns to martyrdom the penalty of murder. How many there are nowadays
who have lived so long that they bear corpses rather than bodies and
are like whited sepulchres filled with dead men's bones! [1742] A newly
kindled heat is more effective than a long continued lukewarmness.
2. As for you, when you hear the Saviour's counsel: "if thou wilt be
perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come
follow me," [1743] you translate his words into action; and baring
yourself to follow the bare cross [1744] you mount Jacob's ladder the
easier for carrying nothing. Your dress changes with the change in your
convictions, and you aim at no showy shabbiness which leaves your purse
as full as before. No, with pure hands and a clear conscience you make
it your glory that you are poor both in spirit and in deed. There is
nothing great in wearing a sad or a disfigured face, in simulating and
in showing off fasts, or in wearing a cheap cloak while you retain a
large income. When Crates the Theban--a millionaire of days gone
by--was on his way to Athens to study philosophy, he cast away untold
gold in the belief that wealth could not be compatible with virtue.
What a contrast he offers to us, the disciples of a poor Christ, who
cram our pockets with gold and cling under pretext of almsgiving to our
old riches. How can we faithfully distribute what belongs to another
when we thus timidly keep back what is our own? [1745] When the stomach
is full, it is easy to talk of fasting. What is praiseworthy is not to
have been at Jerusalem but to have lived a good life while there.
[1746] The city which we are to praise and to seek is not that which
has slain the prophets [1747] and shed the blood of Christ, but that
which is made glad by the streams of the river, [1748] which is set
upon a mountain and so cannot be hid, [1749] which the apostle declares
to be a mother of the saints, [1750] and in which he rejoices to have
his citizenship with the righteous. [1751]
3. In speaking thus I am not laying myself open to a charge of
inconsistency or condemning the course which I have myself taken. It is
not, I believe, for nothing that I, like Abraham, have left my home and
people. But I do not presume to limit God's omnipotence or to restrict
to a narrow strip of earth Him whom the heaven cannot contain. Each
believer is judged not by his residence in this place or in that but
according to the deserts of his faith. The true worshippers worship the
Father neither at Jerusalem nor on mount Gerizim; for "God is a spirit,
and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
[1752] "Now the spirit bloweth where it listeth," [1753] and "the earth
is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." [1754] When the fleece of Judæa
was made dry although the whole world was wet with the dew of heaven,
[1755] and when many came from the East and from the West [1756] and
sat in Abraham's bosom: [1757] then God ceased to be known in Judah
only and His name to be great in Israel alone; [1758] the sound of the
apostles went out into all the earth and their words into the ends of
the world. [1759] The Saviour Himself speaking to His disciples in the
temple [1760] said: "arise, let us go hence," [1761] and to the Jews:
"your house is left unto you desolate." [1762] If heaven and earth must
pass away, [1763] obviously all things that are earthly must pass away
also. Therefore the spots which witnessed the crucifixion and the
resurrection profit those only who bear their several crosses, who day
by day rise again with Christ, and who thus shew themselves worthy of
an abode so holy. Those who say "the temple of the Lord, the temple of
the Lord," [1764] should give ear to the words of the apostle: "ye are
the temple of the Lord," [1765] and the Holy Ghost "dwelleth in you."
[1766] Access to the courts of heaven is as easy from Britain as it is
from Jerusalem; for "the kingdom of God is within you." [1767] Antony
and the hosts of monks who are in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Pontus,
Cappadocia, and Armenia, have never seen Jerusalem: and the door of
Paradise is opened for them at a distance from it. The blessed
Hilarion, though a native of and a dweller in Palestine, only set eyes
on Jerusalem for a single day, not wishing on the one hand when he was
so near to neglect the holy places, nor yet on the other to appear to
confine God within local limits. From the time of Hadrian to the reign
of Constantine--a period of about one hundred and eighty years [1768]
--the spot which had witnessed the resurrection was occupied by a
figure of Jupiter; while on the rock where the cross had stood, a
marble statue of Venus was set up by the heathen and became an object
of worship. The original persecutors, indeed, supposed that by
polluting our holy places they would deprive us of our faith in the
passion and in the resurrection. Even my own Bethlehem, as it now is,
that most venerable spot in the whole world of which the psalmist
sings: "the truth hath sprung out of the earth," [1769] was
overshadowed by a grove of Tammuz, [1770] that is of Adonis; and in the
very cave [1771] where the infant Christ had uttered His earliest cry
lamentation was made for the paramour of Venus. [1772]
4. Why, you will say, do I make these remote allusions? To assure you
that nothing is lacking to your faith although you have not seen
Jerusalem and that I am none the better for living where I do. Be
assured that, whether you dwell here or elsewhere, a like recompense is
in store for your good works with our Lord. Indeed, if I am frankly to
express my own feelings, when I take into consideration your vows and
the earnestness with which you have renounced the world, I hold that as
long as you live in the country one place is as good as another.
Forsake cities and their crowds, live on a small patch of ground, seek
Christ in solitude, pray on the mount alone with Jesus, [1773] keep
near to holy places: keep out of cities, I say, and you will never lose
your vocation. My advice concerns not bishops, presbyters, or the
clergy, for these have a different duty. I am speaking only to a monk
who having been a man of note in the world has laid the price of his
possessions at the apostles' feet, [1774] to shew men that they must
trample on their money, and has resolved to live a life of loneliness
and seclusion and always to continue to reject what he has once
rejected. Had the scenes of the Passion and of the Resurrection been
elsewhere than in a populous city with court and garrison, with
prostitutes, playactors, and buffoons, and with the medley of persons
usually found in such centres; or had the crowds which thronged it been
composed of monks; then a city would be a desirable abode for those who
have embraced the monastic life. But, as things are, it would be the
height of folly first to renounce the world, to forswear one's country,
to forsake cities, to profess one's self a monk; and then to live among
still greater numbers the same kind of life that you would have lived
in your own country. Men rush here from all quarters of the world, the
city is filled with people of every race, and so great is the throng of
men and women that here you will have to tolerate in its full
dimensions an evil from which you desired to flee when you found it
partially developed elsewhere.
5. Since you ask me as a brother in what path you should walk, I will
be open with you. If you wish to take duty as a presbyter, and are
attracted by the work or dignity which falls to the lot of a bishop,
live in cities and walled towns, [1775] and by so doing turn the
salvation of others into the profit of your own soul. But if you desire
to be in deed what you are in name--a monk, [1776] that is, one who
lives alone, what have you to do with cities which are the homes not of
solitaries but of crowds? Every mode of life has its own exponents. For
instance, let Roman generals imitate men like Camillus, Fabricius,
Regulus, and Scipio. Let philosophers take for models Pythagoras,
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Let poets strive to rival Homer,
Virgil, Menander, and Terence. Let writers of history follow
Thucydides, Sallust, Herodotus and Livy. Let orators find masters in
Lysias, the Gracchi, Demosthenes, and Tully. And, to come to our own
case, let bishops and presbyters take for their examples the apostles
or their companions; and as they hold the rank which these once held,
let them endeavour to exhibit the same excellence. And last of all let
us monks take as the patterns which we are to follow the lives of Paul,
of Antony, of Julian, of Hilarion, of the Macarii. And to go back to
the authority of scripture, we have our masters in Elijah and Elisha,
and our leaders in the sons of the prophets; who lived in fields and
solitary places and made themselves tents by the waters of Jordan.
[1777] The sons of Rechab too are of the number who drank neither wine
nor strong drink and who abode in tents; men whom God's voice praises
through Jeremiah, [1778] and to whom a promise is made that there shall
never be wanting a man of their stock to stand before God. [1779] This
is probably what is meant by the title of the seventy-first psalm: "of
the sons of Jonadab and of those who were first led into captivity."
[1780] The person intended is Jonadab the son of Rechab who is
described in the book of Kings [1781] as having gone up into the
chariot of Jehu. His sons having always lived in tents until at last
(owing to the inroads made by the Chaldean army) they were forced to
come into Jerusalem, are described [1782] as being the first to undergo
captivity; because after the freedom of their lonely life they found
confinement in a city as bad as imprisonment.
6. Since you are not wholly independent but are bound to a wife who is
your sister in the Lord, I entreat you--whether here or there--that you
will avoid large gatherings, visits official and complimentary, and
social parties, indulgences all of which tend to enchain the soul. Let
your food be coarse--say cabbage and pulse--and do not take it until
evening. Sometimes as a great delicacy you may have some small fish. He
who longs for Christ and feeds upon the true bread cares little for
dainties which must be transmuted into ordure. Food that you cannot
taste when once it has passed your gullet might as well be--so far as
you are concerned--bread and pulse. You have my books against Jovinian
which speak yet more largely of despising the appetite and the palate.
Let some holy volume be ever in your hand. Pray constantly, and bowing
down your body lift up your mind to the Lord. Keep frequent vigils and
sleep often on an empty stomach. Avoid tittle-tattle and all
self-laudation. Flee from wheedling flatterers as from open enemies.
Distribute with your own hand provisions to alleviate the miseries of
the poor and of the brethren. With your own hands, I say, for good
faith is rare among men. You do not believe what I say? Think of Judas
and his bag. Seek not a lowly garb for a swelling soul. Avoid the
society of men of the world, especially if they are in power. Why need
you look again on things contempt for which has made you a monk? Above
all let your sister [1783] hold aloof from married ladies. And, if
women round her wear silk dresses and gems while she is meanly attired,
let her neither fret nor congratulate herself. For by so doing she will
either regret her resolution or sow the seeds of pride. If you are
already famed as a faithful steward of your own substance, do not take
other people's money to give away. You understand what I mean, for the
Lord has given you understanding in all things. Be simple as a dove and
lay snares for no man: but be cunning as a serpent and let no man lay
snares for you. [1784] For a Christian who allows others to deceive him
is almost at much at fault as one who tries to deceive others. If a man
talks to you always or nearly always about money (except it be about
alms-giving, a topic which is open to all) treat him as a broker rather
than a monk. Besides food and clothing and things manifestly necessary
give no man anything; for dogs must not eat the children's bread.
[1785]
7. The true temple of Christ is the believer's soul; adorn this, clothe
it, offer gifts to it, welcome Christ in it. What use are walls blazing
with jewels when Christ in His poor [1786] is in danger of perishing
from hunger? Your possessions are no longer your own but a stewardship
is entrusted to you. Remember Ananias and Sapphira who from fear of the
future kept what was their own, and be careful for your part not rashly
to squander what is Christ's. Do not, that is, by an error of judgment
give the property of the poor to those who are not poor; lest, as a
wise man has told us, [1787] charity prove the death of charity. Look
not upon
Gay trappings or a Cato's empty name. [1788]
In the words of Persius, God says:--
I know thy thoughts and read thine inmost soul. [1789]
To be a Christian is the great thing, not merely to seem one. And
somehow or other those please the world most who please Christ least.
In speaking thus I am not like the sow lecturing Minerva; but, as a
friend warns a friend, so I warn you before you embark on your new
course. I would rather fail in ability than in will to serve you; for
my wish is that where I have fallen you may keep your footing.
8. It is with much pleasure that I have read the book which you have
sent to me containing your wise and eloquent defence of the emperor
Theodosius; and your arrangement of the subject has particularly
pleased me. While in the earlier chapters you surpass others, in the
latter you surpass yourself. Your style is terse and neat; it has all
the purity of Tully, and yet it is packed with meaning. For, as someone
has said, [1790] that speech is a failure of which men only praise the
diction. You have been successful in preserving both sequence of
subjects and logical connexion. Whatever sentence one takes, it is
always a conclusion to what goes before or an introduction to what
follows. Theodosius is fortunate in having a Christian orator like you
to plead his cause. You have made his purple illustrious and have
consecrated for future ages his useful laws. Go on and prosper, for, if
such be your first ventures in the field, what will you not do when you
become a trained soldier? Oh! that it were mine to conduct a genius
like you, not (as the poets sing) through the Aonian mountains and the
peaks of Helicon but through Zion and Tabor and the high places of
Sinai. If I might teach you what I have learned myself and might pass
on to you the mystic rolls of the prophets, then might we give birth to
something such as Greece with all her learning could not shew.
9. Hear me, therefore, my fellow-servant, my friend, my brother; give
ear for a moment that I may tell you how you are to walk in the holy
scriptures. All that we read in the divine books, while glistening and
shining without, is yet far sweeter within. "He who desires to eat the
kernel must first break the nut." [1791] "Open thou mine eyes," says
David, "that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." [1792] Now,
if so great a prophet confesses that he is in the darkness of
ignorance; how deep, think you, must be the night of misapprehension
with which we, mere babes and unweaned infants, are enveloped! Now this
veil rests not only on the face of Moses, [1793] but on the evangelists
and the apostles as well. [1794] To the multitudes the Saviour spoke
only in parables and, to make it clear that His words had a mystical
meaning, said:--"he that hath ears to hear, let him hear." [1795]
Unless all things that are written are opened by Him "who hath the key
of David, who openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man
openeth," [1796] no one can undo the lock or set them before you. If
only you had the foundation which He alone can give; nay, if even His
fingers were but passed over your work; there would be nothing finer
than your volumes, nothing more learned, nothing more attractive,
nothing more Latin.
10. Tertullian is packed with meaning but his style is rugged and
uncouth. The blessed Cyprian like a fountain of pure water flows softly
and sweetly but, as he is taken up with exhortations to virtue and with
the troubles consequent on persecution, he has nowhere discussed the
divine scriptures. Victorinus, although he has the glory of a martyr's
crown, yet cannot express what he knows. Lactantius has a flow of
eloquence worthy of Tully: would that he had been as ready to teach our
doctrines as he was to pull down those of others! Arnobius is lengthy
and unequal, and often confused from not making a proper division of
his subject. That reverend man Hilary gains in height from his Gallic
buskin; yet, adorned as he is with the flowers of Greek rhetoric, he
sometimes entangles himself in long periods and offers by no means easy
reading to the less learned brethren. I say nothing of other writers
whether dead or living; others will hereafter judge them both for good
and for evil. [1797]
11. I will come to yourself, my fellow-mystic, my companion, and my
friend; my friend, I say, though not yet personally known: and I will
ask you not to suspect a flatterer in one so intimate. Better that you
should think me mistaken or led astray by affection than that you
should hold me capable of fawning on a friend. You have a great
intellect and an inexhaustible store of language, your diction is
fluent and pure, your fluency and purity are mingled with wisdom. Your
head is clear and all your senses keen. Were you to add to this wisdom
and eloquence a careful study and knowledge of scripture, I should soon
see you holding our citadel against all comers; you would go up with
Joab upon the roof of Zion, [1798] and sing upon the housetops what you
had learned in the secret chambers. [1799] Gird up, I pray you, gird up
your loins. As Horace says:--
Life hath no gifts for men except they toil. [1800]
Shew yourself as much a man of note in the church, as you were before
in the senate. Provide for yourself riches which you may spend daily
yet they will not fail. Provide them while you are still strong and
while as yet your head has no gray hairs: before, in the words of
Virgil,
Diseases creep on you, and gloomy age,
And pain, and cruel death's inclemency. [1801]
I am not content with mediocrity for you: I desire all that you do to
be of the highest excellence.
How heartily I have welcomed the reverend presbyter Vigilantius, [1802]
his own lips will tell you better than this letter. Why he has so soon
left us and started afresh I cannot say; and, indeed, I do not wish to
hurt anyone's feelings. [1803] Still, mere passer-by as he was, in
haste to continue his journey, I managed to keep him back until I had
given him a taste of my friendship for you. Thus you can learn from him
what you want to know about me. Kindly salute your reverend sister
[1804] and fellow-servant, who with you fights the good fight in the
Lord.
__________________________________________________________________
[1732] Matt. xii. 35.
[1733] Luke vi. 44.
[1734] Luke xiv. 10.
[1735] Wisd. iv. 9.
[1736] Nu. xi. 16.
[1737] Story of Susannah.
[1738] Acts ix. 15.
[1739] 1 Cor. xv. 10.
[1740] Ps. lv. 13: Consessu substituted for consensu of the Vulgate.
[1741] Virgil, Æn. xii. 603.
[1742] Matt. xxiii. 27.
[1743] Matt. xix. 21.
[1744] Compare Letter LII. § 5.
[1745] Cf. Luke xvi. 12.
[1746] Cicero, pro Murena, V.
[1747] Matt. xxiii. 37.
[1748] Ps. xlvi. 4.
[1749] Matt. v. 14.
[1750] Gal. iv. 26.
[1751] Phil. iii. 20, R.V.
[1752] Joh. iv. 24.
[1753] Joh. iii. 8, R.V. marg.
[1754] Ps. xxiv. 1.
[1755] Judg. vi. 36-40.
[1756] Luke xiii. 29.
[1757] Luke xvi. 22.
[1758] Ps. lxxvi. 1.
[1759] Ps. xix. 4.
[1760] Only the second sentence was spoken in the temple: the first was
uttered in the chamber of the last supper.
[1761] Joh. xiv. 31.
[1762] Matt. xxiii. 38.
[1763] Luke xxi. 33.
[1764] Jer. vii. 4.
[1765] 2 Cor. vi. 16.
[1766] Rom. viii. 11.
[1767] Luke xvii. 21.
[1768] Hadrian died in 138 a.d.; Constantine became Emperor in 306 a.d.
[1769] Ps. lxxxv. 11, Vulg.
[1770] Ezek. viii. 14.
[1771] For the tradition that Christ was born in a cave Justin Martyr
is the earliest authority (dial. c. Try. 78).
[1772] Adonis, killed by a boar and spending half his time in the
upper, half in the lower world, is a type of summer overcoming and
overcome by winter.
[1773] Cf. Luke vi.
[1774] Acts iv. 37.
[1775] Castella.
[1776] Monachus, lit. "a solitary." Men frequently at this time made
vows, especially those of celibacy, without entering a monastery.
[1777] 2 Kings vi. 1, 2.
[1778] Jer. xxxv.
[1779] Jer. xxxv. 19.
[1780] This title occurs only in the LXX.
[1781] 2 Kings x. 15, 16.
[1782] Jer. xxxv. 11.
[1783] Therasia, the wife of Paulinus is meant.
[1784] Matt. x. 16.
[1785] Matt. xv. 26.
[1786] Matt. xxv. 40.
[1787] Cicero, de Off. II. xv.
[1788] Probably a quotation from memory incorrectly made up from
Lucan's Nomina vana Catonis' (i. 313).
[1789] Persius, iii. 30.
[1790] Quintilian, Inst. Or. viii. Proem.
[1791] Plautus, Curc. I. i. 55.
[1792] Ps. cxix. 18.
[1793] 2 Cor. iii. 14, 15.
[1794] i.e., the new testament as well as the old may have its true
meaning concealed from some.
[1795] Luke viii. 8, 10.
[1796] Rev. iii. 7.
[1797] Cf. Letter LXX. 5.
[1798] 1 Chron. xi. 5, 6.
[1799] Cf. Luke xii. 3.
[1800] Horace, Sat. I. ix. 59, 60.
[1801] Virgil, Georg. iii. 67, 68.
[1802] Afterwards noted as an assailant of Jerome's ascetic doctrines.
See the introduction to Letter LXI.
[1803] The allusion seems to be to the behaviour of Vigilantius during
an earthquake which occurred when he was at Bethlehem. His fright on
the occasion exposed him to the ridicule of the community there.
(Against Vig., i. 11.)
[1804] As before, Therasia, the wife of Paulinus is meant.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LIX. To Marcella.
An answer to five questions put to Jerome by Marcella in a letter not
preserved. The questions are as follows.
(1) What are the things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard (1 Cor.
ii. 9)? Jerome answers that they are spiritual things which as such can
only be spiritually discerned.
(2) Is it not a mistake to identify the sheep and the goats of Christ's
parable (Matt. xxv. 31 sqq.) with Christians and heathens? Are they not
rather the good and the bad? For an answer to this question Jerome
refers Marcella to his treatise against Jovinian (II. §§18-23).
(3) Paul says that some shall be "alive and remain unto the coming of
the Lord;" and that they shall be "caught up to meet the Lord in the
air" (1 Thess. iv. 15, 17). Are we to suppose this assumption to be
corporeal and that those assumed will escape death? Yes, Jerome
answers, but their bodies will be glorified.
(4) How is John xx. 17, "touch me not," to be reconciled with Matt.
xxviii. 9, "they came and held him by the feet"? In the one case,
Jerome replies, Mary Magdalen failed to recognize the divinity of
Jesus; in the other the women recognized it. Accordingly they were
admitted to a privilege which was denied to her.
(5) Was the risen Christ before His ascension present only with the
disciples, or was He in heaven and elsewhere as well? The latter
according to Jerome is the true doctrine. "The Divine Nature," he
writes, "exists everywhere in its entirety. Christ, therefore, was at
one and the same time with the apostles and with the angels; in the
Father and in the uttermost parts of the sea. So afterwards he was with
Thomas in India, with Peter at Rome, with Paul in Illyricum, with Titus
in Crete, with Andrew in Achaia." The date of the letter is a.d. 395 or
a.d. 396.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LX. To Heliodorus.
One of Jerome's finest letters, written to console his old friend,
Heliodorus, now Bp. of Altinum, for the loss of his nephew Nepotian who
had died of fever a short time previously. Jerome tries to soothe his
friend's grief (1) by contrasting pagan despair or resignation with
Christian hope, (2) by an eulogy of the departed both as man and
presbyter, and (3) by a review of the evils which then beset the Empire
and from which, as he contended, Nepotian had been removed. The letter
is marked throughout with deep and sincere feeling. Its date is 396
a.d.
1. Small wits cannot grapple large themes but venturing beyond their
strength fail in the very attempt; and, the greater a subject is, the
more completely is he overwhelmed who cannot find words to unfold its
grandeur. Nepotian who was mine and yours and ours--or rather who was
Christ's and because Christ's all the more ours--has forsaken us his
elders so that we are smitten with pangs of regret and overcome with a
grief which is past bearing. We supposed him our heir, yet now his
corpse is all that is ours. For whom shall my intellect now labour?
Whom shall my poor letters desire to please? Where is he, the impeller
of my work, whose voice was sweeter than a swan's last song? My mind is
dazed, my hand trembles, a mist covers my eyes, stammering seizes my
tongue. Whatever my words, they seem as good as unspoken seeing that he
no longer hears them. My very pen seems to feel his loss, my very wax
tablet looks dull and sad; the one is covered with rust, the other with
mould. As often as I try to express myself in words and to scatter the
flowers of this encomium upon his tomb, my eyes fill with tears, my
grief returns, and I can think of nothing but his death. It was a
custom in former days for children over the dead bodies of their
parents publicly to proclaim their praises and (as when pathetic songs
are sung) to draw tears from the eyes and sighs from the breasts of
those who heard them. But in our case, behold, the order of things is
changed: to deal us this blow nature has forfeited her rights. For the
respect which the young man should have paid to his elders, we his
elders are paying to him.
2. What shall I do then? Shall I join my tears to yours? The apostle
forbids me for he speaks of dead Christians as "them which are asleep."
[1805] So too in the gospel the Lord says, "the damsel is not dead but
sleepeth," [1806] and Lazarus when he is raised from the dead is said
to have been asleep. [1807] No, I will be glad and rejoice that
"speedily he was taken away lest that wickedness should alter his
understanding" for "his soul pleased the Lord." [1808] But though I am
loth to give way and combat my feelings, tears flow down my cheeks, and
in spite of the teachings of virtue and the hope of the resurrection a
passion of regret crushes my too yielding mind. O death that dividest
brothers knit together in love, how cruel, how ruthless thou art so to
sunder them! "The Lord hath fetched a burning wind that cometh up from
the wilderness: which hath dried thy veins and hath made thy well
spring desolate." [1809] Thou didst swallow up our Jonah, but even in
thy belly He still lived. Thou didst carry Him as one dead, that the
world's storm might be stilled and our Nineveh saved by His preaching.
He, yes He, conquered thee, He slew thee, that fugitive prophet who
left His home, gave up His inheritance and surrendered his dear life
into the hands of those who sought it. He it was who of old threatened
thee in Hosea: "O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy
destruction." [1810] By His death thou art dead; by His death we live.
Thou hast swallowed up and thou art swallowed up. Whilst thou art
smitten with a longing for the body assumed by Him, and whilst thy
greedy jaws fancy it a prey, thy inward parts are wounded with hooked
fangs.
3. To Thee, O Saviour Christ, do we Thy creatures offer thanks that,
when Thou wast slain, Thou didst slay our mighty adversary. Before Thy
coming was there any being more miserable than man who cowering at the
dread prospect of eternal death did but receive life that he might
perish! For "death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them that had
not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression." [1811] If
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob be in hell, who can be in the kingdom of
heaven? If Thy friends--even those who had not sinned themselves--were
yet for the sins of another liable to the punishment of offending Adam,
what must we think of those who have said in their hearts "There is no
God;" who "are corrupt and abominable" [1812] in their self-will, and
of whom it is said "they are gone out of the way, they are become
unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no not one"? [1813] Even
if Lazarus is seen in Abraham's bosom and in a place of refreshment,
still the lower regions cannot be compared with the kingdom of heaven.
Before Christ's coming Abraham is in the lower regions: after Christ's
coming the robber is in paradise. And therefore at His rising again
"many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and were seen in the
heavenly Jerusalem." [1814] Then was fulfilled the saying: "Awake thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee
light." [1815] John the Baptist cries in the desert: "repent ye; for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand." [1816] For "from the days of John
the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent
take it by force." [1817] The flaming sword that keeps the way of
paradise and the cherubim that are stationed at its doors [1818] are
alike quenched and unloosed by the blood of Christ. [1819] It is not
surprising that this should be promised us in the resurrection: for as
many of us as living in the flesh do not live after the flesh, [1820]
have our citizenship in heaven, [1821] and while we are still here on
earth we are told that "the kingdom of heaven is within us." [1822]
4. Moreover before the resurrection of Christ God was "known in Judah"
only and "His name was great in Israel" alone. [1823] And they who knew
Him were despite their knowledge dragged down to hell. Where in those
days were the inhabitants of the globe from India to Britain, from the
frozen zone of the North to the burning heat of the Atlantic ocean?
Where were the countless peoples of the world? Where the great
multitudes?
Unlike in tongue, unlike in dress and arms? [1824]
They were crushed like fishes and locusts, like flies and gnats. For
apart from knowledge of his Creator every man is but a brute. But now
the voices and writings of all nations proclaim the passion and the
resurrection of Christ. I say nothing of the Jews, the Greeks, and the
Romans, peoples which the Lord has dedicated to His faith by the title
written on His cross. [1825] The immortality of the soul and its
continuance after the dissolution of the body--truths of which
Pythagoras dreamed, which Democritus refused to believe, and which
Socrates discussed in prison to console himself for the sentence passed
upon him--are now the familiar themes of Indian and of Persian, of Goth
and of Egyptian. The fierce Bessians [1826] and the throng of skinclad
savages who used to offer human sacrifices in honour of the dead have
broken out of their harsh discord into the sweet music of the cross and
Christ is the one cry of the whole world.
5. What can we do, my soul? Whither must we turn? What must we take up
first? What must we pass over? Have you forgotten the precepts of the
rhetoricians? Are you so preoccupied with grief, so overcome with
tears, so hindered with sobs, that you forget all logical sequence?
Where are the studies you have pursued from your childhood? Where is
that saying of Anaxagoras and Telamon (which you have always commended)
"I knew myself to have begotten a mortal"? [1827] I have read the books
of Crantor which he wrote to soothe his grief and which Cicero has
imitated. [1828] I have read the consolatory writings of Plato,
Diogenes, Clitomachus, Carneades, Posidonius, who at different times
strove by book or letter to lessen the grief of various persons.
Consequently, were my own wit to dry up, it could be watered anew from
the fountains which these have opened. They set before us examples
without number; and particularly those of Pericles and of Socrates's
pupil Xenophon. The former of these after the loss of his two sons put
on a garland and delivered a harangue; [1829] while the latter, on
hearing when he was offering sacrifice that his son had been slain in
war, is said to have laid down his garland; and then, on learning that
he had fallen fighting bravely, is said to have put it on his head
again. What shall I say of those Roman generals whose heroic virtues
glitter like stars on the pages of Latin history? Pulvillus was
dedicating the capitol [1830] when receiving the news of his son's
sudden death, he gave orders that the funeral should take place without
him. Lucius Paullus [1831] entered the city in triumph in the week
which intervened between the funerals of his two sons. I pass over the
Maximi, the Catos, the Galli, the Pisos, the Bruti, the Scævolas, the
Metelli, the Scauri, the Marii, the Crassi, the Marcelli, the Aufidii,
men who shewed equal fortitude in sorrow and war, and whose
bereavements Tully has set forth in his book Of consolation. I pass
them over lest I should seem to have chosen the words and woes of
others in preference to my own. Yet even these instances may suffice to
ensure us mortification if our faith fails to surpass the achievements
of unbelief.
6. Let me come then to my proper subject. I will not beat my breast
with Jacob and with David for sons dying in the Law, but I will receive
them rising again with Christ in the Gospel. The Jew's mourning is the
Christian's joy. "Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the
morning." [1832] "The night is far spent, the day is at hand." [1833]
Accordingly when Moses dies, mourning is made for him, [1834] but when
Joshua is buried, it is without tears or funeral pomp. [1835] All that
can be drawn from scripture on the subject of lamentation I have
briefly set forth in the letter of consolation which I addressed to
Paula at Rome. [1836] Now I must take another path to arrive at the
same goal. Otherwise I shall seem to be walking anew in a track once
beaten but now long disused.
7. We know indeed that our Nepotian is with Christ and that he has
joined the choirs of the saints. What here with us he groped after on
earth afar off and sought for to the best of his judgment, there he
sees nigh at hand, so that he can say: "as we have heard so have we
seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God." [1837]
Still we cannot bear the feeling of his absence, and grieve, if not for
him, for ourselves. The greater the happiness which he enjoys, the
deeper the sorrow in which the loss of a blessing so great plunges us.
The sisters of Lazarus could not help weeping for him, although they
knew that he would rise again. And the Saviour himself--to shew that he
possessed true human feeling--mourned for him whom He was about to
raise. [1838] His apostle also, though he says: "I desire to depart and
to be with Christ," [1839] and elsewhere "to me to live is Christ and
to die is gain," [1840] thanks God that Epaphras [1841] (who had been
"sick nigh unto death") has been given back to him that he might not
have sorrow upon sorrow. [1842] Words prompted not by the fear that
springs of unbelief but by the passionate regret that comes of true
affection. How much more deeply must you who were to Nepotian both
uncle and bishop, (that is, a father both in the flesh and in the
spirit), deplore the loss of one so dear, as though your heart were
torn from you. Set a limit, I pray you, to your sorrow and remember the
saying "in nothing overmuch." [1843] Bind up for a little while your
wound and listen to the praises of one in whose virtue you have always
delighted. Do not grieve that you have lost such a paragon: rejoice
rather that he has once been yours. As on a small tablet men depict the
configuration of the earth, so in this little scroll of mine you may
see his virtues if not fully depicted at least sketched in outline. I
beg that you will take the will for the performance.
8. The advice of the rhetoricians in such cases is that you should
first search out the remote ancestors of the person to be eulogized and
recount their exploits, and then come gradually to your hero; so as to
make him more illustrious by the virtues of his forefathers, and to
show either that he is a worthy successor of good men, or that he has
conferred lustre upon a lineage in itself obscure. But as my duty is to
sing the praises of the soul, I will not dwell upon those fleshly
advantages which Nepotian for his part always despised. Nor will I
boast of his family, that is of the good points belonging not to him
but to others; for even those holy men Abraham and Isaac had for sons
the sinners Ishmael and Esau. And on the other hand Jephthah who is
reckoned by the apostle in the roll of the righteous [1844] is the son
of a harlot. [1845] It is said "the soul that sinneth, it shall die."
[1846] The soul therefore that has not sinned shall live. Neither the
virtues nor the vices of parents are imputed to their children. God
takes account of us only from the time when we are born anew in Christ.
Paul, the persecutor of the church, who is in the morning the ravening
wolf of Benjamin, [1847] in the evening "gave food," [1848] that is
yields himself up to the sheep Ananias. [1849] Let us likewise reckon
our Nepotian a crying babe and an untutored child who has been born to
us in a moment fresh from the waters of Jordan.
9. Another would perhaps describe how for his salvation you left the
east and the desert and how you soothed me your dearest comrade by
holding out hopes of a return: and all this that you might save, if
possible, both your sister, then a widow with one little child, or,
should she reject your counsels, at any rate your sweet little nephew.
It was of him that I once used the prophetic words: "though your little
nephew cling to your neck." [1850] Another, I say, would relate how
while Nepotian was still in the service of the court, beneath his
uniform and his brilliantly white linen, [1851] his skin was chafed
with sackcloth; how, while standing before the powers of this world,
his lips were discoloured with fasting; how still in the uniform of one
master he served another; and how he wore the sword-belt only that he
might succour widows and wards, the afflicted and the unhappy. For my
part I dislike men to delay the complete dedication of themselves to
God. When I read of the centurion Cornelius [1852] that he was a just
man I immediately hear of his baptism.
10. Still we may approve these things as the swathing bands of an
infant faith. He who has been a loyal soldier under a strange banner is
sure to deserve the laurel when he comes to serve his own king. When
Nepotian laid aside his baldrick and changed his dress, he bestowed
upon the poor all the pay that he had received. For he had read the
words: "if thou wilt be perfect, sell that thou hast, and give to the
poor and follow me," [1853] and again: "ye cannot serve two masters,
God and Mammon." [1854] He kept nothing for himself but a common tunic
and cloak to cover him and to keep out the cold. Made in the fashion of
his province his attire was not remarkable either for elegance or for
squalor. He burned daily to make his way to the monasteries of Egypt,
or to visit the communities of Mesopotamia, or at least to live a
lonely life in the Dalmatian islands, [1855] separated from the
mainland only by the strait of Altinum. But he had not the heart to
forsake his episcopal uncle in whom he beheld a pattern of many virtues
and from whom he could take lessons without going abroad. In one and
the same person he both found a monk to imitate and a bishop to revere.
What so often happens did not happen here. Constant intimacy did not
produce familiarity, nor did familiarity breed contempt. He revered him
as a father and every day admired him for some new virtue. To be brief,
he became a clergyman, and after passing through the usual stages was
ordained a presbyter. Good Jesus! how he sighed and groaned! how he
fasted and fled the eyes of all! For the first and only time he was
angry with his uncle, complaining that the burthen laid upon him was
too heavy for him and that his youth unfitted him for the priesthood.
But the more he struggled against it, the more he drew to himself the
hearts of all: his refusal did but prove him worthy of an office which
he was reluctant to assume, and all the more worthy because he declared
himself unworthy. We too in our day have our Timothy; we too have seen
that wisdom which is as good as gray hairs; [1856] our Moses has chosen
an elder whom he has known to be an elder indeed. [1857] Nepotian
regarded the clerical state less as an honour than a burthen. He made
it his first care to silence envy by humility, and his next to give no
cause for scandal that such as assailed his youth might marvel at his
continence. He helped the poor, visited the sick, stirred men up to
hospitality, soothed them with soft words, rejoiced with those who
rejoiced and wept with those who wept. [1858] He was a staff to the
blind, food to the hungry, hope to the dejected, consolation to the
bereaved. Each single virtue was as conspicuous in him as if he
possessed no other. Among his fellow-presbyters while ever foremost in
work, he was ever satisfied with the lowest place. Any good that he did
he ascribed to his uncle: but if the result did not correspond to his
expectations, he would say that his uncle knew nothing of it, that it
was his own mistake. In public he recognized him as a bishop; at home
he looked upon him as a father. The seriousness of his disposition was
mitigated by a cheerful expression. But while his laughter was joyous
it was never loud. Christ's virgins and widows he honoured as mothers
and exhorted as sisters "with all purity." [1859] When he returned home
he used to leave the clergyman outside and to give himself over to the
hard rule of a monk. Frequent in supplication and watchful in prayer he
would offer his tears not to man but to God. His fasts he regulated--as
a driver does the pace of his horses--according to the weariness or
vigour of his body. When at his uncle's table he would just taste what
was set before him, so as to avoid superstition and yet to preserve
self-control. In conversing at entertainments his habit was to propose
some topic from scripture, to listen modestly, to answer diffidently,
to support the right, to refute the wrong, but both without bitterness;
to instruct his opponent rather than to vanquish him. Such was the
ingenuous modesty which adorned his youth that he would frankly confess
from what sources his several arguments came; and in this way, while
disclaiming a reputation for learning, he came to be held most learned.
This he would say is the opinion of Tertullian, that of Cyprian; this
of Lactantius, that of Hilary; to this effect speaks Minucius Felix,
thus Victorinus, after this manner Arnobius. Myself too he would
sometimes quote, for he loved me because of my intimacy with his uncle.
Indeed by constant reading and long-continued meditation he had made
his breast a library of Christ.
11. How often in letters from beyond the sea he urged me to write
something to him! How often he reminded me of the man in the gospel who
sought help by night [1860] and of the widow who importuned the cruel
judge! [1861] And when I silently ignored his request and made my
petitioner blush by blushing to reply, he put forward his uncle to
enforce his suit, knowing that as the boon was for another he would
more readily ask it, and that as I held his episcopal office in respect
he would more easily obtain it. Accordingly I did what he wished and in
a brief essay [1862] dedicated our mutual friendship to everlasting
remembrance. On receiving this Nepotian boasted that he was richer than
Croesus and wealthier than Darius. He held it in his hands, devoured it
with his eyes, kept it in his bosom, repeated it with his lips. And
often when he unrolled it upon his couch, he fell asleep with the
cherished page upon his breast. When a stranger came or a friend, he
rejoiced to let them know my witness to him. The deficiencies of my
little book he made good by careful punctuation and varied emphasis, so
that when it was read aloud it was always he not I who seemed to please
or to displease. Whence came such zeal, if not from the love of God?
Whence came such untiring study of Christ's law, if not from a yearning
for Him who gave it? Let others add coin to coin till their purses are
chock-full; let others demean themselves to sponge on married ladies;
let them be richer as monks than they were as men of the world; let
them possess wealth in the service of a poor Christ such as they never
had in the service of a rich devil; let the church lose breath at the
opulence of men who in the world were beggars. Our Nepotian spurns gold
and begs only for written books. But while he despises himself in the
flesh and walks abroad more splendid than ever in his poverty, he still
seeks out everything that may adorn the church.
12. In comparison with what has gone before what I am now about to say
may appear trivial, but even in trifles the same spirit makes itself
manifest. For as we admire the Creator not only as the framer of heaven
and earth, of sun and ocean, of elephants, camels, horses, oxen, pards,
bears, and lions; but also as the maker of the most tiny creatures,
ants, gnats, flies, worms, and the like, whose shapes we know better
than their names, and as in all alike we revere the same creative
skill; so the mind that is given to Christ shews the same earnestness
in things of small as of great importance, knowing that it must render
an account of every idle word. [1863] Nepotian took pains to keep the
altar bright, the church walls free from soot and the pavement duly
swept. He saw that the doorkeeper was constantly at his post, that the
doorhangings were in their places, the sanctuary clean and the vessels
shining. The careful reverence that he shewed to every rite led him to
neglect no duty small or great. Whenever you looked for him in church
you found him there.
In Quintus Fabius [1864] antiquity admired a nobleman and the author of
a history of Rome, yet his paintings gained him more renown than his
writings. Our own Bezaleel [1865] also and Hiram, the son of a Tyrian
woman, [1866] are spoken of in scripture as filled with wisdom and the
spirit of God because they framed, the one the furniture of the
tabernacle, the other that of the temple. For, as it is with fertile
tillage-fields and rich plough-lands which at times go out into
redundant growths of stalk or ear, so is it with distinguished talents
and a mind filled with virtue. They are sure to overflow into elegant
and varied accomplishments. Accordingly among the Greeks we hear of a
philosopher [1867] who used to boast that everything he wore down to
his cloak and ring was made by himself. We may pass the same eulogy on
our friend, for he adorned both the basilicas of the church and the
halls [1868] of the martyrs with sketches of flowers, foliage, and
vine-tendrils, so that everything attractive in the church, whether
made so by its position or by its appearance, bore witness to the
labour and zeal of the presbyter set over it.
13. Go on blessed in thy goodness! What kind of ending should we expect
after such a beginning! Ah! hapless plight of mortal men and vanity of
all life that is not lived in Christ! Why, O my words, do you shrink
back? Why do you shift and turn? I fear to come to the end, as if I
could put off his death or make his life longer. "All flesh is as grass
and all the glory of man as the flower of grass." [1869] Where now are
that handsome face and dignified figure with which as with a fair
garment his beautiful soul was clothed? The lily began to wither, alas!
when the south wind blew, and the purple violet slowly faded into
paleness. Yet while he burned with fever and while the fire of sickness
was drying up the fountains of his veins, gasping and weary he still
tried to comfort his sorrowing uncle. His countenance shone with
gladness, and while all around him wept he and he only smiled. He flung
aside his cloak, put out his hand, saw what others failed to see, and
even tried to rise that he might welcome new comers. You would have
thought that he was starting on a journey instead of dying and that in
place of leaving all his friends behind him he was merely passing from
some to others. [1870] Tears roll down my cheeks and, however much I
steel my mind, I cannot disguise the grief that I feel. Who could
suppose that at such an hour he would remember his intimacy with me,
and that while he struggled for life he would recall the sweetness of
study? Yet grasping his uncle's hand he said to him: "Send this tunic
that I wore in the service of Christ to my dear friend, my father in
age, but my brother in office, and transfer the affection hitherto
claimed by your nephew to one who is as dear to you as he is to me."
With these words he passed away holding his uncle's hand and with my
name upon his lips.
14. I know how unwilling you were to prove the affection of your people
at such a cost, and that you would have preferred to win your
countrymen's love while retaining your happiness. Such expressions of
feeling, pleasant as they are when all goes well, are doubly welcome in
time of sorrow. All Altinum, all Italy mourned Nepotian. The earth
received his body; his soul was given back to Christ. You lost a
nephew, the church a priest. He who should have followed you went
before you. To the office which you held, he in the judgment of all
deserved to succeed. And so one family has had the honour of producing
two bishops, the first to be congratulated because he has held the
office, the second to be lamented because he has been taken away too
soon to hold it. Plato thinks that a wise man's whole life ought to be
a meditation of death; [1871] and philosophers praise the sentiment and
extol it to the skies. But much more full of power are the words of the
apostle: "I die daily through your glory." [1872] For to have an ideal
is one thing, to realize it another. It is one thing to live so as to
die, another to die so as to live. The sage and Christian must both of
them die: but the one always dies out of his glory, the other into it.
Therefore we also should consider beforehand the end which must one day
overtake us and which, whether we wish it or not, cannot be very far
distant. For though we should live nine hundred years or more, as men
did before the deluge, and though the days of Methuselah [1873] should
be granted us, yet that long space of time, when once it should have
passed away and come to an end, would be as nothing. For to the man who
has lived ten years and to him who has lived a thousand, when once the
end of life comes and death's inexorable doom, all the past whether
long or short is just the same; except that the older a man is, the
heavier is the load of sin that he has to take with him.
First hapless mortals lose from out their life
The fairest days: disease and age come next;
And lastly cruel death doth claim his prey. [1874]
The poet Nævius too says that
Mortals must many woes perforce endure.
Accordingly antiquity has feigned that Niobe because of her much
weeping was turned to stone and that other women were metamorphosed
into beasts. Hesiod also bewails men's birthdays and rejoices in their
deaths, and Ennius wisely says:
The mob has one advantage o'er its king:
For it may weep while tears for him are shame.
If a king may not weep, neither may a bishop; indeed a bishop has still
less license than a king. For the king rules over unwilling subjects,
the bishop over willing ones. The king compels submission by terror;
the bishop exercises lordship by becoming a servant. The king guards
men's bodies till they die; the bishop saves their souls for life
eternal. The eyes of all are turned upon you. Your house is set on a
watchtower; your life fixes for others the limits of their
self-control. Whatever you do, all think that they may do the same. Do
not so commit yourself that those who seek ground for cavil may be
thought to have rightly assailed you, or that those who are eager to
imitate you may be forced to do wrong. Overcome as much as you can--nay
even more than you can--the sensitiveness of your mind and check the
copious flow of your tears. Else your deep affection for your nephew
may be construed by unbelievers as indicating despair of God. You must
regretim not as dead but as absent. You must seem to be looking for him
rather than have lost him.
15. But why do I try to heal a sorrow which has already, I suppose,
been assuaged by time and reason? Why do I not rather unfold to
you--they are not far to seek--the miseries of our rulers and the
calamities of our time? He who has lost the light of life is not so
much to be pitied as he is to be congratulated who has escaped from
such great evils. Constantius, [1875] the patron of the Arian heresy,
was hurrying to do battle with his enemy [1876] when he died at the
village of Mopsus and to his great vexation left the empire to his foe.
Julian [1877] , the betrayer of his own soul, the murderer of a
Christian army, felt in Media the hand of the Christ whom he had
previously denied in Gaul. Desiring to annex new territories to Rome,
he did but lose annexations previously made. Jovian [1878] had but just
tasted the sweets of sovereignty when a coal-fire suffocated him: a
good instance of the transitoriness of human power. Valentinian [1879]
died of a broken blood vessel, the land of his birth laid waste, and
his country unavenged. His brother Valens [1880] defeated in Thrace by
the Goths, was buried where he died. Gratian, betrayed by his army and
refused admittance by the cities on his line of march, became the
laughing-stock of his foe; and your walls, Lyons, still bear the marks
of that bloody hand. [1881] Valentinian was yet a youth--I may say, a
mere boy--when, after flight and exile and the recovery of his power by
bloodshed, he was put to death [1882] not far from the city which had
witnessed his brother's end. And not only so but his lifeless body was
gibbeted to do him shame. What shall I say of Procopius, of Maximus, of
Eugenius, [1883] who while they held sovereign sway were a terror to
the nations, yet stood one and all as prisoners in the presence of
their conquerors, and--cruellest wound of all to the great and
powerful--felt the pang of an ignominious slavery before they fell by
the edge of the sword.
16. Some one may say: such is the lot of kings:
The lightning ever smites the mountain-tops. [1884]
I will come therefore to persons of private position, and in speaking
of these I will not go farther back than the last two years. In fact I
will content myself--omitting all others--with recounting the
respective fates of three recent consulars. Abundantius is a beggared
exile at Pityus. [1885] The head of Rufinus has been carried on a pike
to Constantinople, and his severed hand has begged alms from door to
door to shame his insatiable greed. [1886] Timasius, [1887] hurled
suddenly from a position of the highest rank thinks it an escape that
he is allowed to live in obscurity at Assa. I am describing not the
misfortunes of an unhappy few but the thread upon which human fortunes
as a whole depend. I shudder when I think of the catastrophes of our
time. For twenty years and more the blood of Romans has been shed daily
between Constantinople and the Julian Alps. Scythia, Thrace, Macedonia,
Dardania, Dacia, Thessaly, Achaia, Epirus, Dalmatia, the
Pannonias--each and all of these have been sacked and pillaged and
plundered by Goths and Sarmatians, Quades and Alans, Huns and Vandals
and Marchmen. How many of God's matrons and virgins, virtuous and noble
ladies, have been made the sport of these brutes! Bishops have been
made captive, priests and those in minor orders have been put to death.
Churches have been overthrown, horses have been stalled by the altars
of Christ, the relics of martyrs have been dug up.
Mourning and fear abound on every side
And death appears in countless shapes and forms. [1888]
The Roman world is falling: yet we hold up our heads instead of bowing
them. What courage, think you, have the Corinthians now, or the
Athenians or the Lacedæmonians or the Arcadians, or any of the Greeks
over whom the barbarians bear sway? I have mentioned only a few cities,
but these once the capitals of no mean states. The East, it is true,
seemed to be safe from all such evils: and if men were panic-stricken
here, it was only because of bad news from other parts. But lo! in the
year just gone by the wolves (no longer of Arabia but of the whole
North [1889] ) were let loose upon us from the remotest fastnesses of
Caucasus and in a short time overran these great provinces. What a
number of monasteries they captured! What many rivers they caused to
run red with blood! They laid siege to Antioch and invested other
cities on the Halys, the Cydnus, the Orontes, and the Euphrates. They
carried off troops of captives. Arabia, Phenicia, Palestine and Egypt,
in their terror fancied themselves already enslaved.
Had I a hundred tongues, a hundred lips,
A throat of iron and a chest of brass,
I could not tell men's countless sufferings. [1890]
And indeed it is not my purpose to write a history: I only wish to shed
a few tears over your sorrows and mine. For the rest, to treat such
themes as they deserve, Thucydides and Sallust would be as good as
dumb.
17. Nepotian is happy who neither sees these things nor hears them. We
are unhappy, for either we suffer ourselves or we see our brethren
suffer. Yet we desire to live, and regard those beyond the reach of
these evils as miserable rather than blessed. We have long felt that
God is angry, yet we do not try to appease Him. It is our sins which
make the barbarians strong, it is our vices which vanquish Rome's
soldiers: and, as if there were here too little material for carnage,
civil wars have made almost greater havoc among us than the swords of
foreign foes. Miserable must those Israelites have been compared with
whom Nebuchadnezzar was called God's servant. [1891] Unhappy too are we
who are so displeasing to God that He uses the fury of the barbarians
to execute His wrath against us. Still when Hezekiah repented, one
hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians were destroyed in one night
by a single angel. [1892] When Jehosaphat sang the praises of the Lord,
the Lord gave His worshipper the victory. [1893] Again when Moses
fought against Amalek, it was not with the sword but with prayer that
he prevailed. [1894] Therefore, if we wish to be lifted up, we must
first prostrate ourselves. Alas! for our shame and folly reaching even
to unbelief! Rome's army, once victor and lord of the world, now
trembles with terror at the sight of the foe and accepts defeat from
men who cannot walk afoot and fancy themselves dead if once they are
unhorsed. [1895] We do not understand the prophet's words: "One
thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one." [1896] We do not cut away
the causes of the disease, as we must do to remove the disease itself.
Else we should soon see the enemies' arrows give way to our javelins,
their caps to our helmets, their palfreys to our chargers.
18. But I have gone beyond the office of a consoler, and while
forbidding you to weep for one dead man I have myself mourned the dead
of the whole world. Xerxes the mighty king who rased mountains and
filled up seas, looking from high ground upon the untold host, the
countless army before him, is said [1897] to have wept at the thought
that in a hundred years not one of those whom he then saw would be
alive. Oh! if we could but get up into a watch-tower so high that from
it we might behold the whole earth spread out under our feet, then I
would shew you the wreck of a world, nation warring against nation and
kingdom in collision with kingdom; some men tortured, others put to the
sword, others swallowed up by the waves, some dragged away into
slavery; here a wedding, there a funeral; men born here, men dying
there; some living in affluence, others begging their bread; and not
the army of Xerxes, great as that was, but all the inhabitants of the
world alive now but destined soon to pass away. Language is inadequate
to a theme so vast and all that I can say must fall short of the
reality.
19. Let us return then to ourselves and coming down from the skies let
us look for a few moments upon what more nearly concerns us. Are you
conscious, I would ask, of the stages of your growth? Can you fix the
time when you became a babe, a boy, a youth, an adult, an old man?
Every day we are changing, every day we are dying, and yet we fancy
ourselves eternal. The very moments that I spend in dictation, in
writing, in reading over what I write, and in correcting it, are so
much taken from my life. Every dot that my secretary makes is so much
gone from my allotted time. We write letters and reply to those of
others, our missives cross the sea, and, as the vessel ploughs its
furrow through wave after wave, the moments which we have to live
vanish one by one. Our only gain is that we are thus knit together in
the love of Christ. "Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity
envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; beareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Charity never faileth." [1898] It lives always in the heart, and thus
our Nepotian though absent is still present, and widely sundered though
we are has a hand to offer to each. Yes, in him we have a hostage for
mutual charity. Let us then be joined together in spirit, let us bind
ourselves each to each in affection and let us who have lost a son shew
the same fortitude with which the blessed pope Chromatius [1899] bore
the loss of a brother. Let every page that we write echo his name, let
all our letters ring with it. If we can no longer clasp him to our
hearts, let us hold him fast in memory; and if we can no longer speak
with him, let us never cease to speak of him.
__________________________________________________________________
[1805] 1 Thess. iv. 13.
[1806] Mark v. 39.
[1807] Joh. xi. 11.
[1808] Wisd. iv. 11, 14.
[1809] Hos. xiii. 15, LXX.
[1810] Hos. xiii. 14.
[1811] Rom. v. 14.
[1812] Ps. xiv. 1.
[1813] Rom. iii. 12.
[1814] Matt. xxvii. 52, 53.
[1815] Eph. v. 14.
[1816] Matt. iii. 2.
[1817] Matt. xi. 12.
[1818] Gen. iii. 24.
[1819] Cf. Letter XXXIX. § 4.
[1820] 2 Cor. x. 3.
[1821] Phi. iii. 20.
[1822] Luke xvii. 21.
[1823] Ps. lxxvi. 1.
[1824] Virg. A. viii. 723.
[1825] Luke xxiii. 38.
[1826] A Thracian tribe.
[1827] The words are quoted by Cicero (T. Q. iii. 13) apparently from
the Telamon of Ennius. They are ascribed to Anaxagoras by Diog. Laert.
[1828] In his De consolatione of which only a few fragments remain.
[1829] Val. Max. v. 10.
[1830] In the first year of the Republic. Acc. to Livy (ii. 8) his son
was not really dead.
[1831] The conqueror of Macedonia. He celebrated his triumph 167 b.c.
[1832] Ps. xxx. 5.
[1833] Rom. xiii. 12.
[1834] Deut. xxxiv. 8.
[1835] Josh. xxiv. 30.
[1836] Letter XXXIX.
[1837] Ps. xlviii. 8.
[1838] Joh. xi. 35.
[1839] Phi. i. 23.
[1840] Phi. i. 21.
[1841] i.e. Epaphroditus.
[1842] Phi. ii. 27.
[1843] meden agan, ne quid nimis. A saying of one of the Seven Wise Men
of Greece, 6th cent. b.c. See Grote iv. 127.
[1844] Heb. xi. 32.
[1845] Judg. xi. 1.
[1846] Ezek. xviii. 4
[1847] Gen. xlix. 27.
[1848] Dedit escam. This is the reading of the LXX. The Vulgate, like
the A.V., has "shall divide the spoil." Compare Letter LXIX. 6.
[1849] Acts ix. 17. (Cf. Letter LXIX. § 6.)
[1850] Letter XIV. § 2.
[1851] For other allusions to a Roman officer's uniform see Letters
LXXIX. § 2 and CXVIII. § 1.
[1852] Acts x.
[1853] Matt. xix. 21.
[1854] Matt. vi. 24.
[1855] Like Bonosus (Letter III. 4).
[1856] Wisd. iv. 9.
[1857] Nu. xi. 16. Presbyterum. This name (afterwards contracted into
Priest) is taken from that of the Elders of Israel.
[1858] Rom. xii. 15.
[1859] 1 Tim. v. 2.
[1860] Luke xi. 5, 8.
[1861] Luke xviii. 1, 5.
[1862] Letter LII.
[1863] Matt. xii. 36.
[1864] Jerome here confounds two distinct persons: C. Fabius Pictor was
the painter; his grandson Q. Fabius the historian.
[1865] Ex. xxxi. 2, 3.
[1866] 1 Kings vii. 14. A mistake of Jerome. It was Hiram's father who
was a Tyrian.
[1867] Hippias of Elis. See Cic. Or. iii. 32.
[1868] Conciliabula.
[1869] 1 Pet. i. 24.
[1870] A similar phrase occurs in Letter CXVIII. § 4.
[1871] Plato, Phædo xii. Cic. T. Q. 1. 31.
[1872] 1 Cor. xv. 31, Vulgate.
[1873] Gen. v. 27.
[1874] Virg. G. iii. 66-68.
[1875] Died 361 a.d.
[1876] Julian.
[1877] Died 363 a.d.
[1878] Died 364 a.d.
[1879] Died 375 a.d.
[1880] Burned to death in a hut after the battle of Adrianople, 378
a.d.
[1881] Died 383 a.d. by the hand of Andragathius.
[1882] Strangled by Arbogastes at Vienne, 392 a.d.
[1883] Aspirants to the purple who were put to death, the first by
Valens, the second and third by Theodosius.
[1884] Hor. C. II. x. 11, 12.
[1885] Banished by Eutropius who had owed his advancement to him.
[1886] The prime minister of Theodosius I. Shortly after the accession
of Arcadius Gainas the Goth procured his assassination.
[1887] One of the generals of Theodosius I., banished to the Oasis at
the instigation of Eutropius.
[1888] Virg. A. ii. 369.
[1889] i.e. the Huns have taken the place of the Chaldæans described in
Hab. i. 8, LXX.
[1890] Virg. A. vi. 625-7.
[1891] Jer. xxvii. 6.
[1892] 2 Kings xix. 35.
[1893] 2 Chr. xx. 5-25.
[1894] Ex. xvii. 11.
[1895] Jornandes corroborates the account of the Huns here given by
Jerome.
[1896] Isa. xxx. 17.
[1897] Herod. vii. cc. 45, 46.
[1898] 1 Cor. xiii. 4, 7, 8.
[1899] Bishop of Aquileia. His brother Eusebius was also a bishop.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXI. To Vigilantius.
Vigilantius on his return to the West after his visit to Jerusalem
(whither he had gone as the bearer of letters from Paulinus of
Nola--see Letter LVIII. §11.) had openly accused Jerome of a leaning to
the heresy of Origen. Jerome now writes to him in the most severe tone
repudiating the charge of Origenism and fastening upon his opponent
those of ignorance and blasphemy. He singles out for especial
reprobation Vigilantius's explanation of the stone cut out without
hands' in Daniel and urges him to repent of his sins in which case he
will have as much chance of forgiveness as the devil has according to
Origen! The letter is often referred to as showing Jerome's way of
dealing with Origen's works. Jerome subsequently wrote a refutation of
Vigilantius's work, of all his controversial writings the most violent
and the least reasonable. See the translation of it in this volume. See
also Letter CIX. The date of this letter is 396 a.d.
1. Since you have refused to believe your own ears, I might justly
decline to satisfy you by a letter; for, if you have failed to credit
the living voice, it is not likely that you will give way to a written
paper. But, since Christ has shown us in Himself a pattern of perfect
humility, bestowing a kiss upon His betrayer and receiving the robber's
repentance upon the cross, I tell you now when absent as I have told
you already when present, that I read and have read Origen only as I
read Apollinaris, or other writers whose books in some things the
Church does not receive. I by no means say that everything contained in
such books is to be condemned, but I admit that there are things in
them deserving of censure. Still, as it is my task and study by reading
many authors to cull different flowers from as large a number as
possible, not so much making it an object to prove all things as to
choose what are good. I take up many writers that from the many I may
learn many things; according to that which is written "reading all
things, holding fast those that are good." [1900] Hence I am much
surprised that you have tried to fasten upon me the doctrines of
Origen, of whose mistaken teaching on many points you are up to the
present altogether unaware. Am I a heretic? Why pray then do heretics
dislike me so? And are you orthodox, you who either against your
convictions and the words of your own mouth signed [1901] unwillingly
and are consequently a prevaricator, or else signed deliberately and
are consequently a heretic? You have taken no account of Egypt; you
have relinquished all those provinces where numbers plead freely and
openly for your sect; and you have singled out me for assault, me who
not only censure but publicly condemn all doctrines that are contrary
to the church.
2. Origen is a heretic, true; but what does that take from me who do
not deny that on very many points he is heretical? He has erred
concerning the resurrection of the body, he has erred concerning the
condition of souls, he has erred by supposing it possible that the
devil may repent, and--an error more important than these--he has
declared in his commentary upon Isaiah that the Seraphim mentioned by
the prophet [1902] are the divine Son and the Holy Ghost. If I did not
allow that he has erred or if I did not daily anathematize his errors I
should be partaker of his fault. For while we receive what is good in
his writings we must on no account bind ourselves to accept also what
is evil. Still in many passages he has interpreted the scriptures well,
has explained obscure places in the prophets, and has brought to light
very great mysteries, both in the old and in the new testament. If then
I have taken over what is good in him and have either cut away or
altered or ignored what is evil, am I to be regarded as guilty on the
score that through my agency those who read Latin receive the good in
his writings without knowing anything of the bad? If this be a crime
the confessor Hilary must be convicted; for he has rendered from Greek
into Latin Origen's Explanation of the Psalms and his Homilies on Job.
Eusebius of Vercellæ, who witnessed a like confession, must also be
held in fault; for he has translated into our tongue the Commentaries
upon all the Psalms of his heretical namesake, omitting however the
unsound portions and rendering only those parts which are profitable. I
say nothing of Victorinus of Petavium and others who have merely
followed and expanded Origen in their explanation of the scriptures.
Were I to do so, I might seem less anxious to defend myself than to
find for myself companions in guilt. I will come to your own case: Why
do you keep copies of his treatises on Job? In these, while arguing
against the devil and concerning the stars and heavens, he has said
certain things which the Church does not receive. Is it for you alone,
with that very wise head of yours, to pass sentence upon all writers
Greek and Latin, with a wave of your censor's wand to eject some from
our libraries and to admit others, and as the whim takes you to
pronounce me either a Catholic or a heretic? And am I to be forbidden
to reject things which are wrong and to condemn what I have often
condemned already? Read what I have written upon the epistle to the
Ephesians, read my other works, particularly my commentary upon
Ecclesiastes, and you will clearly see that from my youth up I have
never been terrified by any man's influence into acquiescence in
heretical pravity.
3. It is no small gain to know your own ignorance. It is a man's wisdom
to know his own measure, that he may not be led away at the instigation
of the devil to make the whole world a witness of his incapacity. You
are bent, I suppose, on magnifying yourself and boast in your own
country that I found myself unable to answer your eloquence and that I
dreaded in you the sharp satire of a Chrysippus. [1903] Christian
modesty holds me back and I do not wish to lay open the retirement of
my poor cell with biting words. Otherwise I should soon shew up all
your bravery and your parade of triumph. [1904] But these I leave to
others either to talk of or to laugh at; while for my own part as a
Christian speaking to a Christian I beseech you my brother not to
pretend to know more than you do, lest your pen may proclaim your
innocence and simplicity, or at any rate those qualities of which I say
nothing but which, though you do not see them in yourself others see in
you. For then you will give everyone reason to laugh at your folly.
From your earliest childhood you have been taught other lessons and
have been used to a different kind of schooling. One and the same
person can hardly be a tester both of gold coins on the counter and
also of the scriptures, or be a connoisseur of wines and an adept in
expounding prophets or apostles. [1905] As for me, you tear me limb
from limb, our reverend brother Oceanus you charge with heresy, you
dislike the judgment of the presbyters Vincent and Paulinian, and our
brother Eusebius also displeases you. You alone are to be our Cato, the
most eloquent of the Roman race, and you wish us to accept what you say
as the words of prudence herself. Pray call to mind the day when I
preached on the resurrection and on the reality of the risen body, and
when you jumped up beside me and clapped your hands and stamped your
feet and applauded my orthodoxy. Now, however, that you have taken to
sea travelling the stench of the bilge water has affected your head,
and you have called me to mind only as a heretic. What can I do for
you? I believed the letters of the reverend presbyter Paulinus, and it
did not occur to me that his judgment concerning you could be wrong.
And although, the moment that you handed me the letter, I noticed a
certain incoherency in your language, yet I fancied this due to want of
culture and knowledge in you and not to an unsettled brain. I do not
censure the reverend writer who preferred, no doubt, in writing to me
to keep back what he knew rather than to accuse in his missive one who
was both under his patronage and entrusted with his letter; but I find
fault with myself that I have rested in another's judgment rather than
my own, and that, while my eyes saw one thing, I believed on the
evidence of a scrap of paper something else than what I saw.
4. Wherefore cease to worry me and to overwhelm me with your scrolls.
Spare at least your money with which you hire secretaries and copyists,
employing the same persons to write for you and to applaud you.
Possibly their praise is due to the fact that they make a profit out of
writing for you. If you wish to exercise your mind, hand yourself over
to the teachers of grammar and rhetoric, learn logic, have yourself
instructed in the schools of the philosophers; and when you have
learned all these things you will perhaps begin to hold your tongue.
And yet I am acting foolishly in seeking teachers for one who is
competent to teach everyone, and in trying to limit the utterance of
one who does not know how to speak yet cannot remain silent. The old
Greek proverb is quite true "A lyre is of no use to an ass." [1906] For
my part I imagine that even your name was given you out of contrariety.
[1907] For your whole mind slumbers and you actually snore, so profound
is the sleep--or rather the lethargy--in which you are plunged. In fact
amongst the other blasphemies which with sacrilegious lips you have
uttered you have dared to say that the mountain in Daniel [1908] out of
which the stone was cut without hands is the devil, and that the stone
is Christ, who having taken a body from Adam (whose sins had before
connected him with the devil) is born of a virgin to separate mankind
from the mountain, that is, from the devil. Your tongue deserves to be
cut out and torn into fragments. Can any true Christian explain this
image of the devil instead of referring it to God the Father Almighty,
or defile the ears of the whole world with so frightful an enormity? If
your explanation has ever been accepted by any--I will not say Catholic
but--heretic or heathen, let your words be regarded as pious. If on the
other hand the Church of Christ has never yet heard of such an impiety,
and if yours has been the first mouth through which he who once said "I
will be like the Most High" [1909] has declared that he is the mountain
spoken of by Daniel, then repent, put on sackcloth and ashes, and with
fast-flowing tears wash away your awful guilt; if so be that this
impiety may be forgiven you, and, supposing Origen's heresy to be true,
that you may obtain pardon when the devil himself shall obtain it, the
devil who has never been convicted of greater blasphemy than that which
he has uttered through you. Your insult offered to myself I bear with
patience: your impiety towards God I cannot bear. Accordingly I may
seem to have been somewhat more acrid in this latter part of my letter
than I declared I would be at the outset. Yet having once before
repented and asked pardon of me, it is extremely foolish in you again
to commit a sin for which you must anew do penance. May Christ give you
grace to hear and to hold your peace, to understand and so to speak.
__________________________________________________________________
[1900] 1 Th. v. 21. "Prove all things," Vulg. and A.V.
[1901] Probably Aterbius (for whom see Jerome Apol. iii. 33, and note
on Letter LXXXVI.) had brought with him some test-formula of orthodoxy
which he called upon all anti-Origenists to sign.
[1902] Isa. vi. 2. See Letter XVIII.
[1903] A disciple of Cleanthes and Zeno, and after them the leading
teacher of the Stoic school at Athens. He was born in 280 a.d.
[1904] This expression is given in Greek.
[1905] The father of Vigilantius is said by Jerome to have been an
inn-keeper.
[1906] ono lura
[1907] Jerome subsequently (Letter CIX.) nicknamed his opponent
Dormitantius (the Sleepy One'), his own name Vigilantius meaning the
Wakeful.'
[1908] Dan. ii. 34, 45.
[1909] Isa. xiv. 14.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXII. To Tranquillinus.
Tranquillinus, one of Jerome's Roman friends, had written (1) to tell
him of the stand that Oceanus was making against the Origenists at
Rome, and (2) to ask whether any parts of Origen's works might be
studied with safety and profit. Jerome welcomes the tidings about
Oceanus and answers the question of Tranquillinus in the affirmative.
He classes Origen with Tertullian, Apollinaris and others whose works
continued to be read in spite of their heresies. Written in 396 or 397
a.d.
1. Though I formerly doubted the fact, I have now proved that the links
which bind spirit to spirit are stronger than any physical bond. For
you, my reverend friend, cling to me with all your soul, and I am
united to you by the love of Christ. I speak simply and sincerely to
your spotless heart: the very paper on which you write, the very
letters which you have formed--voiceless though they are--inspire in me
a sense of your affection.
2. You tell me that many have been deceived by the mistaken teaching of
Origen, and that that saintly man, my son Oceanus, is doing battle with
their madness. I grieve to think that simple folk have been thrown off
their balance, but I am rejoiced to know that one so learned as Oceanus
is doing his best to set them right again. Moreover you ask me,
insignificant though I am, for an opinion as to the advisability of
reading Origen's works. Are we, you say, to reject him altogether with
our brother Faustinus, or are we, as others tell us, to read him in
part? My opinion is that we should sometimes read him for his learning
just as we read Tertullian, Novatus, Arnobius, Apollinarius and some
other church writers both Greek and Latin, and that we should select
what is good and avoid what is bad in their writings according to the
words of the Apostle, "Prove all things: hold fast that which is good."
[1910] Those, however, who are led by some perversity in their
dispositions to conceive for him too much fondness or too much aversion
seem to me to lie under the curse of the Prophet:--"Woe unto them that
call evil good and good evil; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for
bitter!" [1911] For while the ability of his teaching must not lead us
to embrace his wrong opinions, the wrongness of his opinions should not
cause us altogether to reject the useful commentaries which he has
published on the holy scriptures. But if his admirers and his
detractors are bent on having a tug of war one against the other, and
if, seeking no mean and observing no moderation, they must either
approve or disapprove his works indiscriminately, I would choose rather
to be a pious boor than a learned blasphemer. Our reverend brother,
Tatian the deacon, heartily salutes you.
__________________________________________________________________
[1910] 1 Th. v. 21.
[1911] Is. v. 20.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXIII. To Theophilus.
When the dispute arose between Jerome and Epiphanius on the one side
and Rufinus and John of Jerusalem on the other (see Letter LI.),
Theophilus bishop of Alexandria, being appealed to by the latter sent
the presbyter Isidore to report to him on the matter. Isidore reported
against Jerome and consequently Theophilus refused to answer several of
his letters. Finally he wrote counselling him to obey the canons of the
church. Jerome replies that to do this has always been his first
object. He then remonstrates with Theophilus on his too great leniency
towards the Origenists and declares it to be productive of the worst
results. The date of the letter is probably 397 a.d.
Jerome to the most blessed pope [1912] Theophilus.
1. Your holiness will remember that at the time when you kept silence
towards me, I never ceased to do my duty by writing to you, not taking
so much into account what you in the exercise of your discretion were
then doing as what it became me to do. And now that I have received a
letter from your grace, I see that my reading of the gospel has not
been without fruit. For if the frequent prayers of a woman changed the
determination of an unyielding judge, [1913] how much more must my
constant appeals have softened a fatherly heart like yours?
2. I thank you for your reminder concerning the canons of the Church.
Truly, "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth." [1914] Still I would assure you that nothing is
more my aim than to maintain the rights of Christ, to keep to the lines
laid down by the fathers, and always to remember the faith of Rome;
that faith which is praised by the lips of an apostle, [1915] and of
which the Alexandrian church boasts to be a sharer.
3. Many religious persons are displeased that you are so long-suffering
in regard to that shocking heresy, [1916] and that you suppose yourself
able by such lenity to amend those who are attacking the Church's
vitals. They believe that, while you are waiting for the penitence of a
few, your action is fostering the boldness of abandoned men and making
their party stronger. Farewell in Christ.
__________________________________________________________________
[1912] See note on Letter LVIII.
[1913] Luke xviii. 2-5.
[1914] Heb. xii. 6.
[1915] Rom. i. 8.
[1916] That of the Origenists.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXIV. To Fabiola.
Fabiola's visit to Bethlehem had been shortened by the threatened
invasion of the Huns which compelled Jerome and his friends to take
refuge for a time on the seaboard of Palestine. Fabiola here took leave
of her companions and set sail for Italy, but not until Jerome had
completed this letter for her use (§22). It contains a mystical account
of the vestments of the High Priest worked out with Jerome's usual
ingenuity and learning. Similar treatises are ascribed to Tertullian
and to Hosius bishop of Cordova, but these have long since perished.
Its date is 396 or 397 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXV. To Principia.
A commentary on Ps. XLV. addressed to Marcella's friend and companion
Principia (see Letter CXXVII.). Jerome prefaces what he has to say by a
defence of his practice of writing for women, a practice which had
exposed him to many foolish sneers. He deals with the same subject in
his dedication of the Commentary of Sophronius. The date of the letter
is 397 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXVI. To Pammachius.
Pammachius a Roman senator, had lost his wife Paulina one of Paula's
daughters, while she was still in the flower of her youth. It was not
till two years had elapsed that Jerome ventured to write to him; and
when he did so he dwelt but little on the life and virtues of Paulina.
Probably there was but little to tell. The greater part of the letter
is taken up with commendation of Pammachius himself who, in spite of
his high rank and position, had become a monk and was now living a life
of severe self-denial. Jerome speaks approvingly of the Hospice for
Strangers which, in conjunction with Fabiola, Pammachius had set up at
Portus, and describes his own somewhat similar institutions at
Bethlehem. He also mentions Paula, Eustochium, and the dead Blæsilla,
all in terms of the highest praise. The date of the letter is 397 a.d.
1. Supposing a wound to be healed and a scar to have been formed upon
the skin, any course of treatment designed to remove the mark must in
its effort to improve the appearance renew the smart of the original
wound. After two years of inopportune silence my condolence now comes
rather late; yet even so I am afraid that my present speech may be
still more inopportune. I fear lest in touching the sore spot in your
heart I may by my words inflame afresh a wound which time and
reflection have availed to cure. For who can have ears so dull or
hearts so flinty as to hear the name of your Paulina without weeping?
Even though reared on the milk of Hyrcanian tigresses [1917] they must
still shed tears. Who can with dry eyes see thus untimely cut down and
withered an opening rose, an undeveloped bud, [1918] which has not yet
formed itself into a cup nor spread forth the proud display of its
crimson petals? In her a most priceless pearl is broken. In her a vivid
emerald is shattered. Sickness alone shews us the blessedness of
health. We realize better what we have had when we cease to have it.
2. The good ground of which we read in the parable brought forth fruit,
some an hundred-fold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold. [1919] In
this threefold yield I recognize an emblem of the three different
rewards of Christ which have fallen to three women [1920] closely
united in blood and moral excellence. Eustochium culls the flowers of
virginity. Paula sweeps the toilsome threshing floor of widowhood.
Paulina keeps the bed undefiled of marriage. A mother with such
daughters wins for herself on earth all that Christ has promised to
give in heaven. Then to complete the team--if I may so call it--of four
saints turned out by a single family, and to match the women's virtues
by those of a man, the three have a fit companion in Pammachius who is
a cherub such as Ezekiel describes, [1921] brother-in-law to the first,
son-in-law to the second, husband to the third. Husband did I say? Nay,
rather a most devoted brother; for the language of marriage is
inadequate to describe the holy bonds of the Spirit. Of this team Jesus
holds the reins, and it is of steeds like these that Habakkuk sings:
"ride upon thy horses and let thy riding be salvation." [1922] With
like resolve if with unlike speed they strain after the victor's palm.
Their colours are different; their object is the same. They are
harnessed in one yoke, they obey one driver, not waiting for the lash
but answering the call of his voice with fresh efforts.
3. Let me use for a moment the language of philosophy. According to the
Stoics there are four virtues so closely related and mutually coherent
that he who lacks one lacks all. They are prudence, justice, fortitude,
and temperance. [1923] While all of you possess the four, yet each is
remarkable for one. You have prudence, your mother has justice, your
virgin sister has fortitude, your wedded wife has temperance. I speak
of you as wise, for who can be wiser than one who, despising the folly
of the world, has followed Christ "the power of God and the wisdom of
God"? [1924] Or what better instance can there be of justice than your
mother, who having divided her substance among her offspring has taught
them by her own contempt of riches the true object on which to fix
their affections? Who has set a better example of courage than
Eustochium, who by resolving to be a virgin has breached the gates of
the nobility and broken down the pride of a consular house? The first
of Roman ladies, she has brought under the yoke the first of Roman
families. Has there ever been temperance greater than that of Paulina,
who, reading the words of the apostle: "marriage is honourable in all
and the bed undefiled," [1925] and not presuming to aspire to the
happiness of her virgin sister or the continence of her widowed mother,
has preferred to keep to the safe track of a lower path rather than
treading on air to lose herself in the clouds? When once she had
entered upon the married state, her one thought day and night was that,
as soon as her union should be blessed with offspring, she would live
thenceforth in the second degree of chastity, [1926] and
Though woman, foremost in the high emprise, [1927]
would induce her husband to follow a like course. She would not forsake
him but looked for the day when he would become a companion in
salvation. Finding by several miscarriages that her womb was not
barren, she could not give up all hope of having children and had to
allow her own reluctance to give way to the eagerness of her
mother-in-law and the chagrin of her husband. Thus she suffered much as
Rachel suffered, [1928] although instead of bringing forth like her a
son of pangs and of the right hand, [1929] the heir she had longed for
was no other than her husband. I have learned on good authority that
her wish in submitting herself to her husband was not to take advantage
of God's primitive command "Be faithful and multiply and replenish the
earth" [1930] but that she only desired children that she might bring
forth virgins to Christ.
4. We read that the wife of Phinehas the priest, on hearing that the
ark of the Lord had been taken, was seized suddenly with the pains of
travail and that she brought forth a son Ichabod and died a mother in
the hands of the women who nursed her. [1931] Rachel's son is called
Benjamin, that is son of excellence' or of the right hand'; but the son
of the other, afterwards to be a distinguished priest of God, derives
his name from the ark. [1932] The same thing has come to pass in our
own day, for since Paulina fell asleep the Church has posthumously
borne the monk Pammachius, a patrician by his parentage and marriage,
rich in alms, and lofty in lowliness. The apostle writes to the
Corinthians, "Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise
men, not many noble are called." [1933] The conditions of the nascent
church required this to be so that the grain of mustard seed might grow
up little by little into a tree, [1934] and that the leaven of the
gospel might gradually raise more and more the whole lump of the
church. [1935] In our day Rome possesses what the world in days gone by
knew not of. Then few of the wise or mighty or noble were Christians;
now many wise powerful and noble are not Christians only but even
monks. And among them all my Pammachius is the wisest, the mightiest,
and the noblest; great among the great, a leader among leaders, he is
the commander in chief of all monks. He and others like him are the
offspring which Paulina desired to have in her life time and which she
has given us in her death. "Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear;
break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail
with child"; [1936] for in a moment thou hast brought forth as many
sons as there are poor men in Rome.
5. The glowing gems which in old days adorned the neck and face of
Paulina now purchase food for the needy. Her silk dresses and gold
brocades are exchanged for soft woollen garments intended to keep out
the cold and not to expose the body to vain admiration. All that
formerly ministered to luxury is now at the service of virtue. That
blind man holding out his hand, and often crying aloud when there is
none to hear, is the heir of Paulina, is co-heir with Pammachius. That
poor cripple who can scarcely drag himself along, owes his support to
the help of a tender girl. Those doors which of old poured forth crowds
of visitors, are now beset only by the wretched. One suffers from a
dropsy, big with death; another mute and without the means of begging,
begs the more appealingly because he cannot beg; another maimed from
his childhood implores an alms which he may not himself enjoy. Still
another has his limbs rotted with jaundice and lives on after his body
has become a corpse. To use the language of Virgil:
Had I a hundred tongues, a hundred lips,
I could not tell men's countless sufferings. [1937]
Such is the bodyguard which accompanies Pammachius wherever he walks;
in the persons of such he ministers to Christ Himself; and their
squalor serves to whiten his soul. Thus he speeds on his way to heaven,
beneficent as a giver of games to the poor, and kind as a provider of
shows for the needy. Other husbands scatter on the graves of their
wives violets, roses, lilies, and purple flowers; and assuage the grief
of their hearts by fulfilling this tender duty. Our dear Pammachius
also waters the holy ashes and the revered bones of Paulina, but it is
with the balm of almsgiving. These are the confections and the perfumes
with which he cherishes the dead embers of his wife knowing that it is
written: "Water will quench a flaming fire; and alms maketh an
atonement for sins." [1938] What great power compassion has and what
high rewards it is destined to win, the blessed Cyprian sets forth in
an extensive work. [1939] It is proved also by the counsel of Daniel
who desired the most impious of kings--had he been willing to hear
him--to be saved by shewing mercy to the poor. [1940] Paulina's mother
may well be glad of Paulina's heir. She cannot regret that her
daughter's wealth has passed into new hands when she sees it still
spent upon the objects she had at heart. Nay, rather she must
congratulate herself that without any exertion of her own her wishes
are being carried out. The sum available for distribution is the same
as before: only the distributor is changed.
6. Who can credit the fact that one, who is the glory of the Furian
stock and whose grandfathers and great grandfathers have been consuls,
moves amid the senators in their purple clothed in sombre garb, and
that, so far from blushing when he meets the eyes of his companions, he
actually derides those who deride him! "There is a shame that leadeth
to death and there is a shame that leadeth to life." [1941] It is a
monk's first virtue to despise the judgments of men and always to
remember the apostle's words:--"If I yet pleased men, I should not be
the servant of Christ." [1942] In the same sense the Lord says to the
prophets that He has made their face a brazen city and a stone of
adamant and an iron pillar, [1943] to the end that they shall not be
afraid of the insults of the people but shall by the sternness of their
looks discompose the effrontery of those who sneered at them. A finely
strung mind is more readily overcome by contumely than by terror. And
men whom no tortures can overawe are sometimes prevailed over by the
fear of shame. Surely it is no small thing for a man of birth,
eloquence, and wealth to avoid the company of the powerful in the
streets, to mingle with the crowd, to cleave to the poor, to associate
on equal terms with the untaught, to cease to be a leader and to become
one of the people. The more he humbles himself, the more he is exalted.
[1944]
7. A pearl will shine in the midst of squalor and a gem of the first
water will sparkle in the mire. This is what the Lord promised when He
said: "Them that honour me I will honour." [1945] Others may understand
this of the future when sorrow shall be turned into joy and when,
although the world shall pass away, the saints shall receive a crown
which shall never pass. But I for my part see that the promises made to
the saints are fulfilled even in this present life. Before he began to
serve Christ with his whole heart, Pammachius was a well known person
in the senate. Still there were many other senators who wore the badges
of proconsular rank. The whole world is filled with similar
decorations. He was in the first rank it is true, but there were others
in it besides him. Whilst he took precedence of some, others took
precedence of him. The most distinguished privilege loses its prestige
when lavished on a crowd, and dignities themselves become less
dignified in the eyes of good men when held by persons who have no
dignity. Thus Tully finely says of Cæsar, when he wished to advance
some of his adherents, "he did not so much honour them as dishonour the
honourable positions in which he placed them." [1946] To-day all the
churches of Christ are talking of Pammachius. The whole world admires
as a poor man one whom heretofore it ignored as rich. Can anything be
more splendid than the consulate? Yet the honour lasts only for a year
and when another has succeeded to the post its former occupant gives
way. Each man's laurels are lost in the crowd and sometimes triumphs
themselves are marred by the shortcomings of those who celebrate them.
An office which was once handed down from patrician to patrician, which
only men of noble birth could hold, of which the consul Marius--victor
though he was over Numidia and the Teutons and the Cimbri--was held
unworthy on account of the obscurity of his family, and which Scipio
won before his time as the reward of valour,--this great office is now
obtained by merely belonging to the army; and the shining robe of
victory [1947] now envelops men who a little while ago were country
boors. Thus we have received more than we have given. The things we
have renounced are small; the things we possess are great. All that
Christ promises is duly performed and for what we have given up we have
received an hundredfold. [1948] This was the ground in which Isaac
sowed his seed, [1949] Isaac who in his readiness to die [1950] bore
the cross of the Gospel before the Gospel came.
8. "If thou wilt be perfect," the Lord says, "go and sell that thou
hast and give to the poor....and come and follow me." [1951] If thou
wilt be perfect. Great enterprises are always left to the free choice
of those who hear of them. Thus the apostle refrains from making
virginity a positive duty, because the Lord in speaking of eunuchs who
had made themselves such for the kingdom of heaven's sake finally said:
"He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." [1952] For, to
quote the apostle, "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." [1953] If thou wilt be
perfect. There is no compulsion laid upon you: if you are to win the
prize it must be by the exercise of your own free will. If therefore
you will to be perfect and desire to be as the prophets, as the
apostles, as Christ Himself, sell not a part of your substance (lest
the fear of want become an occasion of unfaithfulness, and so you
perish with Ananias and Sapphira [1954] ) but all that you have. And
when you have sold all, give the proceeds not to the wealthy or to the
high-minded but to the poor. Give each man enough for his immediate
need but do not give money to swell what a man has already. "Thou shalt
not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn," [1955] and
"the labourer is worthy of his reward." [1956] Again "they which wait
at the altar are partakers with the altar." [1957] Remember also these
words: "having food and raiment let us be therewith content." [1958]
Where you see smoking dishes, steaming pheasants, massive silver plate,
spirited nags, long-haired boy-slaves, expensive clothing, and
embroidered hangings, give nothing there. For he to whom you would give
is richer than you the giver. It is moreover a kind of sacrilege to
give what belongs to the poor to those who are not poor. Yet to be a
perfect and complete Christian it is not enough to despise wealth or to
squander and fling away one's money, a thing which can be lost and
found in a single moment. Crates the Theban [1959] did this, so did
Antisthenes and several others, whose lives shew them to have had many
faults. The disciple of Christ must do more for the attainment of
spiritual glory than the philosopher of the world, than the venal slave
of flying rumours and of the people's breath. It is not enough for you
to despise wealth unless you follow Christ as well. And only he follows
Christ who forsakes his sins and walks hand in hand with virtue. We
know that Christ is wisdom. He is the treasure which in the scriptures
a man finds in his field. [1960] He is the peerless gem which is bought
by selling many pearls. [1961] But if you love a captive woman, that
is, worldly wisdom, and if no beauty but hers attracts you, make her
bald and cut off her alluring hair, that is to say, the graces of
style, and pare away her dead nails. [1962] Wash her with the nitre of
which the prophet speaks, [1963] and then take your ease with her and
say "Her left hand is under my head, and her right hand doth embrace
me." [1964] Then shall the captive bring to you many children; from a
Moabitess [1965] she shall become an Israelitish woman. Christ is that
sanctification without which no man shall see the face of God. Christ
is our redemption, for He is at once our Redeemer and our Ransom.
[1966] Christ is all, that he who has left all for Christ may find One
in place of all, and may be able to proclaim freely, "The Lord is my
portion." [1967]
9. I see clearly that you have a warm affection for divine learning and
that far from trying--like some rash persons--to teach that of which
you are yourself ignorant you make it your first object to learn what
you are going to teach. Your letters in their simplicity are redolent
of the prophets and savour strongly of the apostles. You do not affect
a stilted eloquence, nor boylike balance shallow sentences in clauses
neatly-turned. The quickly frothing foam disappears with equal
quickness; and a tumour though it enlarges the size of the body is
injurious to health. It is moreover a shrewd maxim, this of Cato, "Fast
enough if well enough." Long ago it is true in the days of our youth we
laughed outright at this dictum when the finished orator [1968] used it
in his exordium. I fancy you remember the mistake [1969] shared by the
speaker in our Athenæum and how the whole room resounded with the cry
taken up by the students "Fast enough if well enough." According to
Fabius [1970] crafts would be sure to prosper if none but craftsmen
were allowed to criticise them. No man can adequately estimate a poet
unless he is competent himself to write verse. No man can comprehend
philosophers, unless he is acquainted with the various theories that
they have held. Material and visible products are best appraised by
those who make them. To what a cruel lot we men of letters are exposed
you may gather from the fact that we are forced to rely on the judgment
of the public; and many a man is in company a formidable opponent who
would certainly be despised could he be seen alone. I have touched on
this in passing to make you content, if possible, with the ear of the
learned. Disregard the remarks which uneducated persons make concerning
your ability; but day by day imbibe the marrow of the prophets, that
you may know the mystery of Christ and share this mystery with the
patriarchs.
10. Whether you read or write, whether you wake or sleep, let the
herdsman's horn of Amos [1971] always ring in your ears. Let the sound
of the clarion arouse your soul, let the divine love carry you out of
yourself; and then seek upon your bed him whom your soul loveth, [1972]
and boldly say: "I sleep, but my heart waketh." [1973] And when you
have found him and taken hold of him, let him not go. And if you fall
asleep for a moment and He escapes from your hands, do not forthwith
despair. Go out into the streets and charge the daughters of Jerusalem:
then shall you find him lying down in the noontide weary and drunk with
passion, or wet with the dew of night by the flocks of his companions,
or fragrant with many kinds of spices, amid the apples of the garden.
[1974] There give to him your breasts, let him suck your learned bosom,
let him rest in the midst of his heritage, [1975] his feathers as those
of a dove overlaid with silver and his inward parts with the brightness
of gold. This young child, this mere boy, who is fed on butter and
honey, [1976] and who is reared among curdled mountains, [1977] quickly
grows up to manhood, speedily spoils all [1978] that is opposed to him
in you, and when the time is ripe plunders [the spiritual] Damascus and
puts in chains the king of [the spiritual] Assyria.
11. I hear that you have erected a hospice for strangers at Portus and
that you have planted a twig from the tree of Abraham [1979] upon the
Ausonian shore. Like Æneas you are tracing the outlines of a new
encampment; only that, whereas he, when he reached the waters of the
Tiber, under pressure of want had to eat the square flat cakes which
formed the tables spoken of by the oracle, [1980] you are able to build
a house of bread to rival this little village of Bethlehem [1981]
wherein I am staying; and here after their long privations you propose
to satisfy travellers with sudden plenty. Well done. You have surpassed
my poor beginning. [1982] You have reached the highest point. You have
made your way from the root to the top of the tree. You are the first
of monks in the first city of the world: you do right therefore to
follow the first of the patriarchs. Let Lot, whose name means one who
turns aside' choose the plain [1983] and let him follow the left and
easy branch of the famous letter of Pythagoras. [1984] But do you make
ready for yourself a monument like Sarah's [1985] on steep and rocky
heights. Let the City of Books be near; [1986] and when you have
destroyed the giants, the sons of Anak, [1987] make over your heritage
to joy and merriment. [1988] Abraham was rich in gold and silver and
cattle, in substance and in raiment: his household was so large that on
an emergency he could bring a picked body of young men into the field,
and could pursue as far as Dan and then slay four kings who had already
put five kings to flight. [1989] Frequently exercising hospitality and
never turning any man away from his door, he was accounted worthy at
last to entertain God himself. He was not satisfied with giving orders
to his servants and hand-maids to attend to his guests, nor did he
lessen the favour he conferred by leaving others to care for them; but
as though he had found a prize, he and Sarah his wife gave themselves
to the duties of hospitality. With his own hands he washed the feet of
his guests, upon his own shoulders he brought home a fat calf from the
herd. While the strangers dined he stood by to serve them, and set
before them the dishes cooked by Sarah's hands--though meaning to fast
himself.
12. The regard which I feel for you, my dear brother, makes me remind
you of these things; for you must offer to Christ not only your money
but yourself, to be a "living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service," [1990] and you must imitate the son
of man who "came not to be ministered unto but to minister." [1991]
What the patriarch did for strangers that our Lord and Master did for
His servants and disciples. "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath
will he give for his life. But," says the devil, "touch his flesh and
he will curse thee to thy face." [1992] The old enemy knows that the
battle with impurity is a harder one than that with covetousness. It is
easy to cast off what clings to us from without, but a war within our
borders involves far greater peril. We have to unfasten things joined
together, we have to sunder things firmly united. Zacchæus was rich
while the apostles were poor. He restored fourfold all that he had
taken and gave to the poor the half of his remaining substance. He
welcomed Christ as his guest, and salvation came unto his house. [1993]
And yet because he was little of stature and could not reach the
apostolic standard of height, he was not numbered with the twelve
apostles. Now as regards wealth the apostles gave up nothing at all,
but as regards will they one and all gave up the whole world. If we
offer to Christ our souls as well as our riches, he will gladly receive
our offering. But if we give to God only those things which are without
while we give to the devil those things which are within, the division
is not fair, and the divine voice says: "Hast thou not sinned in
offering aright, and yet not dividing aright?" [1994]
13. That you, the leader of the patrician order, first set the example
of turning monk should not be to you an occasion of boasting but rather
one of humility, knowing as you do that the Son of God became the Son
of man. However low you may abase yourself, you cannot be more lowly
than Christ. Even supposing that you walk barefooted, that you dress in
sombre garb, that you rank yourself with the poor, that you condescend
to enter the tenements of the needy, that you are eyes to the blind,
hands to the weak, feet to the lame, that you carry water and hew wood
and make fires--even supposing that you do all this, where are the
chains, the buffets, the spittings, the scourgings, the gibbet, the
death which the Lord endured? And even when you have done all the
things I have mentioned, you are still surpassed by your sister
Eustochium as well as by Paula: for considering the weakness of their
sex they have done more work relatively if less absolutely, than you. I
myself was not at Rome but in the desert--would that I had continued
there--at the time when your father-in-law Toxotius was still alive and
his daughters were still given up to the world. But I have heard that
they were too dainty to walk in the muddy streets, that they were
carried about in the arms of eunuchs, that they disliked crossing
uneven ground, that they found a silk dress a burthen and felt sunshine
too scorching. But now, squalid and sombre in their dress, they are
positive heroines in comparison with what they used to be. They trim
lamps, light fires, sweep floors, clean vegetables, put heads of
cabbage in the pot to boil, lay tables, hand cups, help dishes and run
to and fro to wait on others. And yet there is no lack of virgins under
the same roof with them. Is it then that they have no servants upon
whom they can lay these duties? Surely not. They are unwilling that
others should surpass them in physical toil whom they themselves
surpass in rigour of mind. I say all this not because I doubt your
mental ardour but that I may quicken the pace at which you are running,
and in the heat of battle may add warmth to your warmth.
14. I for my part am building in this province a monastery and a
hospice close by; so that, if Joseph and Mary chance to come to
Bethlehem, they may not fail to find shelter and welcome. Indeed, the
number of monks who flock here from all quarters of the world is so
overwhelming that I can neither desist from my enterprise nor bear so
great a burthen. The warning of the gospel has been all but fulfilled
in me, for I did not sufficiently count the cost of the tower I was
about to build; [1995] accordingly I have been constrained to send my
brother Paulinian [1996] to Italy to sell some ruinous villas which
have escaped the hands of the barbarians, and also the property
inherited from our common parents. For I am loth, now that I have begun
it, to give up ministering to the saints, lest I incur the ridicule of
carping and envious persons.
15. Now that I have come to the conclusion of my letter I recall my
metaphor of the four-horse team, and recollect that Blæsilla would have
made a fifth had she been spared to share your resolve. I had almost
forgotten to mention her, the first of you all to go to meet the Lord.
You who once were five I now see to be two and three. Blæsilla and her
sister Paulina rest in sweet sleep: you with the two others on either
side of you will fly upward to Christ more easily.
__________________________________________________________________
[1917] Virgil, Æn. iv. 367.
[1918] Quoted from a poet in the Latin Anthology.
[1919] Matt. xiii. 8.
[1920] Paula and her two daughters, Paulina and Eustochium.
[1921] Ezek. x. 8-22.
[1922] Hab. iii. 8, LXX.
[1923] Cf. Wisdom viii. 7.
[1924] 1 Cor. i. 24.
[1925] Heb. xiii. 4.
[1926] i.e., continence in marriage.
[1927] Virg. A. i. 494.
[1928] Gen. xxxv. 16.
[1929] The respective meanings of Benoni and Benjamin.
[1930] Gen. i. 28.
[1931] 1 Sam. iv. 19-22.
[1932] Ichabod means there is no glory'; glory being (apparently) a
synonym for the ark.
[1933] 1 Cor. i. 26.
[1934] Matt. xiii. 31.
[1935] Matt. xiii. 33.
[1936] Isa. liv. 1.
[1937] Virg. A. vi. 625, 627.
[1938] Ecclus. iii. 30.
[1939] Viz. the treatise entitled Of Work and Alms.
[1940] Dan. iv. 27.
[1941] Ecclus. iv. 25. Est confusio adducens peccatum: et est confusio
adducens gloriam et gratiam, Vulg. Jerome probably quotes from memory.
A.V. follows the Greek and the Vulg.
[1942] Gal. i. 10.
[1943] Cf. Jer. i. 18; Ezek. iii. 8, 9.
[1944] Cf. Luke xiv. 11.
[1945] 1 Sam. ii. 30.
[1946] Cf. the remark of Æneas Silvius that "men should be given to
places not places, to men."
[1947] Palma, i.e. tunica palmata.
[1948] Cf. Matt. xix. 29.
[1949] Gen. xxvi. 12.
[1950] Gen. xxii.
[1951] Matt. xix. 21.
[1952] Matt. xix. 12.
[1953] Rom. ix. 16.
[1954] Acts v.
[1955] 1 Cor. ix. 9.
[1956] 1 Tim. v. 18.
[1957] 1 Cor. ix. 13.
[1958] 1 Tim. vi. 8.
[1959] Cf. Letter LVIII. § 2.
[1960] Matt. xiii. 44.
[1961] Matt. xiii. 45.
[1962] Cf. Deut. xxi. 11, 12.
[1963] Jer. ii. 22.
[1964] Cant. ii. 6. A.V. his' for her.'
[1965] Jerome is thinking of Ruth.
[1966] 1 Cor. i. 30; Heb. xii. 14.
[1967] Ps. lxxiii. 26.
[1968] Quintilian.
[1969] What was the mistake? Did the orator say, "Well enough if fast
enough"? The text seems obscure.
[1970] Fabius Pietor.
[1971] Cf. Letter XLVI. § 12.
[1972] Cant. iii. 1.
[1973] Cant. v. 2.
[1974] Cf. Cant. i. 7, ii. 5, v. 2.
[1975] Ps. lxviii. 13.
[1976] Isa. vii. 14, 15.
[1977] Ps. lxviii. 14, Vulg. (acc. to some mss.). Intermedios
cleros--the lot or inheritance--with an allusion perhaps to the word
clergy formed from clerus.
[1978] Perhaps an allusion to Isa. viii. 1. Mahershalal-hash-baz, Spoil
speedeth, prey hasteth.'
[1979] i.e. the oak of Mamre under which he entertained the three
angels (Gen. xviii. 1-8).
[1980] Virg. Æn. vii. 112-129.
[1981] Beth-lehem means house of bread.'
[1982] v. § 14 below.
[1983] Gen. xiii. 5-11.
[1984] The letter U. Cf. Pers. iii. 56, 57 and Conington's note.
[1985] Gen. xxiii. 19.
[1986] i.e. Kirjathsepher close to Hebron (Josh. xv. 13-15) where Sarah
was buried.
[1987] Cf. Jos. xv. 14.
[1988] An allusion to the name of Abraham's heir, Isaac or laughter'
(Gen. xxi. 3, 6).
[1989] Gen. xiv. 13-16.
[1990] Rom. xii. 1.
[1991] Matt. xx. 28.
[1992] Job ii. 4, 5.
[1993] Luke xix. 2-9.
[1994] Gen. iv. 7, LXX.
[1995] Luke xiv. 28.
[1996] See Letter LXI. § 31.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXVII. From Augustine.
Jerome having written him a short letter (no longer extant) Augustine
now replies. He speaks with approval of Jerome's treatise On Famous
Men, incorrectly called the Epitaph (see Letter CXII. §3). He also
repeats his objections to Jerome's account of the quarrel between Paul
and Peter at Antioch and then concludes with a request that he will
draw up a short notice of the principal heresies condemned by the
Church.
Like the preceding letter of Augustine (Letter LVI.) this also failed
to reach Jerome. It was however published in the West, but without
Augustine's knowledge and by degrees its contents found their way to
Bethlehem where they caused much annoyance and pain. The date of the
letter is 397 a.d. In Augustine's correspondence in this Library it is
printed in full as Letter XL.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXVIII. To Castrutius.
Castrutius, a blind man of Pannonia, had set out for Bethlehem to visit
Jerome. However, on reaching Cissa (whether that in Thrace or that on
the Adriatic is uncertain) he was induced by his friends to turn back.
Jerome writes to thank him for his intention and to console him for his
inability to carry it out. He then tries to comfort him in his
blindness (1) by referring to Christ's words concerning the man born
blind (Joh. ix. 3) and (2) by telling him the story of Antony and
Didymus. The date of the letter is 397 a.d.
1. My reverend son Heraclius the deacon has reported to me that in your
eagerness to see me you came as far as Cissa, and that, though a
Pannonian and consequently a land animal, you did not quail before the
surges of the Adriatic and the dangers of the Ægean and Ionian seas. He
tells me that you would have actually accomplished your purpose, had
not our brethren with affectionate care held you back. I thank you all
the same and regard it as a kindness shewn. For in the case of friends
one must accept the will for the deed. Enemies often give us the
latter, but only sincere attachment can bring us the former. And now
that I am writing to you I beseech you do not regard the bodily
affliction which has befallen you as due to sin. When the Apostles
speculated concerning the man that was born blind from the womb and
asked our Lord and Saviour: "Who did sin, this man or his parents, that
he was born blind?" they were told "Neither hath this man sinned nor
his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."
[1997] Do we not see numbers of heathens, Jews, heretics and men of
various opinions rolling in the mire of lust, bathed in blood,
surpassing wolves in ferocity and kites in rapacity, and for all this
the plague does not come nigh their dwellings? [1998] They are not
smitten as other men, and accordingly they wax insolent against God and
lift up their faces even to heaven. We know on the other hand that holy
men are afflicted with sicknesses, miseries, and want, and perhaps they
are tempted to say "Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed
my hands in innocency." Yet immediately they go on to reprove
themselves, "If I say, I will speak thus; behold I should offend
against the generation of thy children." [1999] If you suppose that
your blindness is caused by sin, and that a disease which physicians
are often able to cure is an evidence of God's anger, you will think
Isaac a sinner because he was so wholly sightless that he was deceived
into blessing one whom he did not mean to bless. [2000] You will charge
Jacob with sin, whose vision became so dim that he could not see
Ephraim and Manasseh, [2001] although with the inner eye and the
prophetic spirit he could foresee the distant future and the Christ
that was to come of his royal line. [2002] Were any of the kings holier
than Josiah? Yet he was slain by the sword of the Egyptians. [2003]
Were there ever loftier saints than Peter and Paul? Yet their blood
stained the blade of Nero. And to say no more of men, did not the Son
of God endure the shame of the cross? And yet you fancy those blessed
who enjoy in this world happiness and pleasure? God's hottest anger
against sinners is when he shews no anger. Wherefore in Ezekiel he says
to Jerusalem: "My jealousy will depart from thee and I will be quiet
and will be no more angry." [2004] For "whom the Lord loveth He
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." [2005] The
father does not instruct his son unless he loves him. The master does
not correct his disciple unless he sees in him signs of promise. When
once the doctor gives over caring for the patient, it is a sign that he
despairs. You should answer thus: "as Lazarus in his lifetime [2006]
received evil things so will I now gladly suffer torments that future
glory may be laid up for me." For "affliction shall not rise up the
second time." [2007] If Job, a man holy and spotless and righteous in
his generation, suffered terrible afflictions, his own book explains
the reason why.
2. That I may not make myself tedious or exceed the due limits of a
letter by repeating old stories, I will briefly relate to you an
incident which happened in my childhood. The saintly Athanasius bishop
of Alexandria had summoned the blessed Antony to that city to confute
the heretics there. Hereupon Didymus, a man of great learning who had
lost his eyes, came to visit the hermit and, the conversation turning
upon the holy scriptures, Antony could not help admiring his ability
and eulogizing his insight. At last he said: You do not regret, do you,
the loss of your eyes? At first Didymus was ashamed to answer, but when
the question had been repeated a second time and a third, he frankly
confessed that his blindness was a great grief to him. Whereupon Antony
said: "I am surprised that a wise man should grieve at the loss of a
faculty which he shares with ants and flies and gnats, and not rejoice
rather in having one of which only saints and apostles have been
thought worthy." From this story you may perceive how much better it is
to have spiritual than carnal vision and to possess eyes into which the
mote of sin cannot fall. [2008]
Though you have failed to come this year, I do not yet despair of your
coming. If the reverend deacon [2009] who is the bearer of this letter
is again caught in the toils of your affection, and if you come hither
in his company I shall be delighted to welcome you and shall readily
acknowledge that the delay in payment is made up for by the largeness
of the interest.
__________________________________________________________________
[1997] Joh. ix. 2, 3.
[1998] Ps. xci. 10.
[1999] Ps. lxxiii. 13, 15.
[2000] Gen. xxvii.
[2001] Gen. xlviii. 10.
[2002] Gen. xlix. 10.
[2003] 2 Kings xxiii. 29.
[2004] Ezek. xvi. 42. In the Vulgate the tenses are different, but the
sense is substantially the same.
[2005] Heb. xii. 6.
[2006] Luke xvi. 25.
[2007] Nahum i. 9.
[2008] Luke vi. 42.
[2009] Heraclius, a deacon of Pannonia, who had been sent to Bethlehem
by his bishop Amabilis to procure from Jerome a long promised
commentary on the Visions of Isaiah. This, which Jerome subsequently
incorporated as book V. in his complete work on the prophet, Heraclius
succeeded in obtaining from him. See the Preface to the Commentary.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXIX. To Oceanus.
Oceanus, a Roman nobleman zealous for the faith, had asked Jerome to
back him in a protest against Carterius a Spanish bishop who contrary
to the apostolic rule that a bishop is to be "the husband of one wife"
had married a second time. Jerome refuses to take the line suggested on
the ground that Carterius's first marriage having preceded his baptism
cannot be taken into account. He therefore advises Oceanus to let the
matter drop. The date of the letter is 397 a.d.
1. I never supposed, son Oceanus, that the clemency of the Emperor
would be assailed by criminals, or that persons just released from
prison would after their own experience of its filth and fetters
complain of relaxations allowed to others. In the gospel he who envies
another's salvation is thus addressed: "Friend, is thine eye evil
because I am good?" [2010] "God hath concluded them all in sin [2011]
that he might have mercy upon all." [2012] "When sin abounded grace did
much more abound." [2013] The first born of Egypt are slain and not
even a beast belonging to Israel is left behind in Egypt. [2014] The
heresy of the Cainites rises before me and the once slain viper lifts
up its shattered head, destroying not partially as most often hitherto
but altogether the mystery of Christ. [2015] This heresy declares that
there are some sins which Christ cannot cleanse with His blood, and
that the scars left by old transgressions on the body and the soul are
sometimes so deep that they cannot be effaced by the remedy which He
supplies. What else is this but to say that Christ has died in vain? He
has indeed died in vain if there are any whom He cannot make alive.
When John the Baptist points to Christ and says: "Behold the lamb of
God which taketh away the sins [2016] of the world" [2017] he utters a
falsehood if after all there are persons living whose sins Christ has
not taken away. For either it must be shewn that they are not of the
world whom the grace of Christ thus ignores: or, if it be admitted that
they are of the world, we have to choose between the horns of a
dilemma. Either they have been delivered from their sins, in which case
the power of Christ to save all men is proved; or they remain
undelivered and as it were still under the charge of misdoing, in which
case Christ is proved to be powerless. But far be it from us to believe
of the Almighty that He is powerless in aught. For "what things soever
the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." [2018] To ascribe
weakness to the Son is to ascribe it to the Father also. The shepherd
carries the whole sheep and not only this or that part of it: all the
epistles of the apostle [2019] speak continually of the grace of
Christ. And, lest a single announcement of this grace might seem a
little thing, Peter says: "Grace unto you and peace be multiplied."
[2020] The Scripture promises abundance; yet we affirm scarcity.
2. To what does all this tend, you ask. I reply; you remember the
question that you proposed. It was this. A Spanish bishop named
Carterius, old in years and in the priesthood has married two wives,
one before he was baptized, and, she having died, another since he has
passed through the laver; and you are of opinion that he has violated
the precept of the apostle, who in his list of episcopal qualifications
commands that a bishop shall be "the husband of one wife." [2021] I am
surprised that you have pilloried an individual when the whole world is
filled with persons ordained in similar circumstances; I do not mean
presbyters or clergy of lower rank, but speak only of bishops of whom
if I were to enumerate them all one by one I should gather a sufficient
number to surpass the crowd which attended the synod of Ariminum.
[2022] Still it does not become me to defend one by incriminating many;
nor if reason condemns a sin, to make the number of those who commit it
an excuse for it. At Rome an eloquent pleader caught me, as the phrase
goes, between the horns of a dilemma: whichever way I turned I was held
fast. Is it sinful, said he, to marry a wife, or is it not sinful? I in
my simplicity, not being wary enough to avoid the snare laid for me,
replied that it was not sinful. Then he propounded another question: Is
it good deeds which are done away with in baptism or is it evil? Here
again my simplicity induced me to say that it was sins which were
forgiven. At this point, just as I began to fancy myself secure, the
horns of the dilemma commenced to close in on me from this side and
from that and their points hidden before began to shew themselves. If,
said he, to marry a wife is not sinful, and if baptism forgives sins,
all that is not done away with is held over. On the instant a dark mist
rose before my eyes as though I had been struck by a strong boxer. Yet
recalling the sophism attributed to Chrysippus: [2023] "Whether you lie
or whether you speak the truth, in either case you lie," I came to
myself again and turned upon my opponent with a dilemma of my own. Pray
tell me, I said, does baptism make a new man or does it not? He
grudgingly admitted that it did. I pursued my advantage by saying, Does
it make him wholly new or only partially so? He replied, Wholly. Then I
asked, Is there nothing then of the old man held over in baptism? He
assented. Hereupon I propounded the argument; If baptism makes a man
new and creates a wholly new being, and if there is nothing of the old
man held over in the new, that which once was in the old cannot be
imputed to the new. At first my thorny friend held his tongue;
afterwards however, making Piso's mistake, [2024] though he had nothing
to say he could not remain silent. Sweat stood upon his brow, his
cheeks turned pale, his lips trembled, his tongue clove to his mouth,
his throat became dry; and fear (not age) made him cower. At last he
broke out in these words, Have you not read how the apostle permits
none to be ordained priest save the husband of one wife, and that what
he lays stress upon is the fact of the marriage and not the time at
which it is contracted? Now as the fellow had challenged me with
syllogisms, and as I saw that he was feeling his way towards some
intricate and awkward questions, I proceeded to turn his own weapons
against him. I said therefore, Whom did the apostle select for the
episcopate, baptized persons or catechumens? He refused to reply. I
however made a fresh onslaught repeating my question a second time and
a third. You would have taken him for Niobe changed to stone by
excessive weeping. I turned to the audience and said: It is all the
same to me, good people, whether I bind my opponent awake or sleeping;
but it is easier to fetter a man who offers no resistance. If those
whom the apostle admits into the ranks of the clergy are not
catechumens but the faithful, and if he who is ordained bishop is
always one of the faithful, being one of the faithful he cannot have
the faults of a catechumen imputed to him. Such were the darts I hurled
at my paralysed opponent. Such the quivering spears I cast at him. At
last his mouth opened and he vomited forth the contents of his mind.
Certainly, he blurted out, that is the doctrine of the apostle Paul.
3. Accordingly I bring out two epistles of the apostle, the first to
Timothy, and the second to Titus. In the first is the following
passage: "If a man desire the office of a bishop he desireth a good
work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,
vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach,
not given to wine, no striker...but patient, not a brawler, not
covetous; one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in
subjection with all gravity. (For if a man know not how to rule his own
house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not a novice lest
being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he
fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." [2025] While
immediately at the commencement of the epistle to Titus the following
behests are laid down: "For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou
shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders
in every city, as I had appointed thee: if any be blameless, the
husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or
unruly. For a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God; not
self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given
to filthy lucre; but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men,
sober, just, holy, temperate; holding fast the faithful word as he hath
been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and
to convince the gainsayers." [2026] In both epistles commandment is
given that only monogamists should be chosen for the clerical office
whether as bishops or as presbyters. [2027] Indeed with the ancients
these names were synonymous, one alluding to the office, the other to
the age of the clergy. No one at any rate can doubt that the apostle is
speaking only of those who have been baptized. If therefore it in no
wise prejudices the case of one who is to be ordained bishop that
before his baptism he has not possessed all the requisite
qualifications (for it is asked what he is and not what he has been),
why should a previous marriage--the one thing which is in itself not
sinful--prove a hindrance to his ordination? You argue that as his
marriage was not a sin it was not done away with at his baptism. This
is news to me indeed, that what in itself was not a sin is to be
reckoned as such. All fornication and contamination with open vice,
impiety towards God, parricide and incest, the change of the natural
use of the sexes into that which is against nature [2028] and all
extraordinary lusts are washed away in the fountain of Christ. Can it
be possible that the stains of marriage are indelible, and that
harlotry is judged more leniently than honourable wedlock? I do not,
Carterius might say, hold you to blame for the hosts of mistresses and
the troops of favourites [2029] that you have kept; I do not charge you
with your bloodshedding and sow-like wallowings in the mire of
uncleanness: yet you are ready to drag from her grave for my confusion
my poor wife, who has been dead long years, and whom I married that I
might be kept from those sins into which you have fallen. Tell this to
the heathen who form the church's harvest with which she stores her
granaries; tell this to the catechumens who seek admission to the
number of the faithful; tell them, I say, not to contract marriages
before their baptism, not to enter upon honourable wedlock, but like
the Scots and the Atacotti [2030] and the people of Plato's republic
[2031] to have community of wives and no discrimination of children,
nay more, to beware of any semblance even of matrimony; lest, after
they have come to believe in Christ, He shall tell them that those whom
they have had have not been concubines or mistresses but wedded wives.
4. Let every man examine his own conscience and let him deplore the
violence he has done to it at every period of his life; and then when
he has brought himself to deliver a true judgment on his own former
misdeeds, let him give ear to the chiding of Jesus: "Thou hypocrite,
first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see
clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." [2032] Truly
like the scribes and pharisees we strain out the gnat and swallow the
camel, we pay tithe of mint and anise, and we omit the just judgment
which God requires. [2033] What parallel can be drawn between a wife
and a prostitute? Is it fair to make a marriage now dissolved by death
a ground of accusation, while dissolute living wins for itself a
garland of praise? He, had his former wife lived, would not have
married another; but as for you, how can you defend the bestial unions
you indiscriminately make? Perhaps indeed you will say that you feared
to contract marriage lest by so doing you might disqualify yourself for
ordination. He took a wife that he might have children by her; you by
taking a harlot have lost the hope of children. He withdrew into the
privacy of his own chamber when he sought to obey nature and to win
God's blessing: "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth."
[2034] You on the contrary outraged public decency in the hot eagerness
of your lust. He covered a lawful indulgence beneath a veil of modesty;
you pursued an unlawful one shamelessly before the eyes of all. For him
it is written "Marriage is honourable and the bed undefiled," while to
you the words are read, "but whoremongers and adulterers God wilt
judge," [2035] and "if any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall
God destroy." [2036] All iniquities, we are told, are forgiven us at
our baptism, and when once we have received God's mercy we need not
afterwards dread from Him the severity of a judge. The apostle
says:--"And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by
the Spirit of our God." [2037] All sins then are forgiven; it is an
honest and faithful saying. But I ask you, how comes it that, while
your uncleanness is washed away, my cleanness is made unclean? You
reply, "No, it is not made unclean, it remains just what it was. Had it
been uncleanness, it would have been washed away like mine." I want to
know what you mean by this shuffling. Your remarks seem to have no more
point in them than the round end of a pestle. Is a thing sin because it
is not sin? or is a thing unclean because it is not unclean? The Lord,
you say, has not forgiven because He had nothing to forgive; yet
because He has not forgiven, that which has not been forgiven still
remains.
5. What the true effect of baptism is, and what is the real grace
conveyed by water hallowed in Christ, I will presently tell you;
meantime I will deal with this argument as it deserves. An ill knot,'
says the common proverb, requires but an ill wedge to split it.' The
text quoted by the objector, "a bishop must be the husband of one
wife," admits of quite another explanation. The apostle came of the
Jews and the primitive Christian church was gathered out of the
remnants of Israel. Paul knew that the Law allowed men to have children
by several wives, [2038] and was aware that the example of the
patriarchs had made polygamy familiar to the people. Even the very
priests might at their own discretion enjoy the same license. [2039] He
gave commandment therefore that the priests of the church should not
claim this liberty, that they should not take two wives or three
together, but that they should each have but one wife at one time.
Perhaps you may say that this explanation which I have given is
disputed; in that case listen to another. You must not have a monopoly
of bending the Law to suit your will instead of bending your will to
suit the Law. Some by a strained interpretation say that wives are in
this passage to be taken for churches and husbands for their bishops. A
decree was made by the fathers assembled at the council of Nicæa [2040]
that no bishop should be translated from one church to another, lest
scorning the society of a poor yet virgin see he should seek the
embraces of a wealthy and adulterous one. For as the word logismoi,
that is, "disputings," refers to the fault and misdoing of sons in the
faith, [2041] and as the precept concerning the management of a house
refers to the right direction of body and of soul, [2042] so by the
wives of the bishops we are to understand their churches. Concerning
whom it is written in Isaiah, "Make haste ye women and come from the
show, for it is a people of no understanding." [2043] And again "Rise
up, ye women that are wealthy, [2044] and hear my voice." [2045] And in
the Book of Proverbs, "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is
far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her."
[2046] In the same book too it is written, "Every wise woman buildeth
her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands." [2047] Nor
does this, say they, derogate from the dignity of the episcopate; for
the same figure is used in relation to God. Jeremiah writes: "As a wife
treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt
treacherously with me, O house of Israel." [2048] And the apostle
employs the same comparison: "I have espoused you," he says to his
converts, "to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to
Christ." [2049] The word woman is in the Greek ambiguous and should in
all these places be understood as meaning wife. You will say that this
interpretation is harsh and does violence to the sense. In that case
give back to the scripture its simple meaning and save me from the
necessity of fighting you on your own ground. [2050] I will ask you the
following question, Can a man who before his baptism has kept a
concubine, and after her death has received baptism and has taken a
wife, become a clergyman or not? You will answer me that he can,
because his first partner was a concubine and not a wife. What the
apostle condemns then, it would seem, is not mere sexual intercourse
but marriage contracts and conjugal rights. Many persons, we see,
because of narrow circumstances refuse to take upon them the burthen of
matrimony. Instead of taking wives they live with their maid-servants
and bring up as their own the children which these bear to them. Thus,
if through the bounty of the Emperor they gain for their mistresses the
right of wearing a matron's robes, [2051] they will at once come
beneath the yoke of the apostle and sorely against their will will have
to receive their partners as their wedded wives. But, if their poverty
prevents them from obtaining an imperial rescript such as I have
mentioned, the decrees of the Church will vary with the laws of Rome.
Be careful therefore not to interpret the words "the husband of one
wife," that is, of one woman, as approving indiscriminate intercourse
and condemning only contracts of marriage.
I bring forward all these explanations not for the purpose of resisting
the true and simple sense of the words in question but to shew you that
you must take the holy scriptures as they are written, and that you
must not empty of its efficacy the baptismal rite ordained by the
Saviour, or render vain the whole mystery of the cross.
6. Let me now fulfil the promise I made a little while ago and with all
the skill of a rhetorician sing the praises of water and of baptism. In
the beginning the earth was without form and void, there was no
dazzling sun or pale moon, there were no glittering stars. There was
nothing but matter inorganic and invisible, and even this was lost in
abysmal depths and shrouded in a distorting gloom. The Spirit of God
above moved, as a charioteer, over the face of the waters, [2052] and
produced from them the infant world, a type of the Christian child that
is drawn from the laver of baptism. A firmament is constructed between
heaven and earth, and to this is allotted the name heaven,--in the
Hebrew Shamayim or what comes out of the waters,'-- [2053] and the
waters which are above the heavens are parted from the others to the
praise of God. Wherefore also in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel
there is seen above the cherubim a crystal stretched forth, [2054] that
is, the compressed and denser waters. The first living beings come out
of the waters; and believers soar out of the laver with wings to
heaven. Man is formed out of clay [2055] and God holds the mystic
waters in the hollow of his hand. [2056] In Eden a garden [2057] is
planted, and a fountain in the midst of it parts into four heads.
[2058] This is the same fountain which Ezekiel later on describes as
issuing out of the temple and flowing towards the rising of the sun,
until it heals the bitter waters and quickens those that are dead.
[2059] When the world falls into sin nothing but a flood of waters can
cleanse it again. But as soon as the foul bird of wickedness is driven
away, the dove of the Holy Spirit comes to Noah [2060] as it came
afterwards to Christ in the Jordan, [2061] and, carrying in its beak a
branch betokening restoration and light, brings tidings of peace to the
whole world. Pharaoh and his host, loth to allow God's people to leave
Egypt, are overwhelmed in the Red Sea figuring thereby our baptism. His
destruction is thus described in the book of Psalms: "Thou didst endow
the sea with virtue through thy power: thou brakest the heads of the
dragons in the waters: thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces."
[2062] For this reason adders and scorpions haunt dry places [2063] and
whenever they come near water behave as if rabid or insane. [2064] As
wood sweetens Marah so that seventy palm-trees are watered by its
streams, so the cross makes the waters of the law lifegiving to the
seventy who are Christ's apostles. [2065] It is Abraham and Isaac who
dig wells, the Philistines who try to prevent them. [2066] Beersheba
too, the city of the oath, [2067] and [Gihon], the scene of Solomon's
coronation, [2068] derive their names from springs. It is beside a well
that Eliezer finds Rebekah. [2069] Rachel too is a drawer of water and
wins a kiss thereby [2070] from the supplanter [2071] Jacob. When the
daughters of the priests of Midian are in a strait to reach the well,
Moses opens a way for them and delivers them from outrage. [2072] The
Lord's forerunner at Salem (a name which means peace or perfection)
makes ready the people for Christ with spring-water. [2073] The Saviour
Himself does not preach the kingdom of heaven until by His baptismal
immersion He has cleansed the Jordan. [2074] Water is the matter of His
first miracle [2075] and it is from a well that the Samaritan woman is
bidden to slake her thirst. [2076] To Nicodemus He secretly
says:--"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the Kingdom of God." [2077] As His earthly course began with
water, so it ended with it. His side is pierced by the spear, and blood
and water flow forth, twin emblems of baptism and of martyrdom. [2078]
After His resurrection also, when sending His apostles to the Gentiles,
He commands them to baptize these in the mystery of the Trinity. [2079]
The Jewish people repenting of their misdoing are sent forthwith by
Peter to be baptized. [2080] Before Sion travails she brings forth
children, and a nation is born at once. [2081] Paul the persecutor of
the church, that ravening wolf out of Benjamin, [2082] bows his head
before Ananias one of Christ's sheep, and only recovers his sight when
he applies the remedy of baptism. [2083] By the reading of the prophet
the eunuch of Candace the queen of Ethiopia is made ready for the
baptism of Christ. [2084] Though it is against nature the Ethiopian
does change his skin and the leopard his spots. [2085] Those who have
received only John's baptism and have no knowledge of the Holy Spirit
are baptized again, lest any should suppose that water unsanctified
thereby could suffice for the salvation of either Jew or Gentile.
[2086] "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters...The Lord is upon
many waters...the Lord maketh the flood to inhabit it." [2087] His
"teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn which came up from
the washing; whereof everyone bear twins, and none is barren among
them." [2088] If none is barren among them, all of them must have
udders filled with milk and be able to say with the apostle: "Ye are my
little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be
formed in you;" [2089] and "I have fed you with milk and not with
meat." [2090] And it is to the grace of baptism that the prophecy of
Micah refers: "He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us: he
will subdue our iniquities, and will cast all our sins [2091] into the
depths of the sea." [2092]
7. How then can you say that all sins are drowned in the baptismal
laver if a man's wife is still to swim on the surface as evidence
against him? The psalmist says:--"Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord
imputeth not iniquity." [2093] It would seem that we must add something
to this song and say "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not
a wife." Let us hear also the declaration which Ezekiel the so called
"son of man" [2094] makes concerning the virtue of him who is to be the
true son of man, the Christian: "I will take you," he says, "from among
the heathen...then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall
be clean from all your filthiness...a new heart also will I give you
and a new spirit." [2095] "From all your filthiness" he says, "will I
cleanse you." If all is taken away nothing can be left. If filthiness
is cleansed, how much more is cleanness kept from defilement. "A new
heart also will I give you and a new spirit." Yes, for "in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but a new
nature." [2096] Wherefore the song also which we sing is a new song,
[2097] and putting off the old man [2098] we walk not in the oldness of
the letter but in the newness of the spirit. [2099] This is the new
stone wherein the new name is written, "which no man knoweth saving he
that receiveth it." [2100] "Know ye not," says the apostle, "that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his
death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life." [2101] Do we read so
often of newness and of making new and yet can no renewing efface the
stain which the word wife brings with it? We are buried with Christ by
baptism and we have risen again by faith in the working of God who hath
called Him from the dead. And "when we were dead in our sins and in the
uncircumcision of our flesh, God hath quickened us together with Him,
having forgiven us all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of
ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it
out of the way nailing it to His cross." [2102] Can it be that when our
whole being is dead with Christ and when all the sins noted down in the
old "handwriting" are blotted out, the one word "wife" alone lives on?
Time would fail me were I to try to lay before you in order all the
passages in the Holy Scriptures which relate to the efficacy of baptism
or to explain the mysterious doctrine of that second birth which though
it is our second is yet our first in Christ.
8. Before I make an end of dictating (for I perceive that I have
already exceeded the just limits of a letter) I wish to give a brief
explanation of the previous verses of the epistle in which the apostle
describes the life of him that is to be made a bishop. We shall thus
recognize him as Doctor of the Nations [2103] not only for his praise
of monogamy but also for all his precepts. At the same time I beg that
no one will suppose that in what I write my design is to blacken the
priests of the present day. My one object is to promote the interest of
the church. Just as orators and philosophers in giving their notions of
the perfect orator and the perfect philosopher do not detract from
Demosthenes and Plato but merely set forth abstract ideals; so, when I
describe a bishop and explain the qualifications laid down for the
episcopate, I am but supplying a mirror for priests. Every man's
conscience will tell him that it rests with himself what image he will
see reflected there, whether one that will grieve him by its deformity
or one that will gladden him by its beauty. I turn now to the passage
in question. [2104] "If a man desire the office of a bishop, he
desireth a good work." Work, you see, not rank; toil not pleasure; work
that he may increase in lowliness, not grow proud by reason of
elevation. "A bishop then must be blameless." The same thing that he
says to Titus, "if any be blameless." [2105] All the virtues are
comprehended in this one word; thus he seems to require an impossible
perfection. For if every sin, even every idle word, is deserving of
blame, who is there in this world that is sinless and blameless? Still
he who is chosen to be shepherd of the church must be one compared with
whom other men are rightly regarded as but a flock of sheep.
Rhetoricians define an orator as a good man able to speak. To be worthy
of so high an honour he must be blameless in life and lip. For a
teacher loses all his influence whose words are rendered null by his
deeds. "The husband of one wife." Concerning this requirement I have
spoken above. I will now only warn you that if monogamy is insisted on
before baptism the other conditions laid down must be insisted on
before baptism too. For it is impossible to regard the remaining
obligations as binding only on the baptized and this alone as binding
also on the unbaptized. "Vigilant (or "temperate" for nephalios means
both), wise, [2106] of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to
teach." The priests who minister in God's temple are forbidden to drink
wine and strong drink, [2107] to keep their wits from being stupefied
with drunkenness and to enable their understanding to do its duty in
God's service. By the word wise' those are excluded who plead
simplicity as an excuse for a priest's folly. For if the brain be not
sound, all the members will be amiss. The phrase "of good behaviour" is
an extension of the previous epithet "blameless." One who has no faults
is called "blameless;" one who is rich in virtues is said to be "of
good behaviour." Or the words may be differently explained in accord
with Tully's maxim, [2108] the main thing is that what you do you
should do gracefully.' For some persons are so ignorant of their own
measure [2109] and so stupid and foolish that they make themselves
laughing stocks to those who see them because of their gesture or gait
or dress or conversation. Fancying that they knew what is and what is
not good taste they deck themselves out with finery and bodily
adornments and give banquets which profess to be elegant: but all such
attempts at dress and display are nastier than a beggar's rags. As
regards the obligation of priests to be teachers we bare have the
precepts of the old Law [2110] and the fuller instructions given on the
subject to Titus. [2111] For an innocent and unobtrusive conversation
does as much harm by its silence as it does good by its example. If the
ravening wolves are to be frightened away it must be by the barking of
dogs and by the staff of the shepherd. "Not given to wine, no striker."
With the virtues they are to aim at he contrasts the vices they are to
avoid.
9. We have learned what we ought to be: let us now learn what priests
ought not to be. Indulgence in wine is the fault of diners out and
revellers. When the body is heated with drink it soon boils over with
lust. Wine drinking means self-indulgence, self-indulgence means
sensual gratification, sensual gratification means a breach of
chastity. He that lives in pleasure is dead while he lives, [2112] and
he that drinks himself drunk is not only dead but buried. One hour's
debauch makes Noah uncover his nakedness which through sixty years of
sobriety he had kept covered. [2113] Lot in a fit of intoxication
unwittingly adds incest to incontinence, and wine overcomes the man
whom Sodom failed to conquer. [2114] A bishop that is a striker is
condemned by Him who gave His back to the smiters, [2115] and when He
was reviled reviled not again. [2116] "But moderate"; [2117] one good
thing is set over against two evil things. Drunkenness and passion are
to be held in check by moderation. "Not a brawler, not covetous."
Nothing is more overweening than the assurance of the ignorant who
fancy that incessant chatter will carry conviction with it and are
always ready for a dispute that they may thunder with turgid eloquence
against the flock committed to their charge. That a priest must avoid
covetousness even Samuel teaches when he proves before all the people
that he has taken nothing from any man. [2118] And the same lesson is
taught by the poverty of the apostles who used to receive sustenance
and refreshment from their brethren and to boast that they neither had
nor wished to have anything besides food and raiment. [2119] What the
epistle to Timothy calls covetousness, that to Titus openly censures as
the desire for filthy lucre. [2120] "One that ruleth well his own
house." Not by increasing riches, not by providing regal banquets, not
by having a pile of finely-wrought plates, not by slowly steaming
pheasants so that the heat may reach the bones without melting the
flesh upon them; no, but by first requiring of his own household the
conduct which he has to inculcate in others. "Having his children in
subjection with all gravity." They must not, that is, follow the
example of the sons of Eli who lay with the women in the vestibule of
the Temple and, supposing religion to consist in plunder, diverted to
the gratification of their own appetites all the best parts of the
victims. [2121] "Not a novice lest being lifted up with pride he fall
into the condemnation of the devil." I cannot sufficiently express my
amazement at the great blindness which makes men discuss such questions
as that of marriage before baptism and causes them to charge people
with a transaction which is dead in baptism, nay even quickened into a
new life with Christ, while no one regards a commandment so clear and
unmistakable as this about bishops not being novices. One who was
yesterday a catechumen is to-day a bishop [2122] ; one who was
yesterday in the amphitheatre is to-day in the church; one who spent
the evening in the circus stands in the morning at the altar: one who a
little while ago was a patron of actors is now a dedicator of virgins.
Was the apostle ignorant of our shifts and subterfuges? did he know
nothing of our foolish arguments? He not only says that a bishop must
be the husband of one wife, but he has given commandment that he must
be blameless, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality,
apt to teach, moderate, [2123] not given to wine, no striker, not a
brawler, not covetous, not a novice. Yet to all these requirements we
shut our eyes and notice nothing but the wives of the aspirants. Who
cannot give instances to shew the need of the warning: "lest being
lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil?" A
priest [2124] who is made such in a moment knows nothing of the
lowliness and meekness which mark the meanest of the faithful, he knows
nothing of Christian courtesy, he is not wise enough to think little of
himself. He passes from one dignity to another, yet he has not fasted,
he has not wept, he has not taken himself to task for his life, he has
not striven by constant meditation to amend it, he has not given his
substance to the poor. Yet he is moved from one see [2125] to another,
he passes, that is, from pride to pride. There can be no doubt that
arrogance is what the Apostle means when he speaks of the condemnation
and downfall of the devil. And all men fall into this who are in a
moment made masters, actually before they are disciples. "Moreover he
must have a good report of them which are without." The last
requirement is like the first. One who is really "blameless" obtains
the unanimous approval not only of his own household but of outsiders
as well. By aliens and persons outside the church we are to understand
Jews, heretics and Gentiles. A Christian bishop then must be such that
they who cavil at his religion may not venture to cavil at his life. At
present however we see but too many bishops who are willing, like the
charioteers in the horse races, to bid money for the popular applause;
while there are some so universally hated that they can wring no money
from their people, a feat which clowns accomplish by means of a few
gestures.
10. Such are the conditions, son Oceanus, which the master-teachers of
the church ought with anxiety and fear to require of others and to
observe themselves. Such too are the canons which they should follow in
the choice of persons for the priesthood; for they must not interpret
the law of Christ to suit private animosities and feuds or to gratify
ill-feeling which is sure to recoil on the man who cherishes it.
Consider how unimpeachable is the character of Carterius in whose life
his ill-wishers can find nothing to censure except a marriage
contracted before baptism. "He that said, Do not commit adultery, said
also, Do not kill. If we commit no adultery yet if we kill, we are
become transgressors of the law." [2126] "Whosoever shall keep the
whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." [2127]
Accordingly when they cast in our teeth a marriage entered into before
baptism, we must require of them compliance with all the precepts which
are given to the baptized. For they pass over much that is not
allowable while they censure much that is allowed.
__________________________________________________________________
[2010] Matt. xx. 15.
[2011] A.V. unbelief.'
[2012] Rom. xi. 32.
[2013] Rom. v. 20.
[2014] Ex. xii. 29, 30, 38.
[2015] The Cainites appear to have denied the efficacy of the
atonement.
[2016] A.V. sin.'
[2017] Joh. i. 29.
[2018] Joh. v. 19.
[2019] i.e. Paul.
[2020] 1 Pet. i. 2.
[2021] 1 Tim. iii. 2.
[2022] This synod held in 359 a.d. was attended by about 450 bishops.
It put forth an Arian formula which caused general consternation. "The
whole world," says Jerome, "groaned and was astonished to find itself
Arian."
[2023] See note on Letter LXI. 3.
[2024] Cf. Cic. In Pis. 1.
[2025] 1 Tim. iii. 1-7.
[2026] Tit. i. 5-9.
[2027] Rendered elders' in A.V.
[2028] Cf. Rom. i. 26, 27.
[2029] Exoleti.
[2030] A Scottish tribe, cannibals according to Jerome (Against Jov.
ii. 7.)
[2031] Bk. V. 457.
[2032] Matt. vii. 5.
[2033] Matt. xxiii. 23, 24, R.V.
[2034] Gen. i. 28.
[2035] Heb. xiii. 4.
[2036] 1 Cor. iii. 17, R.V.
[2037] 1 Cor. vi. 11.
[2038] Ex. xxi. 10.
[2039] Lev. xxi. 7, 13.
[2040] Canon xv.
[2041] Cf. Ph. ii. 14, 15.
[2042] 1 Tim. iii. 4.
[2043] Isa. xxvii. 11, LXX. A.V. follows the Hebrew.
[2044] A.V. that are at ease.
[2045] Isa. xxxii. 9.
[2046] Prov. xxxi. 10, 11.
[2047] Prov. xiv. 1.
[2048] Jer. iii. 20.
[2049] 2 Cor. xi. 2.
[2050] i.e. that of strained interpretations.
[2051] V. Dict. Ant. s. v. stola and cf. Cic. Phil. ii. 18, 44.
[2052] Gen. i. 2.
[2053] It is hardly necessary to remark that this derivation is purely
fanciful and has no foundation in fact.
[2054] Ezek. i. 22.
[2055] Gen. ii. 7.
[2056] Query a reference to Isa. xl. 12: the Latin is obscure.
[2057] Paradisus.
[2058] Gen. ii. 8, 10.
[2059] Ezek. xlvii. 1, 8.
[2060] Gen. viii. 8, 11.
[2061] Matt. iii. 16.
[2062] Ps. lxxiv. 13, 14 LXX.
[2063] Deut. viii. 15.
[2064] hudrophobous et lymphaticos faciunt.
[2065] Exod. xv. 23-27; Luke x. i.
[2066] Gen. xxvi. 15, 18.
[2067] Gen. xxi. 31.
[2068] 1 Kings i. 38; 2 Chron. xxxii. 30.
[2069] Gen. xxiv. 15, 16.
[2070] Gen. xxix. 10, 11.
[2071] Gen. xxvii. 36.
[2072] Exod. ii. 16, 17.
[2073] Joh. iii. 23.
[2074] Matt. iii. 13, 17.
[2075] The turning of the water into wine at Cana (Joh. ii. 1, 11).
[2076] Joh. iv. 13, 14.
[2077] Joh. iii. 5.
[2078] Joh. xix. 34: Jerome here follows Tertullian and Cyril of
Jerusalem.
[2079] Matt. xxviii. 19.
[2080] Acts ii. 38.
[2081] Isa. lxvi. 7, 8.
[2082] Gen. xlix. 27.
[2083] Acts ix. 17, 18. Comp. Letter LX. 8.
[2084] Acts viii. 27-38.
[2085] Jer. xiii. 23.
[2086] Acts xix. 1-7.
[2087] Ps. xxix. 3, 10. A.V. the Lord sitteth upon the flood.'
[2088] Cant. iv. 2.
[2089] Gal. iv. 19.
[2090] 1 Cor. iii. 2.
[2091] A.V. "thou wilt cast all their sins."
[2092] Mic. vii. 19.
[2093] Ps. xxxii. 1-2.
[2094] Ezek. ii. 1.
[2095] Ezek. xxxvi. 24-26. A.V. punctuates differently.
[2096] Gal. vi. 15, nature' for creature,' a slip of memory.
[2097] Rev. xiv. 3.
[2098] Eph. iv. 22.
[2099] Rom. vii. 6.
[2100] Rev. ii. 17.
[2101] Rom. vi. 3, 4.
[2102] Col. ii. 13, 14.
[2103] Doctor Gentium.
[2104] 1 Tim. iii. 1-7.
[2105] Tit. i. 6.
[2106] A.V. sober.'
[2107] Lev. x. 9.
[2108] Cic. de Or. i. 29.
[2109] Cf. 2 Cor. x. 14.
[2110] Cf. Deut. xvii. 9-11.
[2111] Tit. i. 9-14.
[2112] Cf. 1 Tim. v. 6.
[2113] Gen. ix. 20, 21.
[2114] Gen. xix. 30-38.
[2115] Isa. l. 6.
[2116] 1 Pet. ii. 23.
[2117] A.V. patient.'
[2118] 1 Sam. xii. 3-5.
[2119] Cf. 1 Tim. vi. 8.
[2120] Tit. i. 7.
[2121] 1 Sam. ii. 12-17, 22.
[2122] The case of Ambrose.
[2123] A.V. patient.'
[2124] Sacerdos: as usual a bishop is meant.
[2125] Lit. chair.'
[2126] Jas. ii. 11.
[2127] Jas. ii. 10.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXX. To Magnus an Orator of Rome.
Jerome thanks Magnus, a Roman orator, for his services in bringing a
young man named Sebesius to apologize to him for some fault that he had
committed. He then replies to a criticism of Magnus on his fondness for
making quotations from profane writers, a practice which he defends by
the example of the fathers of the church and of the inspired penmen of
scripture. He ends by hinting that the objection really comes not from
Magnus himself but from Rufinus (here nicknamed Calpurnius Lanarius).
The date of the letter is 397 a.d.
1. That our friend Sebesius has profited by your advice I have learned
less from your letter than from his own penitence. And strange to say
the pleasure which he has given me since his rebuke is greater than the
pain he caused me from his previous waywardness. There has been indeed
a conflict between indulgence in the father, and affection in the son;
while the former is anxious to forget the past, the latter is eager to
promise dutiful behaviour in the future. Accordingly you and I must
equally rejoice, you because you have successfully put a pupil to the
test, I because I have received a son again.
2. You ask me at the close of your letter why it is that sometimes in
my writings I quote examples from secular literature and thus defile
the whiteness of the church with the foulness of heathenism. I will now
briefly answer your question. You would never have asked it, had not
your mind been wholly taken up with Tully; you would never have asked
it had you made it a practice instead of studying Volcatius [2128] to
read the holy scriptures and the commentators upon them. For who is
there who does not know that both in Moses and in the prophets there
are passages cited from Gentile books and that Solomon proposed
questions to the philosophers of Tyre and answered others put to him by
them. [2129] In the commencement of the book of Proverbs he charges us
to understand prudent maxims and shrewd adages, parables and obscure
discourse, the words of the wise and their dark sayings; [2130] all of
which belong by right to the sphere of the dialectician and the
philosopher. The Apostle Paul also, in writing to Titus, has used a
line of the poet Epimenides: "The Cretians are always liars, evil
beasts, slow bellies." [2131] Half of which line was afterwards adopted
by Callimachus. It is not surprising that a literal rendering of the
words into Latin should fail to preserve the metre, seeing that Homer
when translated into the same language is scarcely intelligible even in
prose. In another epistle Paul quotes a line of Menander: "Evil
communications corrupt good manners." [2132] And when he is arguing
with the Athenians upon the Areopagus he calls Aratus as a witness
citing from him the words "For we are also his offspring;" [2133] in
Greek tou gar kai genos esmen, the close of a heroic verse. And as if
this were not enough, that leader of the Christian army, that
unvanquished pleader for the cause of Christ, skilfully turns a chance
inscription into a proof of the faith. [2134] For he had learned from
the true David to wrench the sword of the enemy out of his hand and
with his own blade to cut off the head of the arrogant Goliath. [2135]
He had read in Deuteronomy the command given by the voice of the Lord
that when a captive woman had had her head shaved, her eyebrows and all
her hair cut off, and her nails pared, she might then be taken to wife.
[2136] Is it surprising that I too, admiring the fairness of her form
and the grace of her eloquence, desire to make that secular wisdom
which is my captive and my handmaid, a matron of the true Israel? Or
that shaving off and cutting away all in her that is dead whether this
be idolatry, pleasure, error, or lust, I take her to myself clean and
pure and beget by her servants for the Lord of Sabaoth? My efforts
promote the advantage of Christ's family, my so-called defilement with
an alien increases the number of my fellow-servants. Hosea took a wife
of whoredoms, Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and this harlot bore him a
son called Jezreel or the seed of God. [2137] Isaiah speaks of a sharp
razor which shaves "the head of sinners and the hair of their feet;"
[2138] and Ezekiel shaves his head as a type of that Jerusalem which
has been an harlot, [2139] in sign that whatever in her is devoid of
sense and life must be removed.
3. Cyprian, a man renowned both for his eloquence and for his martyr's
death, was assailed--so Firmian tells us [2140] --for having used in
his treatise against Demetrius passages from the Prophets and the
Apostles which the latter declared to be fabricated and made up,
instead of passages from the philosophers and poets whose authority he,
as a heathen, could not well gainsay. Celsus [2141] and Porphyry [2142]
have written against us and have been ably answered, the former by
Origen, the latter by Methodius, Eusebius, and Apollinaris. [2143]
Origen wrote a treatise in eight books, the work of Methodius [2144]
extended to ten thousand lines while Eusebius [2145] and Apollinaris
[2146] composed twenty-five and thirty volumes respectively. Read these
and you will find that compared with them I am a mere tyro in learning,
and that, as my wits have long lain fallow, I can barely recall as in a
dream what I have learned as a boy. The emperor Julian [2147] found
time during his Parthian campaign to vomit forth seven books against
Christ and, as so often happens in poetic legends, only wounded himself
with his own sword. Were I to try to confute him with the doctrines of
philosophers and stoics you would doubtless forbid me to strike a mad
dog with the club of Hercules. It is true that he presently felt in
battle the hand of our Nazarene or, as he used to call him, the
Galilæan, [2148] and that a spear-thrust in the vitals paid him due
recompense for his foul calumnies. To prove the antiquity of the Jewish
people Josephus [2149] has written two books against Appio a grammarian
of Alexandria; and in these he brings forward so many quotations from
secular writers as to make me marvel how a Hebrew brought up from his
childhood to read the sacred scriptures could also have perused the
whole library of the Greeks. Need I speak of Philo [2150] whom critics
call the second or the Jewish Plato?
4. Let me now run through the list of our own writers. Did not
Quadratus [2151] a disciple of the apostles and bishop of the Athenian
church deliver to the Emperor Hadrian (on the occasion of his visit to
the Eleusinian mysteries) a treatise in defence of our religion. And so
great was the admiration caused in everyone by his eminent ability that
it stilled a most severe persecution. The philosopher Aristides, [2152]
a man of great eloquence, presented to the same Emperor an apology for
the Christians composed of extracts from philosophic writers. His
example was afterwards followed by Justin [2153] another philosopher
who delivered to Antoninus Pius and his sons [2154] and to the senate a
treatise Against the Gentiles, in which he defended the ignominy of the
cross and preached the resurrection of Christ with all freedom. Need I
speak of Melito [2155] bishop of Sardis, of Apollinaris [2156]
chief-priest of the Church of Hierapolis, of Dionysius [2157] bishop of
the Corinthians, of Tatian, [2158] of Bardesanes, [2159] of Irenæus
[2160] successor to the martyr Pothinus; [2161] all of whom have in
many volumes explained the uprisings of the several heresies and
tracked them back, each to the philosophic source from which it flows.
Pantænus, [2162] a philosopher of the Stoic school, was on account of
his great reputation for learning sent by Demetrius bishop of
Alexandria to India, to preach Christ to the Brahmans and philosophers
there. Clement, [2163] a presbyter of Alexandria, in my judgment the
most learned of men, wrote eight books of Miscellanies [2164] and as
many of Outline Sketches, [2165] a treatise against the Gentiles, and
three volumes called the Pedagogue. Is there any want of learning in
these, or are they not rather drawn from the very heart of philosophy?
Imitating his example Origen [2166] wrote ten books of Miscellanies, in
which he compares together the opinions held respectively by Christians
and by philosophers, and confirms all the dogmas of our religion by
quotations from Plato and Aristotle, from Numenius [2167] and Cornutus.
[2168] Miltiades [2169] also wrote an excellent treatise against the
Gentiles. Moreover Hippolytus [2170] and a Roman senator named
Apollonius [2171] have each compiled apologetic works. The books of
Julius Africanus [2172] who wrote a history of his own times are still
extant, as also are those of Theodore who was afterwards called
Gregory, [2173] a man endowed with apostolic miracles as well as with
apostolic virtues. We still have the works of Dionysius [2174] bishop
of Alexandria, of Anatolius [2175] chief priest of the church of
Laodicea, of the presbyters Pamphilus, [2176] Pierius, [2177] Lucian,
[2178] Malchion; [2179] of Eusebius [2180] bishop of Cæsarea,
Eustathius [2181] of Antioch and Athanasius [2182] of Alexandria; of
Eusebius [2183] of Emisa, of Triphyllius [2184] of Cyprus, of Asterius
[2185] of Scythopolis, of the confessor Serapion, [2186] of Titus
[2187] bishop of Bostra; and of the Cappadocians Basil, [2188] Gregory,
[2189] and Amphilochius. [2190] All these writers so frequently
interweave in their books the doctrines and maxims of the philosophers
that you might easily be at a loss which to admire most, their secular
erudition or their knowledge of the scriptures.
5. I will pass on to Latin writers. Can anything be more learned or
more pointed than the style of Tertullian? [2191] His Apology and his
books Against the Gentiles contain all the wisdom of the world.
Minucius Felix [2192] a pleader in the Roman courts has ransacked all
heathen literature to adorn the pages of his Octavius and of his
treatise Against the astrologers (unless indeed this latter is falsely
ascribed to him). Arnobius [2193] has published seven books against the
Gentiles, and his pupil Lactantius [2194] as many, besides two volumes,
one on Anger and the other on the creative activity of God. If you read
any of these you will find in them an epitome of Cicero's dialogues.
The Martyr Victorinus [2195] though as a writer deficient in learning
is not deficient in the wish to use what learning he has. Then there is
Cyprian. [2196] With what terseness, with what knowledge of all
history, with what splendid rhetoric and argument has he touched the
theme that idols are no Gods! Hilary [2197] too, a confessor and bishop
of my own day, has imitated Quintilian's twelve books both in number
and in style, and has also shewn his ability as a writer in his short
treatise against Dioscorus the physician. In the reign of Constantine
the presbyter Juvencus [2198] set forth in verse the story of our Lord
and Saviour, and did not shrink from forcing into metre the majestic
phrases of the Gospel. Of other writers dead and living I say nothing.
Their aim and their ability are evident to all who read them. [2199]
6. You must not adopt the mistaken opinion, that while in dealing with
the Gentiles one may appeal to their literature in all other
discussions one ought to ignore it; for almost all the books of all
these writers--except those who like Epicurus [2200] are no
scholars--are extremely full of erudition and philosophy. I incline
indeed to fancy--the thought comes into my head as I dictate--that you
yourself know quite well what has always been the practice of the
learned in this matter. I believe that in putting this question to me
you are only the mouthpiece of another who by reason of his love for
the histories of Sallust might well be called Calpurnius Lanarius.
[2201] Please beg of him not to envy eaters their teeth because he is
toothless himself, and not to make light of the eyes of gazelles
because he is himself a mole. Here as you see there is abundant
material for discussion, but I have already filled the limits at my
disposal.
__________________________________________________________________
[2128] Either a teacher of civil law mentioned by Pliny (viii. 40), or
else one of the writers of the Augustan History.
[2129] The authority for this is Josephus.
[2130] Prov. i. 1-6.
[2131] Tit. i. 12.
[2132] 1 Cor. xv. 33. The line is also attributed to Euripides.
[2133] Acts xvii. 28.
[2134] Acts xvii. 22.
[2135] Cf. 1 Sam. xvii. 50, 51.
[2136] Deut. xxi. 10-13.
[2137] Hos. i. 2-4.
[2138] Isa. vii. 20.
[2139] Ezek. v. 1-5.
[2140] i.e. Lactantius, vide Inst. v. 4.
[2141] The author of a polemical treatise against Christianity,
fragments of which are still preserved in Origen's reply. He was a
Platonist.
[2142] A neoplatonist writer who flourished in the third century.
[2143] See note on Letter XLVIII. § 13.
[2144] Contemporary with Eusebius the historian. His Symposium still
extant proves him to have been a warm admirer of Plato.
[2145] The learned bishop of Cæsarea (a.d. 260-340). His Church History
and other works are translated or described in Vol. i. of this series.
[2146] Probably the learned Bishop of Laodicea, whose views were
condemned at Constantinople in 381.
[2147] Julian was emperor from a.d. 261 to a.d. 263. He reverted from
Christianity to paganism and did all in his power to harass the Church.
[2148] According to Theodoret (H. E. iii. 25) Julian's last words were
"Thou hast conquered, O Galilæan."
[2149] A Jew born at Jerusalem a.d. 37. His historical works, still
extant, are of great value.
[2150] See note on Letter XXII. § 35.
[2151] The author of an apology for the Christians presented to the
Emperor Hadrian. Only small fragments of the work are now extant. See
for him and Aristides Jerome's Book on Famous Men, in Vol. iii. of this
series, c. xix. xx.
[2152] Another Athenian apologist contemporary with Quadratus. His
Apology has lately been published. Cambridge, Eng., 1891.
[2153] Commonly called Justin Martyr. Born in Samaria of Greek parents,
he is said to have undergone martyrdom at Rome. Fl. a.d. 140-150.
[2154] Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.
[2155] Fl. a.d. 170. He composed an Apology addressed to the Emperor
Marcus Aurelius.
[2156] A highly esteemed writer, from 171 a.d. onwards, who wrote many
treatises, amongst which were an apology addressed to Marcus Aurelius,
and several works against Montanism.
[2157] Fl. a.d. 171, the writer of several pastoral letters to other
churches famous in their day but no longer extant.
[2158] See note on Letter XLVIII. § 3.
[2159] Born at Edessa c. 155 a.d. died 223 a.d. A mystical theologian
of a gnostic type who held a high position at the court of the Abgars.
His writings have perished.
[2160] Bishop of Lyons in the latter half of the second century. He was
a native of Asia Minor and his younger days had known Polycarp.
[2161] Bishop of Lyons, suffered martyrdom under Marcus Aurelius.
[2162] A convert from stoicism to Christianity in the latter part of
the second century who as the head of the catechetical school at
Alexandria was the instructor of Clement.
[2163] Head of the catechetical school at Alexandria a.d. 190-203.
[2164] stromateis .
[2165] hupotuposeis .
[2166] See Letter XXXIII. Of Origen's Miscellanies only a few fragments
remain. They appear to have discussed various topics in the light of
ancient philosophy and scripture.'--Westcott.
[2167] A neoplatonic and neopythagorean philosopher who flourished in
the age of the Antonines.
[2168] A Stoic philosopher, the friend and teacher of the poet Persius.
Having criticised Nero's literary style too freely he was banished by
that emperor.
[2169] An active Christian writer of the reign of Commodus.
[2170] Fl. a.d. 200-225, the first antipope. His Refutation of All
Heresies is of great interest and value.
[2171] Fl. a.d. 186. Accused of being a Christian, he delivered in the
senate an apology for the faith.
[2172] A writer of the third century who compiled a Chronicle of the
world's history from the creation to his own day. It has long since
perished.
[2173] Surnamed Thaumaturgus or Wonderworker. One of Origen's pupils,
he wrote a Panegyric (extant) on his master. Fl. 233-270.
[2174] Head of the catechetical school, and afterwards bishop, of
Alexandria. He died a.d. 265.
[2175] Trained in the school of Alexandria and praised by Eusebius for
his great learning.
[2176] The intimate friend of Eusebius of Cæsarea and founder of the
famous library in that city.
[2177] See note on Letter XLVIII. § 3.
[2178] A presbyter of Antioch and apparently a pupil of Malchion. He
suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia a.d. 311.
[2179] A presbyter of Antioch in the reign of Aurelian. He took part in
the proceedings against Paul of Samosata.
[2180] See note on § 3 above.
[2181] Bishop of Antioch at the time of the Nicene Council. One of the
earliest and most vigorous opponents of Arianism.
[2182] Bishop of Alexandria from a.d. 326 to a.d. 373. The great
champion of the diversity of Christ again Arius and the followers.
[2183] Flor. a.d. 341-359. After studying at Alexandria he lived for
some time at Antioch where he took part in an Arian council.
[2184] A famous lawyer of Berytus converted to Christianity by Spyridon
a bishop in Cyprus.
[2185] Bishop of Amasea in Pontus, a constant student of Demosthenes
and himself no mean orator.
[2186] An Egyptian bishop the friend of Antony and Athanasius. Some of
his writings are still extant.
[2187] This bishop is best known through the Emperor Julian's vain
attempt to expel him from his see.
[2188] a.d. 329-379. Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia and a strenuous
champion of orthodoxy. His works are still extant.
[2189] Gregory of Nazianzus. Bishop of Sasima and for a short time of
Constantinople (a.d. 379-381).
[2190] Flor. a.d. 350-400. Archbishop of Iconium. A friend of Basil and
of Gregory Nazianzen.
[2191] An African writer who in his last days became a Montanist. Flor.
a.d. 175-225.
[2192] A Roman lawyer of the second century. His Apology--a Dialogue
entitled Octavius--is extant.
[2193] Fl. a.d. 300. A professor of rhetoric at Sicca in Africa and a
heathen. He composed his apology to prove the reality of his
conversion.
[2194] An African rhetorician and apologist of the fourth century. His
works are extant.
[2195] A celebrated man of letters at Rome in the middle of the fourth
century, the story of whose conversion is told in Augustine's
Confessions (viii. 2-5).
[2196] Bishop of Carthage. He suffered martyrdom a.d. 358. His works
are extant.
[2197] Bishop of Poitiers (died a.d. 368). A champion of the orthodox
faith against Arianism.
[2198] A Spanish Christian of the fourth century. His "Story of the
Gospels," a life of Christ in hexameter verse, still exists.
[2199] For most of the writers mentioned in this section see also
Jerome's Book of Famous Men translated in Vol. iii. of this series.
[2200] For an account of Epicurus see Letter V. § 5, note. He professed
to have read but little.
[2201] That Rufinus is the person meant is plain from a reference made
to this passage in Apol. adv. Rufinum, i. 30 and also from Letter CII.
§ 3. Jerome is however mistaken in connecting this Calpurnius with
Sallust. He is mentioned by Plutarch as a treacherous friend. Sallust
does mention a certain Calpurinus Bestia, and Jerome has probably
confounded the two.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXI. To Lucinius.
Lucinius was a wealthy Spaniard of Bætica who in conformity with the
ascetic ideas of his time had made a vow of continence with his wife
Theodora. Being much interested in the study of scripture he proposed
to visit Bethlehem, and in a.d. 397 sent several scribes thither to
transcribe for him Jerome's principal writings. To these on their
return home Jerome now entrusts the following letter. In it he
encourages Lucinius to fulfil his purpose of coming to Bethlehem,
describes the books which he is sending to him, and answers two
questions relating to ecclesiastical usage. He also sends him some
trifling presents.
Shortly after receiving the letter (written in 398 a.d.) Lucinius died
and Jerome wrote to Theodora to console her for her loss (Letter LXXV).
1. Your letter which has suddenly arrived was not expected by me, and
coming in an unlooked for way it has helped to rouse me from my torpor
by the glad tidings which it conveys. I hasten to embrace with the arms
of love one whom my eyes have never seen, and silently say to
myself:--"oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I flee away
and be at rest."' [2202] Then would I find him "whom my soul loveth."
[2203] In you the Lord's words are now truly fulfilled: "many shall
come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham." [2204] In
those days the faith of my Lucinius was foreshadowed in Cornelius,
"centurion of the band called the Italian band." [2205] And when the
apostle Paul writes to the Romans: "whensoever I take my journey into
Spain I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to
be brought on my way thitherward by you;" [2206] he shews by the tale
of his previous successes what he looked to gain from that province.
[2207] Laying in a short time the foundation of the gospel "from
Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum," [2208] he enters Rome in
bonds, that he may free those who are in the bonds of error and
superstition. Two years he dwells in his own hired house [2209] that he
may give to us the house eternal which is spoken of in both the
testaments. [2210] The apostle, the fisher of men, [2211] has cast
forth his net, and, among countless kinds of fish, has landed you like
a magnificent gilt-bream. You have left behind you the bitter waves,
the salt tides, the mountain-fissures; you have despised Leviathan who
reigns in the waters. [2212] Your aim is to seek the wilderness with
Jesus and to sing the prophet's song: "my soul thirsteth for thee, my
flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is; to
see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary,"
[2213] or, as he sings in another place, "lo, then would I wander far
off and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the
windy storm and tempest." [2214] Since you have left Sodom and are
hastening to the mountains, I beseech you with a father's affection not
to look behind you. Your hands have grasped the handle of the plough,
[2215] the hem of the Saviour's garment, [2216] and His locks wet with
the dew of night; [2217] do not let them go. Do not come down from the
housetop of virtue to seek for the clothes which you wore of old, nor
return home from the field. [2218] Do not like Lot set your heart on
the plain or upon the pleasant gardens; [2219] for these are watered
not, as the holy land, from heaven but by Jordan's muddy stream made
salt by contact with the Dead Sea.
2. Many begin but few persevere to the end. "They which run in a race
run all, but one receiveth the crown." [2220] But of us on the other
hand it is said: "So run that ye may obtain." [2221] Our master of the
games is not grudging; he does not give the palm to one and disgrace
another. His wish is that all his athletes may alike win garlands. My
soul rejoices, yet the very greatness of my joy makes me feel sad. Like
Ruth [2222] when I try to speak I burst into tears. Zacchæus, the
convert of an hour, is accounted worthy to receive the Saviour as his
guest. [2223] Martha and Mary make ready a feast and then welcome the
Lord to it. [2224] A harlot washes His feet with her tears and against
His burial anoints His body with the ointment of good works. [2225]
Simon the leper invites the Master with His disciples and is not
refused. [2226] To Abraham it is said: "Get thee out of thy country and
from thy kindred and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will
shew thee." [2227] He leaves Chaldæa, he leaves Mesopotamia; he seeks
what he knows not, not to lose Him whom he has found. He does not deem
it possible to keep both his country and his Lord; even at that early
day he is already fulfilling the prophet David's words: "I am a
stranger with thee and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." [2228] He
is called "a Hebrew," in Greek perates, a passer-over, for not content
with present excellence but forgetting those things which are behind he
reaches forth to that which is before. [2229] He makes his own the
words of the psalmist: "they shall go from strength to strength."
[2230] Thus his name has a mystic meaning and he has opened for you a
way to seek not your own things but those of another. You too must
leave your home as he did, and must take for your parents, brothers,
and relations only those who are linked to you in Christ. "Whosoever,"
He says, "shall do the will of my father...the same is my brother and
sister and mother." [2231]
3. You have with you one who was once your partner in the flesh but is
now your partner in the spirit; once your wife but now your sister;
once a woman but now a man; once an inferior but now an equal. [2232]
Under the same yoke as you she hastens toward the same heavenly
kingdom.
A too careful management of one's income, a too near calculation of
one's expenses--these are habits not easily laid aside. Yet to escape
the Egyptian woman Joseph had to leave his garment with her. [2233] And
the young man who followed Jesus having a linen cloth cast about him,
when he was assailed by the servants had to throw away his earthly
covering and to flee naked. [2234] Elijah also when he was carried up
in a chariot of fire to heaven left his mantle of sheepskin on earth.
[2235] Elisha used for sacrifice the oxen and the yokes which hitherto
he had employed in his work. [2236] We read in Ecclesiasticus: "he that
toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith." [2237] As long as we are
occupied with the things of the world, as long as our soul is fettered
with possessions and revenues, we cannot think freely of God. "For what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion
hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or
what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" [2238] "Ye cannot,"
the Lord says, "serve God and Mammon." [2239] Now the laying aside of
money is for those who are beginners in the way, not for those who are
made perfect. Heathens like Antisthenes [2240] and Crates [2241] the
Theban have done as much before now. But to offer one's self to God,
this is the mark of Christians and apostles. These like the widow out
of their penury cast their two mites into the treasury, and giving all
that they have to the Lord are counted worthy to hear his words: "ye
also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of
Israel." [2242]
4. You can see for yourself why I mention these things; without
expressly saying it I am inviting you to take up your abode at the holy
places. Your abundance has supported the want of many that some day
their riches may abound to supply your want; [2243] you have made to
yourself "friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that they may
receive you into everlasting habitations." [2244] Such conduct deserves
praise and merits to be compared with the virtue of apostolic times.
Then, as you know, believers sold their possessions and brought the
prices of them and laid them down at the apostles' feet: [2245] a
symbolic act designed to shew that men must trample on covetousness.
But the Lord yearns for believers' souls more than for their riches. We
read in the Proverbs: "the ransom of a man's soul are his own riches."
[2246] We may, indeed, take a man's own riches to be those which do not
come from some one else, or from plunder; according to the precept:
"honour God with thy just labours." [2247] But the sense is better if
we understand a man's "own riches" to be those hidden treasures which
no thief can steal and no robber wrest from him. [2248]
5. As for my poor works which from no merits of theirs but simply from
your own kindness you say that you desire to have; I have given them to
your servants to transcribe, I have seen the paper-copies made by them,
and I have repeatedly ordered them to correct them by a diligent
comparison with the originals. For so many are the pilgrims passing to
and fro that I have been unable to read so many volumes. They have
found me also troubled by a long illness from which this Lent I am
slowly recovering as they are leaving me. If then you find errors or
omissions which interfere with the sense, these you must impute not to
me but to your own servants; they are due to the ignorance or
carelessness of the copyists, who write down not what they find but
what they take to be the meaning, and do but expose their own mistakes
when they try to correct those of others. It is a false rumour which
has reached you to the effect that I have translated the books of
Josephus [2249] and the volumes of the holy men Papias [2250] and
Polycarp. [2251] I have neither the leisure nor the ability to preserve
the charm of these masterpieces in another tongue. Of Origen [2252] and
Didymus [2253] I have translated a few things, to set before my
countrymen some specimens of Greek teaching. The canon of the Hebrew
verity [2254] --except the octoteuch [2255] which I have at present in
hand--I have placed at the disposal of your slaves and copyists.
Doubtless you already possess the version from the septuagint [2256]
which many years ago I diligently revised for the use of students. The
new testament I have restored to the authoritative form of the Greek
original. [2257] For as the true text of the old testament can only be
tested by a reference to the Hebrew, so the true text of the new
requires for its decision an appeal to the Greek.
6. You ask me whether you ought to fast on the Sabbath [2258] and to
receive the eucharist daily according to the custom--as currently
reported--of the churches of Rome and Spain. [2259] Both these points
have been treated by the eloquent Hippolytus, [2260] and several
writers have collected passages from different authors bearing upon
them. The best advice that I can give you is this.
Church-traditions--especially when they do not run counter to the
faith--are to be observed in the form in which previous generations
have handed them down; and the use of one church is not to be annulled
because it is contrary to that of another. [2261] As regards fasting, I
wish that we could practise it without intermission as--according to
the Acts of the Apostles [2262] --Paul did and the believers with him
even in the season of Pentecost and on the Lord's Day. They are not to
be accused of manichæism, for carnal food ought not to be preferred
before spiritual. As regards the holy eucharist you may receive it at
all times [2263] without qualm of conscience or disapproval from me.
You may listen to the psalmist's words:--"O taste and see that the Lord
is good;" [2264] you may sing as he does:--"my heart poureth forth a
good word." [2265] But do not mistake my meaning. You are not to fast
on feast-days, neither are you to abstain on the week days in
Pentecost. [2266] In such matters each province may follow its own
inclinations, and the traditions which have been handed down should be
regarded as apostolic laws.
7. You send me two small cloaks and a sheepskin mantle from your
wardrobe and ask me to wear them myself or to give them to the poor. In
return I send to you and your sister [2267] in the Lord four small
haircloths suitable to your religious profession and to your daily
needs, for they are the mark of poverty and the outward witness of a
continual penitence. To these I have added a manuscript containing
Isaiah's ten most obscure visions which I have lately elucidated with a
critical commentary. When you look upon these trifles call to mind the
friend in whom you delight and hasten the voyage which you have for a
time deferred. And because "the way of man is not in himself" but it is
the Lord that "directeth his steps;" [2268] if any hindrance should
interfere--I hope none may--to prevent you from coming, I pray that
distance may not sever those united in affection and that I may find my
Lucinius present in absence through an interchange of letters.
__________________________________________________________________
[2202] Ps. lv. 6. PBV.
[2203] Cant. iii. 1.
[2204] Matt. viii. 11.
[2205] Acts x. 1.
[2206] Rom. xv. 24.
[2207] Italy.
[2208] Rom. xv. 19.
[2209] Acts xxviii. 30.
[2210] Utriusque instrumenti æternam domum. The twofold record' is that
of the old and new testaments both of which speak of the church under
the figure of a house. For the term "instrument" see note on Letter.
[2211] Matt. iv. 19.
[2212] Cf. Ps. civ. 26.
[2213] Ps. lxiii. 1, 2.
[2214] Ps. lv. 7, 8.
[2215] Luke ix. 62.
[2216] Matt. ix. 20.
[2217] Cant. v. 2.
[2218] Matt. xxiv. 17, 18.
[2219] Gen. xiii. 10.
[2220] Jerome quoting from memory substitutes crown' for prize.'
[2221] 1 Cor. ix. 24.
[2222] Ruth i. 14.
[2223] Luke xix. 5.
[2224] Joh. xii. 2.
[2225] Mark xiv. 8.
[2226] Matt. xxvi. 6.
[2227] Gen. xii. 1.
[2228] Ps. xxxix. 12.
[2229] Phil. iii. 13.
[2230] Ps. lxxxiv. 7.
[2231] Matt. xii. 50.
[2232] His wife Theodora.
[2233] Gen. xxxix. 12.
[2234] Mark xiv. 51, 52.
[2235] 2 Kings ii. 11, 13.
[2236] 1 Kings xix. 21.
[2237] Ecclus. xiii. 1.
[2238] 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.
[2239] Matt. vi. 24.
[2240] A disciple of Socrates, subsequently the founder of the Cynic
School. Fl. 366 b.c.
[2241] See note on Letter LXVI. § 8.
[2242] Matt. xix. 28.
[2243] 2 Cor. viii. 14.
[2244] Luke xvi. 9.
[2245] Acts iv. 34, 35.
[2246] Prov. xiii. 8, LXX.
[2247] Prov. iii. 9, LXX.
[2248] Cf. Matt. vi. 20.
[2249] See note on Letter XXII. § 35.
[2250] A writer of the sub-apostolic age who had been a disciple of the
apostle John. He was bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia.
[2251] Another sub-apostolic writer who was also a disciple of John. He
became bishop of Smyrna and underwent martyrdom at the age of 86.
[2252] See note on Letter XXXIII.
[2253] The blind theologian of Alexandria by whose teaching Jerome had
himself profited. See Letter XXXIV. § 3.
[2254] The old testament as translated direct from the Hebrew.
[2255] The first eight books.
[2256] This work Jerome accomplished between the years 383 and 390 a.d.
Only the Psalter and Job are extant.
[2257] This task he undertook at the request of pope Damasus in 383
a.d. See Letter XXVII.
[2258] i.e. on Saturday.
[2259] At this time the communion was celebrated daily at
Constantinople, in Africa, and in Spain. At Rome it was celebrated on
every day of the week except Saturday (the Sabbath). See Socrates, H.
E. v. 22.
[2260] A leading Roman churchman, bishop of Portus, in the early part
of the third century, the rival and enemy of pope Callistus and author
of many theological treatises, one of which--the Refutation of all
Heresies--has recently become famous.
[2261] Compare the similar advice given by Gregory the Great to
Augustine of Canterbury (Bede, H. E. 1. 27).
[2262] Nothing in the book of Acts bears out this statement. Fasting at
the times mentioned was forbidden in Jerome's day.
[2263] Daily if you will and on fast days as well as on feast days.
[2264] Ps. xxxiv. 8.
[2265] Ps. xlv. 1, Vulg.
[2266] i.e. the period of fifty days between Easterday and Whitsunday.
See Letter XLI. §3.
[2267] i.e. his wife Theodora.
[2268] Jer. x. 23.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXII. To Vitalis.
Vitalis had asked Jerome "Is Scripture credible when it tells us that
Solomon and Ahaz became fathers at the age of eleven?" The difficulty
had previously occurred to Jerome himself (Letter XXXVI. 10, whence
perhaps Vitalis took it) and in this letter he suggests several ways in
which it may be met. He is quite prepared, if necessary, to accept the
alleged fact on the grounds that "there are many things in Scripture
which sound incredible and yet are true" and that "nature cannot resist
the Lord of nature" (§2). He is disposed, however, to regard the
question as trivial and of no importance. The date of the letter is 398
a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXIII. To Evangelus.
Evangelus had sent Jerome an anonymous treatise in which Melchisedek
was identified with the Holy Ghost, and had asked him what he thought
of the theory. Jerome in his reply repudiates the idea as absurd and
insists that Melchisedek was a real man, possibly, as the Jews said,
Shem the eldest son of Noah. The date of the letter is 398 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXIV. To Rufinus of Rome.
Rufinus, a Roman Presbyter (to be carefully distinguished from Rufinus
of Aquileia and Rufinus the Syrian), had written to Jerome for an
explanation of the judgment of Solomon (1 Kings iii. 16-28). This
Jerome gives at length, treating the narrative as a parable and making
the false and true mothers types of the Synagogue and the Church. The
date of the letter is 398 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXV. To Theodora.
Theodora the wife of the learned Spaniard Lucinius (for whom see Letter
LXXI.) had recently lost her husband, a bereavement which suggested the
present letter. In it Jerome recounts the many virtues of Lucinius and
especially his zeal in resisting the gnostic heresy of Marcus which
during his life was prevalent in Spain. The date of the letter is 399
a.d.
1. So overpowered am I by the sad intelligence of the falling asleep of
the holy and by me deeply revered Lucinius that I am scarcely able to
dictate even a short letter. I do not, it is true, lament his fate, for
I know that he has passed to better things: like Moses he can say: "I
will now turn aside and see this great sight," [2269] but I am
tormented with regret that I was not allowed to look upon the face of
one, who was likely, as I believed, in a short time to come hither.
True indeed is the prophetic warning concerning the doom of death that
it divides brothers, [2270] and with harsh and cruel hand sunders those
whose names are linked together in the bonds of love. But we have this
consolation that it is slain by the word of the Lord. For it is said:
"O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction,"
and in the next verse: "An east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord
shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and
his fountain shall be dried up." [2271] For, as Isaiah says, "there
shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall
grow out of his roots": [2272] and He says Himself in the Song of
Songs, "I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley." [2273] Our
rose is the destruction of death, and died that death itself might die
in His dying. But, when it is said that He is to be brought "from the
wilderness," the virgin's womb is indicated, which without sexual
intercourse or impregnation has given to us God in the form of an
infant able to quench by the glow of the Holy Spirit the fountains of
lust and to sing in the words of the psalm: "as in a dry and pathless
and waterless land, so have I appeared unto thee in the sanctuary."
[2274] Thus when we have to face the hard and cruel necessity of death,
we are upheld by this consolation, that we shall shortly see again
those whose absence we now mourn. For their end is not called death but
a slumber and a falling asleep. Wherefore also the blessed apostle
forbids us to sorrow concerning them which are asleep, [2275] telling
us to believe that those whom we know to sleep now may hereafter be
roused from their sleep, and when their slumber is ended may watch once
more with the saints and sing with the angels:--"Glory to God in the
highest and on earth peace among men of good will." [2276] In heaven
where there is no sin, there is glory and perpetual praise and
unwearied singing; but on earth where sedition reigns, and war and
discord hold sway, peace must be gained by prayer, and it is to be
found not among all but only among men of good will, who pay heed to
the apostolic salutation: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ." [2277] For "His abode is in peace and His
dwelling place is in Zion," [2278] that is, on a watch-tower, [2279] on
a height of doctrines and of virtues, in the soul of the believer; for
the angel of this latter daily beholds the face of God, [2280] and
contemplates with unveiled face the glory of God.
2. Wherefore, though you are already running in the way, I urge a
willing horse, as the saying goes, and implore you, while you regret in
your Lucinius a true brother, to rejoice as well that he now reigns
with Christ. For, as it is written in the book of Wisdom, he was "taken
away lest that wickedness should alter his understanding...for his soul
pleased the Lord...and he...in a short time fulfilled a long time."
[2281] We may with more right weep for ourselves that we stand daily in
conflict with our sins, that we are stained with vices, that we receive
wounds, and that we must give account for every idle word. [2282]
Victorious now and free from care he looks down upon you from on high
and supports you in your struggle, nay more, he prepares for you a
place near to himself; for his love and affection towards you are still
the same as when, disregarding his claim on you as a husband, he
resolved to treat you even on earth as a sister, or indeed I may say as
a brother, for difference of sex while essential to marriage is not so
to a continent tie. And since even in the flesh, if we are born again
in Christ, we are no longer Greek and Barbarian, bond and free, male
and female, but are all one in Him, [2283] how much more true will this
be when this corruptible has put on incorruption and when this mortal
has put on immortality. [2284] "In the resurrection," the Lord tells
us, "they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as the
angels...in heaven." [2285] Now when it is said that they neither marry
nor are given in marriage but are as the angels in heaven, there is no
taking away of a natural and real body but only an indication of the
greatness of the glory to come. For the words are not "they shall be
angels" but "they shall be as the angels": thus while likeness to the
angels is promised identity with them is refused. "They shall be,"
Christ tells us, "as the angels," that is like the angels; therefore
they will not cease to be human. Glorious indeed they shall be, and
graced with angelic splendour, but they will still be human; the
apostle Paul will still be Paul, Mary will still be Mary. Then shall
confusion overtake that heresy [2286] which holds out great but vague
promises only that it may take away hopes which are at once modest and
certain.
3. And now that I have once mentioned the word "heresy," where can I
find a trumpet loud enough to proclaim the eloquence of our dear
Lucinius, who, when the filthy heresy of Basilides [2287] raged in
Spain and like a pestilence ravaged the provinces between the Pyrenees
and the ocean, upheld in all its purity the faith of the church and
altogether refused to embrace Armagil, Barbelon, Abraxas, Balsamum, and
the absurd Leusibora. Such are the portentous names which, to excite
the minds of unlearned men and weak women, they pretend to draw from
Hebrew sources, terrifying the simple by barbarous combinations which
they admire the more the less they understand them. [2288] The growth
of this heresy is described for us by Irenæus, bishop of the church of
Lyons, a man of the apostolic times, who was a disciple of Papias the
hearer of the evangelist John. He informs us that a certain Mark,
[2289] of the stock of the gnostic Basilides, came in the first
instance to Gaul, that he contaminated with his teaching those parts of
the country which are watered by the Rhone and the Garonne, and that in
particular he misled by his errors high-born women; to whom he promised
certain secret mysteries and whose affection he enlisted by magic arts
and hidden indulgence in unlawful intercourse. Irenæus goes on to say
that subsequently Mark crossed the Pyrenees and occupied Spain, making
it his object to seek out the houses of the wealthy, and in these
especially the women, concerning whom we are told that they are "led
away with divers lusts, ever learning and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth." [2290] All this he wrote about three hundred
years ago [2291] in the extremely learned and eloquent books which he
composed under the title Against all heresies.
4. From these facts you in your wisdom will realize how worthy of
praise our dear Lucinius shewed himself when he shut his ears that he
might not have to hear the judgement passed upon blood shedders, [2292]
and dispersed all his substance and gave to the poor that his
righteousness might endure for ever. [2293] And not satisfied with
bestowing his bounty upon his own country, he sent to the churches of
Jerusalem and Alexandria gold enough to alleviate the want of large
numbers. But while many will admire and extol in him this liberality, I
for my part will rather praise him for his zeal and diligence in the
study of the scriptures. With what eagerness he asked for my poor
works! He actually sent six copyists (for in this province there is a
dearth of scribes who understand Latin) to copy for him all that I have
ever dictated from my youth until the present time. The honour was not
of course paid to me who am but a little child, the least of all
Christians, living in the rocks near Bethlehem because I know myself a
sinner; but to Christ who is honoured in his servants [2294] and who
makes this promise to them, "He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he
that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me." [2295]
5. Therefore, my beloved daughter, regard this letter as the epitaph
which love prompts me to write upon your husband, and if there is any
spiritual work of which you think me to be capable, boldly command me
to undertake it: that so ages to come may know that He who says of
Himself in Isaiah, "He hath made me a polished shaft; in his quiver
hath he hid me," [2296] has with His sharp arrow so wounded two men
severed by an immense interval of sea and land, that, although they
know each other not in the flesh, they are knit together in love in the
spirit.
May you be kept holy both in body and spirit by the Samaritan--that is,
saviour and keeper--of whom it is said in the psalm, "He that keepeth
Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." [2297] May the watcher and the
holy one who came down to Daniel [2298] come also to you, that you too
may be able to say, "I sleep but my heart waketh." [2299]
__________________________________________________________________
[2269] Exod. iii. 3.
[2270] Hos. xiii. 15, Vulg. Quia ipse inter fratres dividet. A.V.
follows the Hebrew.
[2271] Hos. xiii. 14, 15.
[2272] Isa. xi. 1, Vulg.
[2273] Cant. ii. 1.
[2274] Ps. lxiii. 1, 2, Vulg.
[2275] 1 Thess. iv. 13.
[2276] Luke ii. 14, Vulg.
[2277] Rom. i. 7.
[2278] Ps. lxxvi. 2. "Salem" (A.V.), the Hebrew word for peace.
[2279] See Jerome's Book of Hebrew Names. Cf. also Letter CVIII. § 9.
[2280] Matt. xviii. 10.
[2281] Wisd. iv. 11-14.
[2282] Matt. xii. 36.
[2283] Gal. iii. 28.
[2284] 1 Cor. xv. 53.
[2285] Matt. xxii. 30.
[2286] Origenism.
[2287] Probably as revived by Priscillian, who was put to death 385.
See Jerome On Illustrious Men, c. 121.
[2288] These terms, the meanings of which are very uncertain, are
either the names of æons or magical formulæ used by the Marcosians in
the celebration of their mysteries.
[2289] A gnostic of the school of Valentinus, who taught in the middle
of the second century. Jerome is in error when he describes him as a
disciple of Basilides.
[2290] 2 Tim. iii. 6, 7.
[2291] An error for two hundred years ago.'
[2292] Is. xxxiii. 15. Jerome's allusion may be to the execution of
Priscillian in 385. Lucinius may have shared the views of Ambrose and
Martin against the shedding of blood.
[2293] Ps. cxii. 9.
[2294] Luke ix. 48.
[2295] Matt. x. 40.
[2296] Isa. xlix. 2.
[2297] Ps. cxxi. 4.
[2298] Dan. iv. 13. Lit. May Hir, that is the watcher, Hir being the
Hebrew word.
[2299] Cant. v. 2.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXVI. To Abigaus.
Abigaus the recipient of this letter was a blind presbyter of Bætica in
Spain. He had asked the help of Jerome's prayers in his struggles with
evil and Jerome now writes to cheer and to console him. He concludes
his remarks by commending to his especial care the widow Theodora. The
letter should be compared with that addressed to Castrutius (LXVIII.).
It was written at the same time with the preceding.
1. Although I am conscious of many sins and every day pray on bended
knees, "Remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions, [2300]
yet because I know that it has been said by the Apostle "let a man not
be lifted up with pride lest he fall into the condemnation of the
devil," [2301] and that it is written in another passage, "God
resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble," [2302] there is
nothing I have striven so much to avoid from my boyhood up as a
swelling mind and a stiff neck, [2303] things which always provoke
against themselves the wrath of God. For I know that my master and Lord
and God has said in the lowliness of His flesh: "Learn of me; for I am
meek and lowly in heart," [2304] and that before this He has sung by
the mouth of David: "Lord, remember David and all his gentleness."
[2305] Again we read in another passage, "Before destruction the heart
of man is haughty; and before honour is humility." [2306] Do not, then,
I implore you, suppose that I have received your letter and have passed
it over in silence. Do not, I beseech you, lay to my charge the
dishonesty and negligence of which others have been guilty. For why
should I, when called on to respond to your kind advances, continue
dumb and repel by my silence the friendship which you offer? I who am
always forward to seek intimate relations with the good and even to
thrust myself upon their affection. "Two," we read, "are better than
one....for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow....a three
fold cord is not quickly broken, and a brother that helps his brother
shall be exalted." [2307] Write to me, therefore, boldly, and overcome
the effect of absence by frequent colloquies.
2. You should not grieve that you are destitute of those bodily eyes
which ants, flies, and creeping things have as well as men; rather you
should rejoice that you possess that eye of which it is said in the
Song of Songs, "Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou
hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes." [2308] This is the eye
with which God is seen and to which Moses refers when he says:--"I will
now turn aside and see this great sight." [2309] We even read of some
philosophers of this world [2310] that they have plucked out their eyes
in order to turn all their thoughts upon the pure depths of the mind.
And a prophet has said "Death has entered through your windows." [2311]
Our Lord too tells the Apostles: "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to
lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."
[2312] Consequently they are commanded to lift up their eyes and to
look on the fields, for these are white and ready for harvest. [2313]
3. You request me by my exhortations to slay in you Nebuchadnezzar and
Rabshakeh and Nebuzar-adan and Holofernes. [2314] Were they alive in
you, you would never have sought my aid. No, they are dead within you,
and you have begun to build up the ruins of Jerusalem with the help of
Zerubbabel and of Joshua the son of Josedech the high priest, of Ezra
and of Nehemiah. You do not put your wages into a bag with holes,
[2315] but you lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, [2316] and if
you seek my friendship, it is because you believe me to be a servant of
Christ.
I commend to you--although she needs no commendation but her own--my
holy daughter Theodora, formerly the wife or rather the sister of
Lucinius of blessed memory. Tell her that she must not grow weary of
the path upon which she has entered, and that she can only reach the
Holy Land by toiling through the wilderness. Warn her against supposing
that the work of virtue is perfected when she has made her exodus from
Egypt. Remind her that she must pass through snares innumerable to
arrive at mount Nebo and the River Jordan, [2317] that she must receive
circumcision anew at Gilgal, [2318] that Jericho must fall before her,
overthrown by the blasts of priestly trumpets, [2319] that Adoni-zedec
must be slain, [2320] that Ai and Hazor, once fairest of cities, must
both fall. [2321]
The brothers who are with me in the monastery salute you, and I through
you earnestly salute those reverend persons who deign to bestow upon me
their regard.
__________________________________________________________________
[2300] Ps. xxv. 7.
[2301] 1 Tim. iii. 6. A.V. adapted.
[2302] James iv. 6.
[2303] Cf. Ps. lxxv. 5.
[2304] Matt. xi. 29.
[2305] Ps. cxxxii. 1, Vulg. A.V. has afflictions.'
[2306] Prov. xviii. 12.
[2307] Eccl. iv. 9-12. The last clause is Jerome's own.
[2308] Cant. iv. 9.
[2309] Ex. iii. 3.
[2310] Cicero ascribes this piece of fanaticism to Democritus and
Metrodorus.
[2311] Jer. ix. 21. LXX.
[2312] Matt. v. 28.
[2313] Joh. iv. 35.
[2314] The legendary oppressor of the Jews, whose fate is described in
the Book of Judith.
[2315] Hagg. i. 6.
[2316] Matt. vi. 20.
[2317] Nu. xxxiii. 47, 48.
[2318] Josh. v. 2, 9.
[2319] Josh. vi. 20.
[2320] Josh. x. 1, 26.
[2321] Josh. viii; xi. 10.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXVII. To Oceanus.
The eulogy of Fabiola whose restless life had come to an end in 399
a.d. Jerome tells the story of her sin and of her penitence (for which
see Letter LV.), of the hospital established by her at Portus, of her
visit to Bethlehem, and of her earnestness in the study of scripture.
He relates how he wrote for her his account of the vestments of the
high priest (Letter LXIV.) and how at the time of her death he was at
her request engaged upon a commentary on the forty-two halting-places
of the Israelites in the wilderness (Letter LXXIX.). This last he now
sends along with this letter to Oceanus. Jerome also bestows praise
upon Pammachius as the companion of all Fabiola's labours. The date of
the letter is 399 a.d.
1. Several years since I consoled the venerated Paula, whilst her
affliction was still recent for the falling asleep of Blæsilla. [2322]
Four summers ago I wrote for the bishop Heliodorus the epitaph of
Nepotian, and expended what ability I possessed in giving expression to
my grief at his loss. [2323] Only two years have elapsed since I sent a
brief letter to my dear Pammachius on the sudden flitting of his
Paulina. [2324] I blushed to say more to one so learned or to give him
back his own thoughts: lest I should seem less the consoler of a friend
than the officious instructor of one already perfect. But now, Oceanus
my son, the duty that you lay upon me is one that I gladly accept and
would even seek unasked. For when new virtues have to be dealt with, an
old subject itself becomes new. In previous cases I have had to soften
and restrain a mother's affection, an uncle's grief, and a husband's
yearning; according to the different requirements of each I have had to
apply from scripture different remedies.
2. To-day you give me as my theme Fabiola, the praise of the
Christians, the marvel of the gentiles, the sorrow of the poor, and the
consolation of the monks. Whatever point in her character I choose to
treat of first, pales into insignificance compared with those which
follow after. Shall I praise her fasts? Her alms are greater still.
Shall I commend her lowliness? The glow of her faith is yet brighter.
Shall I mention her studied plainness in dress, her voluntary choice of
plebeian costume and the garb of a slave that she might put to shame
silken robes? To change one's disposition is a greater achievement than
to change one's dress. It is harder for us to part with arrogance than
with gold and gems. For, even though we throw away these, we plume
ourselves sometimes on a meanness that is really ostentatious, and we
make a bid with a saleable poverty for the popular applause. But a
virtue that seeks concealment and is cherished in the inner
consciousness appeals to no judgement but that of God. Thus the
eulogies which I have to bestow upon Fabiola will be altogether new: I
must neglect the order of the rhetoricians and begin all I have to say
only from the cradle of her conversion and of her penitence. Another
writer, mindful of the school, would perhaps bring forward Quintus
Maximus, "the man who by delaying rescued Rome," [2325] and the whole
Fabian family; he would describe their struggles and battles and would
exult that Fabiola had come to us through a line so noble, shewing that
qualities not apparent in the branch still existed in the root. But as
I am a lover of the inn at Bethlehem and of the Lord's stable in which
the virgin travailed with and gave birth to an infant God, I shall
deduce the lineage of Christ's handmaid not from a stock famous in
history but from the lowliness of the church.
3. And because at the very outset there is a rock in the path and she
is overwhelmed by a storm of censure, for having forsaken her first
husband and having taken a second, I will not praise her for her
conversion till I have first cleared her of this charge. So terrible
then were the faults imputed to her former husband that not even a
prostitute or a common slave could have put up with them. If I were to
recount them, I should undo the heroism of the wife who chose to bear
the blame of a separation rather than to blacken the character and
expose the stains of him who was one body with her. I will only urge
this one plea which is sufficient to exonerate a chaste matron and a
Christian woman. The Lord has given commandment that a wife must not be
put away "except it be for fornication, and that, if put away, she must
remain unmarried." [2326] Now a commandment which is given to men
logically applies to women also. For it cannot be that, while an
adulterous wife is to be put away, an incontinent husband is to be
retained. The apostle says: "he which is joined to an harlot is one
body." [2327] Therefore she also who is joined to a whoremonger and
unchaste person is made one body with him. The laws of Cæsar are
different, it is true, from the laws of Christ: Papinianus [2328]
commands one thing; our own Paul another. Earthly laws give a free rein
to the unchastity of men, merely condemning seduction and adultery;
lust is allowed to range unrestrained among brothels and slave girls,
as if the guilt were constituted by the rank of the person assailed and
not by the purpose of the assailant. But with us Christians what is
unlawful for women is equally unlawful for men, and as both serve the
same God both are bound by the same obligations. Fabiola then has put
away--they are quite right--a husband that was a sinner, guilty of this
and that crime, sins--I have almost mentioned their names--with which
the whole neighbourhood resounded but which the wife alone refused to
disclose. If however it is made a charge against her that after
repudiating her husband she did not continue unmarried, I readily admit
this to have been a fault, but at the same time declare that it may
have been a case of necessity. "It is better," the apostle tells us,
"to marry than to burn." [2329] She was quite a young woman, she was
not able to continue in widowhood. In the words of the apostle she saw
another law in her members warring against the law of her mind; [2330]
she felt herself dragged in chains as a captive towards the indulgences
of wedlock. Therefore she thought it better openly to confess her
weakness and to accept the semblance of an unhappy marriage than, with
the name of a monogamist, to ply the trade of a courtesan. The same
apostle wills that the younger widows should marry, bear children, and
give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. [2331] And he
at once goes on to explain his wish: "for some are already turned aside
after Satan." [2332] Fabiola therefore was fully persuaded in her own
mind: she thought she had acted legitimately in putting away her
husband, and that when she had done so she was free to marry again. She
did not know that the rigour of the gospel takes away from women all
pretexts for re-marriage so long as their former husbands are alive;
and not knowing this, though she contrived to evade other assaults of
the devil, she at this point unwittingly exposed herself to a wound
from him.
4. But why do I linger over old and forgotten matters, seeking to
excuse a fault for which Fabiola has herself confessed her penitence?
Who would believe that, after the death of her second husband at a time
when most widows, having shaken off the yoke of servitude, grow
careless and allow themselves more liberty than ever, frequenting the
baths, flitting through the streets, shewing their harlot faces
everywhere; that at this time Fabiola came to herself? Yet it was then
that she put on sackcloth to make public confession of her error. It
was then that in the presence of all Rome (in the basilica which
formerly belonged to that Lateranus who perished by the sword of Cæsar
[2333] ) she stood in the ranks of the penitents and exposed before
bishop, presbyters, and people--all of whom wept when they saw her
weep--her dishevelled hair, pale features, soiled hands and unwashed
neck. What sins would such a penance fail to purge away? What ingrained
stains would such tears be unable to wash out? By a threefold
confession Peter blotted out his threefold denial. [2334] If Aaron
committed sacrilege by fashioning molten gold into the head of a calf,
his brother's prayers made amends for his transgressions. [2335] If
holy David, meekest of men, committed the double sin of murder and
adultery, he atoned for it by a fast of seven days. He lay upon the
earth, he rolled in the ashes, he forgot his royal power, he sought for
light in the darkness. [2336] And then, turning his eyes to that God
whom he had so deeply offended, he cried with a lamentable voice:
"Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy
sight," and "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me
with thy free spirit." [2337] He who by his virtues teaches me how to
stand and not to fall, by his penitence teaches me how, if I fall, I
may rise again. Among the kings do we read of any so wicked as Ahab, of
whom the scripture says: "there was none like unto Ahab which did sell
himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord"? [2338] For
shedding Naboth's blood Elijah rebuked him, and the prophet denounced
God's wrath against him: "Hast thou killed and also taken
possession?...behold I will bring evil upon thee and will take away thy
posterity" [2339] and so on. Yet when Ahab heard these words "he rent
his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted...in
sackcloth, and went softly." [2340] Then came the word of God to Elijah
the Tishbite saying: "Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me?
Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his
days." [2341] O happy penitence which has drawn down upon itself the
eyes of God, and which has by confessing its error changed the sentence
of God's anger! The same conduct is in the Chronicles [2342] attributed
to Manasseh, and in the book of the prophet Jonah [2343] to Nineveh,
and in the gospel to the publican. [2344] The first of these not only
was allowed to obtain forgiveness but also recovered his kingdom, the
second broke the force of God's impending wrath, while the third,
smiting his breast with his hands, "would not lift up so much as his
eyes to heaven." Yet for all that the publican with his humble
confession of his faults went back justified far more than the Pharisee
with his arrogant boasting of his virtues. This is not however the
place to preach penitence, neither am I writing against Montanus and
Novatus. [2345] Else would I say of it that it is "a sacrifice...well
pleasing to God," [2346] I would cite the words of the psalmist: "the
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit," [2347] and those of Ezekiel "I
prefer the repentance of a sinner rather than his death," [2348] and
those of Baruch, "Arise, arise, O Jerusalem," [2349] and many other
proclamations made by the trumpets of the prophets.
5. But this one thing I will say, for it is at once useful to my
readers and pertinent to my present theme. As Fabiola was not ashamed
of the Lord on earth, so He shall not be ashamed of her in heaven.
[2350] She laid bare her wound to the gaze of all, and Rome beheld with
tears the disfiguring scar which marred her beauty. She uncovered her
limbs, bared her head, and closed her mouth. She no longer entered the
church of God but, like Miriam the sister of Moses, [2351] she sat
apart without the camp, till the priest who had cast her out should
himself call her back. She came down like the daughter of Babylon from
the throne of her daintiness, she took the millstones and ground meal,
she passed barefooted through rivers of tears. [2352] She sat upon the
coals of fire, and these became her aid. [2353] That face by which she
had once pleased her second husband she now smote with blows; she hated
jewels, shunned ornaments and could not bear to look upon fine linen.
[2354] In fact she bewailed the sin she had committed as bitterly as if
it had been adultery, and went to the expense of many remedies in her
eagerness to cure her one wound.
6. Having found myself aground in the shallows of Fabiola's sin, I have
dwelt thus long upon her penitence in order that I might open up a
larger and quite unimpeded space for the description of her praises.
Restored to communion before the eyes of the whole church, what did she
do? In the day of prosperity she was not forgetful of affliction;
[2355] and, having once suffered shipwreck she was unwilling again to
face the risks of the sea. Instead therefore of re-embarking on her old
life, she broke up [2356] and sold all that she could lay hands on of
her property (it was large and suitable to her rank), and turning it
into money she laid out this for the benefit of the poor. She was the
first person to found a hospital, into which she might gather sufferers
out of the streets, and where she might nurse the unfortunate victims
of sickness and want. Need I now recount the various ailments of human
beings? Need I speak of noses slit, eyes put out, feet half burnt,
hands covered with sores? Or of limbs dropsical and atrophied? Or of
diseased flesh alive with worms? Often did she carry on her own
shoulders persons infected with jaundice or with filth. Often too did
she wash away the matter discharged from wounds which others, even
though men, could not bear to look at. She gave food to her patients
with her own hand, and moistened the scarce breathing lips of the dying
with sips of liquid. I know of many wealthy and devout persons who,
unable to overcome their natural repugnance to such sights, perform
this work of mercy by the agency of others, giving money instead of
personal aid. I do not blame them and am far from construing their
weakness of resolution into a want of faith. While however I pardon
such squeamishness, I extol to the skies the enthusiastic zeal of a
mind that is above it. A great faith makes little of such trifles. But
I know how terrible was the retribution which fell upon the proud mind
of the rich man clothed in purple for not having helped Lazarus. [2357]
The poor wretch whom we despise, whom we cannot so much as look at, and
the very sight of whom turns our stomachs, is human like ourselves, is
made of the same clay as we are, is formed out of the same elements.
All that he suffers we too may suffer. Let us then regard his wounds as
though they were our own, and then all our insensibility to another's
suffering will give way before our pity for ourselves.
Not with a hundred tongues or throat of bronze
Could I exhaust the forms of fell disease [2358]
which Fabiola so wonderfully alleviated in the suffering poor that many
of the healthy fell to envying the sick. However she showed the same
liberality towards the clergy and monks and virgins. Was there a
monastery which was not supported by Fabiola's wealth? Was there a
naked or bedridden person who was not clothed with garments supplied by
her? Were there ever any in want to whom she failed to give a quick and
unhesitating supply? Even Rome was not wide enough for her pity. Either
in her own person or else through the agency of reverend and
trustworthy men she went from island to island and carried her bounty
not only round the Etruscan Sea, but throughout the district of the
Volscians, as it stands along those secluded and winding shores where
communities of monks are to be found.
7. Suddenly she made up her mind, against the advice of all her
friends, to take ship and to come to Jerusalem. Here she was welcomed
by a large concourse of people and for a short time took advantage of
my hospitality. Indeed, when I call to mind our meeting, I seem to see
her here now instead of in the past. Blessed Jesus, what zeal, what
earnestness she bestowed upon the sacred volumes! In her eagerness to
satisfy what was a veritable craving she would run through Prophets,
Gospels, and Psalms: she would suggest questions and treasure up the
answers in the desk of her own bosom. And yet this eagerness to hear
did not bring with it any feeling of satiety: increasing her knowledge
she also increased her sorrow, [2359] and by casting oil upon the flame
she did but supply fuel for a still more burning zeal. One day we had
before us the book of Numbers written by Moses, and she modestly
questioned me as to the meaning of the great mass of names there to be
found. Why was it, she inquired, that single tribes were differently
associated in this passage and in that, how came it that the soothsayer
Balaam in prophesying of the future mysteries of Christ [2360] spoke
more plainly of Him than almost any other prophet? I replied as best I
could and tried to satisfy her enquiries. Then unrolling the book still
farther she came to the passage [2361] in which is given the list of
all the halting-places by which the people after leaving Egypt made its
way to the waters of Jordan. And when she asked me the meaning and
reason of each of these, I spoke doubtfully about some, dealt with
others in a tone of assurance, and in several instances simply
confessed my ignorance. Hereupon she began to press me harder still,
expostulating with me as though it were a thing unallowable that I
should be ignorant of what I did not know, yet at the same time
affirming her own unworthiness to understand mysteries so deep. In a
word I was ashamed to refuse her request and allowed her to extort from
me a promise that I would devote a special work to this subject for her
use. Till the present time I have had to defer the fulfilment of my
promise: as I now perceive, by the Will of God in order that it should
be consecrated to her memory. As in a previous work [2362] I clothed
her with the priestly vestments, so in the pages of the present [2363]
she may rejoice that she has passed through the wilderness of this
world and has come at last to the land of promise.
8. But let me continue the task which I have begun. Whilst I was in
search of a suitable dwelling for so great a lady, whose only
conception of the solitary life included a place of resort like Mary's
inn; suddenly messengers flew this way and that and the whole East was
terror-struck. For news came that the hordes of the Huns had poured
forth all the way from Mæotis [2364] (they had their haunts between the
icy Tanais [2365] and the rude Massagetæ [2366] where the gates of
Alexander keep back the wild peoples behind the Caucasus); and that,
speeding hither and thither on their nimble-footed horses, they were
filling all the world with panic and bloodshed. The Roman army was
absent at the time, being detained in Italy on account of the civil
wars. Of these Huns Herodotus [2367] tells us that under Darius King of
the Medes they held the East in bondage for twenty years and that from
the Egyptians and Ethiopians they exacted a yearly tribute. May Jesus
avert from the Roman world the farther assaults of these wild beasts!
Everywhere their approach was unexpected, they outstripped rumour in
speed, and, when they came, they spared neither religion nor rank nor
age, even for wailing infants they had no pity. Children were forced to
die before it could be said that they had begun to live; and little
ones not realizing their miserable fate might be seen smiling in the
hands and at the weapons of their enemies. It was generally agreed that
the goal of the invaders was Jerusalem and that it was their excessive
desire for gold which made them hasten to this particular city. Its
walls uncared for in time of peace were accordingly put in repair.
Antioch was in a state of siege. Tyre, desirous of cutting itself off
from the land, sought once more its ancient island. We too were
compelled to man our ships and to lie off the shore as a precaution
against the arrival of our foes. No matter how hard the winds might
blow, we could not but dread the barbarians more than shipwreck. It was
not, however, so much for our own safety that we were anxious as for
the chastity of the virgins who were with us. Just at that time also
there was dissension among us, [2368] and our intestine struggles threw
into the shade our battle with the barbarians. I myself clung to my
long-settled abode in the East and gave way to my deep-seated love for
the holy places. Fabiola, used as she was to moving from city to city
and having no other property but what her baggage contained, returned
to her native land; to live in poverty where she had once been rich, to
lodge in the house of another, she who in old days had lodged many
guests in her own, and--not unduly to prolong my account--to bestow
upon the poor before the eyes of Rome the proceeds of that property
which Rome knew her to have sold.
9. This only do I lament that in her the holy places lost a necklace of
the loveliest. Rome recovered what it had previously parted with, and
the wanton and slanderous tongues of the heathen were confuted by the
testimony of their own eyes. Others may commend her pity, her humility,
her faith: I will rather praise her ardour of soul. The letter [2369]
in which as a young man I once urged Heliodorus to the life of a hermit
she knew by heart, and whenever she looked upon the walls of Rome she
complained that she was in a prison. Forgetful of her sex, unmindful of
her frailty, and only desiring to be alone she was in fact there [2370]
where her soul lingered. The counsels of her friends could not hold her
back; so eager was she to burst from the city as from a place of
bondage. Nor did she leave the distribution of her alms to others; she
distributed them herself. Her wish was that, after equitably dispensing
her money to the poor, she might herself find support from others for
the sake of Christ. In such haste was she and so impatient of delay
that you would fancy her on the eve of her departure. As she was always
ready, death could not find her unprepared.
10. As I pen her praises, my dear Pammachius seems suddenly to rise
before me. His wife Paulina sleeps that he may keep vigil; she has gone
before her husband that he remaining behind may be Christ's servant.
Although he was his wife's heir, others--I mean the poor--are now in
possession of his inheritance. He and Fabiola contended for the
privilege of setting up a tent like that of Abraham [2371] at Portus.
The contest which arose between them was for the supremacy in shewing
kindness. Each conquered and each was overcome. Both admitted
themselves to be at once victors and vanquished for what each had
desired to effect alone both accomplished together. They united their
resources and combined their plans that harmony might forward what
rivalry must have brought to nought. No sooner was the scheme broached
than it was carried out. A house was purchased to serve as a shelter,
and a crowd flocked into it. "There was no more travail in Jacob nor
distress in Israel." [2372] The seas carried voyagers to find a welcome
here on landing. Travellers left Rome in haste to take advantage of the
mild coast before setting sail. What Publius once did in the island of
Malta for one apostle and--not to leave room for gainsaying--for a
single ship's crew, [2373] Fabiola and Pammachius have done over and
over again for large numbers; and not only have they supplied the wants
of the destitute, but so universal has been their munificence that they
have provided additional means for those who have something already.
The whole world knows that a home for strangers has been established at
Portus; and Britain has learned in the summer what Egypt and Parthia
knew in the spring.
11. In the death of this noble lady we have seen a fulfilment of the
apostle's words:--"All things work together for good to them that fear
God." [2374] Having a presentiment of what would happen, she had
written to several monks to come and release her from the burthen under
which she laboured; [2375] for she wished to make to herself friends of
the mammon of unrighteousness that they might receive her into
everlasting habitations. [2376] They came to her and she made them her
friends; she fell asleep in the way that she had wished, and having at
last laid aside her burthen she soared more lightly up to heaven. How
great a marvel Fabiola had been to Rome while she lived came out in the
behaviour of the people now that she was dead. Hardly had she breathed
her last breath, hardly had she given back her soul to Christ whose it
was when
Flying Rumour heralding the woe [2377]
gathered the entire city to attend her obsequies. Psalms were chaunted
and the gilded ceilings of the temples were shaken with uplifted shouts
of Alleluia.
The choirs of young and old extolled her deeds
And sang the praises of her holy soul. [2378]
Her triumph was more glorious far than those won by Furius over the
Gauls, by Papirius over the Samnites, by Scipio over Numantia, by
Pompey over Pontus. They had conquered physical force, she had mastered
spiritual iniquities. [2379] I seem to hear even now the squadrons
which led the van of the procession, and the sound of the feet of the
multitude which thronged in thousands to attend her funeral. The
streets, porches, and roofs from which a view could be obtained were
inadequate to accommodate the spectators. On that day Rome saw all her
peoples gathered together in one, and each person present flattered
himself that he had some part in the glory of her penitence. No wonder
indeed that men should thus exult in the salvation of one at whose
conversion there was joy among the angels in heaven. [2380]
12. I give you this, Fabiola, [2381] the best gift of my aged powers,
to be as it were a funeral offering. Oftentimes have I praised virgins
and widows and married women who have kept their garments always white
[2382] and who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. [2383] Happy
indeed is she in her encomium who throughout her life has been stained
by no defilement. But let envy depart and censoriousness be silent. If
the father of the house is good why should our eye be evil? [2384] The
soul which fell among thieves has been carried home upon the shoulders
of Christ. [2385] In our father's house are many mansions. [2386] Where
sin hath abounded, grace hath much more abounded. [2387] To whom more
is forgiven the same loveth more. [2388]
__________________________________________________________________
[2322] Letter XXXIX.
[2323] Letter LX.
[2324] Letter LXVI.
[2325] Ennius.
[2326] Matt. xix. 9; 1 Cor. vii. 11.
[2327] 1 Cor. vi. 16.
[2328] A Roman jurist of great renown who held high legal office first
under Marcus Aurelius and afterwards under Severus. He was put to death
by Caracalla.
[2329] 1 Cor. vii. 9.
[2330] Rom. vii. 23.
[2331] 1 Tim. v. 14.
[2332] 1 Tim. v. 15.
[2333] A senator who having conspired against Nero was by that emperor
put to death. His palace on the Ælian Hill was long afterwards bestowed
by Constantine upon pope Silvester who made it a church which it has
ever since remained.
[2334] Joh. xviii. 15-27; xxi. 15-17.
[2335] Ex. xxxii. 30-35.
[2336] 2 Sam. xii. 16.
[2337] Ps. li. 4, 12.
[2338] 1 Kings xxi. 25.
[2339] 1 Kings xxi. 19, 21.
[2340] 1 Kings xxi. 27.
[2341] 1 Kings xxi. 28, 29.
[2342] 2 Chr. xxxiii. 12, 13.
[2343] Jon. iii. 5-10.
[2344] Luke xviii. 13.
[2345] Rigourists who denied the power of the Church to absolve persons
who had fallen into sin.
[2346] Ph. iv. 18.
[2347] Ps. li. 17.
[2348] Cf. Ezek. xviii. 23.
[2349] Bar. v. 5, cf. Isa. lx. 1.
[2350] Luke ix. 26.
[2351] Nu. xii. 14.
[2352] Isa. xlvii. 1, 2.
[2353] Isa. xlvii. 14, Vulg.
[2354] Linteamina.
[2355] Ecclus. xi. 25.
[2356] Dilapidare, vendre pierre à pierre--Goelzer.
[2357] Luke xvi. 19-24.
[2358] Virg. Æn. vi. 625-627.
[2359] Eccl. i. 18.
[2360] Nu. xxiv. 15-19.
[2361] Nu. xxxiii.
[2362] Letter LXIV.
[2363] Letter LXXVIII. on the Mansions or Halting-places of Israel in
the Desert.
[2364] The Sea of Azov.
[2365] The Don.
[2366] An Asiatic tribe to the East of the Caspian Sea.
[2367] Hdt. i. 106, (of the Scythians).
[2368] The Origenistic controversy in which Jerome, Paula and
Epiphanius took one side, John bishop of Jerusalem, Rufinus, and
Melania the other.
[2369] Letter XIV.
[2370] i.e. in the desert where many women lived as solitaries.
[2371] Like that in which Abraham entertained the angels. See Letter
LXVI. 11.
[2372] Num. xxiii. 21, LXX.
[2373] Acts xxviii. 7.
[2374] Rom. viii. 28: note that Jerome substitutes fear' for love.'
[2375] The remnant of her fortune.
[2376] Luke xvi. 9.
[2377] Virg. A. xi. 139.
[2378] Virg. A. viii. 287, 288.
[2379] Eph. vi. 12.
[2380] Luke xv. 7, 10.
[2381] i.e. Letter LXXVIII. q. v.
[2382] Eccl. ix. 8; Rev. iii. 4.
[2383] Rev. xiv. 4.
[2384] Matt. xx. 15.
[2385] Luke x. 30; xv. 5.
[2386] Joh. xiv. 2.
[2387] Rom. v. 20.
[2388] Luke vii. 47.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXVIII. To Fabiola.
A treatise on the Forty-two Mansions or Halting-places of the
Israelites, originally intended for Fabiola but not completed until
after her death. Sent to Oceanus along with the preceding letter. These
Mansions are made an emblem of the Christian's pilgrimage, the true
Hebrew hastening to pass from earth to heaven.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXIX. To Salvina.
A letter of consolation addressed by Jerome to Salvina (a lady of the
imperial court) on the death of her husband Nebridius. After excusing
his temerity in addressing a complete stranger Jerome eulogizes the
virtues of Nebridius, particularly his chastity and his bounty to the
poor. He next warns Salvina (in no courtier-like terms) of the dangers
that will beset her as a widow and recommends her to devote all her
energies to the careful training of the son and daughter who are now
her principal charge. The tone of the letter is somewhat arrogant and
it can hardly be regarded as one of Jerome's happiest efforts. Salvina,
however, consecrated her life to deeds of piety, and became one of
Chrysostom's deaconesses. Its date is 400 a.d.
1. My desire to do my duty may, I fear, expose me to a charge of
self-seeking; and although I do but follow the example of Him who said:
"learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart," [2389] the course that
I am taking may be attributed to a desire for notoriety. Men may say
that I am not so much trying to console a widow in affliction as
endeavouring to creep into the imperial court; and that, while I make a
pretext of offering comfort, I am really seeking the friendship of the
great. Clearly this will not be the opinion of any one who knows the
commandment: "thou shalt not respect the person of the poor," [2390] a
precept given lest under pretext of shewing pity we should judge unjust
judgment. For each individual is to be judged not by his personal
importance but by the merits of his case. His wealth need not stand in
the way of the rich man, if he makes a good use of it; and poverty can
be no recommendation to the poor if in the midst of squalor and want he
fails to keep clear of wrong doing. Proofs of these things are not
wanting either in scriptural times or our own; for Abraham, in spite of
his immense wealth, was "the friend of God" [2391] and poor men are
daily arrested and punished for their crimes by law. She whom I now
address is both rich and poor so that she cannot say what she actually
has. For it is not of her purse that I am speaking but of the purity of
her soul. I do not know her face but I am well acquainted with her
virtues; for report speaks well of her and her youth makes her chastity
all the more commendable. By her grief for her young husband she has
set an example to all wives; and by her resignation she has proved that
she believes him not lost but gone before. The greatness of her
bereavement has brought out the reality of her religion. For while she
forgets her lost Nebridius, she knows that in Christ he is with her
still.
But why do I write to one who is a stranger to me? For three reasons.
First, because (as a priest is bound to do) I love all Christians as my
children and find my glory in promoting their welfare. Secondly because
the father of Nebridius was bound to me by the closest ties. [2392]
Lastly--and this is a stronger reason than the others--because I have
failed to say no to my son Avitus. [2393] With an importunacy
surpassing that of the widow towards the unjust judge [2394] he wrote
to me so frequently and put before me so many instances in which I had
previously dealt with a similar theme, that he overcame my modest
reluctance and made the resolve to do not what would best become me but
what would most nearly meet his wishes.
2. As the mother of Nebridius was sister to the empress [2395] and as
he was brought up in the bosom of his aunt, another might perhaps
praise him for having so much endeared himself to the unvanquished
emperor. Theodosius, indeed, procured him from Africa a wife of the
highest rank, [2396] who, as her native land at this time was
distracted by civil wars, became a kind of hostage for its loyalty. I
ought to say at the very outset that Nebridius seems to have had a
presentiment that he would die early. For amid the splendour of the
palace and in the high positions to which his rank and not his years
entitled him he lived always as one who believed that he must soon go
to meet Christ. Of Cornelius, the centurion of the Italian band, the
sacred narrative tells us that God so fully accepted him as to send to
him an angel; and that this angel told him that to his merit was due
the mystery whereby Peter from the narrow limits of the circumcision
was conveyed to the wide field of the uncircumcision. He was the first
Gentile baptized by the apostle, and in him the Gentiles were set apart
to salvation. Now of this man it is written: "there was a certain man
in Cæsarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian
band, a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, which
gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway." [2397] All this
that is said of him I claim--with a change of name only--for my dear
Nebridius. So "devout" was this latter and so enamoured of chastity
that at his marriage he was still pure. So truly did he "fear God with
all his house" that forgetting his high position he spent all his time
with monks and clergymen. So profuse were the alms which he gave to the
people that his doors were continually beset with swarms of sick and
poor. And assuredly he "prayed to God alway" that what was for the best
might happen to him. Therefore "speedily was he taken away lest that
wickedness should alter his understanding...for his soul pleased the
Lord." [2398] Thus I may truthfully apply to him the apostle's words:
"Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in
every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness, is accepted
with Him." [2399] As a soldier Nebridius took no harm from his cloak
and sword-belt and troops of orderlies; for while he wore the uniform
of the emperor he was enlisted in the service of God. On the other hand
nothing is gained by men who while they affect coarse mantles, sombre
tunics, dirt, and poverty, belie by their deeds their lofty
pretensions. Of another centurion we find in the gospel this testimony
from our Lord:--"I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel."
[2400] And, to go back to earlier times, we read of Joseph who gave
proof of his integrity both when he was in want and when he was rich,
and who inculcated freedom of soul both as slave and as lord. He was
made next to Pharaoh and invested with the emblems of royalty; [2401]
yet so dear was he to God that, alone of all the patriarchs, he became
the father of two tribes. [2402] Daniel and the three children were set
over the affairs of Babylon and were numbered among the princes of the
state; yet although they wore the dress of Nebuchadnezzar, in their
hearts they served God. Mordecai also and Esther amid purple and silk
and jewels overcame pride with humility; and although captives were so
highly esteemed as to be able to impose commands upon their conquerors.
3. These remarks are intended to shew that the youth of whom I speak
used his kinship to the royal family, his abundant wealth, and the
outward tokens of power, as helps to virtue. For, as the preacher says,
"wisdom is a defence and money is a defence" [2403] also. We must not
hastily conclude that this statement conflicts with that of the Lord:
"verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the
kingdom of heaven; and again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of heaven." [2404] Were it so, the salvation of Zacchæus the
publican, described in scripture as a man of great wealth, would
contradict the Lord's declaration. But that what is impossible with men
is possible with God [2405] we are taught by the counsel of the apostle
who thus writes to Timothy:--"charge them that are rich in this world
that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the
living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good,
that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute. willing to
communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation
against the time to come that they may lay hold on the true life."
[2406] We have learned how a camel can pass through a needle's eye, how
an animal with a hump on its back, [2407] when it has laid down its
packs, can take to itself the wings of a dove [2408] and rest in the
branches of the tree which has grown from a grain of mustard seed.
[2409] In Isaiah we read of camels, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah
and Sheba, which carry gold and incense to the city of the Lord. [2410]
On like typical camels the Ishmaelitish merchantmen [2411] bring down
to the Egyptians perfume and incense and balm (of the kind that grows
in Gilead good for the healing of wounds [2412] ); and so fortunate are
they that in the purchase and sale of Joseph they have for their
merchandise the Saviour of the world. [2413] And Æsop's fable tells us
of a mouse which after eating its fill can no longer creep out as
before it crept in. [2414]
4. Daily did my dear Nebridius revolve the words: "they that will be
rich fall into temptation and a snare" of the devil "and into many
lusts." [2415] All the money that the Emperor's bounty gave him or that
his badges of office procured him he laid out for the benefit of the
poor. For he knew the commandment of the Lord: "If thou wilt be perfect
go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come and follow
me." [2416] And because he could not literally fulfil these directions,
having a wife and little children and a large household, he made to
himself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that they might
receive him into everlasting habitations. [2417] He did not once for
all cast away his brethren, as did the apostles who forsook father and
nets and ship, [2418] but by an equality he ministered to the want of
others out of his own abundance that afterwards their wealth might be a
supply for his own want. [2419] The lady to whom this letter is
addressed knows that what I narrate is only known to me by hearsay, but
she is aware also that I am no Greek writer repaying with flattery some
benefit conferred upon me. Far be such an imputation from all
Christians. Having food and raiment we are therewith content. [2420]
Where there is cheap cabbage and household bread, a sufficiency to eat
and a sufficiency to drink, these riches are superfluous and no place
is left for flattery with its sordid calculations. You may conclude
therefore that, where there is no motive to tell a falsehood, the
testimony given is true.
5. It must not, however, be supposed that I praise Nebridius only for
his liberality in alms-giving, although we are taught the great
importance of this in the words: "water will quench a flaming fire; and
alms maketh an atonement for sins." [2421] I will pass on now to his
other virtues each one of which is to be found but in few men. Who ever
entered the furnace of the King of Babylon without being burned? [2422]
Was there ever a young man whose garment his Egyptian mistress did not
seize? [2423] Was there ever a eunuch's [2424] wife contented with a
childless marriage bed? Is there any man who is not appalled by the
struggle of which the apostle says: "I see another law in my members
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members?" [2425] But wonderful to say
Nebridius, though bred up in a palace as a companion and fellow pupil
of the Augusti [2426] (whose table is supplied by the whole world and
ministered to by land and sea); Nebridius, I say, though in the midst
of abundance and in the flower of his age, shewed himself more modest
than a girl and never gave occasion, even the slightest, for scandalous
rumours. Again though he was the friend, companion, and cousin of
princes and had been educated along with them--a thing which makes even
strangers intimate--he did not allow pride to inflate him or frown with
contempt upon others who were less fortunate than he: no, he was kind
to all, and while he loved the princes as brothers he revered them as
sovereigns. He used to avow that his own health and safety were
dependent upon theirs. Their attendants and all those officers of the
palace who by their numbers add to the grandeur of the imperial court
he had so well conciliated by shewing his regard for them, that men who
were in reality inferior to him were led by his attention to believe
themselves his peers. It is no easy task to throw one's rank into the
shade by one's virtue, or to gain the affection of men who are forced
to yield you precedence. What widow was not supported by his help? What
ward did not find in him a father? To him the bishops of the entire
East used to bring the prayers of the unfortunate and the petitions of
the distressed. Whenever he asked the Emperor for a boon, he sought
either alms for the poor or ransom for captives or clemency for the
afflicted. Accordingly the princes also used gladly to accede to his
requests, for they knew well that their bounty would benefit not one
man but many.
6. Why do I farther postpone the end? "All flesh is grass and all the
goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." [2427] The dust has
returned to the dust. [2428] He has fallen asleep in the Lord and has
been laid with his fathers, full of days and of light and fostered in a
good old age. For "wisdom is the grey hair unto men." [2429] "In a
short time he" has "fulfilled a long time." [2430] In his place we now
have his charming children. His wife is the heir of his chastity. To
those who miss his father the tiny Nebridius shews him once more, for
Such were the eyes and hands and looks he bore. [2431]
A spark of the parent's excellence shines in the son: the child's face
betrays like a mirror a resemblance in character.
That narrow frame contains a hero's heart. [2432]
And with him there is his sister, a basket of roses and lilies, a
mixture of ivory and purple. Her face though it takes after that of her
father inclines to be still more attractive; and, while her complexion
is that of her mother, she is so like both her parents that the
lineaments of each are reflected in her features. So sweet and honied
is she that she is the pride of all her kinsfolk. The Emperor [2433]
does not disdain to hold her in his arms, and the Empress [2434] likes
nothing better than to nurse her on her lap. Everyone runs to be the
first to catch her up. Now she clings to the neck of one, and now she
is fondled in the arms of another. She prattles and stammers, and is
all the sweeter for her faltering tongue.
7. You have, therefore, Salvina, those to nurse who may well represent
to you your absent husband: "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord;
and the fruit of the womb is his reward." [2435] In the place of one
husband you have received two children, and thus your affection has
more objects than before. All that was due to him you can give to them.
Temper grief with love, for if he is gone they are still with you. It
is no small merit in God's eyes to bring up children well. Hear the
apostle's counsel: "Let not a widow be taken into the number under
threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, well reported of
for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged
strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved
the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work." [2436]
Here you learn the roll of the virtues which God requires of you, what
is due to the name of widow which you bear, and by what good deeds you
can attain to that second degree of chastity [2437] which is still open
to you. Do not be disturbed because the apostle allows none to be
chosen as a widow under threescore years old, neither suppose that he
intends to reject those who are still young. Believe that you are
indeed chosen by him who said to his disciple, "Let no man despise thy
youth," [2438] your want of age that is, not your want of continence.
If this be not his meaning, all who become widows under threescore
years will have to take husbands. He is training a church still
untaught in Christ, and making provision for people of all stations but
especially for the poor, the charge of whom had been committed to
himself and Barnabas. [2439] Thus he wishes only those to be supported
by the exertions of the church who cannot labour with their own hands,
and who are widows indeed, [2440] approved by their years and by their
lives. The faults of his children made Eli the priest an offence to
God. On the other hand He is appeased by the virtues of such as
"continue in faith and charity and holiness with chastity." [2441] "O
Timothy," cries the apostle, "keep thyself pure." [2442] Far be it from
me to suspect you capable of doing anything wrong; still it is only a
kindness to admonish one whose youth and opulence lead her into
temptation. You must take what I am going to say as addressed not to
you but to your girlish years. A widow "that liveth in pleasure is dead
while she liveth." [2443] So speaks the "chosen vessel" [2444] and the
words are brought out from his treasure who could boldly say: "Do ye
seek a proof of Christ speaking in me?" [2445] Yet they are the words
of one who in his own person admitted the weakness of the human body,
saying: "The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not
that I do." [2446] And again: Therefore "I keep under my body and bring
it into subjection lest that by any means when I have preached to
others I myself should be a castaway." [2447] If Paul is afraid, which
of us can venture to be confident? If David the friend of God and
Solomon who loved God [2448] were overcome like other men, if their
fall is meant to warn us and their penitence to lead us to salvation,
who in this slippery life can be sure of not falling? Never let
pheasants be seen upon your table, or plump turtledoves or black cock
from Ionia, or any of those birds so expensive that they fly away with
the largest properties. And do not fancy that you eschew meat diet when
you reject pork, hare, and venison and the savoury flesh of other
quadrupeds. [2449] It is not the number of feet that makes the
difference but delicacy of flavour. I know that the apostle has said:
"every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be
received with thanksgiving." [2450] But the same apostle says: "it is
good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine," [2451] and in another
place: "be not drunk with wine wherein is excess." [2452] "Every
creature of God is good"--the precept is intended for those who are
careful how they may please their husbands. [2453] Let those feed on
flesh who serve the flesh, whose bodies boil with desire, who are tied
to husbands, and who set their hearts on having offspring. Let those
whose wombs are burthened cram their stomachs with flesh. But you have
buried every indulgence in your husband's tomb: over his bier you have
cleansed with tears a face stained with rouge and whitelead; you have
exchanged a white robe and gilded buskins for a sombre tunic and black
shoes; and only one thing more is needed, perseverance in fasting. Let
paleness and squalor be henceforth your jewels. Do not pamper your
youthful limbs with a bed of down or kindle your young blood with hot
baths. Hear what words a heathen poet [2454] puts into the mouth of a
chaste widow: [2455]
He, my first spouse, has robbed me of my loves.
So be it: let him keep them in the tomb.
If common glass is worth so much, what must be the value of a pearl of
price? [2456] If in deference to a law of nature a Gentile widow can
condemn all sensual indulgence, what must we expect from a Christian
widow who owes her chastity not to one who is dead but to one with whom
she shall reign in heaven?
8. Do not, I pray you, regard these general remarks--applying as they
do to all young women--as intended to insult you or to take you to
task. I write in a spirit of apprehension, yet pray that you may never
know the nature of my fears. A woman's reputation is a tender plant; it
is like a fair flower which withers at the slightest blast and fades
away at the first breath of wind. Especially is this so when she is of
an age to fall into temptation and the authority of a husband is
wanting to her. For the very shadow of a husband is a wife's safeguard.
What has a widow to do with a large household or with troops of
retainers? As servants, it is true, she must not despise them, but as
men she ought to blush before them. If a grand establishment requires
such domestics, let her at least set over them an old man of spotless
morals whose dignity may guard the honour of his mistress. I know of
many widows who, although they live with closed doors, have not escaped
the imputation of too great intimacy with their servants. These latter
become objects of suspicion when they dress above their degree, or when
they are stout and sleek, or when they are of an age inclined to
passion, or when knowledge of the favour in which they are secretly
held betrays itself in a too confident demeanour. For such pride,
however carefully concealed, is sure to break out in a contempt for
fellow-servants as servants. I make these seemingly superfluous remarks
that you may keep your heart with all diligence [2457] and guard
against every scandal that may be broached concerning you.
9. Take no well-curled steward to walk with you, no effeminate actor,
no devilish singer of poisoned sweetness, no spruce and smooth-shorn
youth. Let no theatrical compliments, no obsequious adulation be
associated with you. Keep with you bands of widows and virgins; and let
your consolers be of your own sex. The character of the mistress is
judged by that of the maid. So long as you have with you a holy mother,
so long as an aunt vowed to virginity is at your side, you ought not to
neglect them and at your own risk to seek the company of strangers. Let
the divine scripture be always in your hands, and give yourself so
frequently to prayer that such shafts of evil thoughts as ever assail
the young may thereby find a shield to repel them. It is difficult, nay
more it is impossible, to escape the beginnings of those internal
motions which the Greeks with much significance call propatheiai that
is predispositions to passion.' The fact is that suggestions of sin
tickle all our minds, and the decision rests with our own hearts either
to admit or to reject the thoughts which come. The Lord of nature
Himself says in the gospel:--"out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies."
[2458] It is clear from the testimony of another book that "the
imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth," [2459] and that the
soul wavers between the works of the flesh and of the spirit enumerated
by the apostle, [2460] desiring now the former and now the latter. For
From faults no mortal man is wholly free;
The best is he who has but few of them. [2461]
And, to quote the same poet,
At moles men cavil when they mark fair skins. [2462]
To the same effect in different words the prophet says:--"I am so
troubled that I cannot speak," [2463] and in the same book, "Be ye
angry and sin not." [2464] So Archytas of Tarentum [2465] once said to
a careless steward: "I should have flogged you to death had I not been
in a passion." For "the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of
God." [2466] Now what is here said of one form of perturbation may be
applied to all. Just as anger is human and the repression of it
Christian, so it is with other passions. The flesh always lusts after
the things of the flesh, and by its allurements draws the soul to
partake of deadly pleasures; but it is for us Christians to restrain
the desire for sensual indulgence by an intenser love for Christ. It is
for us to break in the mettlesome brute within us by fasting, in order
that it may desire not lust but food and amble easily and steadily
forward having for its rider the Holy Spirit.
10. Why do I write thus? To shew you that you are but human and
subject, unless you guard against them, to human passions. We are all
of us made of the same clay and formed of the same elements. Whether we
wear silk or rags we are all at the mercy of the same desire. It does
not fear the royal purple; it does not disdain the squalor of the
mendicant. It is better then to suffer in stomach than in soul, to rule
the body than to serve it, to lose one's balance than to lose one's
chastity. Let us not lull ourselves with the delusion that we can
always fall back on penitence. For this is at best but a remedy for
misery. Let us shrink from incurring a wound which must be painful to
cure. For it is one thing to enter the haven of salvation with ship
safe and merchandise uninjured, and another to cling naked to a plank
and, as the waves toss you this way and that, to be dashed again and
again on the sharp rocks. A widow should be ignorant that second
marriage is permitted; she should know nothing of the apostle's
words:--"It is better to marry than to burn." [2467] Remove what is
said to be worse, the risk of burning, and marriage will cease to be
regarded as good. Of course I repudiate the slanders of the heretics; I
know that "marriage is honourable...and the bed undefiled." [2468] Yet
Adam even after he was expelled from paradise had but one wife. The
accursed and blood-stained Lamech, descended from the stock of Cain,
was the first to make out of one rib two wives; and the seedling of
digamy then planted was altogether destroyed by the doom of the deluge.
It is true that in writing to Timothy the apostle from fear of
fornication is forced to countenance second marriage. His words are
these:--"I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children,
guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak
reproachfully." But he immediately adds as a reason for this
concession; "for some are already turned aside after Satan." [2469]
Thus we see that he is offering not a crown to those who stand but a
helping hand to those who are down. What must a second marriage be if
it is looked on merely as an alternative to the brothel! "For some," he
writes, "are already turned aside after Satan." The upshot of the whole
matter is that, if a young widow cannot or will not contain herself,
she had better take a husband to her bed than the devil.
A noble alternative truly which is only to be embraced in preference to
Satan! In old days even Jerusalem went a-whoring and opened her feet to
every one that passed by. [2470] It was in Egypt that she was first
deflowered and there that her teats were bruised. [2471] And afterwards
when she had come to the wilderness and, impatient of the delays of her
leader Moses, had said when maddened by the stings of lust: "these be
thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,"
[2472] she received statutes that were not good and commandments that
were altogether evil whereby she should not live [2473] but should be
punished through them. Is it surprising then that when the apostle had
said in another place of young widows: "when they have begun to wax
wanton against Christ they will marry, having damnation because they
have cast off their first faith," [2474] he granted to such as should
wax wanton statutes of digamy that were not good and commandments that
were altogether evil? For the reason which he gives for allowing a
second husband would justify a woman in marrying a third or even, if
she liked, a twentieth. He evidently wished to shew them that he was
not so much anxious that they should take husbands as that they should
avoid paramours. These things, dearest daughter in Christ, I impress
upon you and frequently repeat, that you may forget those things which
are behind and reach forth unto those things which are before. [2475]
You have widows like yourself worthy to be your models, Judith renowned
in Hebrew story and Anna the daughter of Phanuel famous in the gospel.
Both these lived day and night in the temple and preserved the treasure
of their chastity by prayer and by fasting. One was a type of the
Church which cuts off the head of the devil [2476] and the other first
received in her arms the saviour of the world and had revealed to her
the holy mysteries which were to come. [2477] In conclusion I beg you
to attribute the shortness of my letter not to want of language or
scarcity of matter but to a deep sense of modesty which makes me fear
to force myself too long upon the ears of a stranger, and causes me to
dread the secret verdict of those who read my words.
__________________________________________________________________
[2389] Matt. xi. 29.
[2390] Lev. xix. 15.
[2391] Isa. xli. 8; Jas. ii. 23.
[2392] Also named Nebridius, Prefect of Gaul, then of the East.
[2393] See letter CXXIV.
[2394] Luke xviii. 1-5.
[2395] Ælia Flaccilla, the wife of Theodosius who is here called "the
unvanquished emperor."
[2396] Salvina was the daughter of Gildo who at the time was tributary
king of Mauritania.
[2397] Acts x. 1, 2.
[2398] Wisdom iv. 11, 14.
[2399] Acts x. 34, 35.
[2400] Matt. viii. 10.
[2401] Gen. xli. 42-44.
[2402] Gen. xli. 50-52.
[2403] Eccl. vii. 12.
[2404] Matt. xix. 23, 24.
[2405] Mark x. 27.
[2406] 1 Tim. vi. 17-19: A.V. has "eternal life" in the last verse.
[2407] Animal tortuosum. The epithet recurs in Letter CVII. § 3.
[2408] Ps. lv. 6.
[2409] Matt. xiii. 31, 32.
[2410] Isa. lx. 6.
[2411] Gen. xxxvii. 25.
[2412] Jer. viii. 22.
[2413] So the Vulgate renders Zaphnath-Paaneah the name given to Joseph
by Pharaoh. (Gen. xli. 45).
[2414] Horace, Epist. I. vii. 30, 31.
[2415] 1 Tim. vi. 9.
[2416] Matt. xix. 21.
[2417] Luke xvi. 9.
[2418] Matt. iv. 18-22.
[2419] 2 Cor. viii. 14.
[2420] 1 Tim. vi. 8.
[2421] Ecclus. iii. 30.
[2422] Cf. Dan. iii. 25.
[2423] Gen. xxxix. 12.
[2424] The allusion is to the word "officer" in Gen. xxxvii. 36. See
A.V. margin.
[2425] Rom. vii. 23.
[2426] Arcadius and Honorius.
[2427] Isa. xl. 6.
[2428] Gen. iii. 19.
[2429] Wisd. iv. 9.
[2430] Wisd. iv. 13.
[2431] Virg. A. iii. 490.
[2432] Virg. G. iv. 82.
[2433] Arcadius.
[2434] Eudoxia.
[2435] Ps. cxxvii. 3.
[2436] 1 Tim. v. 9, 10.
[2437] The three degrees of chastity are those of a virgin, a widow,
and a wife.
[2438] 1 Tim. iv. 12.
[2439] Gal. ii. 9, 10.
[2440] Cf. 1 Tim. v. 3.
[2441] 1 Tim. ii. 15. A.V. has sobriety' for chastity.'
[2442] 1 Tim. v. 22.
[2443] 1 Tim. v. 6.
[2444] Acts ix. 15.
[2445] 2 Cor. xiii. 3, Vulg.
[2446] Rom. vii. 19.
[2447] 1 Cor. ix. 27.
[2448] 1 Kings iii. 3.
[2449] Many drew a distinction between the flesh of quadrupeds and that
of birds, abstaining from the former but using the latter.
[2450] 1 Tim. iv. 4.
[2451] Rom. xiv. 21.
[2452] Eph. v. 18.
[2453] 1 Cor. vii. 34.
[2454] Virgil, Æn. iv. 28, 29.
[2455] Dido, queen of Carthage.
[2456] Quoted from Tertullian (ad Mart. IV.). The same words recur in
Letters CVII. § 8 and CXXX. § 9.
[2457] Prov. iv. 23.
[2458] Matt. xv. 19.
[2459] Gen. viii. 21.
[2460] Gal. v. 19-23.
[2461] Horace, Sat. I. iii. 68, 69.
[2462] Horace, Sat. I. vi. 66.
[2463] Ps. lxxvii. 4.
[2464] Ps. iv. 4, LXX. Quoted Eph. iv. 26.
[2465] A pythagorean philosopher, mathematician, general, and
statesman. He was a contemporary of Plato.
[2466] Jas. i. 20.
[2467] 1 Cor. vii. 9.
[2468] Heb. xiii. 4.
[2469] 1 Tim. v. 14, 15.
[2470] Ezek. xvi. 25.
[2471] Ezek. xxiii. 3.
[2472] Exod. xxxii. 4.
[2473] Ezek. xx. 25.
[2474] 1 Tim. v. 11, 12.
[2475] Phil. iii. 13.
[2476] As Judith cut off the head of Holofernes (Judith xiii.).
[2477] Luke ii. 36-38.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXX. From Rufinus to Macarius.
Rufinus on his return from Bethlehem to Rome published a Latin version
of Origen's treatise peri 'Archon, On First Principles. To this he
prefixed the preface which is here printed among Jerome's letters.
Professing to take as his model Jerome's own translations of Origen's
commentaries which he greatly praises, he declares that, following his
example, he has paraphrased the obscure passages of the treatise and
has paraphrased the obscure passages of the treatise and has omitted as
due to interpolators such parts as seem heretical. This preface with
its insincere praise of Jerome (whose name, however, is not mentioned)
and its avowed manipulation of Origen's text caused much perplexity at
Rome (see Letters LXXXI., LXXXIII., and LXXXIV.), and gave rise to the
controversy between Rufinus and Jerome described in the Prolegomena,
and given at length in vol. iii. of this Series. The date is 398 a.d.
1. Large numbers of the brethren have, I know, in their zeal for the
knowledge of the scriptures begged learned men skilled in Greek
literature to make Origen a Roman by bringing home his teaching to
Latin ears. One of these scholars, a dear brother and associate, [2478]
at the request of bishop Damasus translated from Greek into Latin his
two homilies on the Song of Songs and prefaced the work with an
eloquent and eulogistic introduction such as could not fail to arouse
in all an ardent desire to read and to study Origen. To the soul of
that just man--so he declared--the words of the Song were applicable:
"the king hath brought me into his chambers;" [2479] and he went on to
speak thus: "while in his other books Origen surpasses all former
writers, in dealing with the Song of Songs he surpasses himself." In
his preface he pledges himself to give to Roman ears these homilies of
Origen and as many of his other works as he can. His style is certainly
attractive but I can see that he aims at a more ambitious task than
that of a mere translator. Not content with rendering the words of
Origen he desires to be himself the teacher. [2480] I for my part do
but follow up an enterprise which he has sanctioned and commenced, but
I lack his vigorous eloquence with which to adorn the sayings of this
great man. I am even afraid lest my deficiencies and inadequate command
of Latin may detract seriously from the reputation of one whom this
writer has deservedly termed second only to the apostles as a teacher
of the Church in knowledge and in wisdom.
2. Often turning this over in my mind I held my peace and refused to
listen to the brethren when--as frequently happened--they urged me to
undertake the work. But your persistence, most faithful brother
Macarius, is so great that even want of ability cannot resist it. Thus,
to escape the constant importunings to which you subject me, I have
given way contrary to my resolution; yet only on these terms that, so
far as is possible, I am to be free to follow the rules of translation
laid down by my predecessors, and particularly those acted upon by the
writer whom I have just mentioned. He has rendered into Latin more than
seventy of Origen's homiletical treatises and a few also of his
commentaries upon the apostle; [2481] and in these wherever the Greek
text presents a stumbling block, he has smoothed it down in his version
and has so emended the language used that a Latin writer can find no
word that is at variance with our faith. In his steps, therefore, I
propose to walk, if not displaying the same vigorous eloquence at least
observing the same rules. I shall not reproduce passages in Origen's
books which disagree with or contradict his own statements elsewhere.
The reason of these inconsistencies I have put more fully before you in
the defence of Origen's writings composed by Pamphilianus [2482] which
I have supplemented by a short treatise of my own. I have given what I
consider plain proofs that his books have been corrupted in numbers of
places by heretics and ill-disposed persons, and particularly those
which you now urge me to translate. The books peri 'Archon, that is of
Principles or of Powers, are in fact in other respects extremely
obscure and difficult. For they treat of subjects on which the
philosophers have spent all their days and yet have been able to
discover nothing. In dealing with these themes Origen has done his best
to make belief in a Creator and a rational account of things created
subservient to religion and not, as with the philosophers, to
irreligion. Wherever then in his books I have found a statement
concerning the Trinity contrary to those which in other places he has
faithfully made on the same subject, I have either omitted the passage
as garbled and misleading or have substituted that view of the matter
which I find him to have frequently asserted. Again, wherever--in haste
to get on with his theme--he is brief or obscure relying on the skill
and intelligence of his readers, I, to make the passage clearer, have
sought to explain it by adding any plainer statements that I have read
on the point in his other books. But I have added nothing of my own.
The words used may be found in other parts of his writings: they are
his, not mine. I mention this here to take from cavillers all pretext
for once more [2483] finding fault. But let such perverse and
contentious persons look well to what they are themselves doing.
3. Meantime I have taken up this great task--if so be that God will
grant your prayers--not to stop the mouths of slanderers (an impossible
feat except perhaps to God) but to give to those who desire it the
means of making progress in knowledge.
In the sight of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, [2484] I
adjure and require everyone who shall either read or copy these books
of mine, by his belief in a kingdom to come, by the mystery of the
resurrection from the dead, by the eternal fire which is "prepared for
the devil and his angels;" [2485] as he hopes not to inherit eternally
that place where "there is weeping and gnashing of teeth," [2486] and
where "their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched," [2487] let
him add nothing to what is written, let him subtract nothing, let him
insert nothing, let him alter nothing, but let him compare his
transcript with the copies from which it is made, let him correct it to
the letter, and let him punctuate it aright. Every manuscript that is
not properly corrected and punctuated he must reject: for otherwise the
difficulties in the text arising from the want of punctuation will make
obscure arguments still more obscure to those who read them.
__________________________________________________________________
[2478] i.e. Jerome.
[2479] Cant. i. 4. See the Preface to Origen on the Canticles
translated in this volume.
[2480] Rem maioris gloriæ sequitur ut pater verbi sit potius quam
interpres.
[2481] i.e. St. Paul.
[2482] Or Pamphilus.
[2483] See this treatise in vol. iii. of this series. Rufinus with John
of Jerusalem had been already accused of Origenism. See Letter LI. 6.
[2484] For this adjuration comp. Rev. xxii. 18, 19, and Stieren's
Irenæus i. 821.
[2485] Matt. xxv. 41.
[2486] Matt. xxii. 13.
[2487] Mark ix. 44.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXXI. To Rufinus.
A friendly letter of remonstrance written by Jerome to Rufinus on
receipt of his version of the peri 'Archon see the preceding letter).
Being sent in the first instance to Pammachius this latter
treacherously suppressed it and thus put an end to all hope of the
reconciliation of the two friends. The date of the letter is 399 a.d.
1. That you have lingered some time at Rome your own language shews.
Yet I feel sure that a yearning to see your spiritual parents [2488]
would have drawn you to your native country, [2489] had not grief for
your mother deterred you lest a sorrow scarce bearable away might have
proved unbearable at home.
As to your complaint that men listen only to the dictates of passion
and refuse to acquiesce in your judgement and mine; the Lord is witness
to my conscience that since our reconciliation I have harboured no
rancour in my breast to injure anyone; on the contrary I have taken the
utmost pains to prevent any chance occurrence being set down to
ill-will. But what can I do so long as everyone supposes that he has a
right to do as he does and thinks that in publishing a slander he is
requiting not originating a calumny? True friendship ought never to
conceal what it thinks.
The short preface to the books peri 'Archon which has been sent to me I
recognize as yours by the style. You know best with what intention it
was written; but even a fool can see how it must necessarily be
understood. Covertly or rather openly I am the person aimed at. I have
often myself feigned a controversy to practise declamation. [2490] Thus
I might now recall this well-worn artifice and praise you in your own
method. [2491] But far be it from me to imitate what I blame in you. In
fact I have so far restrained my feelings that I make no charge against
you, and, although injured, decline for my part to injure a friend. But
another time, if you wish to follow any one, pray be satisfied with
your own judgement. The objects which we seek are either good or bad.
If they are good, they need no help from another; and if they are bad,
the fact that many sin together is no excuse. I prefer thus to
expostulate with you as a friend rather than to give public vent to my
indignation at the wrong I have suffered. I want you to see that when I
am reconciled to anyone I become his sincere friend and do not--to
borrow a figure from Plautus [2492] --while offering him bread with one
hand, hold a stone in the other.
2. My brother Paulinian has not yet returned from home and I fancy that
you will see him at Aquileia at the house of the reverend pope
Chromatius. [2493] I am also sending the reverend presbyter Rufinus
[2494] on business to Milan by way of Rome, and have requested him to
communicate to you my feelings and respects. I am sending the same
message to the rest of my friends; lest, as the apostle says, ye bite
and devour one another, ye be consumed one of another. [2495] It only
remains for you and your friends to shew your moderation by giving no
offence to those who are disinclined to put up with it. For you will
hardly find everyone like me. There are few who can be pleased with
pretended eulogies.
__________________________________________________________________
[2488] Chromatius and Eusebius of Aquileia.
[2489] Concordia, near Aquileia.
[2490] See the introduction to Letter CXVII.
[2491] i.e. insincerely.
[2492] Plautus, Aul. ii. 2, 18.
[2493] Paulinian (of whose ordination an account is given in Letter
LI.) had been sent to Italy by Jerome in a.d. 398 partly to counteract
the proceedings of Rufinus and partly to sell the family property at
Stridon (see Letter LXVI. § 14.)
[2494] Rufinus the Syrian, to be carefully distinguished from his more
famous namesake (to whom this letter is addressed) of Aquileia. He was
a monk in Jerome's monastery at Bethlehem.
[2495] Gal. v. 15.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXXII. To Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria.
Two years after his former attempt (see Letter LXIII.) Theophilus again
wrote to Jerome urging him to be reconciled with John of Jerusalem.
Jerome replies that there is nothing he desires more earnestly than
peace but that this must be real and not a hollow truce. He speaks very
bitterly of John who has, he alleges, intrigued to procure his
banishment from Palestine. He also deals with the ordination of his
brother Paulinian (for which see Letter LI.) and defends himself for
having translated Origen's commentaries by adducing the example of
Hilary of Poitiers. This letter should be compared with the Treatise
"Against John of Jerusalem" in this volume. Its date is 399 a.d.
1. Your letter shews you to possess that heritage of the Lord of which
when going to the Father he said to the apostles, "peace I leave with
you, my peace I give unto you," [2496] and to own the happiness
described in the words, "blessed are the peace-makers." [2497] You coax
as a father, you teach as a master, you enjoin as a bishop. You come to
me not with a rod and severity but in a spirit of kindness, gentleness,
and meekness. [2498] Your opening words echo the humility of Christ who
saved men not with thunder and lightning [2499] but as a wailing babe
in the manger and as a silent sufferer upon the cross. You have read
the prediction made in one who was a type of Him, "Lord, remember David
and all his meekness," [2500] and you know how it was fulfilled
afterwards in Himself. "Learn of me," He said, "for I am meek and lowly
in heart." [2501] You have quoted many passages from the sacred books
in praise of peace, you have flitted like a bee over the flowery fields
of scripture, you have culled with cunning eloquence all that is sweet
and conducive to concord. I was already running after peace, but you
have made me quicken my pace: my sails were set for the voyage but your
exhortation has filled them with a stronger breeze. I drink in the
sweet streams of peace not reluctantly and with aversion but eagerly
and with open mouth.
2. But what can I do, I who can only wish for peace and have no power
to bring it about? Even though the wish may win its recompense with
God, its futility must still sadden him who cherishes it. When the
apostle said, "as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men,"
[2502] he knew quite well that the realisation of peace depends upon
the consent of two parties. The prophet truly cries "They say Peace,
peace: and yet there is no peace." [2503] To overthrow peace by actions
while professing it in words is not hard. To point out its advantages
is one thing and to strive for it another. Men's speeches may be all
for unity but their actions may enforce bondage. I wish for peace as
much as others; and not only do I wish for it, I ask for it. But the
peace which I want is the peace of Christ; a true peace, a peace
without rancour, a peace which does not involve war, a peace which will
not reduce opponents but will unite friends. How can I term domination
peace? I must call things by their right names. Where there is hatred
there let men talk of feuds; and where there is mutual esteem, there
only let peace be spoken of. For my part I neither rend the church nor
separate myself from the communion of the fathers. From my very cradle,
I may say, I have been reared on Catholic milk; and no one can be a
better churchman than one who has never been a heretic. But I know
nothing of a peace that is without love or of a communion that is
without peace. In the gospel I read:--"if thou bring thy gift to the
altar and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee;
leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way; first be
reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." [2504] If
then we may not offer gifts that are our own unless we are at peace
with our brothers; how much less can we receive the body of Christ if
we cherish enmity in our hearts? How can I conscientiously approach
Christ's eucharist and answer the Amen [2505] if I doubt the charity of
him who ministers it?
3. Hear me, I beg you with patience and do not take truthfulness for
flattery. Is any man reluctant to communicate with you? Does any turn
his face away when you hold out your hand? Does any at the holy banquet
offer you the kiss of Judas? [2506] At your approach the monks instead
of trembling rejoice. They race to meet you and leaving their dens in
the desert are fain to master you by their humility. What compels them
to come forth? Is it not their love for you? What draws together the
scattered dwellers in the desert? Is it not the esteem in which they
hold you? A parent ought to love his children; and not only a parent
but a bishop ought to be loved by his children. Neither ought to be
feared. There is an old saying: [2507] "whom a man fears he hates; and
whom he hates, he would fain see dead." Accordingly, while for the
young the holy scripture makes fear the beginning of knowledge, [2508]
it also tells us that "perfect love casteth out fear." [2509] You exact
no obedience from them; therefore the monks obey you. You offer them a
kiss; therefore they bow the neck. You shew yourself a common soldier;
therefore they make you their general. Thus from being one among many
you become one above many. Freedom is easily roused if attempts are
made to crush it. No one gets more from a free man than he who does not
force him to be a slave. I know the canons of the church; I know what
rank her ministers hold; and from men and books I have daily up to the
present learned and gathered many things. The kingdom of the mild David
was quickly dismembered by one who chastised his people with scorpions
and fancied that his fingers were thicker than his father's loins.
[2510] The Roman people refused to brook insolence even in a king.
[2511] Moses was leader of the host of Israel; he brought ten plagues
upon Egypt; sky, earth, and sea alike obeyed his commands: yet he is
spoken of as "very meek above all the men which were" at that time
"upon the face of the earth." [2512] He maintained his forty-years'
supremacy because he tempered the insolence of office with gentleness
and meekness. When he was being stoned by the people he made
intercession for them; [2513] nay more he wished to be blotted out of
God's book sooner than that the flock committed to him should perish.
[2514] He sought to imitate the Shepherd who would, he knew, carry on
his shoulders even the wandering sheep. "The good Shepherd"--they are
the Lord's own words--"layeth down his life for the sheep." [2515] One
of his disciples can wish to be anathema from Christ for his brethren's
sake, his kinsmen according to the flesh who were Israelites. [2516] If
then Paul can desire to perish that the lost may not be lost, how much
should good parents not provoke their children to wrath [2517] or by
too great severity embitter those who are naturally mild.
4. The limits of a letter compel me to restrain myself; otherwise,
indignation would make me diffuse. In an epistle which its writer
regards as conciliatory but which to me appears full of malice my
opponent [2518] admits that I have never calumniated him or accused him
of heresy. Why then does he calumniate me by spreading a rumour that I
am infected with that awful malady and am in revolt against the Church?
Why is he so ready to spare his real assailants and so eager to injure
me who have done nothing to injure him? Before my brother's ordination
he said nothing of any dogmatic difference between himself and pope
Epiphanius. What then can have "forced" him--I use his own
word--publicly to argue a point which no one had yet raised? One so
full of wisdom as you knows well the danger of such discussions and
that silence is in such cases the safest course; except, indeed, on
some occasion which renders it imperative to deal with great matters.
What ability and eloquence it must have needed to compress into a
single sermon--as he boasts to have done [2519] --all the topics which
the most learned writers have treated in detail in voluminous
treatises! But this is nothing to me: it is for the hearers of the
sermon to notice and for the writer of the letter to realize. But as
for me he ought of his own accord to acquit me of bringing the charge
against him. I was not present and did not hear the sermon. I was only
one of the many, indeed hardly one of them; for while others were
crying out I held my peace. Let us confront the accused and the
accuser, and let us give credit to him whose services, life, and
doctrine are seen to be the best.
5. You see, do you not, that I shut my eyes to many things and touch
upon others only in the most cursory manner, hinting at what I suppose
rather than saying out what I think.
I understand and approve your manoeuvres; [2520] how in the interests
of the peace of the Church you stop your ears when you come within
range of the Sirens. Moreover, trained as you have been from childhood
in sacred studies, you know exactly what is meant by each expression
which you use. You knowingly employ ambiguous terms and carefully
balanced sentences so as not to condemn others [2521] or repudiate us.
[2522] But it is not a pure faith and a frank confession which look for
quibbles or circumlocutions. What is simply believed must be professed
with equal simplicity. For my part I could cry out--though it were amid
the swords and fires of Babylon, "why does the answer evade the
question? why is there no frank, straightforward declaration?" From
beginning to end all is shrinking, compromise, ambiguity: as though he
were trying to walk on spikes of corn. His blood boils with eagerness
for peace; yet he will not give a straightforward answer! others are
free to insult him; for, when he is insulted, he does not venture to
retaliate. I meantime hold my peace: for the present I shall let it be
thought that I am too busy, or ignorant, or afraid; for how would he
treat me were I to accuse him, if when I praise him--as he admits
himself that I do--he secretly traduces me?
6. His whole letter is less an exposition of his faith than a mass of
calumnies aimed at myself. Without any of those mutual courtesies which
men may use towards each other without flattery, he takes up my name
again and again, flouts it, and bandies it about as though I were
blotted out of the book of the living. He thinks that he has beaten me
black and blue with his letter; and that I live for the trifles at
which he aims, I who from my boyhood have been shut up in a monastic
cell, and have always made it my aim to be rather than to seem a good
man. Some of us, it is true, he mentions with respect, but only that he
may afterwards wound us more deeply. As if, forsooth, we too have no
open secrets to reveal! One of his charges is that we have allowed a
slave to be ordained. Yet he himself has clergymen of the same class,
and he must have read of Onesimus who, being made regenerate by Paul in
prison, [2523] from a slave became a deacon. Then he throws out that
the slave in question was a common informer; and, lest he should be
compelled to prove the charge, declares he has it from hearsay only!
Why, if I had chosen to repeat the talk of the crowd and to listen to
scandal-mongers, he would have learned before now that I too know what
all the world knows and have heard the same stories as other people. He
declares farther that ordination has been given to this slave as a
reward for a slander spread abroad by him. Does not such cunning and
subtlety appal one? And is there any answer to eloquence so
overwhelming? Which is best, to spread a calumny or to suffer from one?
To accuse a man whose love you may afterwards wish for, or to pardon a
sinner? And is it more tolerable that a common informer should be made
a consul than that he should be made an ædile? [2524] He knows what I
pass over in silence and what I say; what I myself have heard and
what--from the fear of Christ--I perhaps refuse to believe.
7. He charges me with having translated Origen into Latin. In this I do
not stand alone for the confessor Hilary has done the same, and we are
both at one in this that while we have rendered all that is useful, we
have cut away all that was harmful. Let him read our versions for
himself, if he knows how (and as he constantly converses and daily
associates with Italians, [2525] I think he cannot be ignorant of
Latin); or else, if he cannot quite take it in, let him use his
interpreters and then he will come to know that I deserve nothing but
praise for the work on which he grounds a charge against me. For, while
I have always allowed to Origen his great merit as an interpreter and
critic of the scriptures, I have invariably denied the truth of his
doctrines. Is it I then that let him loose upon the crowd? Is it I that
act sponsor to other preachers like him? No, for I know that a
difference must be made between the apostles and all other preachers.
The former always speak the truth; but the latter being men sometimes
go astray. It would be a strange defence of Origen surely to admit his
faults and then to excuse them by saying that other men have been
guilty of similar ones! As if, when you cannot venture to defend a man
openly, you may hope to shield him by imputing his mistake to a number
of others! As for the six thousand volumes of Origen of which he
speaks, it is impossible that any one should have read books which have
never been written: and I for my part find it easier to suppose that
this falsehood is due to the man who professes to have heard it rather
than to him who is said to have told it. [2526]
8. Again he avers that my brother [2527] is the cause of the
disagreement which has arisen, a man who is content to stay in a
monastic cell and who regards the clerical office as onerous rather
than honourable. And although up to this very day he has spoon-fed us
with insincere protestations of peace, he has caused commotion in the
minds of the western bishops [2528] by telling them that a mere youth,
hardly more than a boy, has been ordained [2529] presbyter of Bethlehem
in his own diocese. If this is the truth, all the bishops of Palestine
must be aware of it. For the monastery of the reverend pope
Epiphanius--called the old monastery--where my brother was ordained
presbyter is situated in the district of Eleutheropolis [2530] and not
in that of Ælia. [2531] Furthermore his age is well known to your
Holiness; and as he has now attained to thirty years I apprehend that
no blame can attach to him on that score. Indeed this particular age is
stamped as full and complete by the mystery of Christ's assumed
manhood. Let him call to mind the ancient law, and he will see that
after his twenty-fifth year a Levite might be chosen to the priesthood;
[2532] or if in this passage he prefers to follow the Hebrew he will
find that candidates for the priesthood must be thirty years old. And
that he may not venture to say that "old things are passed away; and,
behold, all things are become new," [2533] let him hear the apostle's
words to Timothy, "Let no man despise thy youth." [2534] Certainly when
my opponent was himself ordained bishop, he was not much older than my
brother is now. And if he argues that youth is no hindrance to a bishop
but that it is to a presbyter because a young elder [2535] is a
contradiction in terms, I ask him this question: Why has he himself
ordained a presbyter of this age or younger still, and that too to
minister in another man's church? But if he cannot be at peace with my
brother unless he consents to submit and to renounce the bishop who has
ordained him, he shews plainly that his object is not peace but
revenge, and that he will not rest satisfied with the quietude of
repose and peace unless he is able to inflict to the full every penalty
that he now threatens. Had he himself ordained my brother, it would
have made no difference to this latter. So dearly does he love
seclusion that he would even then have continued to live quietly and
would not have exercised his office. And should the bishop have seen
fit to rend the church on that score, he would then have owed him
nothing save the respect which is due to all who offer sacrifice.
[2536]
9. So much for his prolix defence of himself or I should rather say his
attack on me. In this letter I have only answered him briefly and
cursorily that from what I have said he may perceive what I do not say,
and may know that as I am a human being I am a rational animal and well
able to understand his shrewdness, and that I am not so obtuse or
brutish as to catch only the sound of his words and not their meaning.
I now ask of you to pardon my chagrin and to allow that if it is
arrogant to answer back, it is yet more arrogant to bring baseless
charges. Yet my answer has indicated what I might have said rather than
has actually said it. Why do men look for peace at a distance? and why
do they wish to have it enforced by word of command? Let them shew
themselves peacemakers, and peace will follow at once. Why do they use
the name of your holiness to terrorize us, when your letter--strange
contrast to their harsh and menacing words--breathes only peace and
meekness? For that the letter which Isidore the presbyter has brought
for me from you does make for peace and harmony I know by this, that
these insincere professors of a wish for peace have refused to deliver
it to me. Let them choose whichever alternative they please. Either I
am a good man or I am a bad one. If I am a good one let them leave me
in quiet: if I am a bad one, why do they desire to be in bad company?
Surely my opponent has learnt by experience the value of humility. He
who now tears asunder things which, formerly separate, he of his own
will put together, proves that in severing now what he then joined, he
is acting at the instigation of another. [2537]
10. Recently he sought and obtained a decree of exile against me, and I
only wish that he had been able to carry it out, [2538] so that, as the
will is imputed to him for the deed, so I too not in will only but in
deed might wear the crown of exile. The church of Christ has been
founded by shedding its own blood not that of others, by enduring
outrage not by inflicting it. Persecutions have made it grow;
martyrdoms have crowned it. Or if the Christians among whom I live are
unique in their love of severity and know only how to persecute and not
how to undergo persecution, there are Jews here, there are heretics
professing various false doctrines, and in particular the foulest of
all, I mean, Manichæism. Why is it that they do not venture to say a
word against them? Why am I the only person they wish to drive into
exile? Am I who communicate with the church the only person of whom it
can be said that he rends the church? I put it to you, is it not a fair
demand either that they should expel these others as well as myself, or
that, if they keep them, they should keep me too? All the same they
honour men by sending them into exile, for by so doing they separate
them from the company of heretics. It is a monk, [2539] shame to say,
who menaces monks and obtains decrees of exile against them; and that
too a monk who boasts that he holds an apostolic chair. But the
monastic tribe does not succumb to terrorism: it prefers to expose its
neck to the impending sword rather than to allow its hands to be tied.
Is not every monk an exile from his country? Is he not an exile from
the whole world? Where is the need for the public authority, the cost
of a rescript, the journeyings up and down the earth to obtain one? Let
him but touch me with his little finger, and I will go into exile of
myself. "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." [2540]
Christ is not shut up in any one spot.
11. Moreover when he writes that, though I seem to be separated from
communion with him, I in reality hold communion with him through you
and through the church of Rome: he need not go so far afield, for I am
connected with him in the same way also here in Palestine. And lest
even this should appear distant, in this village of Bethlehem I hold
communion with his presbyters as much as I can. Thus it is clear that a
private chagrin is not to be taken for the cause of the church, and
that one man's choler, or even that of several stirred up by him, ought
not to be styled the displeasure of the church. Accordingly I now
repeat what I said at the beginning of my letter that I for my part am
desirous of Christ's peace, that I pray for harmony, and that I request
you to admonish him not to exact peace but to purpose it. Let him be
satisfied with the pain which he has caused by the insults that he has
inflicted upon me in the past. Let him efface old wounds by a little
new charity. Let him shew himself what he was before, when of his own
choice he bestowed upon me his esteem. Let his words no longer be
tinged with a gall that flows from the heart of another. Let him do
what he wishes himself, and not what others force him to wish. Either
as a pontiff, let him exercise authority over all alike, or as a
follower of the apostle, let him serve all for the salvation of all.
[2541] If he will shew himself such, I am ready freely to yield and to
hold out my arms; he will find me a friend and a kinsman, and will
perceive that in Christ I am submissive to him as to all the saints.
"Charity," writes the apostle, "suffereth long and is kind; charity
envieth not;...is not puffed up...beareth all things, believeth all
things." [2542] Charity is the mother of all virtues, and the apostle's
words about faith, hope and charity [2543] are like that threefold cord
which is not quickly broken. [2544] We believe, we hope, and through
our faith and hope we are joined together in the bond of charity.
[2545] It is for these virtues that I and others have left our homes,
it is for these that we would live peaceably without any contention in
the fields and alone; paying all due veneration to Christ's
pontiffs--so long as they preach the right faith--not because we fear
them as lords but because we honour them as fathers deferring also to
bishops as bishops, but refusing to serve under compulsion, beneath the
shadow of episcopal authority, men whom we do not choose to obey. I am
not so much puffed up in mind as not to know what is due to the priests
of Christ. For he who receives them, receives not them but Him, whose
bishops they are. [2546] But let them be content with the honour which
is theirs. Let them know that they are fathers and not lords,
especially in relation to those who scorn the ambitions of the world
and count peace and repose the best of all things. And may Christ who
is Almighty God grant to your prayers that I and my opponent may be
united not in a feigned and hollow peace but in true and sincere mutual
esteem, lest biting and devouring one another we be consumed one of
another. [2547]
__________________________________________________________________
[2496] Joh. xiv. 27.
[2497] Matt. v. 9.
[2498] 1 Cor. iv. 21.
[2499] Cf. Heb. xii. 18.
[2500] Ps. cxxxii. 1, LXX.
[2501] Matt. xi. 29.
[2502] Rom. xii. 18.
[2503] Jer. xi. 14, LXX.
[2504] Matt. v. 23, 24.
[2505] 1 Cor. xiv. 16, where in the Greek giving of thanks' is
eucharist.'
[2506] Matt. xxvi. 48, 49: the kiss of peace formed an integral part of
the eucharistic office from primitive till mediæval times.
[2507] Attributed by Cicero to Ennius.
[2508] Prov. i. 7.
[2509] 1 Joh. iv. 18.
[2510] 1 Kings xii. 10.
[2511] Tarquin the Proud the last king of Rome was driven into exile
because of his many acts of tyranny.
[2512] Nu. xii. 3.
[2513] Exod. xvii. 4.
[2514] Exod. xxxii. 31, 32.
[2515] Joh. x. 11, R.V.; Luke xv. 4, 5.
[2516] Rom. ix. 3, 4, R.V.
[2517] Eph. vi. 4.
[2518] John, Bishop of Jerusalem, who had accused Jerome of Origenism,
a charge which was brought against himself by Epiphanius (see Letter
LI.).
[2519] Jerome represents John as saying that he took advantage of a
verse in the lesson "to preach on faith and all the dogmas of the
Church" (c. Joh. Jer. ii.).
[2520] Jerome now addresses John of Jerusalem.
[2521] The Origenists.
[2522] The orthodox.
[2523] Philemon 10.
[2524] The highest and lowest offices in the Roman magistracy. Jerome
insinuates that if the ordained slave was a common informer so also was
John of Jerusalem.
[2525] A hit at Rufinus.
[2526] The statement that he had read 6000 volumes of Origen was
attributed to Epiphanius by Rufinus and John of Jerusalem. Cf. Apol. c.
Ruf. ii. c. 13.
[2527] Paulinian, who had been ordained by Epiphanius.
[2528] Sacerdotes; lit. sacrificing priests.'
[2529] Not by himself but by Epiphanius.
[2530] Otherwise Lydda, a town in the south of Judah at this time the
seat of a bishopric.
[2531] Ælia Capitolina was the name given by Hadrian to the colony
established by him on the site of Jerusalem.
[2532] Nu. iv. 3, LXX. A.V. follows the Hebrew.
[2533] 2 Cor. v. 17.
[2534] 1 Tim. iv. 12.
[2535] The word presbyter' means elder.
[2536] Here as frequently in Jerome the word sacerdos' is used to
denote a bishop.
[2537] Probably Isidore, who had taken a view hostile to Jerome, and
who at this time fell under the displeasure of Theophilus.
[2538] The execution of the decree was stopped by the sudden death of
the imperial minister Rufinus.
[2539] John of Jerusalem.
[2540] Ps. xxiv. 1.
[2541] Cf. 1 Cor. ix. 19.
[2542] 1 Cor. xiii. 4-7.
[2543] 1 Cor. xiii. 13.
[2544] Eccl. iv. 12.
[2545] Cf. Col. iii. 14.
[2546] Cf. Joh. xiii. 20.
[2547] Gal. v. 15.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXXIII. From Pammachius and Oceanus.
A letter from Pammachius and Oceanus in which they express the
perplexity into which they have been thrown by Rufinus's version of
Origen's treatise, On First Principles (see Letter LXXX.) and request
Jerome to make for them a literal translation of the work. Written in
399 or 400 a.d.
1. Pammachius and Oceanus to the presbyter Jerome, health.
A reverend brother has brought to us sheets containing a certain
person's translation into Latin of a treatise by Origen--entitled peri
archon. These contain many things which disturb our poor wits and which
appear to us to be uncatholic. We suspect also that with a view of
clearing the author many passages of his books have been removed which
had they been left would have plainly proved the irreligious character
of his teaching. We therefore request your excellency to be so good as
to bestow upon this particular matter an attention which will benefit
not only ourselves but all who reside in the city; we ask you to
publish in your own language the abovementioned book of Origen exactly
as it was brought out by the author himself; and we desire you to make
evident the interpolations which his defender has introduced. You will
also confute and overthrow all statements in the sheets which we have
sent to your holiness that are ignorantly made or contradict the
Catholic faith. The writer in the preface to his work has, with much
subtlety but without mentioning your holiness's name, implied that he
has done no more than complete a work which you had yourself promised,
thus indirectly suggesting that you agree with him. Remove then the
suspicions men cannot help feeling and confute your assailant; for, if
you ignore his implications, people will say that you admit their
truth.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXXIV. To Pammachius and Oceanus.
A calm letter in which Jerome defines and justifies his own attitude
towards Origen, but unduly minimizes his early enthusiasm for him. He
admires him in the same way that Cyprian admired Tertullian but does
not in any way adopt his errors. He then describes his own studies and
recounts his obligations to Apollinaris, Didymus, and a Jew named
Bar-anina. The rest of the letter deals with the errors of Origen, the
state of the text of his writings, and the eulogy of him composed by
the martyr Pamphilus (the authenticity of which Jerome assails without
any sufficient reason). The date of the letter is 400 a.d.
Jerome to the brothers Pammachius and Oceanus, with all good wishes.
1. The sheets that you send me [2548] cover me at once with compliments
and confusion; for, while they praise my ability, they take away my
sincerity in the faith. But as both at Alexandria and at Rome and, I
may say, throughout the whole world good men have made it a habit to
take the same liberties with my name, esteeming me only so far that
they cannot bear to be heretics without having me of the number, I will
leave aside personalities and only answer specific charges. For it is
of no benefit to a cause to encounter railing with railing and to
retaliate for attacks upon oneself by attacks upon one's opponents. We
are commanded not to return evil for evil [2549] but to overcome evil
with good, [2550] to take our fill of insults, and to turn the other
cheek to the smiter. [2551]
2. It is charged against me that I have sometimes praised Origen. If I
am not mistaken I have only done so in two places, in the short preface
(addressed to Damasus) to his homilies on the Song of Songs and in the
prologue to my book of Hebrew Names. In these passages do the dogmas of
the church come into question? Is anything said of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost? or of the resurrection of the flesh? or of the
condition and material of the soul? I have merely praised the
simplicity of his rendering and commentary and neither the faith nor
the dogmas of the Church come in at all. Ethics only are dealt with and
the mist of allegory is dispelled by a clear explanation. I have
praised the commentator but not the theologian, the man of intellect
but not the believer, the philosopher but not the apostle. But if men
wish to know my real judgement upon Origen; let them read my
commentaries upon Ecclesiastes, let them go through my three books upon
the epistle to the Ephesians: they will then see that I have always
opposed his doctrines. How foolish it would be to eulogize a system so
far as to endorse its blasphemy! The blessed Cyprian takes Tertullian
for his master, as his writings prove; yet, delighted as he is with the
ability of this learned and zealous writer he does not join him in
following Montanus and Maximilla. [2552] Apollinaris is the author of a
most weighty book against Porphyry, and Eusebius has composed a fine
history of the Church; yet of these the former has mutilated Christ's
incarnate humanity, [2553] while the latter is the most open champion
of the Arian impiety. [2554] "Woe," says Isaiah, "unto them that call
evil good and good evil; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for
bitter." [2555] We must not detract from the virtues of our
opponents--if they have any praiseworthy qualities--but neither must we
praise the defects of our friends. Each several case must be judged on
its own merits and not by a reference to the persons concerned. While
Lucilius is rightly assailed by Horace [2556] for the unevenness of his
verses, he is equally rightly praised for his wit and his charming
style.
3. In my younger days I was carried away with a great passion for
learning, yet I was not like some presumptuous enough to teach myself.
At Antioch I frequently listened to Apollinaris of Laodicea, and
attended his lectures; yet, although he instructed me in the holy
scriptures, I never embraced his disputable doctrine as to their
meaning. At length my head became sprinkled with gray hairs so that I
looked more like a master than a disciple. Yet I went on to Alexandria
and heard Didymus. [2557] And I have much to thank him for: for what I
did not know I learned from him, and what I knew already I did not
forget. So excellent was his teaching. Men fancied that I had now made
an end of learning. Yet once more I came to Jerusalem and to Bethlehem.
What trouble and expense it cost me to get Baraninas [2558] to teach me
under cover of night. For by his fear of the Jews he presented to me in
his own person a second edition of Nicodemus. [2559] Of all of these I
have frequently made mention in my works. The doctrines of Apollinaris
and of Didymus are mutually contradictory. The squadrons of the two
leaders must drag me in different directions, for I acknowledge both as
my masters. If it is expedient to hate any men and to loath any race, I
have a strange dislike to those of the circumcision. For up to the
present day they persecute our Lord Jesus Christ in the synagogues of
Satan. [2560] Yet can anyone find fault with me for having had a Jew as
a teacher? Does a certain person dare to bring forward against me the
letter I wrote to Didymus calling him my master? It is a great crime,
it would seem, for me a disciple to give to one both old and learned
the name of master. And yet when I ask leave to look at the letter
which has been held over so long to discredit me at last, there is
nothing in it but courteous language and a few words of greeting. Such
charges are both foolish and frivolous. It would be more to the point
to exhibit a passage in which I have defended heresy or praised some
wicked doctrine of Origen. In the portion of Isaiah which describes the
crying of the two seraphim [2561] he explains these to be the Son and
the Holy Ghost; but have not I altered this hateful explanation into a
reference to the two testaments? [2562] I have the book in my hand as
it was published twenty years ago. In numbers of my works and
especially in my commentaries I have, as occasion has offered, mangled
this heathen school. And if my opponents allege that I have done more
than anyone else to form a collection of Origen's books, I answer that
I only wish I could have the works of all theological writers that by
diligent study of them, I might make up for the slowness of my own
wits. I have made a collection of his books, I admit; but because I
know everything that he has written I do not follow his errors. I speak
as a Christian to Christians: believe one who has tried him. His
doctrines are poisonous, they are unknown to the Holy Scriptures, nay
more, they do them violence. I have read Origen, I repeat, I have read
him; and if it is a crime to read him, I admit my guilt: indeed, these
Alexandrian writings have emptied my purse. If you will believe me, I
have never been an Origenist: if you will not believe me, I have now
ceased to be one. But if even this fails to convince you, you will
compel me in self-defence to write against your favourite, so that, if
you will not believe me when I disclaim him, you will have to believe
me when I attack him. But I find readier credence when I go wrong than
when I shew amendment. And this is not surprising, for my would-be
friends suppose me a fellow-disciple with them in the arcana of their
system. I am loath, they fancy, to profess esoteric doctrines before
persons who according to them are brute-like and made of clay. For it
is an axiom with them that pearls ought not to be lightly cast before
swine, nor that which is holy given to the dogs. [2563] They agree with
David when he says: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not
sin against thee;" [2564] and when in another place he describes the
righteous man as one "who speaketh truth with his neighbour," [2565]
that is with those who "are of the household of faith." [2566] From
these passages they conclude that those of us who as yet are
uninitiated ought to be told falsehoods, lest, being still unweaned
babes, we should be choked by too solid food. Now that perjury and
lying enter into their mysteries and form a bond between them appears
most clearly from the sixth book of Origen's Miscellanies, [2567] in
which he harmonizes the Christian doctrine [2568] with the conceptions
of Plato.
4. What must I do then? deny that I am of Origen's opinion? They will
not believe me. Swear that I am not? They will laugh and say that I
deal in lies. I will do the one thing which they dread. I will bring
forward their sacred rites and mysteries, and will expose the cunning
whereby they delude simple folk like myself. Perhaps, although they
refuse credence to my voice when I deny, they may believe my pen when I
accuse. Of one thing they are particularly apprehensive, and that is
that their writings may some day be taken as evidence against their
master. They are ready to make statements on oath and to disclaim them
afterwards with an oath as false as the first. When asked for their
signatures they use shifts and seek excuses. One says: "I cannot
condemn what no one else has condemned." Another says: "No decision was
arrived at on the point by the Fathers." [2569] It is thus that they
appeal to the judgment of the world to put off the necessity of
assenting to a condemnation. Another says with yet more assurance: "how
am I to condemn men whom the council of Nicæa has left untouched? For
the council which condemned Arius would surely have condemned Origen
too, had it disapproved of his doctrines." They were bound in other
words to cure all the diseases of the church at once and with one
remedy; and by parity of reasoning we must deny the majesty of the Holy
Ghost because nothing was said of his nature in that council. But the
question was of Arius, not of Origen; of the Son, not of the Holy
Ghost. The bishops at the council proclaimed their adherence to a dogma
which was at the time denied; they said nothing about a difficulty
which no one had raised. And yet they covertly struck at Origen as the
source of the Arian heresy: for, in condemning those who deny the Son
to be of the substance of the Father, they have condemned Origen as
much as Arius. On the ground taken by these persons we have no right to
condemn Valentine, [2570] Marcion, [2571] or the Cataphrygians, [2572]
or Manichæus, none of whom are named by the council of Nicæa, and yet
there is no doubt that in time they were prior to it. But when they
find themselves pressed either to subscribe or to leave the Church, you
may see some strange twisting. They qualify their words, they arrange
them anew, they use vague expressions; so as, if possible, to hold both
our confession and that of our opponents, to be called indifferently
heretics and Catholics. As if it were not in the same spirit that the
Delphian Apollo (or, as he is sometimes called, Loxias) gave his
oracles to Croesus and to Pyrrhus; cheating with a similar device two
men widely separated in time. [2573] To make my meaning clear I will
give a few examples.
5. We believe, say they, in the resurrection of the body. This
confession, if only it be sincere, is free from objection. But as there
are bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial [2574] and as thin air and
the æther are both according to their natures called bodies, they use
the word body instead of the word flesh in order that an orthodox
person hearing them say body may take them to mean flesh while a
heretic will understand that they mean spirit. This is their first
piece of craft, and if this is found out, they devise fresh wiles, and,
pretending innocence themselves, accuse us of malice. As though they
were frank believers they say, "We believe in the resurrection of the
flesh." Now when they have said this, the ignorant crowd thinks it
ought to be satisfied, particularly because these exact words are found
in the creed. [2575] If you go on to question them farther, a buzz of
disapproval is heard in the ring and their backers cry out: "You have
heard them say that they believe in the resurrection of the flesh; what
more do you want?" the popular favour is transferred from our side to
theirs, and while they are called honest, we are looked on as false
accusers. But if you set your face steadily and keeping a firm hold of
their admission about the flesh, proceed to press them as to whether
they assert the resurrection of that flesh which is visible and
tangible, which walks and speaks, they first laugh and then signify
their assent. And when we inquire whether the resurrection will exhibit
anew the hair and the teeth, the chest and the stomach, the hands and
the feet, and all the other members of the body, then no longer able to
contain their mirth they burst out laughing and tell us that in that
case we shall need barbers, and cakes, and doctors, and cobblers. Do
we, they ask us in turn, believe that after the resurrection men's
cheeks will still be rough and those of women smooth, and that sex will
differentiate their bodies as it does at present? Then if we admit
this, they at once deduce from our admission conclusions involving the
grossest materialism. Thus, while they maintain the resurrection of the
body as a whole, they deny the resurrection of its separate members.
6. The present is not a time to speak rhetorically against a perverse
doctrine. Neither the rich vocabulary of Cicero nor the fervid
eloquence of Demosthenes could adequately convey the warmth of my
feeling, were I to attempt to expose the quibbles by which these
heretics, while verbally professing a belief in the resurrection, in
their hearts deny it. For their women finger their breasts, slap their
chests, pinch their legs and arms, and say, "What will a resurrection
profit us if these frail bodies are to rise again? No, if we are to be
like angels, [2576] we shall have the bodies of angels." That is to say
they scorn to rise again with the flesh and bones wherewith even Christ
rose. [2577] Now suppose for a moment that in my youth I went astray
and that, trained as I was in the schools of heathen philosophy, I was
ignorant, in the beginning of my faith, of the dogmas of Christianity,
and fancied that what I had read in Pythagoras and Plato and Empedocles
was also contained in the writings of the apostle: Supposing, I say,
that I believed all this, why do you yet follow the error of a mere
babe and sucking child in Christ? Why do you learn irreligion of one
who as yet knew not religion? After shipwreck one has still a plank to
cling to; [2578] and one may atone for sin by a frank confession. You
have followed me when I have gone astray; follow me also now that I
have been brought back. In youth we have wandered; now that we are old
let us mend our ways. Let us unite our tears and our groans; let us
weep together, and return to the Lord our Maker. [2579] Let us not wait
for the repentance of the devil; for this is a vain anticipation and
one that will drag us into the deep of hell. Life must be sought or
lost here. If I have never followed Origen, it is in vain that you seek
to discredit me: if I have been his disciple, imitate my penitence. You
have believed my confession; credit also my denial.
7. But it will be said, "If you knew these things, why did you praise
him in your works?" I should praise him today but that you and men like
you praise his errors. I should still find his talent attractive, but
that some people have been attracted by his impiety. "Read [2580] all
things," says the apostle, "hold fast that which is good." [2581]
Lactantius in his books and particularly in his letters to Demetrian
altogether denies the subsistence of the Holy Spirit, and following the
error of the Jews says that the passages in which he is spoken of refer
to the Father or to the Son and that the words holy spirit' merely
prove the holiness of these two persons in the Godhead. But who can
forbid me to read his Institutes--in which he has written against the
Gentiles with much ability--simply because this opinion of his is to be
abhorred? Apollinaris [2582] has written excellent treatises against
Porphyry, and I approve of his labours, although I despise his doctrine
in many points because of its foolishness. If you too for your parts
will but admit that Origen errs in certain things I will not say
another syllable. Acknowledge that he thought amiss concerning the Son,
and still more amiss concerning the Holy Spirit, point out the impiety
of which he has been guilty in speaking of men's souls as having fallen
from heaven, and shew that, while in word he asserts the resurrection
of the flesh, he destroys the force of this language by other
assertions. As, for instance, that, after many ages and one
"restitution of all things," [2583] it will be the same for Gabriel as
for the devil, for Paul as for Caiaphas, for virgins as for
prostitutes. When once you have rejected these misstatements and have
parted them with your censor's wand from the faith of the Church, I may
read what is left with safety, and having first taken the antidote need
no longer dread the poison. For instance it will do me no harm to say
as I have said, "Whereas in his other books Origen has surpassed all
other writers, in commenting on the Song of Songs he has surpassed
himself"; nor will I fear to face the words with which formerly in my
younger days I spoke of him as a doctor of the churches. [2584] Will it
be pretended, that I was bound to accuse a man whose works I was
translating by special request? that I was bound to say in my preface,
"This writer whose books I translate is a heretic: beware of him,
reader, read him not, flee from the viper: or, if you are bent on
reading him, know that the treatises which I have translated have been
garbled by heretics and wicked men; yet you need not fear, for I have
corrected all the places which they have corrupted," that in other
words I ought to have said: "the writer that I translate is a heretic,
but I, his translator, am a Catholic." The fact is that you and your
party in your anxiety to be straightforward, ingenuous, and honest,
have paid too little regard to the precepts of rhetoric and to the
devices of oratory. For in admitting that his books On First Principles
are heretical and in trying to lay the blame of this upon others, you
raise difficulties for your readers; you induce them to examine the
whole life of the author and to form a judgment on the question from
the remainder of his writings. I on the other hand have been wise
enough to emend silently what I wished to emend: thus by ignoring the
crime I have averted prejudice from the criminal. Doctors tell us that
serious maladies ought not to be subjected to treatment, but should be
left to nature, lest the remedies applied should intensify the disease.
It is now almost one hundred and fifty years since Origen died at Tyre.
[2585] Yet what Latin writer has ever ventured to translate his books
On the Resurrection and On First Principles, his Miscellanies [2586]
and his Commentaries or as he himself calls them his Tomes? [2587] Who
has ever cared by so infamous a work to cover himself with infamy? I am
not more eloquent than Hilary or truer to the faith than Victorinus who
both have rendered his Homilies [2588] not in exact versions but in
independent paraphrases. Recently also Ambrose appropriated his Six
Days' Work, [2589] but in such a way that it expressed the views of
Hippolytus and Basil rather than of Origen. You profess to take me for
your model, and blind as moles in relation to others you scan me with
the eyes of gazelles. Well, had I been ill-disposed towards Origen, I
might have translated these very books so as to make his worst writings
known to Latin readers; but this I have never done; and, though many
have asked me, I have always refused. For it has never been my habit to
crow over the mistakes of men whose talents I admire. Origen himself,
were he still alive, would soon fall out with you his would-be patrons
and would say with Jacob: "Ye have troubled me to make me to stink
among the inhabitants of the land." [2590]
8. Does any one wish to praise Origen? Let him praise him as I do. From
his childhood he was a great man, and truly a martyr's son. [2591] At
Alexandria he presided over the school of the church, succeeding a man
of great learning the presbyter Clement. So greatly did he abhor
sensuality that, out of a zeal for God but yet one not according to
knowledge, [2592] he castrated himself with a knife. Covetousness he
trampled under foot. He knew the scriptures by heart and laboured hard
day and night to explain their meaning. He delivered in church more
than a thousand sermons, and published innumerable commentaries which
he called tomes. These I now pass over, for it is not my purpose to
catalogue his writings. Which of us can read all that he has written?
and who can fail to admire his enthusiasm for the scriptures? If some
one in the spirit of Judas the Zealot [2593] brings up to me his
mistakes, he shall have his answer in the words of Horace:
'Tis true that sometimes Homer sleeps, but then
He's not without excuse:
The fault is venial, for his work is long. [2594]
Let us not imitate the faults of one whose virtues we cannot equal.
Other men have erred concerning the faith, both Greeks and Latins, but
I must not mention their names lest I should be supposed to defend
Origen not by his own merits but by the errors of others. This, you
will say, is to accuse them and not to excuse him. You would be right,
if I had declared him not to have erred, or if I had professed a belief
that the apostle Paul or an angel from heaven [2595] ought to be
listened to in a depravation of the faith. But as it is seeing I
frankly admit him to be wrong, I may read him on the same terms as I
read others, because if he is wrong so also are they. But you may say,
If error is common to many, why do you assail him alone? I answer,
because he alone is praised by you as an apostle. Take away your
exaggerated love for him, and I am ready to take away the greatness of
my dislike. While you gather other men's faulty statements out of their
books merely to defend Origen in his error, you extol this latter to
the sky and will not allow that he has erred at all. Whosoever you are
who are thus preaching new doctrines, I beseech you, spare the ears of
the Romans, spare the faith of a church which an apostle has praised.
[2596] Why after four hundred years do you try to teach us Romans
doctrines of which until now we have known nothing? Why do you publicly
proclaim opinions which Peter and Paul [2597] refused to profess? Until
now no such teaching has been heard of, and yet the world has become
christian. For my part I will hold fast in my old age the faith wherein
I was born again in my boyhood. [2598] They speak of us as claytowners,
[2599] made out of dirt, brutish and carnal, because, say they, we
refuse to receive the things of the spirit; but of course they
themselves are citizens of Jerusalem and their mother is in heaven.
[2600] I do not despise the flesh in which Christ was born and rose
again, or scorn the mud which, baked into a clean vessel, reigns in
heaven. And yet I wonder why they who detract from the flesh live after
the flesh, [2601] and cherish and delicately nurture that which is
their enemy. Perhaps indeed they wish to fulfil the words of scripture:
"love your enemies and bless them that persecute you." [2602] I love
the flesh, but I love it only when it is chaste, when it is virginal,
when it is mortified by fasting: I love not its works but itself, that
flesh which knows that it must be judged, and therefore dies as a
martyr for Christ, which is scourged and torn asunder and burned with
fire.
9. The folly also of their contention that certain heretics and
ill-disposed persons have tampered with Origen's writings may be shewn
thus. Could any person be more wise, more learned, or more eloquent
than were Eusebius and Didymus, Origen's supporters? Of these the
former in the six volumes of his Apology [2603] asserts that Origen is
of the same mind with himself; while the latter, though he tries to
excuse his errors, admits that he has made them. Not being able to deny
what he finds written, he endeavours to explain it away. It is one
thing to say that additions have been made by heretics, but another to
maintain that heretical statements are commendable. Origen's case would
be unique if his writings were falsified all over the world and if in
one day by an edict like that of Mithridates [2604] all the truth were
shorn from his volumes. Even supposing that some one treatise of his
has been tampered with, can it be possible that all his works,
published as they were at different times and places, have been
corrupted? Origen himself in a letter written to Fabian, bishop of
Rome, [2605] expresses penitence for having made erroneous statements,
and charges Ambrose [2606] with over haste in making public what was
meant only for private circulation. And yet to this day his disciples
search for shifts to prove that all that excites disapprobation in his
writings is due not to him but to others.
10. Moreover, when they speak of Pamphilus as one who praised Origen, I
am personally much obliged to them for accounting me worthy to be
calumniated with that martyr. For if, sirs, you tell me that Origen's
books have been tampered with by his enemies to bring them into
discredit; why may not I in my turn allege that his friends and
followers have attributed to Pamphilus a volume composed by themselves
to vindicate their master from disrepute by the testimony of a martyr?
Lo and behold, you yourselves correct in Origen's books passages which
(according to you) he never wrote: and yet you are surprised if a man
is said to have published a book which as a matter of fact he did not
publish. But while your statements can easily be brought to the test by
an appeal to Origen's published works; as Pamphilus has published
nothing else, it is easier for calumny to fix a book upon him. For shew
me any other work of Pamphilus; you will nowhere find any, this is his
only one. How then can I know that it is by Pamphilus? You will tell
me, that the style and tone ought to inform me. Well, I shall never
believe that a man so learned has dedicated the first fruits of his
talent to defend doubtful and discredited positions. The very name of
an apology which the treatise bears implies a previous charge made; for
nothing is defended that is not first attacked. I will now bring
forward but a single argument, one, however, the force of which only
folly and effrontery can deny. The treatise attributed to Pamphilus
contains nearly the first thousand lines of Eusebius's sixth book in
defence of Origen. [2607] Yet in the remaining parts of his work the
writer brings forward passages by which he seeks to prove that Origen
was a Catholic. Now Eusebius and Pamphilus were in such thorough
harmony with each other that they seemed to have but one soul between
them, and one even went so far as to adopt the other's name. [2608] How
then could they have disagreed so fundamentally on this point, Eusebius
in all his works proving Origen to be an Arian, and Pamphilus
describing him as a supporter of the Nicene council, which had not yet
been held? It is evident from this consideration that the book belongs
not to Pamphilus but to Didymus or somebody else, who having cut off
the head of Eusebius's sixth book supplied the other members himself.
But I am willing to be generous and to allow that the book is written
by Pamphilus, only by Pamphilus not yet a martyr. For he must have
written the book before he underwent martyrdom. And why, you will say,
was he accounted worthy of martyrdom? Surely that he might efface his
error by a martyr's death, and wash away his one fault by shedding his
blood. How many martyrs there have been all the world over who before
their deaths have been the slaves of sins! Are we then to palliate the
sins because those who committed them have afterwards become martyrs?
11. This reply to your letter, my most loving brothers, I have dictated
in all haste; and, overcoming my scruples, I have taken up my pen
against a man whose ability I once eulogized. I would sooner, indeed,
risk my reputation than my faith. My friends have placed me in the
awkward dilemma that if I say nothing I shall be held guilty, and if I
offer a defence I shall be accounted an enemy. Both alternatives are
hard; but of the two I will choose that which is the least so. A
quarrel can be made up, but blasphemy can find no forgiveness. I leave
to your judgment to discover how much labour I have expended in
translating the books On First Principles; for on the one hand if one
alters anything from the Greek the work becomes less a version than a
perversion; and on the other hand a literal adherence to the original
by no means tends to preserve the charm of its eloquence.
__________________________________________________________________
[2548] i.e. Rufinus's version of Origen's treatise, On First
Principles, with the Preface, translated in vol. iii. of this series.
See also Letters LXXX. and LXXXI.
[2549] 1 Thess. v. 15.
[2550] Rom. xii. 21.
[2551] Matt. v. 39.
[2552] Of these the two founders of Montanism the first was a Phrygian
of the second century who professed to be the special organ of the Holy
Ghost while the second was a female disciple who claimed to exercise
the gift of prophecy in furtherance of his aims.
[2553] Dimidiatam Christi introduxit oeconomiam. Apollinaris taught
that in Christ the divine personality supplied the place of a human
soul. In his view, therefore, Christ ceased to be "very man."
[2554] Eusebius, although he sided with the Arians, always claimed to
be orthodox. However, as Newman says, "his acts are his confession."
[2555] Isa. v. 20.
[2556] Hor. S. 1. x. 1-4.
[2557] See Letter L. § 2.
[2558] From this Jew Jerome took lessons in Hebrew during the earlier
years of his life at Bethlehem. From time to time he also consulted
other Jewish scholars.
[2559] Joh. iii. 2.
[2560] Cf. Rev. ii. 9.
[2561] Isa. vi. 2.
[2562] Cf. Letter XVIII. § 14.
[2563] Matt. vii. 6.
[2564] Ps. cxix. 11.
[2565] Ps. xv. 2, 3 from memory.
[2566] Gal. vi. 10.
[2567] stromateis , lit. = tapestries.' See note on Letter LXX. § 4.
[2568] The doctrine alluded to is probably that of the Trinity.
[2569] i.e. the Bishops present at Nicæa.
[2570] The founder of a Gnostic sect in the second century. He taught
first in Egypt and afterwards in Rome.
[2571] See note on Letter XLVIII. § 2.
[2572] The Montanists were so called because the headquarters of their
sect were at Pepuza a small village in Phrygia.
[2573] Croesus when he asked whether he should resist Cyrus was told
that, if he did so, he would overthrow a mighty kingdom, a prophecy
fulfilled in his own destruction; while Pyrrhus long afterwards
received an equally evasive answer in the words, "Pyrrhus the Sons of
Rome may well defeat."
[2574] 1 Cor. xv. 40.
[2575] Article XI. of the Apostles' Creed speaks in the original forms
of the resurrection not of "the body" but of "the flesh:" and it is
still found in this shape in the Anglican office for the visitation of
the sick.
[2576] Cf. Matt. xxii. 30.
[2577] Cf. Luke xxiv. 39.
[2578] A favourite metaphor with Jerome to describe the nature of
Christian penitence.
[2579] Ps. xcv. 6, Vulg.
[2580] A.V. prove.'
[2581] 1 Thess. v. 21.
[2582] See note on § 2 above.
[2583] Acts iii. 21.
[2584] See Jerome's preface to his version of Origen's Homilies on
Ezekiel: and his preface to his own Treatise on Hebrew Names. See also
Letter XXXIII.
[2585] Origen died at Tyre about the year 255 a.d.
[2586] See note on Letter LXX. § 4.
[2587] tomoi.
[2588] Tractatus.
[2589] Hexaëmeron: an account of the creation is meant.
[2590] Gen. xxxiv. 30.
[2591] His father Leonides suffered martyrdom in the persecution of
Severus.
[2592] Rom. x. 2.
[2593] i.e. Judas the Gaulonite whose fanatical rising against the
Romans is mentioned in Acts v. 37.
[2594] Hor. A. P. 359, 360.
[2595] Cf. Gal. i. 8.
[2596] Rom. i. 8.
[2597] The (traditional) founders of the Roman Church.
[2598] Jerome was baptized at Rome about the year 367 a.d.
[2599] Pelusiotæ, men of Pelusium, supposed to be derived from pelos,
"clay." See Jerome's Comm. on Jer. xxix. 14-20.
[2600] Gal. iv. 26.
[2601] See the description of Rufinus in Letter CXXV. 18.
[2602] Matt. v. 44 from memory.
[2603] This treatise the joint work of Eusebius and his friend
Pamphilus has perished. Part of the Latin version of Rufinus still
remains. Jerome at this time erroneously supposed that the two friends
had written separate works in defence of Origen. (See De VV. Ill. c.
75, 81, in vol. iii. of this series.)
[2604] In accordance with this edict (promulgated in 88 b.c.) all the
Romans in Pontus were massacred in one day.
[2605] This letter is no longer extant.
[2606] A wealthy Alexandrian, who employed shorthand writers to take
down Origen's lectures. Euseb. Eccl. Hist. B. vi. c. 23.
[2607] If the text is sound here Jerome is again misled by supposing
that Eusebius and Pamphilus had written separate books in defence of
Origen.
[2608] Eusebius calls himself Eusebius Pamphili, that is, the friend of
Pamphilus.'
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXXV. To Paulinus.
Paulinus had asked Jerome two questions, (1) how can certain passages
of scripture (Exod. vii. 13; Rom. ix. 16) be reconciled with Free Will?
and (2) Why are the children of believers said to be holy (1 Cor. vii.
14) apart from baptismal grace? For the first of these questions Jerome
refers Paulinus to his version (newly made) of Origen's treatise, On
First Principles. For the second he quotes the explanation of
Tertullian. Written in 400 a.d.
1. Your words urge me to write to you but your eloquence deters me from
doing so. For as a letter-writer you are almost as good as Tully. You
complain that my letters are short and unpolished: this is not due to
carelessness but to fear of you, lest writing to you at greater length
I should but send you more sentences to find fault with. Moreover, to
make a clean breast of it to a good man like you, just about the time
the vessels sail for the west, so many letters are demanded of me at
once that, if I were to reply to all my correspondents, I should be
unable to accomplish my task. Hence it happens that, neglecting the
niceties of composition and not revising the work of my secretaries, I
dictate whatever first comes into my head. Thus when I write to you I
regard you as a friend and not as a critic.
2. Your letter propounds two questions, the first, why God hardened
Pharaoh's heart, and why the apostle said: "So then it is not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy;"
[2609] and other things which appear to do away with free will: the
second, how those are holy who are born of believing, that is, of
baptized parents, [2610] seeing that without the gift of grace
afterwards received and kept they cannot be saved.
3. Your first question is most ably answered by Origen in his treatise
on First Principles which, at the request of my friend Pammachius, I
have recently translated. This task has occupied me so fully that I am
unable to keep my word with you and must again postpone the sending my
commentary on Daniel. Indeed, distinguished and devoted to me as
Pammachius is, had he been alone in his request, I should have deferred
it to another time, but, as it was, almost all our brothers at Rome
urged the same demand declaring that many persons were in danger, and
that some even accepted Origen's heretical teaching. I have found
myself forced therefore to translate a book in which there is more of
bad than of good, and to keep to this rule that I should neither add
nor subtract but should preserve in Latin in its integrity the true
sense of the Greek. You will be able to borrow a copy of my version
from the aforesaid brother, though in your case the Greek will serve
quite as well; neither should you, who can drink from the fountain
head, turn to the muddy streamlets supplied by my poor wits.
4. Moreover, as I am speaking to an educated man, well versed both in
the sacred scriptures and in secular literature, I desire to give your
excellency this note of warning. Do not suppose that I am a clumsy
buffoon [2611] who condemn everything that Origen has written,--as his
injudicious friends falsely assert--or that I have changed my mind as
suddenly as the philosopher Dionysius. [2612] The fact is that I
repudiate merely his objectionable dogmas. For I know that one curse
hangs over those who call evil good and over those who call good evil,
over those who put bitter for sweet, and over those who put sweet for
bitter. [2613] Who would go so far in praise of another man's teaching
as to acquiesce in blasphemy?
5. Your second question is discussed by Tertullian in his books on
Monogamy [2614] where he declares that the children of believers are
called holy because they are as it were candidates for the faith and
have suffered no pollution from idolatry. Consider also that the
vessels of which we read in the tabernacle are called holy and
everything else required for the ceremonial worship: although in
strictness of speech there can be nothing holy except creatures which
know of and worship God. But it is a scriptural usage sometimes to give
the name of holy to those who are clean, or who have been purified, or
who have made expiation. For instance, it is written of Bathsheba that
she was made holy [2615] from her uncleanness, [2616] and the temple
itself is called the holy place.
6. I beg that you will not silently in your mind accuse me either of
vanity or of insincerity. God bears me witness in my conscience that
the unavoidable circumstances mentioned above drew me back when I was
just going to grapple with my commentary; and you know that what is
done when the mind is pre-occupied is never well done. I gladly accept
the cap that you have sent me, a mark, though small, of no small
affection and just the thing to keep an old man's head warm. I am
delighted alike with the gift and with the giver.
__________________________________________________________________
[2609] Rom. ix. 16.
[2610] 1 Cor. vii. 14.
[2611] Cf. Hor. S. II. viii. 21.
[2612] Dionysius of Heraclea called the renegade because he abandoned
the Stoic for the Cyrenaic school.
[2613] Isa. v. 20.
[2614] Ad. Ux. ii. 2.
[2615] A.V. purified.'
[2616] 2 Sam. xi. 4.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXXVI. To Theophilus.
Jerome congratulates Theophilus on the success of his crusade against
Origenism, and speaks of the good work done in Palestine by his
emissaries Priscus and Eubulus. He then (by a singular change in his
sentiments) asks Theophilus to forgive John of Jerusalem for having
unwittingly received an excommunicated Egyptian. The date of the Letter
is 400 a.d.
Jerome to the most blessed Pope Theophilus. I have recently received
despatches from your blessedness setting right your long silence and
summoning me to return to my duty. So, though the reverend brothers
Priscus and Eubulus have been slow in bringing me your letters, yet, as
they are now hastening in the ardour of faith from end to end of
Palestine and scattering and driving into their holes the basilisks of
heresy, I write a few lines to congratulate you on your success. The
whole world glories in your victories. An exultant crowd of all nations
gazes on the standard of the cross raised by you at Alexandria and upon
the shining trophies which mark your triumph over heresy. Blessings on
your courage! blessings on your zeal! You have shewn that your long
silence has been due to policy and not to inclination. I speak quite
openly to your reverence. I grieved to find you too forbearing, and,
knowing nothing of the course shaped by the pilot, I yearned for the
destruction of those abandoned men. But, as I now see, you have had
your hand raised and, if you have delayed to strike, it has only been
that you might strike harder. As regards the welcome given to a certain
person, [2617] you have no reason to be vexed with the prelate of this
city; [2618] for as you gave no instructions on the point in your
letter, it would have been rash in him to decide a case of which he
knew nothing. Still I think that he would neither wish nor venture to
annoy you in any way.
__________________________________________________________________
[2617] Doubtless some Egyptian monk or ecclesiastic placed under ban by
Theophilus on account of Origenism.
[2618] John of Jerusalem. He had probably, like Rufinus, been
reconciled to Jerome, and seems to have taken no part in the subsequent
quarrel between Jerome and Rufinus.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXXVII. From Theophilus to Jerome.
Theophilus informs Jerome that he has expelled the Origenists from the
monasteries of Nitria, and urges him to shew his zeal for the faith by
writing against the prevalent heresy. The date of the letter is 400
a.d.
Theophilus, bishop, to the well-beloved and most loving brother, the
presbyter Jerome. The reverend bishop Agatho with the well-beloved
deacon Athanasius is accredited to you with tidings relating to the
church. When you learn their import I feel no doubt but that you will
approve my resolution and will exult in the church's victory. For we
have cut down with the prophet's sickle [2619] certain wicked fanatics
who were eager to sow broadcast in the monasteries of Nitria the heresy
of Origen. We have remembered the warning words of the apostle, "rebuke
with all authority." [2620] Do you therefore on your part, as you hope
to receive a share in this reward, make haste to bring back with
scriptural discourses those who have been deceived. It is our desire,
if possible, to guard in our days not only the Catholic faith and the
rules of the church, but the people committed to our charge, and to
give a quietus to all strange doctrines.
__________________________________________________________________
[2619] Joel iii. 13.
[2620] Tit. ii. 15.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXXVIII. To Theophilus.
Replying to the preceding letter Jerome again congratulates Theophilus
on the success of his efforts to put down Origenism, and informs him
that they have already borne fruit as far west as Italy. He then asks
him for the decrees of his council (held recently at Alexandria). The
date of the letter is 400 a.d.
Jerome to the most blessed pope Theophilus. The letter of your holiness
has given me a twofold pleasure, partly because it has had for its
bearers those reverend and estimable men, the bishop Agatho and the
deacon Athanasius, and partly because it has shewn your zeal for the
faith against a most wicked heresy. The voice of your holiness has rung
throughout the world, and to the joy of all Christ's churches the
poisonous suggestions of the devil have been silenced. The old serpent
[2621] hisses no longer, but, writhing and disembowelled, lurks in dark
caverns unable to bear the shining of the sun. I have already, before
the writing of your letter, sent missives to the West pointing out to
those of my own language some of the quibbles employed by the heretics.
I hold it due to the special providence of God that you should have
written to the pope Anastasius [2622] at the same time as myself, and
should thus without knowing it have been the means of confirming my
testimony. Now that you have directly urged me to do so, I shall shew
myself more zealous than ever to recall from their error simple souls
both near and far. Nor shall I hesitate, if needful, to incur odium
with some, for we ought to please God rather than men: [2623] although
indeed they have been much more forward to defend their heresy than I
and others have been to attack it. At the same time I beg that if you
have any synodical decrees bearing upon the subject you will forward
them to me, that, strengthened with the authority of so great a
prelate, I may open my mouth for Christ with more freedom and
confidence. The presbyter Vincent has arrived from Rome two days ago
and humbly salutes you. He tells me again and again that Rome and
almost the whole of Italy owe their deliverance after Christ to your
letters. Shew diligence therefore, most loving and most blessed pope,
and whenever opportunity offers write to the bishops of the West not to
hesitate--in your own words [2624] --to cut down with a sharp sickle
the sprouts of evil.
__________________________________________________________________
[2621] Rev. xii. 9.
[2622] Bishop of Rome, a.d. 398-402.
[2623] Acts v. 29.
[2624] See the preceding letter.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter LXXXIX. From Theophilus to Jerome.
This letter (probably earlier in date than the three preceding)
commends to Jerome the monk Theodore, who, having come from Rome to
declare the condemnation of Origenism by the church there, had visited
the monasteries of Nitria now purged of heresy, and wished before
returning to the West to see the Holy Places as well. The date of the
letter is 400 a.d.
Theophilus, bishop, to the well-beloved lord and most loving brother
the presbyter Jerome. I have learned the project of the monk
Theodore--which will be known also to your holiness--and I approve of
it. Having to leave us on a voyage for Rome, he has been unwilling to
set out without first visiting and embracing as his own flesh and blood
you and the reverend brothers who are with you in the monastery. You
will, I am sure, rejoice in the news with which he will meet your
welcome, that quiet has been restored to the church here. He has seen
all the monasteries of Nitria and can tell you of the continence and
meekness of the monks in them; as also how the Origenists have been put
down and scattered, how peace has been restored to the church, and how
the discipline of the Lord is being upheld. How gladly would I see the
mask of hypocrisy laid aside by those also who near you are said to be
undermining the truth. I feel obliged to write thus because the
brothers in your neighbourhood [2625] are mistaken concerning them.
Wherefore take heed to yourselves and shun men of this type; even as it
is written:--"if any man bring not to you the faith of the church, bid
him not God speed." [2626] It may, indeed, be superfluous to write thus
to you who can recall the erring from their error, yet no harm is done
when those careful for the faith admonish even the wise and learned.
Kindly salute in my name all the brothers who are with you.
__________________________________________________________________
[2625] The bishops of Palestine are meant. See Letter XCII.
[2626] 2 John 10, inexactly quoted.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XC. From Theophilus to Epiphanius.
Theophilus writes to Epiphanius to convoke a council in Cyprus for the
condemnation of Origenism and asks him to transmit to Constantinople by
a trustworthy messenger a copy of its decrees together with the
synodical letter of Theophilus himself. His anxiety about this last
point is caused by the news that certain of the excommunicated monks
have set sail for Constantinople to lay their case before the bishop,
John Chrysostom. The date of the letter is 400 a.d.
Theophilus to his well-beloved lord, brother, and fellow-bishop
Epiphanius.
The Lord has said to his prophet "See, I have this day set thee over
the nations and over the kingdoms to root out and to pull down and to
destroy and...to build and to plant." [2627] In every age he bestows
the same grace upon his church, that His Body [2628] may be preserved
intact and that the poison of heretical opinions may nowhere prevail
over it. And now also do we see the words fulfilled. For the church of
Christ "not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing" [2629] has with
the sword of the gospel cut down the Origenist serpents crawling out of
their caves, and has delivered from their deadly contagion the fruitful
host of the monks of Nitria. I have compressed a short account of my
proceedings (it was all that time would allow) into the general letter
[2630] which I have addressed indiscriminately to all. As your
excellency has often fought in contests of the kind before me, it is
your present duty to strengthen the hands of those who are in the field
and to gather together to this end the bishops of your entire island.
[2631] A synodical letter should be sent to myself and the bishop of
Constantinople [2632] and to any others whom you think fit; that by
universal consent Origen himself may be expressly condemned and also
the infamous heresy of which he was the author. I have learned that
certain calumniators of the true faith, named Ammonius, Eusebius, and
Euthymius, filled with a fresh access of enthusiasm in behalf of the
heresy, have taken ship for Constantinople, to ensnare with their
deceits as many new converts as they can and to confer anew with the
old companions of their impiety. Let it be your care, therefore, to set
forth the course of the matter to all the bishops throughout Isauria
and Pamphylia and the rest of the neighbouring provinces: moreover, if
you think fit, you can add my letter, so that all of us gathered
together in one spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ may
deliver these men unto Satan for the destruction of the impiety which
possesses them. [2633] And to ensure the speedy arrival of my
despatches at Constantinople, send a diligent messenger, one of the
clergy (as I send fathers from the monasteries of Nitria with others
also of the monks, learned men and continent) that when they arrive
they may be able themselves to relate what has been done. Above all I
beg of you to offer up earnest prayers to the Lord that we may be able
in this contest also to gain the victory; for no small joy has filled
the hearts of the people both in Alexandria and throughout all Egypt,
because a few men have been expelled from the Church that the body of
it might be kept pure. Salute the brothers who are with you. The people
[2634] with us salute you in the Lord.
__________________________________________________________________
[2627] Jer. i. 10.
[2628] Eph. i. 23.
[2629] Eph. v. 27.
[2630] Letter XCII.
[2631] Cyprus.
[2632] i.e. John Chrysostom who had been raised to the patriarchate in
398 a.d.
[2633] Cf. 1 Cor. v. 4, 5.
[2634] Plebs.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XCI. From Epiphanius to Jerome.
An exultant letter from Epiphanius in which he describes the success of
his council (convened at the suggestion of Theophilus), sends Jerome a
copy of its synodical letter. and urges him to go on with his work of
translating into Latin documents bearing on the Origenistic
controversy. Written in 400 a.d.
To his most loving lord, son, and brother, the presbyter Jerome,
Epiphanius sends greeting in the Lord. The general epistle written
[2635] to all Catholics belongs particularly to you; for you, having a
zeal for the faith against all heresies, particularly oppose the
disciples of Origen and of Apollinaris whose poisoned roots and deeply
planted impiety almighty God has dragged forth into our midst, that
having been unearthed at Alexandria they might wither throughout the
world. For know, my beloved son, that Amalek has been destroyed root
and branch and that the trophy of the cross has been set up on the hill
of Rephidim. [2636] For as when the hands of Moses were held up on high
Israel prevailed, so the Lord has strengthened His servant Theophilus
to plant His standard against Origen on the altar of the church of
Alexandria; that in him might be fulfilled the words: "Write this for a
memorial, for I will utterly put out Origen's heresy from under heaven
together with that Amalek himself." And that I may not appear to be
repeating the same things over and over and thus to be making my letter
tedious, I send you the actual missive written to me that you may know
what Theophilus has said to me, and what a great blessing the Lord has
granted to my last days in approving the principles which I have always
proclaimed by the testimony of so great a prelate. I fancy that by this
time you also have published something and that, as I suggested in my
former letter to you on this subject, you have elaborated a treatise
for readers of your own language. For I hear that certain of those who
have made shipwreck [2637] have come also to the West, and that, not
content with their own destruction, they desire to involve others in
death with them; as if they thought that the multitude of sinners
lessens the guilt of sin and the flames of Gehenna do not grow in size
in proportion as more logs are heaped upon them. With you and by you we
send our best greetings to the reverend brothers who are with you in
the monastery serving God.
__________________________________________________________________
[2635] By Theophilus.
[2636] Cf. Exod. xvii. 8-14.
[2637] 1 Tim. i. 19.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XCII. The Synodical Letter of Theophilus to the Bishops of
Palestine and of Cyprus.
The synodical letter of the council held at Alexandria in 400 a.d. to
condemn Origenism. Written originally in Greek it was translated into
Latin by Jerome.
This letter has been sent in identical terms to the Bishops of
Palestine and to those of Cyprus. We reproduce the headings of both
copies. That to the Bishops of Palestine commences thus: To the
well-beloved lords, brothers, and fellow-bishops, Eulogius, John,
Zebianus, Auxentius, Dionysius, Gennadius, Zeno, Theodosius, Dicterius,
Porphyry, Saturninus, Alan, Paul, Ammonius, Helianus, Eusebius, the
other Paul, and to all the Catholic bishops gathered together at the
dedication festival of Ælid, [2638] Theophilus [sends] greeting in the
Lord.
The Cyprians he addresses thus: To the well-beloved lords, brothers,
and fellow-bishops, Epiphanius, Marcianus, Agapetus, Boethius,
Helpidius, Entasius, Norbanus, Macedonius. Aristo, Zeno, Asiaticus,
Heraclides, the other Zeno, Cyriacus, and Aphroditus, Theophilus
[sends] greeting in the Lord.
The scope of the letter is as follows:
We have personally visited the monasteries of Nitria and find that the
Origenistic heresy has made great ravages among them. It is accompanied
by a strange fanaticism: men even maim themselves or cut out their
tongues [2639] to show how they despise the body. I find that some men
of this kind have gone from Egypt into Syria and other countries [2640]
where they speak against us and the truth.
The books of Origen have been read before a council of bishops and
unanimously condemned. The following are his chief errors, mainly found
in the peri 'Archon.
1. The Son compared with us is truth, but compared with the Father he
is falsehood.
2. Christ's kingdom will one day come to an end.
3. We ought to pray to the Father alone, not to the Son.
4. Our bodies after the resurrection will be corruptible and mortal.
5. There is nothing perfect even in heaven; the angels themselves are
faulty, and some of them feed on the Jewish sacrifices.
6. The stars are conscious of their own movements, and the demons know
the future by their courses.
7. Magic, if real, is not evil.
8. Christ suffered once for men; he will suffer again for the demons.
The Origenists have tried to coerce me; they have even stirred up the
heathen by denouncing the destruction of the Serapeum; and have sought
to withdraw from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction two persons accused of
grave crimes. One of these is the woman [2641] who was wrongly placed
on the list of widows by Isidore, the other Isidore himself. He is the
standard-bearer of the heretical faction, and his wealth supplies them
with unbounded resources for their violent enterprises. They have tried
to murder me; they seized the monastery church at Nitria, and for a
time prevented the bishops from entering and the offices from being
performed. Now, like Zebul (Beelzebub) they go to and fro on the earth.
I have done them no harm; I have even protected them. But I would not
let an old friendship (with Isidore) impair our faith and discipline. I
implore you to oppose them wherever they come, and to prevent them from
unsettling the brethren committed to you.
__________________________________________________________________
[2638] In Æliæ encæniis. Ælia was the name given by the emperor Hadrian
to the Roman colony founded by him on the site of Jerusalem.
[2639] The monk Ammonius is said to have done this and similar things.
[2640] Some fifty, led by Ammonius and his three brothers (called the
Long or Tall Monks) went first to Syria and then to Constantinople.
[2641] This woman is said to have brought a charge of immorality
against Isidore and then suppressed it on being placed by him on the
list of widows who received the church's bounty. Isidore was now eighty
years old, and there were many causes for the quarrel. Palladius,
Socrates and Sozomen intimate that the real cause of Theophilus' enmity
to his old confidant Isidore was that Isidore knew secrets unfavorable
to Theophilus. He afterwards went with the Long Monks to
Constantinople, where Chrysostom by his reception of them incurred the
hatred of Theophilus. See Jerome Letter CXIII.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XCIII. From the Bishops of Palestine to Theophilus.
The synodical letter of the council of Jerusalem sent to Theophilus in
reply to the preceding. The translation as before is due to Jerome.
The following is an epitome: We have done all that you wished, and
Palestine is almost wholly free from the taint of heresy. We wish that
not only the Origenists, but Jews, Samaritans and heathen also, could
be put down. Origenism does not exist among us. The doctrines you
describe are never heard here. We anathematize those who hold such
doctrines, and also those of Apollinaris, and shall not receive anyone
whom you excommunicate.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XCIV. From Dionysius to Theophilus.
In this letter (translated into Latin by Jerome) Dionysius, bishop of
Lydda, praises Theophilus for his signal victories over Origenism and
urges him to continue his efforts against that heresy. Written in 400
a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XCV. From Pope Anastasius to Simplicianus.
At the request of Theophilus Anastasius, bishop of Rome, writes to
Simplicianus, bishop of Milan, to inform him that he, like Theophilus,
has condemned Origen whose blasphemies have been brought under his
notice by Eusebius of Cremona. This latter had shown him a copy of the
version by Rufinus of the treatise On First Principles. The date of the
letter is 400 a.d.
To his lord and brother Simplicianus, Anastasius.
1. It is felt right that a shepherd should bestow great care and
watchfulness upon his flock. In like manner too from his lofty tower
the careful watchman keeps a lookout day and night on behalf of the
city. So also in the hour of tempest when the sea is dangerous the
shipmaster suffers keen anxiety [2642] lest the gale and the violence
of the waves shall dash his vessel upon the rocks. It is with similar
feelings that the reverend and honourable Theophilus our brother and
fellow-bishop, ceases not to watch over the things that make for
salvation, that God's people in the different churches may not by
reading Origen run into awful blasphemies.
2. Being informed, then, by a letter of the aforesaid bishop, we inform
your holiness that we in like manner who are set in the city of Rome in
which the prince of the apostles, the glorious Peter, first founded the
church and then by his faith strengthened it; to the end that no man
may contrary to the commandment read these books which we have
mentioned, have condemned the same; and have with earnest prayers urged
the strict observance of the precepts which God and Christ have
inspired the evangelists to teach. We have charged men to remember the
words of the venerable apostle Paul, prophetic and full of
warning:--"if any than preach any other gospel unto you than that which
we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." [2643] Holding fast,
therefore, this precept, we have intimated that everything written in
days gone by Origen that is contrary to our faith is even by us
rejected and condemned.
3. I send this letter to your holiness by the hand of the presbyter
Eusebius, [2644] a man filled with a glowing faith and love for the
Lord. He has shewn to me some blasphemous chapters which made me
shudder as I passed judgement on them. If Origen has put forth any
other writings, you are to know that they and their author are alike
condemned by me. The Lord have you in safe keeping, my lord and brother
deservedly held in honour.
__________________________________________________________________
[2642] Magister hactenus navis hora tempestatis æquoris et periculo
magnam patitur animi jactationem.
[2643] Gal. i. 8.
[2644] See the account of the meeting of Eusebius with Rufinus in the
presence of Simplicianus. Ruf. Apol. i. 19.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XCVI. From Theophilus.
A translation by Jerome of Theophilus's paschal letter for the year 401
a.d. In it Theophilus refutes at length the heresies of Apollinaris and
Origen.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XCVII. To Pammachius and Marcella.
With this letter Jerome sends to Pammachius and Marcella a translation
of the paschal letter issued by Theophilus for the year 402 a.d.
together with the Greek original. He takes the precaution of sending
this latter because in the preceding year complaints have been made
that his translation was not accurate. Written in 402 a.d.
1. Once more with the return of spring I enrich you with the wares of
the east and send the treasures of Alexandria to Rome: as it is
written, "God shall come from the south and the Holy One from Mount
Paran, even a thick shadow." [2645] (Hence in the Song of Songs the
joyous cry of the bride: "I sat down under his shadow with great
delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste." [2646] ) Now truly is
Isaiah's prophecy fulfilled: "In that day shall there be an altar to
the Lord in the land of Egypt." [2647] "Where sin hath abounded, grace
doth much more abound." [2648] They who fostered the infant Christ now
with glowing faith defend Him in His manhood; and they who once saved
Him from the hands of Herod are ready to save Him again from this
blasphemer and heretic. Demetrius expelled Origen from the city of
Alexander; but he is now thanks to Theophilus outlawed from the whole
world. Like him to whom Luke has dedicated the Acts of the Apostles
[2649] this bishop derives his name from his love to God. Where now is
the wriggling serpent? [2650] In what plight does the venomous viper
find himself? His is
A human face with wolfish body joined. [2651]
Where now is that heresy which crawled hissing through the world and
boasted that both the bishop Theophilus and I were partisans of its
errors? Where now is the yelping of those shameless hounds who, to win
over the simple minded, falsely proclaimed our adherence to their
cause? Crushed by the authority and eloquence of Theophilus they are
now like demon-spirits only able to mutter and that from out of the
earth. [2652] For they know nothing of Him who, as He comes from above,
[2653] speaks only of the things that are above.
2. Would that this generation of vipers [2654] would either honestly
accept our doctrines, or else consistently defend its own; that we
might know whom we are to esteem and whom we are to shun. As it is they
have invented a new kind of penitence, hating us as enemies though they
dare not deny our faith. What, I ask, is this chagrin of theirs which
neither time nor reason seems able to cure? When swords flash in battle
and men fall and blood flows in streams, hostile hands are often
clasped in amity and the fury of war is exchanged for an unexpected
peace. The partisans of this heresy alone can make no terms with
churchmen; for they repudiate mentally the verbal assent that is
extorted from them. When their open blasphemy is made plain to the
public ear, and when they perceive their hearers clamouring against
them; then they assume an air of simplicity, declaring that they hear
such doctrines for the first time and that they have no previous
knowledge of them as taught by their master. And when you hold their
writings in your hand, they deny with their lips what their hands have
written. Why, sirs, need you beset the Propontis, [2655] shift your
abode, wander through different countries, and rend with foaming mouths
a distinguished prelate of Christ and his followers? If your
recantations are sincere, you should replace your former zeal for error
with an equal zeal for the faith. Why do you patch together from this
quarter and from that these rags of cursing? And why do you rail at the
lives of men whose faith you cannot resist? Do you cease to be heretics
because according to you sundry persons believe us to be sinners? And
does impiety cease to disfigure your lips because you can point to
scars on our ears? So long as you have a leopard's spots and an
Ethiopian's skin, [2656] how can it help your perfidy to know that I
too am marked by moles? See, Pope Theophilus is freely allowed to prove
Origen a heretic; and the disciples do not defend the master's words.
They merely pretend that they have been altered by heretics and
tampered with, like the works of many other writers. Thus they seek to
maintain his cause not by their own belief but by other people's
errors. So much I would say against heretics who in the fury of their
unjust hostility to us betray the secret feelings of their minds and
prove the incurable nature of the wound that rankles in their breasts.
3. But you are Christians and the lights of the senate: accept
therefore from me the letter which I append. [2657] This year I send it
both in Greek and Latin that the heretics may not again lyingly assert
that I have made many changes in and additions to the original. I have
laboured hard, I must confess, to preserve the charm of the diction by
a like elegance in my version: and keeping within fixed lines and never
allowing myself to deviate from these I have done my best to maintain
the smooth flow of the writer's eloquence and to render his remarks in
the tone in which they are made. Whether I have succeeded in these two
objects or not I must leave to your judgement to determine. As for the
letter itself you are to know that it is divided into four parts. In
the first Theophilus exhorts believers to celebrate the Lord's
passover; in the second he slays Apollinarius; in the third he
demolishes Origen; while in the fourth and last he exhorts the heretics
to penitence. If the polemic against Origen should seem to you to be
inadequate, you are to remember that Origenism was fully treated in
last year's letter; [2658] and that this which I have just translated,
as it aims at brevity, was not bound to dwell farther upon the subject.
Besides, its terse and clear confession of faith directed against
Apollinarius is not lacking in dialectical subtlety. Theophilus first
wrests the dagger from his opponent's hand, and then stabs him to the
heart.
4. Entreat the Lord, therefore, that a composition which has won favour
in Greek may not fail to win it also in Latin, and that what the whole
East admires and praises Rome may gladly take to her heart. And may the
chair of the apostle Peter by its preaching confirm the preaching of
the chair of the evangelist Mark. Popular rumour, indeed, has it that
the blessed pope Anastasius is of like zeal and spirit with Theophilus
and that he has pursued the heretics even to the dens in which they
lurk. Moreover his own letters inform us that he condemns in the West
what is already condemned in the East. May he live for many years
[2659] so that the reviving sprouts of heresy may in course of time by
his efforts be made to wither and to die.
__________________________________________________________________
[2645] Hab. iii. 3, LXX.
[2646] Cant. ii. 3.
[2647] Isa. xix. 19.
[2648] Rom. v. 20.
[2649] Acts i. 1.
[2650] The allusion is to Rufinus.
[2651] Virg. A. iii. 426.
[2652] Cf. 1 Sam. xxviii. 13.
[2653] Joh. viii. 23.
[2654] Matt. iii. 7.
[2655] Many of the Egyptian Origenists had fled to Constantinople and
thrown themselves on the kindness of the patriarch John Chrysostom.
[2656] Jer. xiii. 23.
[2657] Letter XCVIII.
[2658] Letter XCVI.
[2659] He was already dead when these words were written.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XCVIII. From Theophilus.
A translation by Jerome of Theophilus's paschal letter for the year 402
a.d. Like that of the previous year (Letter XCVI.) it deals mainly with
the heresies of Apollinarius and Origen.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter XCIX. To Theophilus.
Jerome forwards to Theophilus a translation of the latter's paschal
letter for 404 a.d. and apologizes for his delay in sending it, on the
ground that ill-health and grief for the death of Paula have prevented
him from doing literary work. The date of the letter is 404 a.d.
To the most blessed pope Theophilus, Jerome.
1. From the time that I received the letters of your holiness together
with the paschal treatise [2660] until the present day I have been so
harassed with sorrow and mourning, with anxiety, and with the different
reports which have come from all quarters concerning the condition of
the church, that I have hardly been able to turn your volume into
Latin. You know the truth of the old saying, grief chokes utterance;
and it is more than ever true when to sickness of the mind is added
sickness of the body. I have now been five days in bed in a burning
fever: consequently it is only by using the greatest haste that I can
dictate this very letter. But I wish to shew your holiness in a few
words what pains I have taken, in translating your treatise, to
transfer the charm of diction which marks every sentence in the
original, and to make the style of the Latin correspond in some degree
with that of the Greek.
2. At the outset you use the language of philosophy; and, without
appearing to particularize, you slay one [2661] while you instruct all.
In the remaining sections--a task most difficult of accomplishment--you
combine philosophy and rhetoric and draw together for us Demosthenes
and Plato. What diatribes you have launched against self-indulgence!
What eulogies you have bestowed upon the virtue of continence! With
what secret stores of wisdom you have spoken of the interchange of day
and night, the course of the moon, the laws of the sun, the nature of
our world; always appealing to the authority of scripture lest in a
paschal treatise you should appear to have borrowed anything from
secular sources! To be brief, I am afraid to praise you for these
things lest I should be charged with offering flattery. The book is
excellent both in the philosophical portions and where, without making
personal attacks, you plead the cause which you have espoused.
Wherefore, I beseech you, pardon me my backwardness: I have been so
completely overcome by the falling asleep of the holy and venerable
Paula [2662] that except my translation of this book I have hitherto
written nothing bearing on sacred subjects. As you yourself know, I
have suddenly lost the comforter whom I have led about with me,
not--the Lord is my witness--to minister to my own needs, but for the
relief and refreshment of the saints upon whom she has waited with all
diligence. Your holy and estimable daughter Eustochium (who refuses to
be comforted for the loss of her mother), and with her all the
brotherhood humbly salute you. Kindly send me the books which you say
that you have lately written that I may translate them or, if not that,
at least read them. Farewell in Christ.
__________________________________________________________________
[2660] Letter C.
[2661] Origen.
[2662] See Letter CVIII.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter C. From Theophilus.
A translation by Jerome of Theophilus's paschal letter for 404 a.d. In
it Theophilus inculcates penitence for sinners, recommends the practice
of fasting and condemns the errors of Origen.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CI. From Augustine.
A letter from Augustine in which he denies that he has written a book
against Jerome and sent it to Rome but confesses that he has criticized
him although without giving details. Written in 402 a.d. This and the
following letters are to be found in the First Volume of the First
Series of this Library. Letter LXVII.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CII. To Augustine.
Jerome's reply to the foregoing in which, it has been said, friendship
struggles with suspicion and resentment. He warns Augustine not to
provoke him, lest old as he is he may prove a dangerous opponent; and
encloses part of his reply to the apology of Rufinus. Written in 402
a.d. See Augustine, vol. i., Letter XXXIX.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CIII. To Augustine.
A letter of introduction in which Jerome commends the deacon Præsidius
to the kind offices of Augustine. Written in 403 a.d. See Augustine,
vol. i., Letter XXXIX.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CIV. From Augustine.
In this letter Augustine (1) commends to Jerome the deacon Cyprian, (2)
explains how it is that his first letter (Letter LVI.) has miscarried,
and (3) urges Jerome to base his scriptural labours not on the Hebrew
text but on the version of the LXX. The date of the letter is 403 a.d.
See Augustine, vol. i., Letter LXXI.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CV. To Augustine.
Jerome's answer to the foregoing. He complains that even now he has not
received Augustine's letter and asks him to send him a copy of it.
Popular rumour, he declares, credits Augustine with a deliberate
suppression of the letter in order that he may seem to win an easy
victory over his opponent. Jerome next deals with Augustine's denial of
having made a written attack upon him and concludes by refusing for the
present all discussion of points of criticism. The date of the letter
is 403 a.d. See Augustine, vol. i., Letter LXXII.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CVI. To Sunnias and Fretela.
A long letter in which Jerome answers a number of questions put to him
by two sojourners in Getica, Sunnias and Fretela. Diligent students of
scripture, these men were at a loss to understand the frequent
differences between Jerome's Latin psalter of 383 a.d. (the so-called
Roman psalter) and the LXX, and accordingly sent him a long list of
passages with a request for explanation. Jerome in his reply deals
fully with all these and points out to his correspondents that they
have been misled by their edition of the LXX. (the "common" edition)
which differs widely from the critical text of Origen as given in the
Hexapla and used by himself. He also expresses his joy to find that
even among the Getæ the scriptures are now diligently studied. The date
of the letter is about 403 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CVII. To Laeta.
Laeta, the daughter-in-law of Paula, having written from Rome to ask
Jerome how she ought to bring up her infant daughter (also called
Paula) as a virgin consecrated to Christ, Jerome now instructs her in
detail as to the child's training and education. Feeling some doubt,
however, as to whether the scheme proposed by him will be practicable
at Rome, he advises Laeta in case of difficulty to send Paula to
Bethlehem where she will be under the care of her grandmother and aunt,
the elder Paula and Eustochium. Laeta subsequently accepted Jerome's
advice and sent the child to Bethlehem where she eventually succeeded
Eustochium as head of the nunnery founded by her grandmother. The date
of the letter is 403 a.d.
1. The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians and instructing in
sacred discipline a church still untaught in Christ has among other
commandments laid down also this: "The woman which hath an husband that
believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not
leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing
wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband;
else were your children unclean but now are they holy." [2663] Should
any person have supposed hitherto that the bonds of discipline are too
far relaxed and that too great indulgence is conceded by the teacher,
let him look at the house of your father, a man of the highest
distinction and learning, but one still walking in darkness; and he
will perceive as the result of the apostle's counsel sweet fruit
growing from a bitter stock and precious balsams exhaled from common
canes. You yourself are the offspring of a mixed marriage; but the
parents of Paula--you and my friend Toxotius--are both Christians. Who
could have believed that to the heathen pontiff Albinus should be
born--in answer to a mother's vows--a Christian granddaughter; that a
delighted grandfather should hear from the little one's faltering lips
Christ's Alleluia, and that in his old age he should nurse in his bosom
one of God's own virgins? Our expectations have been fully gratified.
The one unbeliever is sanctified by his holy and believing family. For,
when a man is surrounded by a believing crowd of children and
grandchildren, he is as good as a candidate for the faith. I for my
part think that, had he possessed so many Christian kinsfolk when he
was a young man, he might then have been brought to believe in Christ.
For though he may spit upon my letter and laugh at it, and though he
may call me a fool or a madman, his son-in-law did the same before he
came to believe. Christians are not born but made. For all its gilding
the Capitol is beginning to look dingy. Every temple in Rome is covered
with soot and cobwebs. The city is stirred to its depths and the people
pour past their half-ruined shrines to visit the tombs of the martyrs.
The belief which has not been accorded to conviction may come to be
extorted by very shame.
2. I speak thus to you, Laeta my most devout daughter in Christ, to
teach you not to despair of your father's salvation. My hope is that
the same faith which has gained you your daughter may win your father
too, and that so you may be able to rejoice over blessings bestowed
upon your entire family. You know the Lord's promise: "The things which
are impossible with men are possible with God." [2664] It is never too
late to mend. The robber passed even from the cross to paradise. [2665]
Nebuchadnezzar also, the king of Babylon, recovered his reason, even
after he had been made like the beasts in body and in heart and had
been compelled to live with the brutes in the wilderness. [2666] And to
pass over such old stories which to unbelievers may well seem
incredible, did not your own kinsman Gracchus whose name betokens his
patrician origin, when a few years back he held the prefecture of the
City, overthrow, break in pieces, and shake to pieces the grotto of
Mithras [2667] and all the dreadful images therein? Those I mean by
which the worshippers were initiated as Raven, Bridegroom, Soldier,
Lion, Perseus, Sun, Crab, and Father? Did he not, I repeat, destroy
these and then, sending them before him as hostages, obtain for himself
Christian baptism?
Even in Rome itself paganism is left in solitude. They who once were
the gods of the nations remain under their lonely roofs with
horned-owls and birds of night. The standards of the military are
emblazoned with the sign of the Cross. The emperor's robes of purple
and his diadem sparkling with jewels are ornamented with
representations of the shameful yet saving gibbet. Already the Egyptian
Serapis has been made a Christian; [2668] while at Gaza Marnas [2669]
mourns in confinement and every moment expects to see his temple
overturned. From India, from Persia, from Ethiopia we daily welcome
monks in crowds. The Armenian bowman has laid aside his quiver, the
Huns learn the psalter, the chilly Scythians are warmed with the glow
of the faith. The Getæ, [2670] ruddy and yellow-haired, carry
tent-churches about with their armies: and perhaps their success in
fighting against us may be due to the fact that they believe in the
same religion.
3. I have nearly wandered into a new subject, and while I have kept my
wheel going, my hands have been moulding a flagon when it has been my
object to frame an ewer. [2671] For, in answer to your prayers and
those of the saintly Marcella, I wish to address you as a mother and to
instruct you how to bring up our dear Paula, who has been consecrated
to Christ before her birth and vowed to His service before her
conception. Thus in our own day we have seen repeated the story told us
in the Prophets, [2672] of Hannah, who though at first barren
afterwards became fruitful. You have exchanged a fertility bound up
with sorrow for offspring which shall never die. For I am confident
that having given to the Lord your first-born you will be the mother of
sons. It is the first-born that is offered under the Law. [2673] Samuel
and Samson are both instances of this, as is also John the Baptist who
when Mary came in leaped for joy. [2674] For he heard the Lord speaking
by the mouth of the Virgin and desired to break from his mother's womb
to meet Him. As then Paula has been born in answer to a promise, her
parents should give her a training suitable to her birth. Samuel, as
you know, was nurtured in the Temple, and John was trained in the
wilderness. The first as a Nazarite wore his hair long, drank neither
wine nor strong drink, and even in his childhood talked with God. The
second shunned cities, wore a leathern girdle, and had for his meat
locusts and wild honey. [2675] Moreover, to typify that penitence which
he was to preach, he was clothed in the spoils of the hump-backed
camel. [2676]
4. Thus must a soul be educated which is to be a temple of God. It must
learn to hear nothing and to say nothing but what belongs to the fear
of God. It must have no understanding of unclean words, and no
knowledge of the world's songs. Its tongue must be steeped while still
tender in the sweetness of the psalms. Boys with their wanton thoughts
must be kept from Paula: even her maids and female attendants must be
separated from worldly associates. For if they have learned some
mischief they may teach more. Get for her a set of letters made of
boxwood or of ivory and called each by its proper name. Let her play
with these, so that even her play may teach her something. And not only
make her grasp the right order of the letters and see that she forms
their names into a rhyme, but constantly disarrange their order and put
the last letters in the middle and the middle ones at the beginning
that she may know them all by sight as well as by sound. Moreover, so
soon as she begins to use the style upon the wax, and her hand is still
faltering, either guide her soft fingers by laying your hand upon hers,
or else have simple copies cut upon a tablet; so that her efforts
confined within these limits may keep to the lines traced out for her
and not stray outside of these. Offer prizes for good spelling and draw
her onwards with little gifts such as children of her age delight in.
And let her have companions in her lessons to excite emulation in her,
that she may be stimulated when she sees them praised. You must not
scold her if she is slow to learn but must employ praise to excite her
mind, so that she may be glad when she excels others and sorry when she
is excelled by them. Above all you must take care not to make her
lessons distasteful to her lest a dislike for them conceived in
childhood may continue into her maturer years. The very words which she
tries bit by bit to put together and to pronounce ought not to be
chance ones, but names specially fixed upon and heaped together for the
purpose, those for example of the prophets or the apostles or the list
of patriarchs from Adam downwards as it is given by Matthew and Luke.
In this way while her tongue will be well-trained, her memory will be
likewise developed. Again, you must choose for her a master of approved
years, life, and learning. A man of culture will not, I think, blush to
do for a kinswoman or a highborn virgin what Aristotle did for Philip's
son when, descending to the level of an usher, he consented to teach
him his letters. [2677] Things must not be despised as of small account
in the absence of which great results cannot be achieved. The very
rudiments and first beginnings of knowledge sound differently in the
mouth of an educated man and of an uneducated. Accordingly you must see
that the child is not led away by the silly coaxing of women to form a
habit of shortening long words or of decking herself with gold and
purple. Of these habits one will spoil her conversation and the other
her character. She must not therefore learn as a child what afterwards
she will have to unlearn. The eloquence of the Gracchi is said to have
been largely due to the way in which from their earliest years their
mother spoke to them. [2678] Hortensius [2679] became an orator while
still on his father's lap. Early impressions are hard to eradicate from
the mind. When once wool has been dyed purple who can restore it to its
previous whiteness? An unused jar long retains the taste and smell of
that with which it is first filled. [2680] Grecian history tells us
that the imperious Alexander who was lord of the whole world could not
rid himself of the tricks of manner and gait which in his childhood he
had caught from his governor Leonides. [2681] We are always ready to
imitate what is evil; and faults are quickly copied where virtues
appear inattainable. Paula's nurse must not be intemperate, or loose,
or given to gossip. Her bearer must be respectable, and her
foster-father of grave demeanour. When she sees her grandfather, she
must leap upon his breast, put her arms round his neck, and, whether he
likes it or not, sing Alleluia in his ears. She may be fondled by her
grandmother, may smile at her father to shew that she recognizes him,
and may so endear herself to everyone, as to make the whole family
rejoice in the possession of such a rosebud. She should be told at once
whom she has for her other grandmother and whom for her aunt; and she
ought also to learn in what army it is that she is enrolled as a
recruit, and what Captain it is under whose banner she is called to
serve. Let her long to be with the absent ones and encourage her to
make playful threats of leaving you for them.
5. Let her very dress and garb remind her to Whom she is promised. Do
not pierce her ears or paint her face consecrated to Christ with white
lead or rouge. Do not hang gold or pearls about her neck or load her
head with jewels, or by reddening her hair make it suggest the fires of
gehenna. Let her pearls be of another kind and such that she may sell
them hereafter and buy in their place the pearl that is "of great
price." [2682] In days gone by a lady of rank, Prætextata by name, at
the bidding of her husband Hymettius, the uncle of Eustochium, altered
that virgin's dress and appearance and arranged her neglected hair
after the manner of the world, desiring to overcome the resolution of
the virgin herself and the expressed wishes of her mother. But lo in
the same night it befell her that an angel came to her in her dreams.
With terrible looks he menaced punishment and broke silence with these
words, Have you presumed to put your husband's commands before those of
Christ? Have you presumed to lay sacrilegious hands upon the head of
one who is God's virgin? Those hands shall forthwith wither that you
may know by torment what you have done, and at the end of five months
you shall be carried off to hell. [2683] And farther, if you persist
still in your wickedness, you shall be bereaved both of your husband
and of your children.' All of which came to pass in due time, a speedy
death marking the penitence too long delayed of the unhappy woman. So
terribly does Christ punish those who violate His temple, [2684] and so
jealously does He defend His precious jewels. I have related this story
here not from any desire to exult over the misfortunes of the unhappy,
but to warn you that you must with much fear and carefulness keep the
vow which you have made to God.
6. We read of Eli the priest that he became displeasing to God on
account of the sins of his children; [2685] and we are told that a man
may not be made a bishop if his sons are loose and disorderly. [2686]
On the other hand it is written of the woman that "she shall be saved
in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness
with chastity." [2687] If then parents are responsible for their
children when these are of ripe age and independent; how much more must
they be responsible for them when, still unweaned and weak, they
cannot, in the Lord's words, "discern between their right hand and
their left:" [2688] --when, that is to say, they cannot yet distinguish
good from evil? If you take precautions to save your daughter from the
bite of a viper, why are you not equally careful to shield her from
"the hammer of the whole earth"? [2689] to prevent her from drinking of
the golden cup of Babylon? to keep her from going out with Dinah to see
the daughters of a strange land? [2690] to save her from the tripping
dance and from the trailing robe? No one administers drugs till he has
rubbed the rim of the cup with honey; [2691] so, the better to deceive
us, vice puts on the mien and the semblance of virtue. Why then, you
will say, do we read:--"the son shall not bear the iniquity of the
father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son," but
"the soul that sinneth it shall die"? [2692] The passage, I answer,
refers to those who have discretion, such as he of whom his parents
said in the gospel:--"he is of age...he shall speak for himself."
[2693] While the son is a child and thinks as a child and until he
comes to years of discretion to choose between the two roads to which
the letter of Pythagoras points, [2694] his parents are responsible for
his actions whether these be good or bad. But perhaps you imagine that,
if they are not baptized, the children of Christians are liable for
their own sins; and that no guilt attaches to parents who withhold from
baptism those who by reason of their tender age can offer no objection
to it. The truth is that, as baptism ensures the salvation of the
child, this in turn brings advantage to the parents. Whether you would
offer your child or not lay within your choice, but now that you have
offered her, you neglect her at your peril. I speak generally for in
your case you have no discretion, having offered your child even before
her conception. He who offers a victim that is lame or maimed or marked
with any blemish is held guilty of sacrilege. [2695] How much more then
shall she be punished who makes ready for the embraces of the king a
portion of her own body and the purity of a stainless soul, and then
proves negligent of this her offering?
7. When Paula comes to be a little older and to increase like her
Spouse in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man, [2696] let
her go with her parents to the temple of her true Father but let her
not come out of the temple with them. Let them seek her upon the
world's highway amid the crowds and the throng of their kinsfolk, and
let them find her nowhere but in the shrine of the scriptures, [2697]
questioning the prophets and the apostles on the meaning of that
spiritual marriage to which she is vowed. Let her imitate the
retirement of Mary whom Gabriel found alone in her chamber and who was
frightened, [2698] it would appear, by seeing a man there. Let the
child emulate her of whom it is written that "the king's daughter is
all glorious within." [2699] Wounded with love's arrow let her say to
her beloved, "the king hath brought me into his chambers." [2700] At no
time let her go abroad, lest the watchmen find her that go about the
city, and lest they smite and wound her and take away from her the veil
of her chastity, [2701] and leave her naked in her blood. [2702] Nay
rather when one knocketh at her door [2703] let her say: "I am a wall
and my breasts like towers. [2704] I have washed my feet; how shall I
defile them?" [2705]
8. Let her not take her food with others, that is, at her parents'
table; lest she see dishes she may long for. Some, I know, hold it a
greater virtue to disdain a pleasure which is actually before them, but
I think it a safer self-restraint to shun what must needs attract you.
Once as a boy at school I met the words: It is ill blaming what you
allow to become a habit.' [2706] Let her learn even now not to drink
wine "wherein is excess." [2707] But as, before children come to a
robust age, abstinence is dangerous and trying to their tender frames,
let her have baths if she require them, and let her take a little wine
for her stomach's sake. [2708] Let her also be supported on a flesh
diet, lest her feet fail her before they commence to run their course.
But I say this by way of concession not by way of command; because I
fear to weaken her, not because I wish to teach her self-indulgence.
Besides why should not a Christian virgin do wholly what others do in
part? The superstitious Jews reject certain animals and products as
articles of food, while among the Indians the Brahmans and among the
Egyptians the Gymnosophists subsist altogether on porridge, rice, and
apples. If mere glass repays so much labour, must not a pearl be worth
more labour still? [2709] Paula has been born in response to a vow. Let
her life be as the lives of those who were born under the same
conditions. If the grace accorded is in both cases the same, the pains
bestowed ought to be so too. Let her be deaf to the sound of the organ,
and not know even the uses of the pipe, the lyre, and the cithern.
9. And let it be her task daily to bring to you the flowers which she
has culled from scripture. Let her learn by heart so many verses in the
Greek, but let her be instructed in the Latin also. For, if the tender
lips are not from the first shaped to this, the tongue is spoiled by a
foreign accent and its native speech debased by alien elements. You
must yourself be her mistress, a model on which she may form her
childish conduct. Never either in you nor in her father let her see
what she cannot imitate without sin. Remember both of you that you are
the parents of a consecrated virgin, and that your example will teach
her more than your precepts. Flowers are quick to fade and a baleful
wind soon withers the violet, the lily, and the crocus. Let her never
appear in public unless accompanied by you. Let her never visit a
church or a martyr's shrine unless with her mother. Let no young man
greet her with smiles; no dandy with curled hair pay compliments to
her. If our little virgin goes to keep solemn eves and all-night
vigils, let her not stir a hair's breadth from her mother's side. She
must not single out one of her maids to make her a special favourite or
a confidante. What she says to one all ought to know. Let her choose
for a companion not a handsome well-dressed girl, able to warble a song
with liquid notes but one pale and serious, sombrely attired and with
the hue of melancholy. Let her take as her model some aged virgin of
approved faith, character, and chastity, apt to instruct her by word
and by example. She ought to rise at night to recite prayers and
psalms; to sing hymns in the morning; at the third, sixth, and ninth
hours to take her place in the line to do battle for Christ; and,
lastly, to kindle her lamp and to offer her evening sacrifice. [2710]
In these occupations let her pass the day, and when night comes let it
find her still engaged in them. Let reading follow prayer with her, and
prayer again succeed to reading. Time will seem short when employed on
tasks so many and so varied.
10. Let her learn too how to spin wool, to hold the distaff, to put the
basket in her lap, to turn the spinning wheel and to shape the yarn
with her thumb. Let her put away with disdain silken fabrics, Chinese
fleeces, [2711] and gold brocades: the clothing which she makes for
herself should keep out the cold and not expose the body which it
professes to cover. Let her food be herbs and wheaten bread [2712] with
now and then one or two small fishes. And that I may not waste more
time in giving precepts for the regulation of appetite (a subject I
have treated more at length elsewhere) [2713] let her meals always
leave her hungry and able on the moment to begin reading or chanting. I
strongly disapprove--especially for those of tender years--of long and
immoderate fasts in which week is added to week and even oil and apples
are forbidden as food. I have learned by experience that the ass
toiling along the high way makes for an inn when it is weary. [2714]
Our abstinence may turn to glutting, like that of the worshippers of
Isis and of Cybele who gobble up pheasants and turtle-doves piping hot
that their teeth may not violate the gifts of Ceres. [2715] If
perpetual fasting is allowed, it must be so regulated that those who
have a long journey before them may hold out all through; and we must
take care that we do not, after starting well, fall halfway. However in
Lent, as I have written before now, those who practise self-denial
should spread every stitch of canvas, and the charioteer should for
once slacken the reins and increase the speed of his horses. Yet there
will be one rule for those who live in the world and another for
virgins and monks. The layman in Lent consumes the coats of his
stomach, and living like a snail on his own juices makes ready a paunch
for rich foods and feasting to come. But with the virgin and the monk
the case is different; for, when these give the rein to their steeds,
they have to remember that for them the race knows of no intermission.
An effort made only for a limited time may well be severe, but one that
has no such limit must be more moderate. For whereas in the first case
we can recover our breath when the race is over, in the last we have to
go on continually and without stopping.
11. When you go a short way into the country, do not leave your
daughter behind you. Leave her no power or capacity of living without
you, and let her feel frightened when she is left to herself. Let her
not converse with people of the world or associate with virgins
indifferent to their vows. Let her not be present at the weddings of
your slaves and let her take no part in the noisy games of the
household. As regards the use of the bath, I know that some are content
with saying that a Christian virgin should not bathe along with eunuchs
or with married women, with the former because they are still men, at
all events in mind, and with the latter because women with child offer
a revolting spectacle. For myself, however, I wholly disapprove of
baths for a virgin of full age. Such an one should blush and feel
overcome at the idea of seeing herself undressed. By vigils and fasts
she mortifies her body and brings it into subjection. By a cold
chastity she seeks to put out the flame of lust and to quench the hot
desires of youth. And by a deliberate squalor she makes haste to spoil
her natural good looks. Why, then, should she add fuel to a sleeping
fire by taking baths?
12. Let her treasures be not silks or gems but manuscripts of the holy
scriptures; and in these let her think less of gilding, and Babylonian
parchment, and arabesque patterns, [2716] than of correctness and
accurate punctuation. Let her begin by learning the psalter, and then
let her gather rules of life out of the proverbs of Solomon. From the
Preacher let her gain the habit of despising the world and its
vanities. [2717] Let her follow the example set in Job of virtue and of
patience. Then let her pass on to the gospels never to be laid aside
when once they have been taken in hand. Let her also drink in with a
willing heart the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles. As soon as she
has enriched the storehouse of her mind with these treasures, let her
commit to memory the prophets, the heptateuch, [2718] the books of
Kings and of Chronicles, the rolls also of Ezra and Esther. When she
has done all these she may safely read the Song of Songs but not
before: for, were she to read it at the beginning, she would fail to
perceive that, though it is written in fleshly words, it is a marriage
song of a spiritual bridal. And not understanding this she would suffer
hurt from it. Let her avoid all apocryphal writings, and if she is led
to read such not by the truth of the doctrines which they contain but
out of respect for the miracles contained in them; let her understand
that they are not really written by those to whom they are ascribed,
that many faulty elements have been introduced into them, and that it
requires infinite discretion to look for gold in the midst of dirt.
Cyprian's writings let her have always in her hands. The letters of
Athanasius [2719] and the treatises of Hilary [2720] she may go through
without fear of stumbling. Let her take pleasure in the works and wits
of all in whose books a due regard for the faith is not neglected. But
if she reads the works of others let it be rather to judge them than to
follow them.
13. You will answer, How shall I, a woman of the world, living at Rome,
surrounded by a crowd, be able to observe all these injunctions?' In
that case do not undertake a burthen to which you are not equal. When
you have weaned Paula as Isaac was weaned and when you have clothed her
as Samuel was clothed, send her to her grandmother and aunt; give up
this most precious of gems, to be placed in Mary's chamber and to rest
in the cradle where the infant Jesus cried. Let her be brought up in a
monastery, let her be one amid companies of virgins, let her learn to
avoid swearing, let her regard lying as sacrilege, let her be ignorant
of the world, let her live the angelic life, while in the flesh let her
be without the flesh, and let her suppose that all human beings are
like herself. To say nothing of its other advantages this course will
free you from the difficult task of minding her, and from the
responsibility of guardianship. It is better to regret her absence than
to be for ever trembling for her. For you cannot but tremble as you
watch what she says and to whom she says it, to whom she bows and whom
she likes best to see. Hand her over to Eustochium while she is still
but an infant and her every cry is a prayer for you. She will thus
become her companion in holiness now as well as her successor
hereafter. Let her gaze upon and love, let her "from her earliest years
admire" [2721] one whose language and gait and dress are an education
in virtue. [2722] Let her sit in the lap of her grandmother, and let
this latter repeat to her granddaughter the lessons that she once
bestowed upon her own child. Long experience has shewn Paula how to
rear, to preserve, and to instruct virgins; and daily inwoven in her
crown is the mystic century which betokens the highest chastity. [2723]
O happy virgin! happy Paula, daughter of Toxotius, who through the
virtues of her grandmother and aunt is nobler in holiness than she is
in lineage! Yes, Laeta: were it possible for you with your own eyes to
see your mother-in-law and your sister, and to realize the mighty souls
which animate their small bodies; such is your innate thirst for
chastity that I cannot doubt but that you would go to them even before
your daughter, and would emancipate yourself from God's first decree of
the Law [2724] to put yourself under His second dispensation of the
Gospel. [2725] You would count as nothing your desire for other
offspring and would offer up yourself to the service of God. But
because "there is a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from
embracing," [2726] and because "the wife hath not power of her own
body," [2727] and because the apostle says "Let every man abide in the
same calling wherein he was called" [2728] in the Lord, and because he
that is under the yoke ought so to run as not to leave his companion in
the mire, I counsel you to pay back to the full in your offspring what
meantime you defer paying in your own person. When Hannah had once
offered in the tabernacle the son whom she had vowed to God she never
took him back; for she thought it unbecoming that one who was to be a
prophet should grow up in the same house with her who still desired to
have other children. Accordingly after she had conceived him and given
him birth, she did not venture to come to the temple alone or to appear
before the Lord empty, but first paid to Him what she owed; and then,
when she had offered up that great sacrifice, she returned home and
because she had borne her firstborn for God, she was given five
children for herself. [2729] Do you marvel at the happiness of that
holy woman? Imitate her faith. Moreover, if you will only send Paula, I
promise to be myself both a tutor and a foster father to her. Old as I
am I will carry her on my shoulders and train her stammering lips; and
my charge will be a far grander one than that of the worldly
philosopher; [2730] for while he only taught a King of Macedon who was
one day to die of Babylonian poison, I shall instruct the handmaid and
spouse of Christ who must one day be offered to her Lord in heaven.
__________________________________________________________________
[2663] 1 Cor. vii. 13, 14, the word believing' is twice inserted by
Jerome.
[2664] Luke xviii. 27.
[2665] Cf. Luke xxiii. 42, 43.
[2666] Dan. iv. 33-37.
[2667] The Persian sun-god, at this time one of the most popular
deities of the Roman pantheon. Gracchus appears to have done this as
Urban Prætor, A. C. 378.
[2668] In the year 389 a.d. the temple of Serapis at Alexandria had
been pulled down and a Christian church built upon its site.
[2669] Elsewhere (Life of Hilarion § 20) Jerome relates an
extraordinary story about the discomfiture of this demon.'
[2670] A well-known Thracian tribe not to be confounded with the Goths.
[2671] Cf. Hor. A.P., 21, 22. Amphora caepit Institui: currente rota
cur urceus exit?
[2672] The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings are called in the
Hebrew Bible the Former Prophets.
[2673] Ex. xiii. 2.
[2674] Luke i. 41.
[2675] Matt. iii. 4.
[2676] Cf. Letter LXXIX. § 3. Apparently Jerome means that the
difficulty of penitence is as great as that of the camel passing
through the eye of a needle. John, he implies, by wearing the camel's
hair shows that he has surmounted this.
[2677] Quintilian, Inst. I. 1.
[2678] Quint. Inst. I. 1.
[2679] The contemporary and rival of Cicero.
[2680] Horace, Epist. I. ii. 69.
[2681] Quint. Inst. I. 1.
[2682] Matt. xiii. 46.
[2683] Inferna.
[2684] Cf. 1 Cor. iii. 17.
[2685] 1 Sam. ii. 27-36.
[2686] 1 Tim. iii. 4.
[2687] 1 Tim. ii. 15 A.V. has sobriety' for chastity' but Jerome
deliberately prefers the latter word.
[2688] Jon. iv. 11.
[2689] Babylon, the world-power. Jer. l. 23.
[2690] Gen. xxxiv.
[2691] Lucretius, I. 936, sqq.
[2692] Ezek. xviii. 20.
[2693] John ix. 21.
[2694] The letter Y used by Pythagoras to symbolize the diverging paths
of good and evil. Cf. Persius. iii. 56.
[2695] Deut. xv. 21.
[2696] Luke ii. 52.
[2697] Cf. Luke ii. 43-46.
[2698] Luke i. 29.
[2699] Ps. xlv. 13.
[2700] Cant. i. 4.
[2701] Cant. v. 7.
[2702] Cf. Ezek. xvi. 1-10.
[2703] Cant. v. 2.
[2704] Cant. viii. 10.
[2705] Cant. v. 3.
[2706] Again quoted in Letter CXXVIII. § 4.
[2707] Eph. v. 18.
[2708] 1 Tim. v. 23.
[2709] Cp. Letter LXXIX, § 7. The heathen sage is glass, the Christian
virgin the pearl.
[2710] See note on Letter XXII. § 37.
[2711] A Virgilian expression, 9, II., 121.
[2712] Simila, but as elsewhere (L. 52, 6) this is spoken of as a
luxury, perhaps we should read similia = and such like.'
[2713] Jerome refers to his second book against Jovinian.
[2714] Cf. the dying words of S. Francis (which have a similar
reference) I have sinned against my brother the ass.'
[2715] i.e. having vowed to abstain from bread, they indemnify
themselves with flesh.
[2716] Vermiculata pictura.
[2717] Jerome tells us that he read the book with Blaesilla for this
purpose.
[2718] i.e. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua,
Judges.
[2719] Of these a large number are still extant. Over twenty of them
are "festal epistles" announcing to the churches the correct day on
which to celebrate Easter.
[2720] These include commentaries on many parts of Scripture and a work
on the Trinity.
[2721] Virgil, A. viii. 507.
[2722] Comp. Ecclus. xix. 30.
[2723] The number 100 denotes virginity to which in her own person
Paula could have no claim. See note on Letter XLVIII. § 2.
[2724] Gen. i. 28.
[2725] 1 Cor. vii. 1.
[2726] Eccl. iii. 5.
[2727] 1 Cor. vii. 4.
[2728] 1 Cor. vii. 20.
[2729] 1 Sam. ii. 21.
[2730] The allusion is to Aristotle who was tutor to Alexander, King of
Macedon.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CVIII. To Eustochium.
This, one of the longest of Jerome's letters, was written to console
Eustochium for the loss of her mother who had recently died. Jerome
relates the story of Paula in detail; speaking first of her high birth,
marriage, and social success at Rome, and then narrating her conversion
and subsequent life as a Christian ascetic. Much space is devoted to an
account of her journey to the East which included a visit to Egypt and
to the monasteries of Nitria as well as a tour of the most sacred spots
in the Holy Land. The remainder of the letter describes her daily
routine and studies at Bethlehem, and recounts the many virtues for
which she was distinguished. It then concludes with a touching
description of her death and burial and gives the epitaph placed upon
her grave. The date of the letter is 404 a.d.
1. If all the members of my body were to be converted into tongues, and
if each of my limbs were to be gifted with a human voice, I could still
do no justice to the virtues of the holy and venerable Paula. Noble in
family, she was nobler still in holiness; rich formerly in this world's
goods, she is now more distinguished by the poverty that she has
embraced for Christ. Of the stock of the Gracchi and descended from the
Scipios, the heir and representative of that Paulus whose name she
bore, the true and legitimate daughter of that Martia Papyria who was
mother to Africanus, she yet preferred Bethlehem to Rome, and left her
palace glittering with gold to dwell in a mud cabin. We do not grieve
that we have lost this perfect woman; rather we thank God that we have
had her, nay that we have her still. For "all live unto" God, [2731]
and they who return unto the Lord are still to be reckoned members of
his family. We have lost her, it is true, but the heavenly mansions
have gained her; for as long as she was in the body she was absent from
the Lord [2732] and would constantly complain with tears:--"Woe is me
that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar; my soul
hath been this long time a pilgrim." [2733] It was no wonder that she
sobbed out that even she was in darkness (for this is the meaning of
the word Kedar) seeing that, according to the apostle, "the world lieth
in the evil one;" [2734] and that, "as its darkness is, so is its
light;" [2735] and that "the light shineth in darkness and the darkness
comprehended it not." [2736] She would frequently exclaim: "I am a
stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my fathers were," [2737] and
again, I desire "to depart and to be with Christ." [2738] As often too
as she was troubled with bodily weakness (brought on by incredible
abstinence and by redoubled fastings), she would be heard to say: "I
keep under my body and bring it into subjection; lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway;"
[2739] and "It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine;" [2740]
and "I humbled my soul with fasting;" [2741] and "thou wilt make all"
my "bed in" my "sickness;" [2742] and "Thy hand was heavy upon me: my
moisture is turned into the drought of summer." [2743] And when the
pain which she bore with such wonderful patience darted through her, as
if she saw the heavens opened [2744] she would say "Oh that I had wings
like a dove! for then would I fly away and be at rest." [2745]
2. I call Jesus and his saints, yes and the particular angel who was
the guardian and the companion of this admirable woman to bear witness
that these are no words of adulation and flattery but sworn testimony
every one of them borne to her character. They are, indeed, inadequate
to the virtues of one whose praises are sung by the whole world, who is
admired by bishops, [2746] regretted by bands of virgins, and wept for
by crowds of monks and poor. Would you know all her virtues, reader, in
short? She has left those dependent on her poor, but not so poor as she
was herself. In dealing thus with her relatives and the men and women
of her small household--her brothers and sisters rather than her
servants--she has done nothing strange; for she has left her daughter
Eustochium--a virgin consecrated to Christ for whose comfort this
sketch is made--far from her noble family and rich only in faith and
grace.
3. Let me then begin my narrative. Others may go back a long way even
to Paula's cradle and, if I may say so, to her swaddling-clothes, and
may speak of her mother Blæsilla and her father Rogatus. Of these the
former was a descendant of the Scipios and the Gracchi; whilst the
latter came of a line distinguished in Greece down to the present day.
He was said, indeed, to have in his veins the blood of Agamemnon who
destroyed Troy after a ten years siege. But I shall praise only what
belongs to herself, what wells forth from the pure spring of her holy
mind. When in the gospel the apostles ask their Lord and Saviour what
He will give to those who have left all for His sake, He tells them
that they shall receive an hundredfold now in this time and in the
world to come eternal life. [2747] From which we see that it is not the
possession of riches that is praiseworthy but the rejection of them for
Christ's sake; that, instead of glorying in our privileges, we should
make them of small account as compared with God's faith. Truly the
Saviour has now in this present time made good His promise to His
servants and handmaidens. For one who despised the glory of a single
city is to-day famous throughout the world; and one who while she lived
at Rome was known by no one outside it has by hiding herself at
Bethlehem become the admiration of all lands Roman and barbarian. For
what race of men is there which does not send pilgrims to the holy
places? And who could there find a greater marvel than Paula? As among
many jewels the most precious shines most brightly, and as the sun with
its beams obscures and puts out the paler fires of the stars; so by her
lowliness she surpassed all others in virtue and influence and, while
she was least among all, was greater than all. The more she cast
herself down, the more she was lifted up by Christ. She was hidden and
yet she was not hidden. By shunning glory she earned glory; for glory
follows virtue as its shadow; and deserting those who seek it, it seeks
those who despise it. But I must not neglect to proceed with my
narrative or dwell too long on a single point forgetful of the rules of
writing.
4. Being then of such parentage, Paula married Toxotius in whose veins
ran the noble blood of Æneas and the Julii. Accordingly his daughter,
Christ's virgin Eustochium, is called Julia, as he Julius.
A name from great Iulus handed down. [2748]
I speak of these things not as of importance to those who have them,
but as worthy of remark in those who despise them. Men of the world
look up to persons who are rich in such privileges. We on the other
hand praise those who for the Saviour's sake despise them; and
strangely depreciating all who keep them, we eulogize those who are
unwilling to do so. Thus nobly born, Paula through her fruitfulness and
her chastity won approval from all, from her husband first, then from
her relatives, and lastly from the whole city. She bore five children;
Blæsilla, for whose death I consoled her while at Rome; [2749] Paulina,
who has left the reverend and admirable Pammachius to inherit both her
vows [2750] and property, to whom also I addressed a little book on her
death; Eustochium, who is now in the holy places, a precious necklace
of virginity and of the church; Rufina, whose untimely end overcame the
affectionate heart of her mother; and Toxotius, after whom she had no
more children. You can thus see that it was not her wish to fulfil a
wife's duty, but that she only complied with her husband's longing to
have male offspring.
5. When he died, her grief was so great that she nearly died herself:
yet so completely did she then give herself to the service of the Lord,
that it might have seemed that she had desired his death.
In what terms shall I speak of her distinguished, and noble, and
formerly wealthy house; all the riches of which she spent upon the
poor? How can I describe the great consideration she shewed to all and
her far reaching kindness even to those whom she had never seen? What
poor man, as he lay dying, was not wrapped in blankets given by her?
What bedridden person was not supported with money from her purse? She
would seek out such with the greatest diligence throughout the city,
and would think it a misfortune were any hungry or sick person to be
supported by another's food. So lavish was her charity that she robbed
her children; and, when her relatives remonstrated with her for doing
so, she declared that she was leaving to them a better inheritance in
the mercy of Christ.
6. Nor was she long able to endure the visits and crowded receptions,
which her high position in the world and her exalted family entailed
upon her. She received the homage paid to her sadly, and made all the
speed she could to shun and to escape those who wished to pay her
compliments. It so happened that at that time [2751] the bishops of the
East and West had been summoned to Rome by letter from the emperors
[2752] to deal with certain dissensions between the churches, and in
this way she saw two most admirable men and Christian prelates,
Paulinus bishop of Antioch and Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis or, as it
is now called, Constantia, in Cyprus. Epiphanius, indeed, she received
as her guest; and, although Paulinus was staying in another person's
house, in the warmth of her heart she treated him as if he too were
lodged with her. Inflamed by their virtues she thought more and more
each moment of forsaking her home. Disregarding her house, her
children, her servants, her property, and in a word everything
connected with the world, she was eager--alone and unaccompanied (if
ever it could be said that she was so)--to go to the desert made famous
by its Pauls and by its Antonies. And at last when the winter was over
and the sea was open, and when the bishops were returning to their
churches, she also sailed with them in her prayers and desires. Not to
prolong the story, she went down to Portus accompanied by her brother,
her kinsfolk and above all her own children eager by their
demonstrations of affection to overcome their loving mother. At last
the sails were set and the strokes of the rowers carried the vessel
into the deep. On the shore the little Toxotius stretched forth his
hands in entreaty, while Rufina, now grown up, with silent sobs
besought her mother to wait till she should be married. But still
Paula's eyes were dry as she turned them heavenwards; and she overcame
her love for her children by her love for God. She knew herself no more
as a mother, that she might approve herself a handmaid of Christ. Yet
her heart was rent within her, and she wrestled with her grief, as
though she were being forcibly separated from parts of herself. The
greatness of the affection she had to overcome made all admire her
victory the more. Among the cruel hardships which attend prisoners of
war in the hands of their enemies, there is none severer than the
separation of parents from their children. Though it is against the
laws of nature, she endured this trial with unabated faith; nay more
she sought it with a joyful heart: and overcoming her love for her
children by her greater love for God, she concentrated herself quietly
upon Eustochium alone, the partner alike of her vows and of her voyage.
Meantime the vessel ploughed onwards and all her fellow-passengers
looked back to the shore. But she turned away her eyes that she might
not see what she could not behold without agony. No mother, it must be
confessed, ever loved her children so dearly. Before setting out she
gave them all that she had, disinheriting herself upon earth that she
might find an inheritance in heaven.
7. The vessel touched at the island of Pontia ennobled long since as
the place of exile of the illustrious lady Flavia Domitilla who under
the Emperor Domitian was banished because she confessed herself a
Christian; [2753] and Paula, when she saw the cells in which this lady
passed the period of her long martyrdom, taking to herself the wings of
faith, more than ever desired to see Jerusalem and the holy places. The
strongest winds seemed weak and the greatest speed slow. After passing
between Scylla and Charybdis [2754] she committed herself to the
Adriatic sea and had a calm passage to Methone. [2755] Stopping here
for a short time to recruit her wearied frame
She stretched her dripping limbs upon the shore:
Then sailed past Malea and Cythera's isle,
The scattered Cyclades, and all the lands
That narrow in the seas on every side. [2756]
Then leaving Rhodes and Lycia behind her, she at last came in sight of
Cyprus, where falling at the feet of the holy and venerable Epiphanius,
she was by him detained ten days; though this was not, as he supposed,
to restore her strength but, as the facts prove, that she might do
God's work. For she visited all the monasteries in the island, and
left, so far as her means allowed, substantial relief for the brothers
in them whom love of the holy man had brought thither from all parts of
the world. Then crossing the narrow sea she landed at Seleucia, and
going up thence to Antioch allowed herself to be detained for a little
time by the affection of the reverend confessor Paulinus. [2757] Then,
such was the ardour of her faith that she, a noble lady who had always
previously been carried by eunuchs, went her way--and that in
midwinter--riding upon an ass.
8. I say nothing of her journey through Coele-Syria and Phoenicia (for
it is not my purpose to give you a complete itinerary of her
wanderings); I shall only name such places as are mentioned in the
sacred books. After leaving the Roman colony of Berytus and the ancient
city of Zidon she entered Elijah's town on the shore at Zarephath and
therein adored her Lord and Saviour. Next passing over the sands of
Tyre on which Paul had once knelt [2758] she came to Acco or, as it is
now called, Ptolemais, rode over the plains of Megiddo which had once
witnessed the slaying of Josiah, [2759] and entered the land of the
Philistines. Here she could not fail to admire the ruins of Dor, once a
most powerful city; and Strato's Tower, which though at one time
insignificant was rebuilt by Herod king of Judæa and named Cæsarea in
honour of Cæsar Augustus. [2760] Here she saw the house of Cornelius
now turned into a Christian church; and the humble abode of Philip; and
the chambers of his daughters the four virgins "which did prophesy."
[2761] She arrived next at Antipatris, a small town half in ruins,
named by Herod after his father Antipater, and at Lydda, now become
Diospolis, a place made famous by the raising again of Dorcas [2762]
and the restoration to health of Æneas. [2763] Not far from this are
Arimathæa, the village of Joseph who buried the Lord, [2764] and Nob,
once a city of priests but now the tomb in which their slain bodies
rest. [2765] Joppa too is hard by, the port of Jonah's flight; [2766]
which also--if I may introduce a poetic fable--saw Andromeda bound to
the rock. [2767] Again resuming her journey, she came to Nicopolis,
once called Emmaus, where the Lord became known in the breaking of
bread; [2768] an action by which He dedicated the house of Cleopas as a
church. Starting thence she made her way up lower and higher
Beth-horon, cities founded by Solomon [2769] but subsequently destroyed
by several devastating wars; seeing on her right Ajalon and Gibeon
where Joshua the son of Nun when fighting against the five kings gave
commandments to the sun and moon, [2770] where also he condemned the
Gibeonites (who by a crafty stratagem had obtained a treaty) to be
hewers of wood and drawers of water. [2771] At Gibeah also, now a
complete ruin, she stopped for a little while remembering its sin, and
the cutting of the concubine into pieces, and how in spite of all this
three hundred men of the tribe of Benjamin were saved [2772] that in
after days Paul might be called a Benjamite.
9. To make a long story short, leaving on her left the mausoleum of
Helena queen of Adiabene [2773] who in time of famine had sent corn to
the Jewish people, Paula entered Jerusalem, Jebus, or Salem, that city
of three names which after it had sunk to ashes and decay was by Ælius
Hadrianus restored once more as Ælia. [2774] And although the proconsul
of Palestine, who was an intimate friend of her house, sent forward his
apparitors and gave orders to have his official residence [2775] placed
at her disposal, she chose a humble cell in preference to it. Moreover,
in visiting the holy places so great was the passion and the enthusiasm
she exhibited for each, that she could never have torn herself away
from one had she not been eager to visit the rest. Before the Cross she
threw herself down in adoration as though she beheld the Lord hanging
upon it: and when she entered the tomb which was the scene of the
Resurrection she kissed the stone which the angel had rolled away from
the door of the sepulchre. [2776] Indeed so ardent was her faith that
she even licked with her mouth the very spot on which the Lord's body
had lain, like one athirst for the river which he has longed for. What
tears she shed there, what groans she uttered, and what grief she
poured forth, all Jerusalem knows; the Lord also to whom she prayed
knows. Going out thence she made the ascent of Zion; a name which
signifies either "citadel" or "watch-tower." This formed the city which
David formerly stormed and afterwards rebuilt. [2777] Of its storming
it is written, "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel"--that is, God's lion, (and
indeed in those days it was extremely strong)--"the city which David
stormed:" [2778] and of its rebuilding it is said, "His foundation is
in the holy mountains: the Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all
the dwellings of Jacob." [2779] He does not mean the gates which we see
to-day in dust and ashes; the gates he means are those against which
hell prevails not [2780] and through which the multitude of those who
believe in Christ enter in. [2781] There was shewn to her upholding the
portico of a church the bloodstained column to which our Lord is said
to have been bound when He suffered His scourging. There was shewn to
her also the spot where the Holy Spirit came down upon the souls of the
one hundred and twenty believers, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Joel.
[2782]
10. Then, after distributing money to the poor and her fellow-servants
so far as her means allowed, she proceeded to Bethlehem stopping only
on the right side of the road to visit Rachel's tomb. (Here it was that
she gave birth to her son destined to be not what his dying mother
called him, Benoni, that is the "Son of my pangs" but as his father in
the spirit prophetically named him Benjamin, that is "the Son of the
right hand)." [2783] After this she came to Bethlehem and entered into
the cave where the Saviour was born. [2784] Here, when she looked upon
the inn made sacred by the virgin and the stall where the ox knew his
owner and the ass his master's crib, [2785] and where the words of the
same prophet had been fulfilled "Blessed is he that soweth beside the
waters where the ox and the ass trample the seed under their feet:"
[2786] when she looked upon these things I say, she protested in my
hearing that she could behold with the eyes of faith the infant Lord
wrapped in swaddling clothes and crying in the manger, the wise men
worshipping Him, the star shining overhead, the virgin mother, the
attentive foster-father, the shepherds coming by night to see "the word
that was come to pass" [2787] and thus even then to consecrate those
opening phrases of the evangelist John "In the beginning was the word"
and "the word was made flesh." [2788] She declared that she could see
the slaughtered innocents, the raging Herod, Joseph and Mary fleeing
into Egypt; and with a mixture of tears and joy she cried: Hail
Bethlehem, house of bread, [2789] wherein was born that Bread that came
down from heaven. [2790] Hail Ephratah, land of fruitfulness [2791] and
of fertility, whose fruit is the Lord Himself. Concerning thee has
Micah prophesied of old, "Thou Bethlehem Ephratah art not [2792] the
least among the thousands of Judah, for out of thee shall he come forth
unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been
from of old, from everlasting. Therefore wilt thou [2793] give them up,
until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the
remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel."
[2794] For in thee was born the prince begotten before Lucifer. [2795]
Whose birth from the Father is before all time: and the cradle of
David's race continued in thee, until the virgin brought forth her son
and the remnant of the people that believed in Christ returned unto the
children of Israel and preached freely to them in words like these: "It
was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to
you; but seeing ye put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." [2796] For the Lord
hath said: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel." [2797] At that time also the words of Jacob were fulfilled
concerning Him, "A prince shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver
from between his feet, until He come for whom it is laid up, [2798] and
He shall be for the expectation of the nations." [2799] Well did David
swear, well did he make a vow saying: "Surely I will not come into the
tabernacle of my house nor go up into my bed: I will not give sleep to
mine eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, or rest to the temples of my head,
[2800] until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for
the...God of Jacob." [2801] And immediately he explained the object of
his desire, seeing with prophetic eyes that He would come whom we now
believe to have come. "Lo we heard of Him at Ephratah: we found Him in
the fields of the wood." [2802] The Hebrew word Zo as have learned from
your lessons [2803] means not her, that is Mary the Lord's mother, but
him that is the Lord Himself. Therefore he says boldly: "We will go
into His tabernacle: we will worship at His footstool." [2804] I too,
miserable sinner though I am, have been accounted worthy to kiss the
manger in which the Lord cried as a babe, and to pray in the cave in
which the travailing virgin gave birth to the infant Lord. "This is my
rest" for it is my Lord's native place; "here will I dwell" [2805] for
this spot has my Saviour chosen. "I have prepared a lamp for my
Christ." [2806] "My soul shall live unto Him and my seed shall serve
Him." [2807]
After this Paula went a short distance down the hill to the tower of
Edar, [2808] that is of the flock,' near which Jacob fed his flocks,
and where the shepherds keeping watch by night were privileged to hear
the words: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill
toward men." [2809] While they were keeping their sheep they found the
Lamb of God; whose fleece bright and clean was made wet with the dew of
heaven when it was dry upon all the earth beside, [2810] and whose
blood when sprinkled on the doorposts drove off the destroyer of Egypt
[2811] and took away the sins of the world. [2812]
11. Then immediately quickening her pace she began to move along the
old road which leads to Gaza, that is to the power' or wealth' of God,
silently meditating on that type of the Gentiles, the Ethiopian eunuch,
who in spite of the prophet changed his skin [2813] and whilst he read
the old testament found the fountain of the gospel. [2814] Next turning
to the right she passed from Bethzur [2815] to Eshcol which means "a
cluster of grapes." It was hence that the spies brought back that
marvellous cluster which was the proof of the fertility of the land
[2816] and a type of Him who says of Himself: "I have trodden the wine
press alone; and of the people there was none with me." [2817] Shortly
afterwards she entered the home [2818] of Sarah and beheld the
birthplace of Isaac and the traces of Abraham's oak under which he saw
Christ's day and was glad. [2819] And rising up from thence she went up
to Hebron, that is Kirjath-Arba, or the City of the Four Men. These are
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the great Adam whom the Hebrews suppose
(from the book of Joshua the son of Nun) to be buried there. [2820] But
many are of opinion that Caleb is the fourth and a monument at one side
is pointed out as his. After seeing these places she did not care to go
on to Kirjath-sepher, that is "the village of letters;" because
despising the letter that killeth she had found the spirit that giveth
life. [2821] She admired more the upper springs and the nether springs
which Othniel the son of Kenaz the son of Jephunneh received in place
of a south land and a waterless possession, [2822] and by the
conducting of which he watered the dry fields of the old covenant. For
thus did he typify the redemption which the sinner finds for his old
sins in the waters of baptism. On the next day soon after sunrise she
stood upon the brow of Capharbarucha, [2823] that is, "the house of
blessing," the point to which Abraham pursued the Lord when he made
intercession with Him. [2824] And here, as she looked down upon the
wide solitude and upon the country once belonging to Sodom and
Gomorrah, to Admah and Zeboim, she beheld the balsam vines of Engedi
and Zoar. By Zoar I mean that "heifer of three years old" [2825] which
was formerly called Bela [2826] and in Syriac is rendered Zoar that is
little.' She called to mind the cave in which Lot found refuge, and
with tears in her eyes warned the virgins her companions to beware of
"wine wherein is excess;" [2827] for it was to this that the Moabites
and Ammonites owe their origin. [2828]
12. I linger long in the land of the midday sun for it was there and
then that the spouse found her bridegroom at rest [2829] and Joseph
drank wine with his brothers once more. [2830] I will return to
Jerusalem and, passing through Tekoa the home of Amos, [2831] I will
look upon the glistening cross of Mount Olivet from which the Saviour
made His ascension to the Father. [2832] Here year by year a red heifer
was burned as a holocaust to the Lord and its ashes were used to purify
the children of Israel. [2833] Here also according to Ezekiel the
Cherubim after leaving the temple founded the church of the Lord.
[2834]
After this Paula visited the tomb of Lazarus and beheld the hospitable
roof of Mary and Martha, as well as Bethphage, the town of the priestly
jaws.' [2835] Here it was that a restive foal typical of the Gentiles
received the bridle of God, and covered with the garments of the
apostles [2836] offered its lowly back [2837] for Him to sit on. From
this she went straight on down the hill to Jericho thinking of the
wounded man in the gospel, of the savagery of the priests and Levites
who passed him by, and of the kindness of the Samaritan, that is, the
guardian, who placed the half-dead man upon his own beast and brought
him down to the inn of the church. [2838] She noticed the place called
Adomim [2839] or the Place of Blood, so-called because much blood was
shed there in the frequent incursions of marauders. She beheld also the
sycamore tree [2840] of Zacchæus, by which is signified the good works
of repentance whereby he trod under foot his former sins of bloodshed
and rapine, and from which he saw the Most High as from a pinnacle of
virtue. She was shewn too the spot by the wayside where the blind men
sat who, receiving their sight from the Lord, [2841] became types of
the two peoples [2842] who should believe upon Him. Then entering
Jericho she saw the city which Hiel founded in Abiram his firstborn and
of which he set up the gates in his youngest son Segub. [2843] She
looked upon the camp of Gilgal and the hill of the foreskins [2844]
suggestive of the mystery of the second circumcision: [2845] and she
gazed at the twelve stones brought thither out of the bed of Jordan
[2846] to be symbols of those twelve foundations on which are written
the names of the twelve apostles. [2847] She saw also that fountain of
the Law most bitter and barren which the true Elisha healed by his
wisdom changing it into a well sweet and fertilising. [2848] Scarcely
had the night passed away when burning with eagerness she hastened to
the Jordan, stood by the brink of the river, and as the sun rose
recalled to mind the rising of the sun of righteousness; [2849] how the
priest's feet stood firm in the middle of the river-bed; [2850] how
afterwards at the command of Elijah and Elisha the waters were divided
hither and thither and made way for them to pass; and again how the
Lord had cleansed by His baptism waters which the deluge had polluted
and the destruction of mankind had defiled.
13. It would be tedious were I tell of the valley of Achor, that is, of
trouble and crowds,' where theft and covetousness were condemned;
[2851] and of Bethel, the house of God,' where Jacob poor and destitute
slept upon the bare ground. Here it was that, having set beneath his
head a stone which in Zechariah is described as having seven eyes
[2852] and in Isaiah is spoken of as a corner-stone, [2853] he beheld a
ladder reaching up to heaven; yes, and the Lord standing high above it
[2854] holding out His hand to such as were ascending and hurling from
on high such as were careless. Also when she was in Mount Ephraim she
made pilgrimages to the tombs of Joshua the son of Nun and of Eleazar
the son of Aaron the priest, exactly opposite the one to the other;
that of Joshua being built at Timnath-serah "on the north side of the
hill of Gaash," [2855] and that of Eleazar "in a hill that pertained to
Phinehas his son." [2856] She was somewhat surprised to find that he
who had had the distribution of the land in his own hands had selected
for himself portions uneven and rocky. What shall I say about Shiloh
where a ruined altar [2857] is still shewn to-day, and where the tribe
of Benjamin anticipated Romulus in the rape of the Sabine women? [2858]
Passing by Shechem (not Sychar as many wrongly read [2859] ) or as it
is now called Neapolis, she entered the church built upon the side of
Mount Gerizim around Jacob's well; that well where the Lord was sitting
when hungry and thirsty He was refreshed by the faith of the woman of
Samaria. Forsaking her five husbands by whom are intended the five
books of Moses, and that sixth not a husband of whom she boasted, to
wit the false teacher Dositheus, [2860] she found the true Messiah and
the true Saviour. Turning away thence Paula saw the tombs of the twelve
patriarchs, and Samaria which in honour of Augustus Herod renamed
Augusta or in Greek Sebaste. There lie the prophets Elisha and Obadiah
and John the Baptist than whom there is not a greater among those that
are born of women. [2861] And here she was filled with terror by the
marvels she beheld; for she saw demons screaming under different
tortures before the tombs of the saints, and men howling like wolves,
baying like dogs, roaring like lions, hissing like serpents and
bellowing like bulls. They twisted their heads and bent them backwards
until they touched the ground; women too were suspended head downward
and their clothes did not fall off. [2862] Paula pitied them all, and
shedding tears over them prayed Christ to have mercy on them. And weak
as she was she climbed the mountain on foot; for in two of its caves
Obadiah in a time of persecution and famine had fed a hundred prophets
with bread and water. [2863] Then she passed quickly through Nazareth
the nursery of the Lord; Cana and Capernaum familiar with the signs
wrought by Him; the lake of Tiberias sanctified by His voyages upon it;
the wilderness where countless Gentiles were satisfied with a few
loaves while the twelve baskets of the tribes of Israel were filled
with the fragments left by them that had eaten. [2864] She made the
ascent of mount Tabor whereon the Lord was transfigured. [2865] In the
distance she beheld the range of Hermon; [2866] and the wide stretching
plains of Galilee where Sisera and all his host had once been overcome
by Barak; and the torrent [2867] Kishon separating the level ground
into two parts. Hard by also the town of Nain was pointed out to her,
where the widow's son was raised. [2868] Time would fail me sooner than
speech were I to recount all the places to which the revered Paula was
carried by her incredible faith.
14. I will now pass on to Egypt, pausing for a while on the way at
Socoh, and at Samson's well which he clave in the hollow place that was
in the jaw. [2869] Here I will lave my parched lips and refresh myself
before visiting Moresheth; in old days famed for the tomb of the
prophet Micah, [2870] and now for its church. Then skirting the country
of the Horites and Gittites, Mareshah, Edom, and Lachish, and
traversing the lonely wastes of the desert where the tracks of the
traveller are lost in the yielding sand, I will come to the river of
Egypt called Sihor, [2871] that is "the muddy river," and go through
the five cities of Egypt which speak the language of Canaan, [2872] and
through the land of Goshen and the plains of Zoan [2873] on which God
wrought his marvellous works. And I will visit the city of No, which
has since become Alexandria; [2874] and Nitria, the town of the Lord,
where day by day the filth of multitudes is washed away with the pure
nitre of virtue. No sooner did Paula come in sight of it than there
came to meet her the reverend and estimable bishop, the confessor
Isidore, accompanied by countless multitudes of monks many of whom were
of priestly or of Levitical rank. [2875] On seeing these Paula rejoiced
to behold the Lord's glory manifested in them; but protested that she
had no claim to be received with such honour. Need I speak of the
Macarii, Arsenius, Serapion, [2876] or other pillars of Christ! Was
there any cell that she did not enter? Or any man at whose feet she did
not throw herself? In each of His saints she believed that she saw
Christ Himself; and whatever she bestowed upon them she rejoiced to
feel that she had bestowed it upon the Lord. Her enthusiasm was
wonderful and her endurance scarcely credible in a woman. Forgetful of
her sex and of her weakness she even desired to make her abode,
together with the girls who accompanied her, among these thousands of
monks. And, as they were all willing to welcome her, she might perhaps
have sought and obtained permission to do so; had she not been drawn
away by a still greater passion for the holy places. Coming by sea from
Pelusium to Maioma on account of the great heat, she returned so
rapidly that you would have thought her a bird. Not long afterwards,
making up her mind to dwell permanently in holy Bethlehem, she took up
her abode for three years in a miserable hostelry; till she could build
the requisite cells and monastic buildings, to say nothing of a guest
house for passing travellers where they might find the welcome which
Mary and Joseph had missed. At this point I conclude my narrative of
the journeys that she made accompanied by Eustochium and many other
virgins.
15. I am now free to describe at greater length the virtue which was
her peculiar charm; and in setting forth this I call God to witness
that I am no flatterer. I add nothing. I exaggerate nothing. On the
contrary I tone down much that I may not appear to relate
incredibilities. My carping critics must not insinuate that I am
drawing on my imagination or decking Paula, like Æsop's crow, with the
fine feathers of other birds. Humility is the first of Christian
graces, and hers was so pronounced that one who had never seen her, and
who on account of her celebrity had desired to see her, would have
believed that he saw not her but the lowest of her maids. When she was
surrounded by companies of virgins she was always the least remarkable
in dress, in speech, in gesture, and in gait. From the time that her
husband died until she fell asleep herself she never sat at meat with a
man, even though she might know him to stand upon the pinnacle of the
episcopate. She never entered a bath except when dangerously ill. Even
in the severest fever she rested not on an ordinary bed but on the hard
ground covered only with a mat of goat's hair; if that can be called
rest which made day and night alike a time of almost unbroken prayer.
Well did she fulfil the words of the psalter: "All the night make I my
bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears"! [2877] Her tears welled
forth as it were from fountains, and she lamented her slightest faults
as if they were sins of the deepest dye. Constantly did I warn her to
spare her eyes and to keep them for the reading of the gospel; but she
only said: I must disfigure that face which contrary to God's
commandment I have painted with rouge, white lead, and antimony. I must
mortify that body which has been given up to many pleasures. I must
make up for my long laughter by constant weeping. I must exchange my
soft linen and costly silks for rough goat's hair. I who have pleased
my husband and the world in the past, desire now to please Christ.'
Were I among her great and signal virtues to select her chastity as a
subject of praise, my words would seem superfluous; for, even when she
was still in the world, she set an example to all the matrons of Rome,
and bore herself so admirably that the most slanderous never ventured
to couple scandal with her name. [2878] No mind could be more
considerate than hers, or none kinder towards the lowly. She did not
court the powerful; at the same time, if the proud and the vainglorious
sought her, she did not turn from them with disdain. If she saw a poor
man, she supported him: and if she saw a rich one, she urged him to do
good. Her liberality alone knew no bounds. Indeed, so anxious was she
to turn no needy person away that she borrowed money at interest and
often contracted new loans to pay off old ones. I was wrong, I admit;
but when I saw her so profuse in giving, I reproved her alleging the
apostle's words: "I mean not that other men be eased and ye burthened;
but by an equality that now at this time your abundance may be a supply
for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your
want." [2879] I quoted from the gospel the Saviour's words: "he that
hath two coats, let him impart one of them to him that hath none";
[2880] and I warned her that she might not always have means to do as
she would wish. Other arguments I adduced to the same purpose; but with
admirable modesty and brevity she overruled them all. "God is my
witness," she said, "that what I do I do for His sake. My prayer is
that I may die a beggar not leaving a penny to my daughter and indebted
to strangers for my winding sheet." She then concluded with these
words: "I, if I beg, shall find many to give to me; but if this beggar
does not obtain help from me who by borrowing can give it to him, he
will die; and if he dies, of whom will his soul be required?" I wished
her to be more careful in managing her concerns, but she with a faith
more glowing than mine clave to the Saviour with her whole heart and
poor in spirit followed the Lord in His poverty, giving back to Him
what she had received and becoming poor for His sake. She obtained her
wish at last and died leaving her daughter overwhelmed with a mass of
debt. This Eustochium still owes and indeed cannot hope to pay off by
her own exertions; only the mercy of Christ can free her from it.
16. Many married ladies make it a habit to confer gifts upon their own
trumpeters, and while they are extremely profuse to a few, withhold all
help from the many. From this fault Paula was altogether free. She gave
her money to each according as each had need, not ministering to
self-indulgence but relieving want. No poor person went away from her
empty handed. And all this she was enabled to do not by the greatness
of her wealth but by her careful management of it. She constantly had
on her lips such phrases as these: "Blessed are the merciful for they
shall obtain mercy:" [2881] and "water will quench a flaming fire; and
alms maketh an atonement for sins;" [2882] and "make to yourselves
friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that...they may receive you
into everlasting habitations;" [2883] and "give alms...and behold all
things are clean unto you;" [2884] and Daniel's words to King
Nebuchadnezzar in which he admonished him to redeem his sins by
almsgiving. [2885] She wished to spend her money not upon these stones,
that shall pass away with the earth and the world, but upon those
living stones, which roll over the earth; [2886] of which in the
apocalypse of John the city of the great king is built; [2887] of which
also the scripture tells us that they shall be changed into sapphire
and emerald and jasper and other gems. [2888]
17. But these qualities she may well share with a few others and the
devil knows that it is not in these that the highest virtue consists.
For, when Job has lost his substance and when his house and children
have been destroyed, Satan says to the Lord: "Skin for skin, yea all
that a man hath, will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand
now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy
face." [2889] We know that many persons while they have given alms have
yet given nothing which touches their bodily comfort; and while they
have held out a helping hand to those in need are themselves overcome
with sensual indulgences; they whitewash the outside but within they
are "full of dead men's bones." [2890] Paula was not one of these. Her
self-restraint was so great as to be almost immoderate; and her fasts
and labours were so severe as almost to weaken her constitution. Except
on feast days she would scarcely ever take oil with her food; a fact
from which may be judged what she thought of wine, sauce, fish, honey,
milk, eggs, and other things agreeable to the palate. Some persons
believe that in taking these they are extremely frugal; and, even if
they surfeit themselves with them, they still fancy their chastity
safe.
18. Envy always follows in the track of virtue: as Horace says, it is
ever the mountain top that is smitten by the lightning. [2891] It is
not surprising that I declare this of men and women, when the jealousy
of the Pharisees succeeded in crucifying our Lord Himself. All the
saints have had illwishers, and even Paradise was not free from the
serpent through whose malice death came into the world. [2892] So the
Lord stirred up against Paula Hadad the Edomite [2893] to buffet her
that she might not be exalted, and warned her frequently by the thorn
in her flesh [2894] not to be elated by the greatness of her own
virtues or to fancy that, compared with other women, she had attained
the summit of perfection. For my part I used to say that it was best to
give in to rancour and to retire before passion. So Jacob dealt with
his brother Esau; so David met the unrelenting persecution of Saul. I
reminded her how the first of these fled into Mesopotamia; [2895] and
how the second surrendered himself to the Philistines, [2896] and chose
to submit to foreign foes rather than to enemies at home. She however
replied as follows:--Your suggestion would be a wise one if the devil
did not everywhere fight against God's servants and handmaidens, and
did he not always precede the fugitives to their chosen refuges.
Moreover, I am deterred from accepting it by my love for the holy
places; and I cannot find another Bethlehem elsewhere. Why may I not by
my patience conquer this ill will? Why may I not by my humility break
down this pride, and when I am smitten on the one cheek offer to the
smiter the other? [2897] Surely the apostle Paul says "Overcome evil
with good." [2898] Did not the apostles glory when they suffered
reproach for the Lord's sake? Did not even the Saviour humble Himself,
taking the form of a servant and being made obedient to the Father unto
death, even the death of the cross, [2899] that He might save us by His
passion? If Job had not fought the battle and won the victory, he would
never have received the crown of righteousness, or have heard the Lord
say: "Thinkest thou that I have spoken unto thee for aught else than
this, that thou mightest appear righteous." [2900] In the gospel those
only are said to be blessed who suffer persecution for righteousness'
sake. [2901] My conscience is at rest, and I know that it is not from
any fault of mine that I am suffering; moreover affliction in this
world is a ground for expecting a reward hereafter.' When the enemy was
more than usually forward and ventured to reproach her to her face, she
used to chant the words of the psalter: "While the wicked was before
me, I was dumb with silence; I held my peace even from good:" [2902]
and again, "I as a deaf man heard not; and I was as a dumb man that
openeth not his mouth:" [2903] and "I was as a man that heareth not,
and in whose mouth are no reproofs." [2904] When she felt herself
tempted, she dwelt upon the words in Deuteronomy: "The Lord your God
proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul." [2905] In tribulations and afflictions
she turned to the splendid language of Isaiah: "Ye that are weaned from
the milk and drawn from the breasts, look for tribulation upon
tribulation, for hope also upon hope: yet a little while must these
things be by reason of the malice of the lips and by reason of a
spiteful tongue." [2906] This passage of scripture she explained for
her own consolation as meaning that the weaned, that is, those who have
come to full age, must endure tribulation upon tribulation that they
may be accounted worthy to receive hope upon hope. She recalled to mind
also the words of the apostle, "we glory in tribulations also: knowing
that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and
experience hope: and hope maketh not ashamed" [2907] and "though our
outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day": [2908]
and "our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh in us
[2909] an eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things
which are seen but at the things which are not seen: for the things
which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are
eternal." [2910] She used to say that, although to human impatience the
time might seem slow in coming, yet that it would not be long but that
presently help would come from God who says: "In an acceptable time
have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee."
[2911] We ought not, she declared, to dread the deceitful lips and
tongues of the wicked, for we rejoice in the aid of the Lord who warns
us by His prophet: "fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye
afraid of their revilings; for the moth shall eat them up like a
garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool": [2912] and she quoted
His own words, "In your patience ye shall win your souls": [2913] as
well as those of the apostle, "the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in
us": [2914] and in another place, "we are to suffer affliction" [2915]
that we may be patient in all things that befall us, for "he that is
slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit
exalteth folly." [2916]
19. In her frequent sicknesses and infirmities she used to say, "when I
am weak, then am I strong:" [2917] "we have our treasure in earthen
vessels" [2918] until "this corruptible shall have put on incorruption
and this mortal shall have put on immortality" [2919] and again "as the
sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by
Christ:" [2920] and then as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so
shall ye be also of the consolation. [2921] In sorrow she used to sing:
"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within
me? hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my
countenance and my God." [2922] In the hour of danger she used to say:
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me:" [2923] and again "whosoever will save his life
shall lose it," and "whosoever will lose his life for my sake the same
shall save it." [2924] When the exhaustion of her substance and the
ruin of her property were announced to her she only said: "What is a
man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul:" [2925] and "naked
came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. The
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the
Lord:" [2926] and Saint John's words, "Love not the world neither the
things that are in the world. For all that is in the world, the lust of
the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of
the Father but is of the world. And the world passeth away and the lust
thereof." [2927] I know that when word was sent to her of the serious
illnesses of her children and particularly of Toxotius whom she dearly
loved, she first by her self-control fulfilled the saying: "I was
troubled and I did not speak," [2928] and then cried out in the words
of scripture, "He that loveth son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me." [2929] And she prayed to the Lord and said: Lord
"preserve thou the children of those that are appointed to die," [2930]
that is, of those who for thy sake every day die bodily. I am aware
that a talebearer--a class of persons who do a great deal of harm--once
told her as a kindness that owing to her great fervour in virtue some
people thought her mad and declared that something should be done for
her head. She replied in the words of the apostle, "we are made a
spectacle unto the world and to angels and to men," [2931] and "we are
fools for Christ's sake" [2932] but "the foolishness of God is wiser
than men." [2933] It is for this reason she said that even the Saviour
says to the Father, "Thou knowest my foolishness," [2934] and again "I
am as a wonder unto many, but thou art my strong refuge." [2935] "I was
as a beast before thee; nevertheless I am continually with thee."
[2936] In the gospel we read that even His kinsfolk desired to bind Him
as one of weak mind. [2937] His opponents also reviled him saying "thou
art a Samaritan and hast a devil," [2938] and another time "he casteth
out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils." [2939] But let
us, she continued, listen to the exhortation of the apostle, "Our
rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity
and sincerity...by the grace of God we have had our conversation in the
world." [2940] And let us hear the Lord when He says to His apostles,
"If ye were of the world the world would love his own; but because ye
are not of the world...therefore the world hateth you." [2941] And then
she turned to the Lord Himself, saying, "Thou knowest the secrets of
the heart," [2942] and "all this is come upon us; yet have we not
forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant; our
heart is not turned back." [2943] "Yea for thy sake are we killed all
the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." [2944] But
"the Lord is on my side: I will not fear what man doeth unto me."
[2945] She had read the words of Solomon, "My son, honour the Lord and
thou shalt be made strong; and beside the Lord fear thou no man."
[2946] These passages and others like them she used as God's armour
against the assaults of wickedness, and particularly to defend herself
against the furious onslaughts of envy; and thus by patiently enduring
wrongs she soothed the violence of the most savage breasts. Down to the
very day of her death two things were conspicuous in her life, one her
great patience and the other the jealousy which was manifested towards
her. Now jealousy gnaws the heart of him who harbours it: and while it
strives to injure its rival raves with all the force of its fury
against itself.
20. I shall now describe the order of her monastery and the method by
which she turned the continence of saintly souls to her own profit. She
sowed carnal things that she might reap spiritual things; [2947] she
gave earthly things that she might receive heavenly things; she
forewent things temporal that she might in their stead obtain things
eternal. Besides establishing a monastery for men, the charge of which
she left to men, she divided into three companies and monasteries the
numerous virgins whom she had gathered out of different provinces, some
of whom are of noble birth while others belonged to the middle or lower
classes. But, although they worked and had their meals separately from
each other, these three companies met together for psalm-singing and
prayer. After the chanting of the Alleluia--the signal by which they
were summoned to the Collect [2948] --no one was permitted to remain
behind. But either first or among the first Paula used to await the
arrival of the rest, urging them to diligence rather by her own modest
example than by motives of fear. At dawn, at the third, sixth, and
ninth hours, at evening, and at midnight they recited the psalter each
in turn. [2949] No sister was allowed to be ignorant of the psalms, and
all had every day to learn a certain portion of the holy scriptures. On
the Lord's day only they proceeded to the church beside which they
lived, each company following its own mother-superior. Returning home
in the same order, they then devoted themselves to their allotted
tasks, and made garments either for themselves or else for others. If a
virgin was of noble birth, she was not allowed to have an attendant
belonging to her own household lest her maid having her mind full of
the doings of old days and of the license of childhood might by
constant converse open old wounds and renew former errors. All the
sisters were clothed alike. Linen was not used except for drying the
hands. So strictly did Paula separate them from men that she would not
allow even eunuchs to approach them; lest she should give occasion to
slanderous tongues (always ready to cavil at the religious) to console
themselves for their own misdoing. When a sister was backward in coming
to the recitation of the psalms or shewed herself remiss in her work,
Paula used to approach her in different ways. Was she quick-tempered?
Paula coaxed her. Was she phlegmatic? Paula chid her, copying the
example of the apostle who said: "What will ye? Shall I come to you
with a rod or in love and in the spirit of meekness?" [2950] Apart from
food and raiment she allowed no one to have anything she could call her
own, for Paul had said, "Having food and raiment let us be therewith
content." [2951] She was afraid lest the custom of having more should
breed covetousness in them; an appetite which no wealth can satisfy,
for the more it has the more it requires, and neither opulence nor
indigence is able to diminish it. [2952] When the sisters quarrelled
one with another she reconciled them with soothing words. If the
younger ones were troubled with fleshly desires, she broke their force
by imposing redoubled fasts; for she wished her virgins to be ill in
body rather than to suffer in soul. If she chanced to notice any sister
too attentive to her dress, she reproved her for her error with knitted
brows and severe looks, saying; "a clean body and a clean dress mean an
unclean soul. A virgin's lips should never utter an improper or an
impure word, for such indicate a lascivious mind and by the outward man
the faults of the inward are made manifest." When she saw a sister
verbose and talkative or forward and taking pleasure in quarrels, and
when she found after frequent admonitions that the offender shewed no
signs of improvement; she placed her among the lowest of the sisters
and outside their society, ordering her to pray at the door of the
refectory instead of with the rest, and commanding her to take her food
by herself, in the hope that where rebuke had failed shame might bring
about a reformation. The sin of theft she loathed as if it were
sacrilege; and that which among men of the world is counted little or
nothing she declared to be in a monastery a crime of the deepest dye.
How shall I describe her kindness and attention towards the sick or the
wonderful care and devotion with which she nursed them? Yet, although
when others were sick she freely gave them every indulgence, and even
allowed them to eat meat; when she fell ill herself, she made no
concessions to her own weakness, and seemed unfairly to change in her
own case to harshness the kindness which she was always ready to shew
to others.
21. No young girl of sound and vigorous constitution could have
delivered herself up to a regimen so rigid as that imposed upon herself
by Paula whose physical powers age had impaired and enfeebled. I admit
that in this she was too determined, refusing to spare herself or to
listen to advice. I will relate what I know to be a fact. In the
extreme heat of the month of July she was once attacked by a violent
fever and we despaired of her life. However by God's mercy she rallied,
and the doctors urged upon her the necessity of taking a little light
wine to accelerate her recovery; saying that if she continued to drink
water they feared that she might become dropsical. I on my side
secretly appealed to the blessed pope Epiphanius to admonish, nay even
to compel her, to take the wine. But she with her usual sagacity and
quickness at once perceived the stratagem, and with a smile let him see
that the advice he was giving her was after all not his but mine. Not
to waste more words, the blessed prelate after many exhortations left
her chamber; and, when I asked him what he had accomplished, replied,
"Only this that old as I am I have been almost persuaded to drink no
more wine." I relate this story not because I approve of persons rashly
taking upon themselves burthens beyond their strength (for does not the
scripture say: "Burden not thyself above thy power"? [2953] ) but
because I wish from this quality of perseverance in her to shew the
passion of her mind and the yearning of her believing soul; both of
which made her sing in David's words, "My soul thirsteth for thee, my
flesh longeth after thee." [2954] Difficult as it is always to avoid
extremes, the philosophers [2955] are quite right in their opinion that
virtue is a mean and vice an excess, or as we may express it in one
short sentence "In nothing too much." [2956] While thus unyielding in
her contempt for food Paula was easily moved to sorrow and felt crushed
by the deaths of her kinsfolk, especially those of her children. When
one after another her husband and her daughters fell asleep, on each
occasion the shock of their loss endangered her life. And although she
signed her mouth and her breast with the sign of the cross, and
endeavoured thus to alleviate a mother's grief; her feelings
overpowered her and her maternal instincts were too much for her
confiding mind. Thus while her intellect retained its mastery she was
overcome by sheer physical weakness. On one occasion a sickness seized
her and clung to her so long that it brought anxiety to us and danger
to herself. Yet even then she was full of joy and repeated every moment
the apostle's words: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me
from the body of this death?" [2957]
The careful reader may say that my words are an invective rather than
an eulogy. I call that Jesus whom she served and whom I desire to serve
to be my witness that so far from unduly eulogizing her or depreciating
her I tell the truth about her as one Christian writing of another;
that I am writing a memoir and not a panegyric, and that what were
faults in her might well be virtues in others less saintly. I speak
thus of her faults to satisfy my own feelings and the passionate regret
of us her brothers and sisters, who all of us love her still and all of
us deplore her loss.
22. However, she has finished her course, she has kept the faith, and
now she enjoys the crown of righteousness. [2958] She follows the Lamb
whithersoever he goes. [2959] She is filled now because once she was
hungry. [2960] With joy does she sing: "as we have heard, so have we
seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God." [2961]
O blessed change! Once she wept but now laughs for evermore. Once she
despised the broken cisterns of which the prophet speaks; [2962] but
now she has found in the Lord a fountain of life. [2963] Once she wore
haircloth but now she is clothed in white raiment, and can say: "thou
hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness." [2964] Once
she ate ashes like bread and mingled her drink with weeping; [2965]
saying "my tears have been my meat day and night;" [2966] but now for
all time she eats the bread of angels [2967] and sings: "O taste and
see that the Lord is good;" [2968] and "my heart is overflowing with a
goodly matter; I speak the things which I have made touching the king."
[2969] She now sees fulfilled Isaiah's words, or rather those of the
Lord speaking through Isaiah: "Behold, my servants shall eat but ye
shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink but ye shall be
thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:
behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for
sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit." [2970] I have
said that she always shunned the broken cisterns: she did so that she
might find in the Lord a fountain of life, and that she might rejoice
and sing: "as the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my
soul after Thee, O God. When shall I come and appear before God?"
[2971]
23. I must briefly mention the manner in which she avoided the foul
cisterns of the heretics whom she regarded as no better than heathen. A
certain cunning knave, in his own estimation both learned and clever,
began without my knowledge to put to her such questions as these: What
sin has an infant committed that it should be seized by the devil?
Shall we be young or old when we rise again? If we die young and rise
young, we shall after the resurrection require to have nurses. If
however we die young and rise old, the dead will not rise again at all:
they will be transformed into new beings. Will there be a distinction
of sexes in the next world? Or will there be no such distinction? If
the distinction continues, there will be wedlock and sexual intercourse
and procreation of children. If however it does not continue, the
bodies that rise again will not be the same. For, he argued, "the
earthy tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things,"
[2972] but the bodies that we shall have in heaven will be subtle and
spiritual according to the words of the apostle: "it is sown a natural
body: it is raised a spiritual body." [2973] From all of which
considerations he sought to prove that rational creatures have been for
their faults and previous sins subjected to bodily conditions; and that
according to the nature and guilt of their transgression they are born
in this or that state of life. Some, he said, rejoice in sound bodies
and wealthy and noble parents; others have for their portion diseased
frames and poverty stricken homes; and by imprisonment in the present
world and in bodies pay the penalty of their former sins. Paula
listened and reported what she heard to me, at the same time pointing
out the man. Thus upon me was laid the task of opposing this most
noxious viper and deadly pest. It is of such that the Psalmist speaks
when he writes: "deliver not the soul of thy turtle dove unto the wild
beast," [2974] and "Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds;" [2975]
creatures who write iniquity and speak lies against the Lord and lift
up their mouths against the Most High. As the fellow had tried to
deceive Paula, I at her request went to him, and by asking him a few
questions involved him in a dilemma. Do you believe, said I, that there
will be a resurrection of the dead or do you disbelieve? He replied, I
believe. I went on: Will the bodies that rise again be the same or
different? He said, The same. Then I asked: What of their sex? Will
that remain unaltered or will it be changed? At this question he became
silent and swayed his head this way and that as a serpent does to avoid
being struck. Accordingly I continued, As you have nothing to say I
will answer for you and will draw the conclusion from your premises. If
the woman shall not rise again as a woman nor the man as a man, there
will be no resurrection of the dead. For the body is made up of sex and
members. But if there shall be no sex and no members what will become
of the resurrection of the body, which cannot exist without sex and
members? And if there shall be no resurrection of the body, there can
be no resurrection of the dead. But as to your objection taken from
marriage, that, if the members shall remain the same, marriage must
inevitably be allowed; it is disposed of by the Saviour's words: "ye do
err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the
resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as
the angels." [2976] When it is said that they neither marry nor are
given in marriage, the distinction of sex is shewn to persist. For no
one says of things which have no capacity for marriage such as a stick
or a stone that they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but this
may well be said of those who while they can marry yet abstain from
doing so by their own virtue and by the grace of Christ. But if you
cavil at this and say, how shall we in that case be like the angels
with whom there is neither male nor female, hear my answer in brief as
follows. What the Lord promises to us is not the nature of angels but
their mode of life and their bliss. And therefore John the Baptist is
called an angel [2977] even before he is beheaded, and all God's holy
men and virgins manifest in themselves even in this world the life of
angels. When it is said "ye shall be like the angels," likeness only is
promised and not a change of nature.
24. And now do you in your turn answer me these questions. How do you
explain the fact that Thomas felt the hands of the risen Lord and
beheld His side pierced by the spear? [2978] And the fact that Peter
saw the Lord standing on the shore [2979] and eating a piece of a
roasted fish and a honeycomb. [2980] If He stood, He must certainly
have had feet. If He pointed to His wounded side He must have also had
chest and belly for to these the sides are attached and without them
they cannot be. If He spoke, He must have used a tongue and palate and
teeth. For as the bow strikes the strings, so to produce vocal sound
does the tongue come in contact with the teeth. If His hands were felt,
it follows that He must have had arms as well. Since therefore it is
admitted that He had all the members which go to make up the body, He
must have also had the whole body formed of them, and that not a
woman's but a man's; that is to say, He rose again in the sex in which
He died. And if you cavil farther and say: We shall eat then, I
suppose, after the resurrection; or How can a solid and material body
enter in contrary to its nature through closed doors? you shall receive
from me this reply. Do not for this matter of food find fault with
belief in the resurrection: for our Lord after raising the daughter of
the ruler of the synagogue commanded food to be given her. [2981] And
Lazarus who had been dead four days is described as sitting at meat
with Him, [2982] the object in both cases being to shew that the
resurrection was real and not merely apparent. And if from our Lord's
entering in through closed doors [2983] you strive to prove that His
body was spiritual and aerial, He must have had this spiritual body
even before He suffered; since--contrary to the nature of heavy
bodies--He was able to walk upon the sea. [2984] The apostle Peter also
must be believed to have had a spiritual body for he also walked upon
the waters with buoyant step. [2985] The true explanation is that when
anything is done against nature, it is a manifestation of God's might
and power. And to shew plainly that in these great signs our attention
is asked not to a change in nature but to the almighty power of God, he
who by faith had walked on water began to sink for the want of it and
would have done so had not the Lord lifted him up with the reproving
words, "O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt?" [2986] I
wonder that you can display such effrontery when the Lord Himself said,
"reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy
hand and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless but believing,"
[2987] and in another place, "behold my hands and my feet that it is I
myself: handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye
see me have. And when he had thus spoken he shewed them his hands and
his feet." [2988] You hear Him speak of bones and flesh, of feet and
hands; and yet you want to palm off on me the bubbles and airy nothings
of which the stoics rave! [2989]
25. Moreover, if you ask how it is that a mere infant which has never
sinned is seized by the devil, or at what age we shall rise again
seeing that we die at different ages; my only answer--an unwelcome one,
I fancy--will be in the words of scripture: "The judgments of God are a
great deep," [2990] and "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways
past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath
been his counsellor?" [2991] No difference of age can affect the
reality of the body. Although our frames are in a perpetual flux and
lose or gain daily, these changes do not make us different individuals.
I was not one person at ten years old, another at thirty and another at
fifty; nor am I another now when all my head is gray. [2992] According
to the traditions of the church and the teaching of the apostle Paul,
the answer must be this; that we shall rise as perfect men in the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. [2993] At this age the
Jews suppose Adam to have been created and at this age we read that the
Lord and Saviour rose again. Many other arguments did I adduce from
both testaments to stifle the outcry of this heretic.
26. From that day forward so profoundly did Paula commence to loathe
the man--and all who agreed with him in his doctrines--that she
publicly proclaimed them as enemies of the Lord. I have related this
incident less with the design of confuting in a few words a heresy
which would require volumes to confute it, than with the object of
shewing the great faith of this saintly woman who preferred to subject
herself to perpetual hostility from men rather than by friendships
hurtful to herself to provoke or to offend God.
27. To revert then to that description of her character which I began a
little time ago; no mind was ever more docile than was hers. She was
slow to speak and swift to hear, [2994] remembering the precept, "Keep
silence and hearken, O Israel." [2995] The holy scriptures she knew by
heart, and said of the history contained in them that it was the
foundation of the truth; but, though she loved even this, she still
preferred to seek for the underlying spiritual meaning and made this
the keystone of the spiritual building raised within her soul. She
asked leave that she and her daughter might read over the old and new
testaments [2996] under my guidance. Out of modesty I at first refused
compliance, but as she persisted in her demand and frequently urged me
to consent to it, I at last did so and taught her what I had learned
not from myself--for self-confidence is the worst of teachers--but from
the church's most famous writers. Wherever I stuck fast and honestly
confessed myself at fault she would by no means rest content but would
force me by fresh questions to point out to her which of many different
solutions seemed to me the most probable. I will mention here another
fact which to those who are envious may well seem incredible. While I
myself beginning as a young man have with much toil and effort
partially acquired the Hebrew tongue and study it now unceasingly lest
if I leave it, it also may leave me; Paula, on making up her mind that
she too would learn it, succeeded so well that she could chant the
psalms in Hebrew and could speak the language without a trace of the
pronunciation peculiar to Latin. The same accomplishment can be seen to
this day in her daughter Eustochium, who always kept close to her
mother's side, obeyed all her commands, never slept apart from her,
never walked abroad or took a meal without her, never had a penny that
she could call her own, rejoiced when her mother gave to the poor her
little patrimony, and fully believed that in filial affection she had
the best heritage and the truest riches. I must not pass over in
silence the joy which Paula felt when she heard her little
granddaughter and namesake, the child of Laeta and Toxotius--who was
born and I may even say conceived in answer to a vow of her parents
dedicating her to virginity--when, I say, she heard the little one in
her cradle sing "alleluia" and falter out the words "grandmother" and
"aunt." One wish alone made her long to see her native land again; that
she might know her son and his wife and child [2997] to have renounced
the world and to be serving Christ. And it has been granted to her in
part. For while her granddaughter is destined to take the veil, her
daughter-in-law has vowed herself to perpetual chastity, and by faith
and alms emulates the example that her mother has set her. She strives
to exhibit at Rome the virtues which Paula set forth in all their
fulness at Jerusalem.
28. What ails thee, my soul? Why dost thou shudder to approach her
death? I have made my letter longer than it should be already; dreading
to come to the end and vainly supposing that by saying nothing of it
and by occupying myself with her praises I could postpone the evil day.
Hitherto the wind has been all in my favour and my keel has smoothly
ploughed through the heaving waves. But now my speech is running upon
the rocks, the billows are mountains high, and imminent shipwreck
awaits both you and me. We must needs cry out: "Master; save us we
perish:" [2998] and "awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord?" [2999] For who
could tell the tale of Paula's dying with dry eyes? She fell into a
most serious illness and thus gained what she most desired, power to
leave us and to be joined more fully to the Lord. Eustochium's
affection for her mother, always true and tried, in this time of
sickness approved itself still more to all. She sat by Paula's bedside,
she fanned her, she supported her head, she arranged her pillows, she
chafed her feet, she rubbed her stomach, she smoothed down the
bedclothes, she heated hot water, she brought towels. In fact she
anticipated the servants in all their duties, and when one of them did
anything she regarded it as so much taken away from her own gain. How
unceasingly she prayed, how copiously she wept, how constantly she ran
to and fro between her prostrate mother and the cave of the Lord!
imploring God that she might not be deprived of a companion so dear,
that if Paula was to die she might herself no longer live, and that one
bier might carry to burial her and her mother. Alas for the frailty and
perishableness of human nature! Except that our belief in Christ raises
us up to heaven and promises eternity to our souls, the physical
conditions of life are the same for us as for the brutes. "There is one
event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good and to the evil;
to the clean and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth and to him
that sacrificeth not: as is the good so is the sinner; and he that
sweareth as he that feareth an oath." [3000] Man and beast alike are
dissolved into dust and ashes.
29. Why do I still linger, and prolong my suffering by postponing it?
Paula's intelligence shewed her that her death was near. Her body and
limbs grew cold and only in her holy breast did the warm beat of the
living soul continue. Yet, as though she were leaving strangers to go
home to her own people, she whispered the verses of the psalmist:
"Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where
thine honour dwelleth," [3001] and "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O
Lord of hosts! My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the courts of the
Lord," [3002] and "I had rather be an outcast in the house of my God
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." [3003] When I asked her why
she remained silent refusing to answer my call, [3004] and whether she
was in pain, she replied in Greek that she had no suffering and that
all things were to her eyes calm and tranquil. After this she said no
more but closed her eyes as though she already despised all mortal
things, and kept repeating the verses just quoted down to the moment in
which she breathed out her soul, but in a tone so low that we could
scarcely hear what she said. Raising her finger also to her mouth she
made the sign of the cross upon her lips. Then her breath failed her
and she gasped for death; yet even when her soul was eager to break
free, she turned the death-rattle (which comes at last to all) into the
praise of the Lord. The bishop of Jerusalem and some from other cities
were present, also a great number of the inferior clergy, both priests
and levites. [3005] The entire monastery was filled with bodies of
virgins and monks. As soon as Paula heard the bridegroom saying: "Rise
up my love my fair one, my dove, and come away: for, lo, the winter is
past, the rain is over and gone," she answered joyfully "the flowers
appear on the earth; the time to cut them has come" [3006] and "I
believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the
living." [3007]
30. No weeping or lamentation followed her death, such as are the
custom of the world; but all present united in chanting the psalms in
their several tongues. The bishops lifted up the dead woman with their
own hands, placed her upon a bier, and carrying her on their shoulders
to the church in the cave of the Saviour, laid her down in the centre
of it. Other bishops meantime carried torches and tapers in the
procession, and yet others led the singing of the choirs. The whole
population of the cities of Palestine came to her funeral. Not a single
monk lurked in the desert or lingered in his cell. Not a single virgin
remained shut up in the seclusion of her chamber. To each and all it
would have seemed sacrilege to have withheld the last tokens of respect
from a woman so saintly. As in the case of Dorcas, [3008] the widows
and the poor shewed the garments Paula had given them; while the
destitute cried aloud that they had lost in her a mother and a nurse.
Strange to say, the paleness of death had not altered her expression;
only a certain solemnity and seriousness had overspread her features.
You would have thought her not dead but asleep.
One after another they chanted the psalms, now in Greek, now in Latin,
now in Syriac; and this not merely for the three days which elapsed
before she was buried beneath the church and close to the cave of the
Lord, but throughout the remainder of the week. All who were assembled
felt that it was their own funeral at which they were assisting, and
shed tears as if they themselves had died. Paula's daughter, the
revered virgin Eustochium, "as a child that is weaned of his mother,"
[3009] could not be torn away from her parent. She kissed her eyes,
pressed her lips upon her brow, embraced her frame, and wished for
nothing better than to be buried with her.
31. Jesus is witness that Paula has left not a single penny to her
daughter but, as I said before, on the contrary a large mass of debt;
and, worse even than this, a crowd of brothers and sisters whom it is
hard for her to support but whom it would be undutiful to cast off.
Could there be a more splendid instance of self-renunciation than that
of this noble lady who in the fervour of her faith gave away so much of
her wealth that she reduced herself to the last degree of poverty?
Others may boast, if they will, of money spent in charity, of large
sums heaped up in God's treasury, [3010] of votive offerings hung up
with cords of gold. None of them has given more to the poor than Paula,
for Paula has kept nothing for herself. But now she enjoys the true
riches and those good things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither have they entered into the heart of man. [3011] If we mourn, it
is for ourselves and not for her; yet even so, if we persist in weeping
for one who reigns with Christ, we shall seem to envy her her glory.
32. Be not fearful, Eustochium: you are endowed with a splendid
heritage. The Lord is your portion; and, to increase your joy, your
mother has now after a long martyrdom won her crown. It is not only the
shedding of blood that is accounted a confession: the spotless service
of a devout mind is itself a daily martyrdom. Both alike are crowned;
with roses and violets in the one case, with lilies in the other. Thus
in the Song of Songs it is written: "my beloved is white and ruddy;"
[3012] for, whether the victory be won in peace or in war, God gives
the same guerdon to those who win it. Like Abraham your mother heard
the words: "get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, unto a
land that I will shew thee;" [3013] and not only that but the Lord's
command given through Jeremiah: "flee out of the midst of Babylon, and
deliver every man his soul." [3014] To the day of her death she never
returned to Chaldæa, or regretted the fleshpots of Egypt or its
strong-smelling meats. Accompanied by her virgin bands she became a
fellow-citizen of the Saviour; and now that she has ascended from her
little Bethlehem to the heavenly realms she can say to the true Naomi:
"thy people shall be my people and thy God my God." [3015]
33. I have spent the labour of two nights in dictating for you this
treatise; and in doing so I have felt a grief as deep as your own. I
say in dictating' for I have not been able to write it myself. As often
as I have taken up my pen [3016] and have tried to fulfil my promise;
my fingers have stiffened, my hand has fallen, and my power over it has
vanished. The rudeness of the diction, devoid as it is of all elegance
or charm, bears witness to the feeling of the writer.
34. And now, Paula, farewell, and aid with your prayers the old age of
your votary. Your faith and your works unite you to Christ; thus
standing in His presence you will the more readily gain what you ask.
In this letter "I have built" to your memory "a monument more lasting
than bronze," [3017] which no lapse of time will be able to destroy.
And I have cut an inscription on your tomb, which I here subjoin; that,
wherever my narrative may go, the reader may learn that you are buried
at Bethlehem and not uncommemorated there.
The Inscription on Paula's Tomb.
Within this tomb a child of Scipio lies,
A daughter of the farfamed Pauline house,
A scion of the Gracchi, of the stock
Of Agamemnon's self, illustrious:
Here rests the lady Paula, well-beloved
Of both her parents, with Eustochium
For daughter; she the first of Roman dames
Who hardship chose and Bethlehem for Christ.
In front of the cavern there is another inscription as follows:--
Seest thou here hollowed in the rock a grave,
'Tis Paula's tomb; high heaven has her soul.
Who Rome and friends, riches and home forsook
Here in this lonely spot to find her rest.
For here Christ's manger was, and here the kings
To Him, both God and man, their offerings made.
35. The holy and blessed Paula fell asleep on the seventh day before
the Kalends of February, on the third day of the week, after the sun
had set. She was buried on the fifth day before the same Kalends, in
the sixth consulship of the Emperor Honorius and the first of
Aristænetus. She lived in the vows of religion five years at Rome and
twenty years at Bethlehem. The whole duration of her life was fifty-six
years eight months and twenty-one days.
__________________________________________________________________
[2731] Luke xx. 38.
[2732] 2 Cor. v. 6.
[2733] Ps. cxx. 5, 6 acc. to Jerome's latest version.
[2734] 1 Joh. v. 19.
[2735] Ps. cxxxix. 12, A.V. marg.
[2736] Joh. i. 5.
[2737] Ps. xxxix. 12.
[2738] Phil. i. 23.
[2739] 1 Cor. ix. 27.
[2740] Rom. xiv. 21.
[2741] Ps. xxxv. 13.
[2742] Ps. xli. 3.
[2743] Ps. xxxii. 4.
[2744] Cf. Acts vii. 56.
[2745] Ps. lv. 6.
[2746] Sacerdotes.
[2747] Mark x. 28-30.
[2748] Virg. A. i. 292.
[2749] See Letter XXXIX.
[2750] Of continence. See Letter LXVI. 3.
[2751] a.d. 382.
[2752] Theodosius and Valentinian.
[2753] Wife of Flavius Clemens, believed to have been a Christian
martyr.
[2754] i.e. the straits of Messina.
[2755] A port on the S.W. coast of the Peloponnese.
[2756] Virg. A. iii. 126-8.
[2757] At this time one of the three bishops who claimed the see of
Antioch. See Ep. xv. 2.
[2758] Acts xxi. 5.
[2759] 2 Kings xxiii. 29.
[2760] A maritime city of Palestine which subsequently to its
restoration by Herod became first the civil, and then the
ecclesiastical, capital of Palestine.
[2761] Acts xxi. 8, 9.
[2762] Acts ix. 36-41.
[2763] Acts ix. 32-34.
[2764] John xix. 38.
[2765] 1 Sam. xxii. 17-19.
[2766] Jon. i. 3.
[2767] Andromeda had been chained to a rock by her father to assuage
the wrath of Poseidon who had sent a sea monster to ravage the country.
Here she was found by Perseus who slew the monster and effected her
rescue. See Josephus B. J. iii. ix. 3.
[2768] Luke xxiv. 13, 28-31.
[2769] 2 Chr. viii. 5.
[2770] Josh. x. 12-14.
[2771] Josh. ix.
[2772] Judges xix. xx. According to Judges xx. 47 the number of
Benjamites who escaped was six hundred.
[2773] Josephus, A.J. xx. ii. 6.
[2774] Or more fully Ælia Capitolina, a Roman colony from which all
Jews were expelled.
[2775] Prætorium. The word occurs in John xviii. 28.
[2776] Matt. xxviii. 2.
[2777] 2 Sam. v. 7, 9.
[2778] Isa. xxix. 1. Vulg.
[2779] Ps. lxxxvii. 1, 2.
[2780] Matt. xvi. 18.
[2781] Rev. xxii. 14.
[2782] Acts ii. 16-21.
[2783] Gen. xxxv. 18, 19.
[2784] This legend of the cave dates back to Justin Martyr.
[2785] Isa. i. 3.
[2786] Isa. xxxii. 20, LXX.
[2787] Luke ii. 15, rema.
[2788] Joh. i. 1, 14 logos the Vulg. has verbum' both here and in Luke.
[2789] The name means this in Hebrew.
[2790] Joh. vi. 51.
[2791] The name means this in Hebrew.
[2792] The word not' is inserted by Paula from Matt. ii. 6.
[2793] Will he' A.V. following the Hebrew.
[2794] Mic. v. 2, 3: Cf. Matt. ii. 6.
[2795] Ps. cx. 3, Vulg.
[2796] Acts xiii. 46.
[2797] Matt. xv. 24.
[2798] LXX. acc. to one reading.
[2799] Gen. xlix. 10, LXX.
[2800] This clause comes from the LXX.
[2801] Ps. cxxxii. 2-5.
[2802] Ps. cxxxii. 6, Vulg.
[2803] Jerome taught Paula Hebrew.
[2804] Ps. cxxxii. 7.
[2805] Ps. cxxxii. 14.
[2806] Ps. cxxxii. 17, Vulg.
[2807] Ps. xxii. 29, 30, LXX.
[2808] Gen. xxxv. 21; Mic. iv. 8.
[2809] Luke ii. 14.
[2810] Jud. vi. 37.
[2811] Ex. xii. 21-23.
[2812] Joh. i. 29.
[2813] Jer. xiii. 23.
[2814] Acts viii. 27-39.
[2815] This town played an important part in the wars of the Maccabees.
[2816] Nu. xiii. 23, 24.
[2817] Isa. lxiii. 3.
[2818] Cellulæ, lit. little cells.'
[2819] Joh. viii. 56: cf. Gen. xviii. 1, R.V.--q.v.
[2820] Josh. xiv. 15. In Hebrew Adam' and man' are the same word. Hence
the mistake.
[2821] 2 Cor. iii. 6.
[2822] Jud. i. 13-15.
[2823] Perhaps identical with "the valley of Berachah" mentioned in 2
Chr. xx. 26.
[2824] Gen. xviii. 23-33.
[2825] Isa. xv. 5.
[2826] Gen. xiv. 2.
[2827] Eph. v. 18.
[2828] Gen. xix. 30-38.
[2829] Cant. i. 7.
[2830] Gen. xliii. 16.
[2831] Amos i. 1.
[2832] Luke xxiv. 50, 51; Acts i. 9-12.
[2833] Nu. xix. 1-10.
[2834] Ezek. x. 18, 19.
[2835] The jaw was the priest's portion and hence the epithet
priestly': or else Bethphage belonged to the priests.
[2836] Matt. xxi. 1-7.
[2837] Humilia.
[2838] Luke x. 30-35.
[2839] Strictly Dâmim.
[2840] Luke xix. 4.
[2841] Matt. xx. 30-34.
[2842] i.e. the Jews and the Gentiles.
[2843] 1 Kings xvi. 34.
[2844] Josh. v. 3.
[2845] Rom. ii. 28, 29.
[2846] Josh. iv. 3, 20.
[2847] Rev. xxi. 14.
[2848] 2 Kings ii. 19-22, type and antitype are, as often, here
confounded.
[2849] Mal. iv. 2.
[2850] Josh. iii. 17.
[2851] Josh. vii. 24-26.
[2852] Zech. iii. 9.
[2853] Isa. xxviii. 16.
[2854] Gen. xxviii. 12, 13.
[2855] Josh. xxiv. 30.
[2856] Josh. xxiv. 33.
[2857] Cf. 1 Sam. i. 3.
[2858] Judg. xxi. 19-23: cf. Liv. i. 9.
[2859] From Joh. iv. 5.
[2860] The founder of a Samaritan sect akin to the Essenes.
[2861] Luke vii. 28.
[2862] Other authorities for these strange phenomena are Hilary,
Sulpicius, and Paulinus.
[2863] 1 Kings xviii. 4.
[2864] Matt. xiv. 13-21.
[2865] According to the common tradition, but Hermon is more likely to
have been the place.
[2866] In the original Hermon and the Hermons'; an allusion to the
Hebrew text of Ps. xlii. 6.
[2867] Jud. v. 21, Vulg.
[2868] Luke vii. 11-15.
[2869] Jud. xv. 17-19, R.V.
[2870] Micah i. 1, 14.
[2871] Jer. ii. 18.
[2872] Isa. xix. 18.
[2873] Ps. lxxviii. 12.
[2874] A mistake: No is Thebes.
[2875] i.e. presbyters and deacons. Cf. § 29, infra.
[2876] At that time the most famous of the Egyptian hermits.
[2877] Ps. vi. 6.
[2878] Jerome's own name had been coupled with Paula's when they both
lived at Rome, but he was able to shew that his relations with her were
wholly innocent.
[2879] 2 Cor. viii. 13, 14.
[2880] Luke iii. 11. The word alteram, one of two (therefore, Jerome
means, retaining the second) is found in the Syriac Version of Cureton.
It is not found in the Vulgate.
[2881] Matt. v. 7.
[2882] Ecclus. iii. 30.
[2883] Luke xvi. 9.
[2884] Luke xi. 41.
[2885] Dan. iv. 27, LXX.
[2886] Zech. ix. 16, LXX.
[2887] Rev. xxi. 14.
[2888] Rev. xxi. 19-21.
[2889] Job ii. 4, 5.
[2890] Matt. xxiii. 27.
[2891] Hor. C. ii. x. ii.
[2892] Wisd. ii. 24.
[2893] The enemy of Solomon--1 Kings xi. 14. Who Paula's enemy may have
been we do not know.
[2894] 2 Cor. xii. 7.
[2895] Gen. xxvii. 41-46; xxviii. 1-5.
[2896] 1 Sam. xxi. 10.
[2897] Matt. v. 39.
[2898] Rom. xii. 21.
[2899] Phil. ii. 7, 8.
[2900] Job xl. 8, LXX.
[2901] Matt. v. 10.
[2902] Ps. xxxix. 1, 2, acc. to the Gallican psalter.
[2903] Ps. xxxviii. 13.
[2904] Ps. xxxviii. 14.
[2905] Deut. xiii. 3.
[2906] Isa. xxviii. 9-11, LXX.
[2907] Rom. v. 3-5.
[2908] 2 Cor. iv. 16.
[2909] Vulg.
[2910] 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18.
[2911] Isa. xlix. 8.
[2912] Isa. li. 7, 8.
[2913] Luke xxi. 19, R.V.
[2914] Rom. viii. 18.
[2915] 1 Th. iii. 4, R.V.
[2916] Prov. xiv. 29.
[2917] 2 Cor. xii. 10.
[2918] 2 Cor. iv. 7.
[2919] 1 Cor. xv. 54.
[2920] 2 Cor. i. 5.
[2921] 2 Cor. i. 7.
[2922] Ps. xlii. 11.
[2923] Luke ix. 23.
[2924] Luke ix. 24.
[2925] Matt. xvi. 26.
[2926] Job i. 21.
[2927] 1 Joh. ii. 15-17.
[2928] Ps. lxxvii. 4, Vulg.
[2929] Matt. x. 37.
[2930] Ps. lxxix. 11, LXX.
[2931] 1 Cor. iv. 9.
[2932] 1 Cor. iv. 10.
[2933] 1 Cor. i. 25.
[2934] Ps. lxix. 5.
[2935] Ps. lxxi. 7.
[2936] Ps. lxxiii. 22, 23.
[2937] Mark iii. 21.
[2938] Joh. viii. 48.
[2939] Luke xi. 15.
[2940] 2 Cor. i. 12.
[2941] Joh. xv. 19.
[2942] Cf. Ps. xliv. 21.
[2943] Ps. xliv. 17, 18.
[2944] Ps. xliv. 22.
[2945] Ps. cxviii. 6, P.B.V.
[2946] Prov. vii. 2, LXX.
[2947] Cf. 1 Cor. ix. 11.
[2948] The Gathering; perhaps used, like the Greek sunodos, for the
Communion. The opening prayer came thus to be called The Collect. See
note on Letter LI. § 1.
[2949] For the canonical hours see note on Letter XXII. § 37.
[2950] 1 Cor. iv. 21.
[2951] 1 Tim. vi. 8.
[2952] Cf. Sall. Cat. xi.
[2953] Ecclus. xiii. 2.
[2954] Ps. lxiii. 1.
[2955] e.g. Aristotle, E.N. ii. 6.
[2956] Ne quid nimis, in Greek Meden agan.
[2957] Rom. vii. 24.
[2958] 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8.
[2959] Rev. xiv. 4.
[2960] Cf. Luke vi. 21.
[2961] Ps. xlviii. 8.
[2962] Jer. ii. 13.
[2963] Joh. iv. 14.
[2964] Ps. xxx. 11.
[2965] Ps. cii. 9.
[2966] Ps. xlii. 3.
[2967] Cf. Ps. lxxviii. 25.
[2968] Ps. xxxiv. 8.
[2969] Ps. xlv. 1, R.V.
[2970] Isa. lxv. 13, 14.
[2971] Ps. xlii. 1, 2.
[2972] Wisd. ix. 15.
[2973] 1 Cor. xv. 44.
[2974] Ps. lxxiv. 19, R.V.
[2975] Ps. lxviii. 30, R.V.
[2976] Matt. xxii. 29, 30.
[2977] Luke vii. 27. Angel' is a Greek word and means messenger.'
[2978] Joh. xx. 26-28.
[2979] Joh. xxi. 4.
[2980] Luke xxiv. 42, 43.
[2981] Mark v. 43.
[2982] Joh. xii. 2.
[2983] Joh. xx. 19.
[2984] Matt. xiv. 25.
[2985] Matt. xiv. 29.
[2986] Matt. xiv. 31.
[2987] Joh. xx. 27.
[2988] Luke xxiv. 39, 40.
[2989] Globos stoicorum atque aëria quædam deliramenta.
[2990] Ps. xxxvi. 6.
[2991] Rom. xi. 33, 34.
[2992] Jerome was at this time about 60 years old.
[2993] Eph. iv. 13.
[2994] Jas. i. 19.
[2995] Deut. xxvii. 9, R.V.
[2996] Vetus et novum instrumentum.
[2997] Toxotius, Laeta, the younger Paula. Comp. Letter CVII.
[2998] Matt. viii. 25; Luke viii. 24.
[2999] Ps. xliv. 23.
[3000] Eccles. ix. 2.
[3001] Ps. xxvi. 8.
[3002] Ps. lxxxiv. 1, 2.
[3003] Ps. lxxxiv. 10, Vulg.
[3004] For the technical meaning of inclamatio vide Virg. A. 1. 219,
with Conington's note.
[3005] i.e. presbyters and deacons--see § 14 above.
[3006] Cant. ii. 10-12, Vulg.
[3007] Ps. xxvii. 13.
[3008] Acts ix. 39.
[3009] Ps. cxxxi. 2.
[3010] Corbona. See Matt. xxvii. 6, Vulg.
[3011] 1 Cor. ii. 9.
[3012] Cant. v. 10.
[3013] Gen. xii. 1.
[3014] Jer. li. 6.
[3015] Ruth i. 16.
[3016] Stilus.
[3017] Horace, C. III. xxx. 1.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CIX. To Riparius.
Riparius, a presbyter of Aquitaine had written to inform Jerome that
Vigilantius (for whom see Letter LXI.) was preaching in southern Gaul
against the worship of relics and the keeping of night vigils; and this
apparently with the consent of his bishop. Jerome now replies in a
letter more noteworthy for its bitterness than for its logic.
Nevertheless he offers to write a full confutation of Vigilantius if
Riparius will send him the book containing his heresies. This Riparius
subsequently did and then Jerome wrote his treatise Against
Vigilantius, the most extreme and least convincing of all his works.
The date of the letter is 404 a.d.
1. Now that I have received a letter from you, if I do not answer it I
shall be guilty of pride, and if I do I shall be guilty of rashness.
For the matters concerning which you ask my opinion are such that they
cannot either be spoken of or listened to without profanity. You tell
me that Vigilantius (whose very name Wakeful is a contradiction: he
ought rather to be described as Sleepy) has again opened his fetid lips
and is pouring forth a torrent of filthy venom upon the relics of the
holy martyrs; and that he calls us who cherish them ashmongers and
idolaters who pay homage to dead men's bones. Unhappy wretch! to be
wept over by all Christian men, who sees not that in speaking thus he
makes himself one with the Samaritans and the Jews who hold dead bodies
unclean and regard as defiled even vessels which have been in the same
house with them, following the letter that killeth and not the spirit
that giveth life. [3018] We, it is true, refuse to worship or adore, I
say not the relics of the martyrs, but even the sun and moon, the
angels and archangels, the Cherubim and Seraphim and "every name that
is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come."
[3019] For we may not serve the creature rather than the Creator, who
is blessed for ever. [3020] Still we honour the relics of the martyrs,
that we may adore Him whose martyrs they are. We honour the servants
that their honour may be reflected upon their Lord who Himself
says:--"he that receiveth you receiveth me." [3021] I ask Vigilantius,
Are the relics of Peter and of Paul unclean? Was the body of Moses
unclean, of which we are told (according to the correct Hebrew text)
that it was buried by the Lord Himself? [3022] And do we, every time
that we enter the basilicas of apostles and prophets and martyrs, pay
homage to the shrines of idols? Are the tapers which burn before their
tombs only the tokens of idolatry? I will go farther still and ask a
question which will make this theory recoil upon the head of its
inventor and which will either kill or cure that frenzied brain of his,
so that simple souls shall be no more subverted by his sacrilegious
reasonings. Let him answer me this, Was the Lord's body unclean when it
was placed in the sepulchre? And did the angels clothed in white
raiment merely watch over a corpse dead and defiled, that ages
afterwards this sleepy fellow might indulge in dreams and vomit forth
his filthy surfeit, so as, like the persecutor Julian, either to
destroy the basilicas of the saints or to convert them into heathen
temples?
2. I am surprised that the reverend bishop [3023] in whose diocese he
is said to be a presbyter acquiesces in this his mad preaching, and
that he does not rather with apostolic rod, nay with a rod of iron,
shatter this useless vessel [3024] and deliver him for the destruction
of the flesh that the spirit may be saved. [3025] He should remember
the words that are said: "When thou sawest a thief, then thou
consentedst unto him; and hast been partaker with adulterers;" [3026]
and in another place, "I will early destroy all the wicked of the land;
that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord;" [3027]
and again "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I
grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect
hatred." [3028] If the relics of the martyrs are not worthy of honour,
how comes it that we read "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints?" [3029] If dead men's bones defile those that
touch them, how came it that the dead Elisha raised another man also
dead, and that life came to this latter from the body of the prophet
which according to Vigilantius must have been unclean? In that case
every encampment of the host of Israel and the people of God was
unclean; for they carried the bodies of Joseph and of the patriarchs
with them in the wilderness, and carried their unclean ashes even into
the holy land. In that case Joseph, who was a type of our Lord and
Saviour, was a wicked man; for he carried up Jacob's bones with great
pomp to Hebron merely to put his unclean father beside his unclean
grandfather and great grandfather, that is, one dead body along with
others. The wretch's tongue should be cut out, or he should be put
under treatment for insanity. As he does not know how to speak, he
should learn to be silent. I have myself before now seen the monster,
and have done my best to bind the maniac with texts of scripture, as
Hippocrates binds his patients with chains; but "he went away, he
departed, he escaped, he broke out," [3030] and taking refuge between
the Adriatic and the Alps of King Cotius [3031] declaimed in his turn
against me. For all that a fool says must be regarded as mere noise and
mouthing.
3. You may perhaps in your secret thoughts find fault with me for thus
assailing a man behind his back. I will frankly admit that my
indignation overpowers me; I cannot listen with patience to such
sacrilegious opinions. I have read of the javelin of Phinehas, [3032]
of the harshness of Elijah, [3033] of the jealous anger of Simon the
zealot, [3034] of the severity of Peter in putting to death Ananias and
Sapphira, [3035] and of the firmness of Paul who, when Elymas the
sorcerer withstood the ways of the Lord, doomed him to lifelong
blindness. [3036] There is no cruelty in regard for God's honour.
Wherefore also in the Law it is said: "If thy brother or thy friend or
the wife of thy bosom entice thee from the truth, thine hand shall be
upon them and thou shalt shed their blood, [3037] and so shalt thou put
the evil away from the midst of Israel." [3038] Once more I ask, Are
the relics of the martyrs unclean? If so, why did the apostles allow
themselves to walk in that funeral procession before the body--the
unclean body--of Stephen? Why did they make great lamentation over him,
[3039] that their grief might be turned into our joy?
You tell me farther that Vigilantius execrates vigils. In this surely
he goes contrary to his name. The Wakeful one wishes to sleep and will
not hearken to the Saviour's words, "What, could ye not watch with me
one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit
indeed is willing but the flesh is weak." [3040] And in another place a
prophet sings: "At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee
because of thy righteous judgments." [3041] We read also in the gospel
how the Lord spent whole nights in prayer [3042] and how the apostles
when they were shut up in prison kept vigil all night long, singing
their psalms until the earth quaked, and the keeper of the prison
believed, and the magistrates and citizens were filled with terror.
[3043] Paul says: "continue in prayer and watch in the same," [3044]
and in another place he speaks of himself as "in watchings often."
[3045] Vigilantius may sleep if he pleases and may choke in his sleep,
destroyed by the destroyer of Egypt and of the Egyptians. But let us
say with David: "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber
nor sleep." [3046] So will the Holy One and the Watcher come to us.
[3047] And if ever by reason of our sins He fall asleep, let us say to
Him: "Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord;" [3048] and when our ship is
tossed by the waves let us rouse Him and say, "Master, save us: we
perish." [3049]
4. I would dictate more were it not that the limits of a letter impose
upon me a modest silence. I might have gone on, had you sent me the
books which contain this man's rhapsodies, for in that case I should
have known what points I had to refute. As it is I am only beating the
air [3050] and revealing not so much his infidelity--for this is patent
to all--as my own faith. But if you wish me to write against him at
greater length, send me those wretched dronings of his and in my answer
he shall hear an echo of John the Baptist's words "Now also the axe is
laid unto the root of the trees; therefore every tree which bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire." [3051]
__________________________________________________________________
[3018] 2 Cor. iii. 6.
[3019] Eph. i. 21.
[3020] Rom. i. 25.
[3021] Matt. x. 40.
[3022] Deut. xxxiv. 6.
[3023] Probably Exuperius of Toulouse.
[3024] Ps. ii. 9.
[3025] 1 Cor. v. 5.
[3026] Ps. l. 18.
[3027] Ps. ci. 8.
[3028] Ps. cxxxix. 21, 22.
[3029] Ps. cxvi. 15.
[3030] Cic. Cat. ii. 1, of Catiline.
[3031] A contemporary and ally of Augustus.
[3032] Nu. xxv. 7, 8.
[3033] 1 Kings xviii. 40.
[3034] Luke vi. 15: so called probably because he came from the most
fanatical party among the Pharisees.
[3035] Acts v. 1-10.
[3036] Acts xiii. 8-11.
[3037] Deut. xiii. 6-9.
[3038] Deut. xiii. 5.
[3039] Acts viii. 2.
[3040] Matt. xxvi. 40, 41.
[3041] Ps. cxix. 62.
[3042] Luke vi. 12.
[3043] Acts xvi. 25-38.
[3044] Col. iv. 2.
[3045] 2 Cor. xi. 27.
[3046] Ps. cxxi. 4.
[3047] Dan. iv. 13. Jerome gives the Hebrew word for watcher, viz. yr
[3048] Ps. xliv. 23.
[3049] Matt. viii. 25; Luke viii. 24.
[3050] Cf. 1 Cor. ix. 26.
[3051] Matt. iii. 10.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CX. From Augustine.
Augustine's answer to Letter CII. He now tries to soothe Jerome's
wounded feelings, begs him to overlook the offence that he has
committed, and implores him not to break off the friendly relations
hitherto maintained between them. He touches on the quarrel between
Jerome and Rufinus and sincerely hopes that no such breach may ever
separate Jerome from himself. The tone of the letter is throughout
conciliatory and is marked in places with deep feeling. More than once
Augustine dwells on Jerome's words ("would that I could embrace you and
that by mutual converse we might learn one from the other," Letter CII.
§2) and speaks of the comfort which they have brought to him.
The date of the letter is 404 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXI. From Augustine to Præsidius.
Augustine asks Præsidius to forward the preceding letter to Jerome and
also to write himself to urge him to forgive Augustine.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXII. To Augustine.
On receiving Letter CIV. together with duly authenticated copies of
Letters LVI. and LXVII. Jerome in three days completes an exhaustive
reply to all the questions which Augustine had raised. He explains what
is the true title of his book On Illustrious Men, deals at great length
with the dispute between Paul and Peter, expounds his views with regard
to the Septuagint, and shews by the story of "the gourd" how close and
accurate his translations are. His language throughout is kind but
rather patronising: indeed in this whole correspondence Jerome seldom
sufficiently recognizes the greatness of Augustine. The date of the
letter is 404 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXIII. From Theophilus to Jerome.
Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, had compiled an invective against
John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople who was nosy (largely through
his efforts) an exile from his see. This he now sends to Jerome with a
request that the latter will render it into Latin for dissemination in
the West. The invective (of which only a few fragments remain) is of
the most violent kind. Nevertheless Jerome translated it along with
this letter, the date of which is 405 a.d. The latter part of the
letter has perished.
To the well-beloved and most loving brother Jerome, Theophilus sends
greeting in the Lord.
1. At the outset the verdict which is in accordance with the truth
satisfies but few. But the Lord speaking by the prophet says: "my
judgment goeth forth as the light:" [3052] and they who are surrounded
with a horror of darkness and do not with clear comprehension perceive
the nature of things, are covered with eternal shame and know by the
issues of their acts that their efforts have been in vain. Wherefore we
also have always desired for John who has for a time ruled the church
of Constantinople grace that he might please God, and we have been slow
to attribute to him the rash acts which have caused his downfall. But,
not to speak of his other misdeeds, he has taken the Origenists into
his confidence, has advanced many of them to the priesthood, and by
committing this crime has saddened with no slight grief that man of
God, Epiphanius of blessed memory, who has shone throughout all the
world a bright star among bishops. And therefore he has rightly come to
hear the words of doom: "Babylon is fallen, is fallen." [3053]
2. Knowing then that the Saviour has said: "judge not according to the
appearance but judge righteous judgment." [3054] ...
__________________________________________________________________
[3052] Hos. vi. 5, LXX.
[3053] Isa. xxi. 9.
[3054] Joh. vii. 24.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXIV. To Theophilus.
Jerome writes to Theophilus to apologize for his delay in sending Latin
versions of the latter's letter (CXIII.) and invective against John
Chrysostom. Possibly, however, the allusion may be not to these but to
some other work of Theophilus (e.g. a paschal letter.) This delay he
attributes to the disturbed state of Palestine, the severity of the
winter, the prevalent famine, and his own ill-health. He now sends the
translations that he has made and, while he deprecates criticism on his
own work, praises that of Theophilus, quoting with particular approval
the directions given by this latter for the reverent care of the
vessels used in celebrating the holy communion. The date of the letter
is 405 a.d.
To the most blessed pope Theophilus, Jerome.
1. My delay in sending back to your holiness your treatise translated
into Latin is accounted for by the many interruptions and obstacles
that I have met with. There has been a sudden raid of the Isaurians;
Phoenicia and Galilee have been laid waste; Palestine has been
panic-stricken, and particularly Jerusalem; we have all been engaged in
making not books but walls. There has also been a severe winter and an
almost unbearable famine; and these have told heavily upon me who have
the charge of many brothers. Amid these difficulties the work of
translation went on by night, as I could save or snatch time to give to
it. At last I got it done and by Lent nothing remained but to collate
the fair copy with the original. However, just then a severe illness
seized me and I was brought to the threshold of death, from which I
have only been saved by God's mercy and your prayers; perhaps for this
very purpose that I might fulfil your behest and render with its
writer's elegance the charming volume which you have adorned with the
scripture's fairest flowers. But bodily weakness and sorrow of heart
have, I need hardly say, dulled the edge of my intellect and obstructed
the free flow of my language.
2. I admire in your work its practical aim, designed as it is to
instruct by the authority of scripture ignorant persons in all the
churches concerning the reverence with which they must handle holy
things and minister at Christ's altar; and to impress upon them that
the sacred chalices, veils, [3055] and other accessories used in the
celebration of the Lord's passion are not mere lifeless and senseless
objects devoid of holiness, but that rather, from their association
with the body and blood of the Lord, they are to be venerated with the
same awe as the body and the blood themselves.
3. Take back then your book, nay mine or better still ours; for when
you flatter me you will but flatter yourself. It is for you that my
brain has toiled; it is for you that I have striven with the poor
resources of the Latin tongue to find an equivalent for the eloquence
of the Greek. I have not indeed given a word-for-word rendering, as
skilled translators do, nor have I counted out the money you have given
to me coin by coin; but I have given you full weight. Some words may be
missing but none of the sense is lost. Moreover I have translated into
Latin and prefixed to this volume the letter that you sent to me, so
that all who read it may know that I have acted under the commands of
your holiness, and have not rashly and over-confidently undertaken a
task that is beyond my powers. Whether I have succeeded in it I must
leave to your judgment. Even though you may blame my weakness, you will
at least give me credit for my good intention.
__________________________________________________________________
[3055] So the embroidered cloths used in Catholic Churches to cover the
sacramental elements are still called.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXV. To Augustine.
A short but most friendly letter in which Jerome excuses himself for
the freedom with which he has dealt with Augustine's questions (the
allusion is to Letter CXII.) and hopes that henceforth they may be able
to avoid controversy and to labour like brothers in the field of
scripture.
Written probably in 405 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXVI. From Augustine.
A long letter in which Augustine for the third time (see Letters LVI.,
LXVII.) restates his opinion about Jerome's theory of the dispute
between Peter and Paul at Antioch. In doing so, however, he disclaims
all desire to hurt Jerome's feelings, apologizes for the tone of his
previous letters, and again explains that it is not his fault that they
have failed so long to reach Jerome.
Written shortly after the preceding.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXVII. To a Mother and Daughter Living in Gaul.
A monk of Gaul had during a visit to Bethlehem asked Jerome for advice
under the following circumstances. His mother was a church-widow and
his sister a religious virgin but the two could not agree. They were
accordingly living apart but neither by herself. For each had taken
into her house a monk ostensibly to act as steward but really to be a
paramour. At the request of his visitor Jerome now writes to both
mother and daughter urging them to dismiss their companions; or at any
rate to live together: and pointing out the grave scandal that must
otherwise be caused.
From the treatise against Vigilantius (§3) we learn that ill-natured
critics maintained that the persons and circumstances described in the
letter were alike fictitious and that Jerome in writing it was but
exercising his ingenuity on a congenial theme.
The date is a.d. 405.
Introduction.
1. A certain brother from Gaul has told me that his virgin-sister and
widowed mother, though living in the same city, have separate abodes
and have taken to themselves clerical protectors either as guests or
stewards; and that by thus associating with strangers they have caused
more scandal than by living apart. When I groaned and expressed what I
felt more by silence than words; "I beseech you," said he, "rebuke them
in a letter and recall them to mutual harmony; make them once more
mother and daughter." To whom I replied, "a nice task this that you lay
upon me, for me a stranger to reconcile two women whom you, a son and
brother, have failed to influence. You speak as though I occupied the
chair of a bishop instead of being shut up in a monastic cell where,
far removed from the world's turmoil, I lament the sins of the past and
try to avoid the temptations of the present. Moreover, it is surely
inconsistent, while one buries oneself out of sight, to allow one's
tongue free course through the world." "You are too fearful," he
replied; "where is that old hardihood of yours which made you scour the
world with copious salt,' as Horace says of Lucilius?" [3056] "It is
this," I rejoined, "that makes me shy and forbids me to open my lips.
For through accusing crime I have been myself made out a criminal. Men
have disputed and denied my assertions until, as the proverb goes, I
hardly know whether I have ears or feeling left. The very walls have
resounded with curses levelled at me, and I was the song of drunkards.'
[3057] Under the compulsion of an unhappy experience I have learned to
be silent, thinking it better to set a watch before my mouth and to
keep the door of my lips than to incline my heart to any evil thing,
[3058] or, while censuring the faults of others, myself to fall into
that of detraction." In answer to this he said: "Speaking the truth is
not detraction. Nor will you lecture the world by administering a
particular rebuke; for there are few persons, if any, open to this
special charge. I beg of you, therefore, as I have put myself to the
trouble of this long journey, that you will not suffer me to have come
for nothing. The Lord knows that, after the sight of the holy places,
my principal object in coming has been to heal by a letter from you the
division between my sister and my mother." "Well," I replied, "I will
do as you wish, for after all the letters will be to persons beyond the
sea and words written with reference to definite persons can seldom
offend other people. But I must ask you to keep what I say secret. You
will take my advice with you to encourage you by the way; if it is
listened to, I will rejoice as much as you; while if, as I rather
think, it is rejected, I shall have wasted my words and you will have
made a long journey for nothing."
The Letter.
2. In the first place my sister and my daughter, I wish you to know
that I am not writing to you because I suspect anything evil of you. On
the contrary I implore you to live in harmony, so as to give no ground
for any such suspicions. Moreover had I supposed you fast bound in
sin--far be this from you--I should never have written, for I should
have known that my words would be addressed to deaf ears. Again, if I
write to you somewhat sharply, I beg of you to ascribe this not to any
harshness on my part but to the nature of the ailment which I attempt
to treat. Cautery and the knife are the only remedies when
mortification has once set in; poison is the only antidote known for
poison; great pain can only be relieved by inflicting greater pain.
Lastly I must say this that even if your own consciences acquit you of
misdoing, yet the very rumour of such brings disgrace upon you. Mother
and daughter are names of affection; they imply natural ties and
reciprocal duties; they form the closest of human relations after that
which binds the soul to God. If you love each other, your conduct calls
for no praise: but if you hate each other, you have committed a crime.
The Lord Jesus was subject to His parents. [3059] He reverenced that
mother of whom He was Himself the parent; He respected the
foster-father whom He had Himself fostered; for He remembered that He
had been carried in the womb of the one and in the arms of the other.
Wherefore also when He hung upon the cross He commended to His disciple
[3060] the mother whom He had never before His passion parted from
Himself.
3. Well, I shall say no more to the mother, for perhaps age, weakness,
and loneliness make sufficient excuses for her; but to you the daughter
I say: "Is a mother's house too small for you whose womb was not too
small? When you have lived with her for ten months in the one, can you
not bear to live with her for one day in the other? or are you unable
to meet her gaze? Can it be that one who has borne you and reared you,
who has brought you up and knows you, is dreaded by you as a witness of
your home-life? If you are a true virgin, why do you fear her careful
guardianship; and, if you have fallen, why do you not openly marry?
Wedlock is like a plank offered to a shipwrecked man and by its means
you may remedy what previously you have done amiss. I do not mean that
you are not to repent of your sin or that you are to continue in evil
courses; but, when a tie of the kind has been formed, I despair of
breaking it altogether. However, a return to your mother will make it
easier for you to bewail the virginity which you have lost through
leaving her. Or if you are still unspotted and have not lost your
chastity, be careful of it for you may lose it. Why must you live in a
house where you must daily struggle for life and death? Can any one
sleep soundly with a viper near him? No; for, though it may not attack
him it is sure to frighten him. It is better to be where there is no
danger, than to be in danger and to escape. In the one case we have a
calm; in the other careful steering is necessary. In the one case we
are filled with joy; in the other we do but avoid sorrow.
4. But you will perhaps reply: "my mother is not well-behaved, she
desires the things of the world, she loves riches, she disregards
fasting, she stains her eyes with antimony, she likes to walk abroad in
gay attire, she hinders me from the monastic vow, and so I cannot live
with her." But first of all, even though she is as you say, you will
have the greater reward for refusing to forsake her with all her
faults. She has carried you in her womb, she has reared you; with
gentle affection she has borne with the troublesome ways of your
childhood. She has washed your linen, she has tended you when sick, and
the sickness of maternity was not only borne for you but caused by you.
She has brought you up to womanhood, she has taught you to love Christ.
You ought not to be displeased with the behaviour of a mother who has
consecrated you as a virgin to the service of your spouse. Still if you
cannot put up with her dainty ways and feel obliged to shun them, and
if your mother really is, as people so often say, a woman of the world,
you have others, virgins like yourself, the holy company of chastity.
Why, when you forsake your mother, do you choose for companion a man
who perhaps has left behind him a sister and mother of his own? You
tell me that she is hard to get on with and that he is easy; that she
is quarrelsome and that he is amiable. I will ask you one question: Did
you go straight from your home to the man, or did you fall in with him
afterwards? If you went straight to him, the reason why you left your
mother is plain. If you fell in with him afterwards, you shew by your
choice what you missed under your mother's roof. [3061] The pain that I
inflict is severe and I feel the knife as much as you. "He that walketh
uprightly walketh surely." [3062] Only that my conscience would smite
me, I should keep silence and be slow to blame others where I am not
guiltless myself. Having a beam in my own eye I should be reluctant to
see the mote in my neighbour's. But as it is I live far away among
Christian brothers; my life with them is honourable as eyewitnesses of
it can testify; I rarely see, or am seen by, others. It is most
shameless, therefore, in you to refuse to copy me in respect of
self-restraint, when you profess to take me as your model. If you say:
"my conscience is enough for me too. God is my judge who is witness of
my life. I care not what men may say;" let me urge upon you the
apostle's words: "provide things honest" not only in the sight of God
but also "in the sight of all men." [3063] If any one carps at you for
being a Christian and a virgin, mind it not; you have left your mother
it may be said to live in a monastery among virgins, but censure on
this score is your glory. When men blame a maid of God not for
self-indulgence but only for insensibility to affection, what they
condemn as callous disregard of a parent is really a lively devotion
towards God. For you prefer to your mother Him whom you are bidden to
prefer to your own soul. [3064] And if the day ever comes that she also
shall so prefer Him, she will find in you not a daughter only but a
sister as well.
5. "What then?" you will say, "is it a crime to have a man of religion
in the house with me?" You seize me by the collar and drag me into
court either to sanction what I disapprove or else to incur the dislike
of many. A man of religion never separates a daughter from her mother.
He welcomes both and respects both. A daughter may be as religious as
she pleases; still a mother who is a widow is a guaranty for her
chastity. If this person whoever he is is of the same age with
yourself, he should honour your mother as though she were his own; and,
if he is older, he should love you as a daughter and subject you to a
mother's discipline. It is not good either for your reputation or for
his that he should like you more than your mother; for his affection
might appear to be less for you than for your youth. This is what I
should say if a monk were not your brother and if you had no relatives
able to protect you. But what excuse has a stranger for thrusting
himself in where there are both a mother and a brother, the one a widow
and the other a monk? It is good for you to feel that you are a
daughter and a sister. However, if you cannot manage both, and if your
mother is too hard a morsel to swallow, your brother at any rate should
satisfy you. Or, if he is too harsh, she that bore you may prove more
gentle. Why do you turn pale? Why do you get excited? Why do you blush,
and with trembling lips betray the restlessness of your mind? One thing
only can surpass a woman's love for her mother and brother; and that is
her passion for her husband.
6. I am told, moreover, that you frequent suburban villas and their
pleasant gardens in the company of relatives and intimate friends. I
have no doubt that it is some female cousin or connexion who for her
own satisfaction carries you about with her as a novel kind of
attendant. Far be it from me to suspect that you would desire men's
society; even though they should be those of your own family. But pray,
maiden, answer me this; do you appear alone in your kinsfolk's society?
or do you bring your favourite with you? Shameless as you may be, you
will hardly venture to flaunt him in the eyes of the world. If you ever
do so, your whole circle will cry out about both you and him; every
one's finger will be pointed at you; and your cousins who in your
presence to please you call him a monk and a man of religion, will
laugh at you behind your back for having such an unnatural husband. If
on the other hand you go out alone--which I rather suppose to be the
case--you will find yourself clothed in sober garb among slave youths,
women married or soon to be so, wanton girls, and dandies with long
hair and tight-fitting vests. [3065] Some bearded fop will offer you
his hand, he will hold you up if you feel tired, and the pressure of
his fingers will either be a temptation to you, or will shew that you
are a temptation to him. Again when you sit down to table with married
men and women, you will have to see kisses in which you have no part,
and dishes partaken of which are not for you. Moreover it cannot but do
you harm to see other women attired in silk dresses and gold brocades.
At table also whether you like it or not, you will be forced to eat
flesh and that of different kinds. To make you drink wine they will
praise it as a creature of God. To induce you to take baths they will
speak of dirt with disgust; and, when on second thoughts you do as you
are bid, they will with one voice salute you as spotless and open, a
thorough lady. Meantime some singer will give to the company a
selection of softly flowing airs; and as he will not venture to look at
other men's wives, he will constantly fix his eyes on you who have no
protector. He will speak by nods and convey by his tone what he is
afraid to put into words. Amid inducements to sensuality so marked as
these, even iron wills are apt to be overcome with desire; an appetite
which is the more imperious in virgins because they suppose that
sweetest of which they have no experience. Heathen legends tell us that
sailors actually ran their ships on the rocks that they might listen to
the songs of the Sirens; and that the lyre of Orpheus had power to draw
to itself trees and animals and to soften flints. In the banquet-hall
chastity is hard to keep. A shining skin shews a sin-stained soul.
7. As a schoolboy I have read of one--and have seen his effigy true to
the life in the streets--who continued to cherish an unlawful passion
even when his flesh scarcely clung to his bones, and whose malady
remained uncured until death cured it. What then will become of you a
young girl physically sound, dainty, stout, and ruddy, if you allow
yourself free range among flesh-dishes, wines, and baths, not to
mention married men and bachelors? Even if when solicited you refuse to
consent, you will take the fact of your being asked as evidence that
you are considered handsome. A sensual mind pursues dishonourable
objects with greater zest than honourable ones; and when a thing is
forbidden hankers after it with greater pleasure. Your very dress,
cheap and sombre as it is, is an index of your secret feelings. For it
has no creases and trails along the ground to make you appear taller
than you are. Your vest is purposely ripped asunder to shew what is
beneath and while hiding what is repulsive, to reveal what is fair. As
you walk, the very creaking of your black and shiny shoes attracts the
notice of the young men. You wear stays to keep your breasts in place,
and a heaving girdle closely confines your chest. Your hair covers
either your forehead or your ears. Sometimes too you let your shawl
drop so as to lay bare your white shoulders; and, as if unwilling that
they should be seen, you quickly conceal what you have purposely
disclosed. And when in public you for modesty's sake cover your face,
like a practised harlot you only shew what is likely to please.
8. You will exclaim "How do you know what I am like, or how, when you
are so far away, can you see what I am doing?" Your own brother's tears
and sobs have told me, his frequent and scarcely endurable bursts of
grief. Would that he had lied or that his words had been words of
apprehension only and not of accusation. But, believe me, liars do not
shed tears. He is indignant that you prefer to himself a young man, not
it is true clothed in silk or wearing his hair long but muscular and
dainty in the midst of his squalor; and that this fellow holds the
purse-strings, looks after the weaving, allots the servants their
tasks, rules the household, and buys from the market all that is
needed. He is at once steward and master, and, as he anticipates the
slaves in their duties, [3066] he is carped at by all the domestics.
Everything that their mistress has not given them they declare that he
has stolen from them. Servants as a class are full of complaints; and
no matter what you give them, it is always too little. For they do not
consider how much you have but only how much you give; and they make up
for their chagrin in the only way they can, that is, by grumbling. One
calls him a parasite, another an impostor, another a money-seeker,
another by some novel appellation that hits his fancy. They noise it
abroad that he is constantly at your bed-side, that when you are sick
he runs to fetch nurses, that he holds basins, airs sheets, and folds
bandages for you. The world is only too ready to believe scandal, and
stories invented at home soon get afloat abroad. Nor need you be
surprised if your servantmen and servantmaids get up such tales about
you, when even your mother and your brother complain of your conduct.
9. Do, therefore, what I advise you and entreat you to do: if possible,
be reconciled with your mother; or, if this may not be, at least come
to terms with your brother. Or if you are filled with an implacable
hatred of relationships usually so dear, separate at all events from
the man, whom you are said to prefer to your own flesh and blood, and,
if even this is impossible for you, (for, if you could leave him, you
would certainly return to your own) pay more regard to appearances in
harbouring him as your companion. Live in a separate building and take
your meals apart; for if you remain under one roof with him slanderers
will say that you share with him your bed. You may thus easily get help
from him when you feel you need it, and yet to a considerable degree
escape public discredit. Yet you must take care not to contract the
stain of which Jeremiah tells us that no nitre or fuller's soap can
wash it out. [3067] When you wish him to come to see you, always have
witnesses present; either friends, or freedmen, or slaves. A good
conscience is afraid of no man's eyes. Let him come in unembarrassed
and go out at his ease. Let his silent looks, his unspoken words and
his whole carriage, though at times they may imply embarrassment, yet
indicate peace of mind. Pray, open your ears and listen to the outcry
of the whole city. You have already both of you lost your own names and
are known each by that of the other. You are spoken of as his, and he
is said to be yours. Your mother and your brother have heard this and
are ready to take you in between them. They implore you to consent to
this arrangement, so that the scandal of your intimacy with this man
which is confined to yourself may give place to a glory common to all.
You can live with your mother and he with your brother. You can more
boldly shew your regard for one who is your brother's comrade; and your
mother will more properly esteem one who is the friend of her son and
not of her daughter. But if you frown and refuse to accept my advice,
this letter will openly expostulate with you. Why,' it will say, do you
beset another man's servant? Why do you make Christ's minister your
slave? Look at the people and scan each face as it comes under your
view. When he reads in the church all eyes are fixed upon you; and you,
using the licence of a wife, glory in your shame. Secret infamy no
longer contents you; you call boldness freedom; "you have a whore's
forehead and refuse to be ashamed." [3068]
10. Once more you exclaim that I am over-suspicious, a thinker of evil,
too ready to follow rumours. What? I suspicious? I ill-natured? I, who
as I said in the beginning have taken up my pen because I have no
suspicions? Or is it you that are careless, loose, disdainful? You who
at the age of twenty-five have netted in your embrace a youth whose
beard has scarcely grown? An excellent instructor he must be, able no
doubt by his severe looks both to warn and frighten you! No age is safe
from lust, yet gray hairs are some security for decent conduct. A day
will surely come (for time glides by imperceptibly) when your handsome
young favourite will find a wealthier or more youthful mistress. For
women soon age and particularly if they live with men. You will be
sorry for your decision and regret your obstinacy in a day when your
means and reputation shall be alike gone, and when this unhappy
intimacy shall be happily broken off. But perhaps you feel sure of your
ground and see no reason to fear a breach where affection has had so
long a time to develop and grow.
11. To you also, her mother, I must say a word. Your years put you
beyond the reach of scandal; do not take advantage of this to indulge
in sin. It is more fitting that your daughter should learn from you how
to part from a companion than that you should learn from her how to
give up a paramour. You have a son, a daughter, and a son-in-law, or at
least one who is your daughter's partner. [3069] Why then should you
seek other society than theirs, or wish to kindle anew expiring flames?
It would be more becoming in you to screen your daughter's fault than
to make it an excuse for your own misdoing. Your son is a monk, and, if
he were to live with you, he would strengthen you in your religious
profession and in your vow of widowhood. Why should you take in a
complete stranger, especially in a house not large enough to hold a son
and a daughter? You are old enough to have grand-children. Invite the
pair home then. Your daughter went away by herself; let her return with
this man. I say man' and not husband' that none may cavil. The word
describes his sex and not his relation to her. Or if she blushes to
accept your offer or finds the house in which she was born too narrow
for her, then move both of you to her abode. However limited may be its
accommodation, it can take in a mother and a brother better than a
stranger. In fact, if she lives in the same house and occupies the same
room with a man, she cannot long preserve her chastity. It is different
when two women and two men live together. If the third person
concerned--he, I mean, who fosters your old age--will not make one of
the party and causes only dissension and confusion, the pair of you
[3070] can do without him. But if the three of you remain together,
then your brother and son [3071] will offer him a sister and a mother.
Others may speak of the two strangers as step-father and son-in-law;
but your son must speak of them as his foster-father and his brother.
Note.
12. Working quickly I have completed this letter in a single night
anxious alike to gratify a friend and to try my hand on a rhetorical
theme. Then early in the morning he has knocked at my door on the point
of starting. I wish also to shew my detractors that like them I too can
say the first thing that comes into my head. I have, therefore,
introduced few quotations from the scriptures and have not, as in most
of my books, interwoven its flowers in my discourse. The letter has
been, in fact, dictated off-hand and poured forth by lamp-light so fast
that my tongue has outstripped my secretaries' pens and that my
volubility has baffled the expedients of shorthand. I have said this
much that those who make no allowances for want of ability may make
some for want of time.
__________________________________________________________________
[3056] Hor. Sat. I. x. 3, 4.
[3057] Ps. lxix. 12.
[3058] Ps. cxli. 3, 4.
[3059] Luke ii. 51.
[3060] Joh. xix. 26, 27.
[3061] Viz. men's society.
[3062] Prov. x. 9.
[3063] Rom. xii. 17.
[3064] Luke xiv. 26.
[3065] Lineatos juvenes. The linea appears to have been a close-fitting
jerkin.
[3066] To ingratiate himself with their mistress. Cf. 108.
[3067] Jer. ii. 22.
[3068] From Jer. iii. 3.
[3069] Contubernalis.
[3070] Viz. the mother and daughter.
[3071] Viz. the monk who was son of the widow and brother of the
virgin.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXVIII. To Julian.
Jerome writes to Julian, a wealthy nobleman apparently of Dalmatia
(§5), to console him for the loss of his wife and two daughters all of
whom had recently died. He reminds Julian of the trials of Job and
recommends him to imitate the patience of the patriarch. He also urges
him to follow the example set by Pammachius and Paulinus, that is, to
give up his riches and to become a monk for the sake of Christ. The
date of the letter is 406 a.d.
1. At the very instant of his departure Ausonius, a son to me as he is
a brother to you, gave me a late glimpse of himself but quickly hurried
away again, saying good-morning and good-bye together. Yet he thought
that he would return empty-handed unless he could bring you some trifle
from me however hastily written. Clothed in scarlet as befitted his
rank, he had already strapped on his sword-belt [3072] and sent down a
requisition to have a stage-horse saddled. Still he made me send for my
secretary and dictate a letter to him. This I did with such rapidity
that his nimble hand could hardly keep pace with my words or manage to
put down my hurried sentences. Thus hasty dictation has taken the place
of careful writing; and, if I break my long silence, it is but to offer
you an expression of good will. This is an impromptu letter without
logical order or charm of style. You must look on me for once as a
friend only; you will find, I assure you, nothing of the orator here.
Bear in mind that it has been dashed off on the spur of the moment and
given as a provision for the way to one in a hurry to depart.
Holy scripture says: "a tale out of season is as musick in mourning."
[3073] Accordingly I have disdained the graces of rhetoric and those
charms of eloquence which boys find so captivating, and have fallen
back on the serious tone of the sacred writings. For in these are to be
found true medicines for wounds and sure remedies for sorrow. In these
a mother receives back her only son even on the bier. [3074] In these a
crowd of mourners hears the words: "the maid is not dead but sleepeth."
[3075] In these one that is four days dead comes forth bound at the
call of the Lord. [3076]
2. I hear that in a short space of time you have suffered several
bereavements, that you have buried in quick succession two young
unmarried daughters, and that Faustina, most chaste and loyal of wives,
your sister in the fervour of her faith and your one comfort in the
loss of your children, has suddenly fallen asleep and been taken from
you. You have been like a shipwrecked man, who has no sooner reached
the shore than he falls into the hands of brigands, or in the eloquent
language of the prophet like one "who did flee from a lion, and a bear
met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a
serpent bit him." [3077] Pecuniary losses have followed your
bereavements; the entire province has been overrun by a barbarian
enemy, and in the general devastation your private property has been
destroyed, your flocks and herds have been driven off, and your poor
slaves either made prisoners or else slain. To crown all, your only
daughter, made all the more dear to you by the loss of the others, has
for her husband a young nobleman who, to say nothing worse of him, has
given you more occasion for sorrow than for rejoicing. Such is the list
of the trials that have been laid upon you; such is the conflict waged
by the old enemy against Julian a raw recruit to Christ's standard. If
you look only to yourself your troubles are indeed great but if you
look to the strong Warrior, [3078] they are but child's play and the
conflict is only the semblance of one. After untold trials a wicked
wife was still left to the blessed Job, the devil hoping that he might
learn from her to blaspheme God. You on the other hand have been
deprived of an excellent one that you might learn to go without
consolation in the hour of misfortune. Yet it is far harder to put up
with a wife whom you dislike than it is to mourn for one whom you
dearly love. Moreover when Job's children died they found a common tomb
beneath the ruins of his house, and all he could do to shew his
parental affection was to rend his garments, to fall upon the ground
and to worship, saying: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and
naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken
away: it has been as the Lord pleased: blessed be the name of the
Lord." [3079] But you, to put the matter briefly, have been allowed to
perform the obsequies of your dear ones; and those obsequies have been
attended by many respectful kinsmen and comforting friends. Again Job
lost all his wealth at once; and, as, one after another, the messengers
of woe unfolded new calamities, he flinched as little as the sage of
whom Horace writes: [3080] --
Shatter the world to atoms if you will.
Fearless will be the man on whom it falls.
But with you the case is different. The greater part of your substance
has been left to you, and your trials have not been greater than you
can bear. For you have not yet attained to such perfection that the
devil has to marshal all his forces against you.
3. Long ago this wealthy proprietor and still wealthier father was made
by a sudden stroke destitute and bereaved. But as, in spite of all that
befel him, he had not sinned before God or spoken foolishly, the
Lord--exulting in the victory of his servant and regarding Job's
patience as His own triumph--said to the devil: "Hast thou considered
my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and
an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil? and still he
holdeth fast his integrity?" [3081] He finely adds the last clause
because it is difficult for innocence to refrain from murmuring when it
is overborne by misfortune; and to avoid making a shipwreck of faith
when it sees that its sufferings are unjustly inflicted. The devil
answered the Lord and said: "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath
will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his
bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face." [3082] See how
crafty the adversary is, and how hardened in sin his evil days have
made him! He knows the difference between things external and internal.
He knows that even the philosophers of the world call the former
adiaphora, that is indifferent, and that the perfection of virtue does
not consist in losing or disdaining them. It is the latter, those that
are internal and objects of preference, [3083] the loss of which
inevitably causes chagrin. Wherefore he boldly contradicts what God has
said and declares that Job deserves no praise at all; since he has
yielded up no part of himself but only what is outside himself, since
he has given for his own skin the skins of his children, and since he
has but laid down his purse to secure the health of his body. From this
your sagacity may perceive that your trials have so far only reached
the point at which you give hide for hide, skin for skin, and are ready
to give all that you have for your life. The Lord has not yet stretched
forth His hand upon you, or touched your flesh, or broken your bones.
Yet it is when such afflictions as these are laid upon you that it is
hard not to groan and not to bless' God to His face, that is to curse
Him. The word bless' is used in the same way in the books of Kings
where it is said of Naboth that he blessed' God and the king and was
therefore stoned by the people. [3084] But the Lord knew His champion
and felt sure that this great hero would even in this last and severest
conflict prove unconquerable. Therefore He said: "Behold he is in thine
hand; but save his life." [3085] The holy man's flesh is placed at the
devil's disposal, but his vital powers are withheld. For if the devil
had smitten that on which sensation and mental judgment depend, the
guilt arising from a misuse of these faculties I would have lain at the
door not of him who committed the sin but of him who had overthrown the
balance of his mind.
4. Others may praise you if they will, and celebrate your victories
over the devil. They may eulogize you for the smiling face with which
you bore the loss of your daughters, or for the resolution with which,
forty days after they fell asleep, you exchanged your mourning for a
white robe to attend the dedication of a martyr's bones; unconcerned
for a bereavement which was the concern of the whole city, and anxious
only to share in a martyr's triumph. Nay, say they, when you bore your
wife to burial, it was not as one dead but as one setting forth on a
journey. But I shall not deceive you with flattering words or take the
ground from under your feet with slippery praises. Rather will I say
what it is good for you to hear: "My son, if thou come to serve the
Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation," [3086] and "when thou shalt
have done all those things which are commanded thee, say, I am an
unprofitable servant; I have done that which was my duty to do." [3087]
Say to God: "the children that thou hast taken from me were Thine own
gift. The hand-maiden that Thou hast taken to Thyself Thou also didst
lend to me for a season to be my solace. I am not aggrieved that Thou
hast taken her back, but thankful rather that Thou hast previously
given her to me."
Once upon a time a rich young man boasted that he had fulfilled all the
requirements of the law, but the Lord said to him (as we read in the
gospel): "One thing thou lackest: if thou wilt be perfect, go thy way,
sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor; and come and follow
me." [3088] He who declared that he had done all things gave way at the
first onset to the power of riches. Wherefore they who are rich find it
hard to enter the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom which desires for its
citizens souls that soar aloft free from all ties and hindrances. "Go
thy way," the Lord says, "and sell" not a part of thy substance but
"all that thou hast, and give to the poor;" not to thy friends or
kinsfolk or relatives, not to thy wife or to thy children. I will even
go farther and say: keep back nothing for yourself because you fear to
be some day poor, lest by so doing you share the condemnation of
Ananias and Sapphira; [3089] but give everything to the poor and make
to yourself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that they may
receive you into everlasting habitations. [3090] Obey the Master's
injunction "follow me," [3091] and take the Lord of the world for your
possession; that you may be able to sing with the prophet, "The Lord is
my portion," [3092] and like a true Levite [3093] may possess no
earthly inheritance. I cannot but advise you thus if you wish to be
perfect, if you desire to attain the pinnacle of the apostles' glory,
if you wish to take up your cross and to follow Christ. When once you
have put your hand to the plough you must not look back; [3094] when
once you stand on the housetop you must think no more of your clothes
within; to escape your Egyptian mistress [3095] you must abandon the
cloak that belongs to this world. Even Elijah, in his quick translation
to heaven could not take his mantle with him, but left in the world the
garments of the world. [3096] Such conduct, you will object, is for him
who would emulate the apostles, for the man who aspires to be perfect.
But why should not you aspire to be perfect? Why should not you who
hold a foremost place in the world hold a foremost place also in
Christ's household? Is it because you have been married? Peter was
married too, but when he forsook his ship and his nets he forsook his
wife also. [3097] The Lord who wills that all men shall be saved and
prefers the repentance of a sinner to his death [3098] has, in His
almighty providence, removed from you this excuse. Your wife can no
longer draw you earthwards, but you can follow her as she draws you
heavenwards. Provide good things for your children who have gone home
before you to the Lord. Do not let their portions go to swell their
sister's fortune, but use them to ransom your own soul and to give
sustenance to the needy. These are the necklaces your daughters expect
from you; these are the jewels they wish to see sparkle on their
foreheads. The money which they would have wasted in buying silks may
well be considered saved when it provides cheap clothing for the poor.
They ask you for their portions. Now that they are united to their
spouse they are loth to appear poor and undistinguished: they desire to
have the ornaments that befit their rank.
5. Nor may you excuse yourself on the score of your noble station and
the responsibilities of wealth. Look at Pammachius and at Paulinus that
presbyter of glowing faith both of whom have offered to the Lord not
only their riches but themselves. In spite of the devil and his
shuffling they have by no means given skin for skin, but have
consecrated their own flesh and bones, yea and their very souls unto
the Lord. Surely these may lead you to higher things both by their
example and by their preaching, that is, by their deeds and words. You
are of noble birth, so are they: but in Christ they are made nobler
still. You are rich and held in repute, so once were they: but now
instead of being rich and held in repute they are poor and obscure,
yet, because it is for Christ's sake, they are really richer and more
famous than ever. You too, it is true, shew yourself beneficent, you
are said to minister to the wants of the saints, to entertain monks,
and to present large sums of money to churches. This however is only
the a b c of your soldiership. You despise money; the world's
philosophers have done the same. One of these [3099] --to say nothing
of the rest--cast the price of many possessions into the sea, saying as
he did so "To the bottom with you, ye provokers of evil lusts. I shall
drown you in the sea that you may never drown me in sin." If then a
philosopher--a creature of vanity whom popular applause can buy and
sell--laid down all his burthen at once, how can you think that you
have reached virtue's crowning height when you have yielded up but a
portion of yours? It is you yourself that the Lord wishes for, "a
living sacrifice...acceptable unto God." [3100] Yourself, I say, and
not what you have. And therefore, as he trained Israel by subjecting it
to many plagues and afflictions, so does He now admonish you by sending
you trials of different kinds. "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." [3101] The poor widow did
but cast two mites into the treasury; yet because she cast in all that
she had it is said of her that she surpassed all the rich in offering
gifts to God. [3102] Such gifts are valued not by their weight but by
the good-will with which they are made. You may have spent your
substance upon numbers of people, and a portion of your fellows may
have reason to rejoice in your bounty; yet those who have received
nothing at your hands are still more numerous. Neither the wealth of
Darius nor the riches of Croesus would suffice to satisfy the wants of
the world's poor. But if you once give yourself to the Lord and resolve
to follow the Saviour in the perfection of apostolic virtue, then you
will come to see what your place has hitherto been, and how you have
lagged in the rear of Christ's army. Hardly had you begun to mourn for
your dead daughters when the fear of Christ dried the tears of paternal
affection upon your cheeks. It was a great triumph of faith, true. But
how much greater was that won by Abraham who was content to slay his
only son, of whom he had been told that he was to inherit the world,
yet did not cease to hope that after death Isaac would live again.
[3103] Jephthah too offered up his virgin daughter, and for this is
placed by the apostle in the roll of the saints. [3104] I would not
therefore have you offer to the Lord only what a thief may steal from
you or an enemy fall upon, or a proscription confiscate, what is liable
to fluctuations in value now going up and now down, what belongs to a
succession of masters who follow each other as fast as in the sea wave
follows wave, and--to say everything in a word--what, whether you like
it or not, you must leave behind you when you die. Rather offer to God
that which no enemy can carry off and no tyrant take from you, which
will go down with you into the grave, nay on to the kingdom of heaven
and the enchantments of paradise. You already build monasteries and
support in the various islands of Dalmatia a large number of holy men.
But you would do better still if you were to live among these holy men
as a holy man yourself. "Be ye holy, saith the Lord, for I am holy."
[3105] The apostles boasted that they had left all things and had
followed the Saviour. [3106] We do not read that they left anything
except their ship and their nets; yet they were crowned with the
approval of Him who was to be their judge. Why? Because in offering up
themselves they had indeed left all that they had.
6. I say all this not in disparagement of your good works or because I
wish to under-rate your generosity in almsgiving, but because I do not
wish you to be a monk among men of the world and a man of the world
among monks. I shall require every sacrifice of you for I hear that
your mind is devoted to the service of God. If some friend, or
follower, or kinsman tries to combat this counsel of mine and to recall
you to the pleasures of a handsome table, be sure that he is thinking
less of your soul than of his own belly, and remember that death in a
moment terminates both elegant entertainments and all other pleasures
provided by wealth. Within the short space of twenty days you have lost
two daughters, the one eight years old and the other six; and do you
suppose that one so old as you are yourself can live much longer? David
tells you how long a time you can look for: "the days of our years are
threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be
fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow." [3107] Happy
is he and to be held worthy of the highest bliss whom old age shall
find a servant of Christ and whom the last day shall discover fighting
for the Saviour's cause. "He shall not be ashamed when he speaketh with
his enemies in the gate." [3108] On his entrance into paradise it shall
be said to him: "thou in thy lifetime receivedst evil things but
nowhere thou art comforted." [3109] The Lord will not avenge the same
sin twice. Lazarus, formerly poor and full of ulcers, whose sores the
dogs licked and who barely managed to live, poor wretch, on the crumbs
that fell from the rich man's table, is now welcomed into Abraham's
bosom and has the joy of finding a father in the great patriarch. It is
difficult nay impossible for a man to enjoy both the good things of the
present and those of the future, to satisfy his belly here and his mind
yonder, to pass from the pleasures of this life to the pleasures of
that, to be first in both worlds, and to be held in honour both on
earth and in heaven.
7. And if in your secret thoughts you are troubled because I who give
you this advice am not myself what I desire you to be, and because you
have seen some after beginning well fall midway on their journey; I
shall briefly plead in reply that the words which I speak are not mine
but those of the Lord and Saviour, and that I urge upon you not the
standard which is possible to myself but the ideal which every true
servant of Christ must wish for and realize. Athletes as a rule are
stronger than their backers; yet the weaker presses the stronger to put
forth all his efforts. Look not upon Judas denying his Lord but upon
Paul confessing Him. Jacob's father was a man of great wealth; yet,
when Jacob went to Mesopotamia, he went alone and destitute leaning
upon his staff. When he felt weary he had to lie down by the wayside
and, delicately nurtured as he had been by his mother Rebekah, was
forced to content himself with a stone for a pillow. Yet it was then
[3110] that he saw the ladder set up from earth to heaven, and the
angels ascending and descending on it, and the Lord above it holding
out a helping hand to such as fall and encouraging the climbers to
fresh efforts by the vision of Himself. Therefore is the spot called
Bethel or the house of God; for there day by day there is ascending and
descending. When they are careless, even holy men lose their footing;
and sinners, if they wash away their stains with tears regain their
place. I say this not that those coming down may frighten you but that
those going up may stimulate you. For evil can never supply a model and
even in worldly affairs incentives to virtue come always from the
brighter side.
But I have forgotten my purpose and the limits set to my letter. I
should have liked to say a great deal more. Indeed all that I can say
is inadequate alike to satisfy the seriousness of the subject and the
claims of your rank. But here is our Ausonius beginning to be impatient
for the sheets, hurrying the secretaries, and in his impatience at the
neighing of his horse, accusing my poor wits of slowness. Remember me,
then, and prosper in Christ. And one thing more; follow the example set
you at home by the holy Vera, [3111] who like a true follower of Christ
does not fear to endure the hardships of pilgrimage. Find in a woman
your leader in this high emprise.' [3112]
__________________________________________________________________
[3072] Cf. Letter LX. § 9.
[3073] Ecclus. xxii. 6.
[3074] Luke vii. 11-15.
[3075] Matt. ix. 24.
[3076] Joh. xi. 39, 43, 44.
[3077] Amos v. 19.
[3078] Cf. Rev. xix. 11-16.
[3079] Job i. 20, 21, LXX.
[3080] Horace, C. III. iii. 7, 8.
[3081] Job ii. 3.
[3082] Job ii. 4, 5.
[3083] He alludes to the proegmena of the Stoics.
[3084] 1 Kings xxi. 10, Vulg. (which mistranslates the neutral verb of
the Hebrew).
[3085] Job ii. 6.
[3086] Ecclus. ii. 1.
[3087] Luke xvii. 10 (adapted).
[3088] Mark x. 21.
[3089] Acts v. 1-10.
[3090] Luke xvi. 9.
[3091] Matt. ix. 9.
[3092] Ps. xvi. 5.
[3093] Nu. xviii. 20-24.
[3094] Luke ix. 62.
[3095] Gen. xxxix. 12.
[3096] 2 Kings ii. 11, 13.
[3097] But see 1 Cor. ix. 5.
[3098] 1 Tim. ii. 4; 2 Pet. iii. 9.
[3099] Crates the Theban.
[3100] Rom. xii. 1.
[3101] Heb. xii. 6.
[3102] Mark xii. 43, 44.
[3103] Cf. Heb. xi. 17-19.
[3104] Judg. xi. 34-40; Heb. xi. 32.
[3105] Lev. xix. 2; 1 Pet. i. 16.
[3106] Luke xviii. 28.
[3107] Ps. xc. 10.
[3108] Ps. cxxvii. 5 (adapted from R.V.S.)
[3109] Luke xvi. 25 (adapted).
[3110] Gen. xxviii. 12, 13. Cp. Letters CVIII. § 13, and CXXIII. § 15.
[3111] Of this lady nothing is known.
[3112] Words of Virg. A. i. 364, relating to Dido.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXIX. To Minervius and Alexander.
Minervius and Alexander two monks of Toulouse had written to Jerome
asking him to explain for them a large number of passages in scripture.
Jerome in his reply postpones most of these to a future time but deals
with two in detail viz. (1) "we shall not all sleep but we shall all be
changed," 1 Cor. xv. 51; and (2) "we shall be caught up in the clouds,"
1 Thes. iv. 17. With regard to (1) Jerome prefers the reading "we shall
all sleep but we shall not all be changed," and with regard to (2) he
looks upon the language as metaphorical and interprets it to mean that
believers will be assumed' into the company of the apostles and
prophets. The date of the letter is 406 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXX. To Hedibia. [3113]
At the request of Hedibia, a lady of Gaul much interested in the study
of scripture, Jerome deals with the following twelve questions. It will
be noticed that several of them belong to the historical criticism of
our own day.
(1) How can anyone be perfect? and How ought a widow without children
to live to God?
(2) What is the meaning of Matt. xxvi. 29?
(3) How are the discrepancies in the evangelical narratives to be
accounted for? How can Matt. xxviii. 1 be reconciled with Mark xvi. 1,
2.
(4) How can Matt. xxviii. 9 (Saturday evening) be reconciled with John
xx. 1-18 (Sunday morning)?
(5) How can Matt. xxviii. 9 be reconciled with John xx. 17?
(6) How was it that, if there was a guard of soldiers at the sepulchre,
Peter and John were allowed to go in freely? (Matt. xxvii. 66; John xx.
1-8.)
(7) How is the statement of Matthew and Mark that the apostles were
ordered to go into Galilee to see Jesus there to be reconciled with
that of Luke and John who make Him appear to them in Jerusalem?
(8) What is the meaning of Matt. xxvii. 50, 51?
(9) How is the statement of John xx. 22 that Jesus breathed on his
apostles the Holy Ghost to be reconciled with that of Luke (Luke xxiv.
49: Acts i. 4) that He would send it to them after His ascension?
(10) What is the meaning of the passage, Rom. ix. 14-29?
(11) What is the meaning of 2 Cor. ii. 16?
(12) What is the meaning of 1 Thes. v. 23?
The date of the letter is 406 or 407 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
[3113] For Hedibia and her family, see an article in Dict. of Christ.
Biog.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXI. To Algasia.
Jerome writes to a lady of Gaul named Algasia to answer eleven
questions which she had submitted to him. They were as follows:--
(1) How is Luke vii. 18, 19, to be reconciled with John i. 36?
(2) What is the meaning of Matt. xii. 20?
(3) And of Matt. xvi. 24?
(4) And of Matt. xxiv. 19, 20?
(5) And of Luke ix. 53?
(6) What is the meaning of the parable of the unjust steward?
(7) What is the meaning of Rom. v. 7?
(8) And of Rom. vii. 8?
(9) And of Rom. ix. 3?
(10) And of Col. ii. 18?
(11) And of 2 Thes. ii. 3?
The date of the letter is 406 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXII. To Rusticus.
Rusticus and Artemia his wife having made a vow of continence broke it.
Artemia proceeded to Palestine to do penance for her sin and Rusticus
promised to follow her. However he failed to do so, and Jerome was
asked to write this letter in the hope that it might induce him to
fulfil his promise. The date is about 408 a.d.
1. I am induced to write to you, a stranger to a stranger, by the
entreaties of that holy servant of Christ Hedibia [3114] and of my
daughter in the faith Artemia, once your wife but now no longer your
wife but your sister and fellow-servant. Not content with assuring her
own salvation she has sought yours also, in former days at home and now
in the holy places. She is anxious to emulate the thoughtfulness of the
apostles Andrew and Philip; who after Christ had found them, desired in
their turn to find, the one his brother Simon and the other his friend
Nathanael. [3115] To the former of these it was said "Thou art Simon,
the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas which is by interpretation
a stone;" [3116] while the latter, whose name Nathanael means the gift
of God, was comforted by Christ's witness to him: "behold an Israelite
indeed in whom is no guile." [3117] So of old Lot [3118] desired to
rescue his wife as well as his two daughters, and refusing to leave
blazing Sodom and Gomorrah until he was himself half-on-fire, tried to
lead forth one who was tied and bound by her past sins. But in her
despair she lost her composure, and looking back became a monument of
an unbelieving soul. [3119] Yet, as if to make up for the loss of a
single woman, Lot's glowing faith set free the whole city of Zoar. In
fact when he left the dark valleys in which Sodom lay and came to the
mountains, the sun rose upon him as he entered Zoar or the little City;
so-called because the little faith that Lot possessed, though unable to
save greater places, was at least able to preserve smaller ones. For
one who had gone so far astray as to live in Gomorrah could not all at
once reach the noonland where Abraham, the friend of God, [3120]
entertained God and His angels. [3121] (For it was in Egypt that Joseph
fed his brothers, and when the bride speaks to the Bridegroom her cry
is: "tell me where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at
noon." [3122] ) Good men have always sorrowed for the sins of others.
Samuel of old lamented for Saul [3123] because he neglected to treat
the ulcers of pride with the balm of penitence. And Paul wept for the
Corinthians [3124] who refused to wash out with their tears the stains
of fornication. For the same reason Ezekiel swallowed the book where
were written within and without song, and lamentation and woe; [3125]
the song in praise of the righteous, the lamentation over the penitent,
and the woe for those of whom it is written, "When the wicked man
falleth into the depths of evil, then is he filled with scorn." [3126]
It is to these that Isaiah alludes when he says: "in that day did the
Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning and to baldness and
to girding with sackcloth: and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen;
and killing sheep, eating flesh" and saying, "let us eat and drink, for
tomorrow we die." [3127] Yet of such persons Ezekiel is bidden to speak
thus: "O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye
speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we
pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live,
saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but
that the wicked turn from his way and live," and again, "turn ye, turn
ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" [3128]
Nothing makes God so angry as when men from despair of better things
cleave to those which are worse; and indeed this despair in itself is a
sign of unbelief. One who despairs of salvation can have no expectation
of a judgment to come. For if he dreaded such, he would by doing good
works prepare to meet his Judge. Let us hear what God says through
Jeremiah, "withhold thy foot from a rough way and thy throat from
thirst" [3129] and again "shall they fall, and not arise? Shall he turn
away, and not return?" [3130] Let us hear also what God says by Isaiah:
"When thou shalt turn and bewail thyself, then shalt thou be saved, and
then shalt thou know where thou hast hitherto been." [3131] We do not
realize the miseries of sickness till returning health reveals them to
us. So sins serve as a foil to the blessedness of virtue; and light
shines more brightly when it is relieved against darkness. Ezekiel uses
language like that of the other prophets because he is animated by a
similar spirit. "Repent," he cries, "and turn yourselves from all your
transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you
all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a
new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For
I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord."
[3132] Wherefore in a subsequent passage he says: "As I live, saith the
Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked: but that the
wicked turn from his way and live." [3133] These words shew us that the
mind must not through disbelief in the promised blessings give way to
despair; and that the soul once marked out for perdition must not
refuse to apply remedies on the ground that its wounds are past curing.
Ezekiel describes God as swearing, that if we refuse to believe His
promise in regard to our salvation we may at least believe His oath. It
is with full confidence that the righteous man prays and says, "Turn
us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease,"
[3134] and again, "Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to
stand strong: thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled." [3135] He
means to say, "when I forsook the foulness of my faults for the beauty
of virtue, God strengthened my weakness with His grace." Lo, I hear His
promise: "I will pursue mine enemies and overtake them: neither will I
turn again till they are consumed," [3136] so that I who was once thine
enemy and a fugitive from thee, shall be laid hold of by thine hand.
Cease not from pursuing me till my wickedness is consumed, and I return
to my old husband who will give me my wool and my flax, my oil and my
fine flour and will feed me with the richest foods. [3137] He it was
who hedged up and enclosed my evil ways [3138] that I might find Him
the true way who says in the gospel, "I am the way, the truth, and the
life." [3139] Hear the words of the prophet: "they that sow in tears
shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious
seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves
with him." [3140] Say also with him: "All the night make I my bed to
swim; I water my couch with my tears" [3141] : and again, "As the hart
panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and
appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night," [3142]
and in another place, "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee:
my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and
weary land where no water is. So have I looked upon thee in the
sanctuary." [3143] For although my soul has thirsted after thee, yet
much more have I sought thee by the labour of my flesh and have not
been able to look upon thee in thy sanctuary; not at any rate till I
have first dwelt in a land barren of sin, where the weary wayfarer is
no more assailed by the adversary, and where there are no pools or
rivers of lust.
The Saviour also wept over the city of Jerusalem because its
inhabitants had not repented; [3144] and Peter washed out his triple
denial with bitter tears, [3145] thus fulfilling the words of the
prophet: "rivers of waters run down mine eyes." [3146] Jeremiah too
laments over his impenitent people, saying: "Oh that my head were
waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and
night for...my people!" [3147] And farther on he gives a reason for his
lamentation: "weep ye not for the dead," he writes, "neither bemoan
him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no
more." [3148] The Jew and the Gentile therefore are not to be bemoaned,
for they have never been in the Church and have died once for all (it
is of these that the Saviour says: "let the dead bury their dead"
[3149] ); weep rather for those who by reason of their crimes and sins
go away from the Church, and who suffering condemnation for their
faults shall no more return to it. It is in this sense that the prophet
speaks to ministers of the Church, calling them its walls and towers,
and saying to each in turn, "O wall, let tears run down." [3150] In
this way, it is prophetically implied, you will fulfil the apostolic
precept: "rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that
weep," [3151] and by your tears you will melt the hard hearts of
sinners till they too weep; whereas, if they persist in evil doing they
will find these words applied to them, "I...planted thee a noble vine,
wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant
of a strange vine unto me?" [3152] and again "saying to a stock, Thou
art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they
have turned their back unto me, and not their face." [3153] He means,
they would not turn towards God in penitence; but in the hardness of
their hearts turned their backs upon Him to insult Him. Wherefore also
the Lord says to Jeremiah: "hast thou seen that which backsliding
Israel hath done? She is gone up upon every high mountain and under
every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. And I said after
she" had played the harlot and "had done all these things, Turn thou
unto me. But she returned not." [3154]
2. How hard hearted we are and how merciful God is! who even after our
many sins urges us to seek salvation. Yet not even so are we willing to
turn to better things. Hear the words of the Lord: "If a man put away
his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's and shall
afterwards desire to return to him, will he at all receive her? Will he
not loathe her rather? But thou hast played the harlot with many
lovers: yet return again to me, saith the Lord." In place of the last
clause the true Hebrew text (which is not preserved in the Greek and
Latin versions) gives the following: "thou hast forsaken me, yet
return, and I will receive thee, saith the Lord." [3155] Isaiah also
speaking in the same sense uses almost the same words: "Return," he
cries, "O children of Israel, ye who think deep counsel and wicked.
[3156] Return thou unto me and I will redeem thee. I am God, and there
is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none
beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.
[3157] Remember this and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O
ye transgressors. Return in heart and remember the former things of
old: for I am God and there is none else." [3158] Joel also writes:
"turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting and with
weeping and with mourning: and rend your heart and not your garments
and turn unto the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful...and
repenteth him of the evil." [3159] How great His mercy is and how
excessive--if I may so say--and unspeakable is His pitifulness, the
prophet Hosea tells us when he speaks in the Lord's name: "how shall I
give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I
make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is
turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. I will not
execute the fierceness of mine anger." [3160] David also says in a
psalm: "in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who
shall give thee thanks?" [3161] and in another place: "I acknowledged
my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will
confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the
iniquity of my sin. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto
thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great
waters they shall not come nigh unto him." [3162]
3. Think how great that weeping must be which deserves to be compared
to a flood of waters. Whosoever so weeps and says with the prophet
Jeremiah "let not the apple of mine eye cease" [3163] shall straightway
find the words fulfilled of him: "mercy and truth are met together:
righteousness and peace have kissed each other;" [3164] so that, if
righteousness and truth terrify him, mercy and peace may encourage him
to seek salvation.
The whole repentance of a sinner is exhibited to us in the fifty-first
[3165] psalm written by David after he had gone in unto Bathsheba the
wife of Uriah the Hittite, [3166] and when, to the rebuke of the
prophet Nathan he had replied, "I have sinned." Immediately that he
confessed his fault he was comforted by the words: "the Lord also hath
put away thy sin." [3167] He had added murder to adultery; yet bursting
into tears he says: "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving
kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out
my transgressions." [3168] A sin so great needed to find great mercy.
Accordingly he goes on to say: "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my
sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only have I sinned"--as a
king he had no one to fear but God--"and done this evil in thy sight;
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when
thou judgest." [3169] For "God hath concluded all in unbelief, that he
might have mercy upon all." [3170] And such was the progress that David
made that he who had once been a sinner and a penitent afterwards
became a master able to say: "I will teach transgressors thy ways; and
sinners shall be converted unto thee." [3171] For as "confession and
beauty are before God," [3172] so a sinner who confesses his sins and
says: "my wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness"
[3173] loses his foul wounds and is made whole and clean. But "he that
covereth his sins shall not prosper." [3174]
The ungodly king Ahab, who shed the blood of Naboth to gain his
vineyard, was with Jezebel, the partner less of his bed than of his
cruelty, severely rebuked by Elijah. "Thus saith the Lord, hast thou
killed and also taken possession?" and again, "in the place where dogs
licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine;" and
"the dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel." [3175] "And it
came to pass"--the passage goes on--"when Ahab heard those words that
he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and
lay in sackcloth...and the word of the Lord came to Elijah saying,
Because Ahab humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in
his days." [3176] Ahab's sin and Jezebel's were the same; yet because
Ahab repented, his punishment was postponed so as to fall upon his
sons, while Jezebel persisting in her wickedness met her doom then and
there.
Moreover the Lord tells us in the gospel, "the men of Nineveh shall
rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it: because
they repented at the preaching of Jonas;" [3177] and again He says "I
am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." [3178]
The lost piece of silver is sought for until it is found in the mire.
[3179] So also the ninety and nine sheep are left in the wilderness,
while the shepherd carries home on his shoulders the one sheep which
has gone astray. [3180] Wherefore also "there is joy in the presence of
the angels over one sinner that repenteth." [3181] What a blessed
thought it is that heavenly beings rejoice in our salvation! For it is
of us that the words are said: "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand." [3182] Death and life are contrary the one to the other;
there is no middle term. Yet penitence can knit death to life. The
prodigal son, we are told, wasted all his substance, and in the far
country away from his father "would fain have filled his belly with the
husks that the swine did eat." Yet, when he comes back to his father,
the fatted calf is killed, a robe and a ring are given to him. [3183]
That is to say, he receives again Christ's robe which he had before
defiled, and hears to his comfort the injunction: "let thy garments be
always white." [3184] He receives the signet of God and cries to the
Lord: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee;" and
receiving the kiss of reconciliation, he says to Him: "Now is the light
of thy countenance sealed upon us, O Lord." [3185]
Hear the words of Ezekiel: "as for the wickedness of the wicked, he
shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness;
neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in
the day that he sinneth." [3186] The Lord judges every man according as
he finds him. It is not the past that He looks upon but the present.
Bygone sins there may be, but renewal and conversion remove them. "A
just man," we read "falleth seven times and riseth up again." [3187] If
he falls, how is he just? and if he is just, how does he fall? The
answer is that a sinner does not lose the name of just if he always
repents of his sins and rises again. If a sinner repents, his sins are
forgiven him not only till seven times but till seventy times seven.
[3188] To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much. [3189] The
harlot washed with her tears the Saviour's feet and wiped them with her
hair; and to her, as a type of the Church gathered from the nations,
was the declaration made: "Thy sins are forgiven." [3190] The
self-righteous Pharisee perished in his pride, while the humble
publican was saved by his confession. [3191]
God makes asseveration by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah: "At what
instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to
pluck up, to pull down and to destroy it: if that nation, against whom
I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that
I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning
a nation, and concerning a kingdom to build and to plant it; if it do
evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the
good wherewith I said I would benefit them." And immediately he adds:
"Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you:
return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your
doings good. And they said, there is no hope: but we will walk after
our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil
heart." [3192] The righteous Simeon says in the gospel: "Behold, this
child is set for the fall and rising again of many," [3193] for the
fall, that is, of sinners and for the rising again of the penitent. So
the apostle writes to the Corinthians: "it is reported commonly that
there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much
as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
And ye are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he that hath done
this deed might be taken away from among you." [3194] And in his second
epistle to the same, "lest such a one should be swallowed up with
overmuch sorrow," [3195] he calls him back, and begs them to confirm
their love towards him, so that he who had been destroyed by incest
might be saved by penitence.
"There is no man clean from sin; even though he has lived but for one
day." [3196] And the years of man's life are many in number. "The stars
are not pure in his sight, [3197] and his angels he charged with
folly." [3198] If there is sin in heaven, how much more must there be
sin on earth? If they are stained with guilt who have no bodily
temptations, how much more must we be, enveloped as we are in frail
flesh and forced to cry each one of us with the apostle: "O wretched
man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? [3199]
For in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing." [3200] For we do not
what we would but what we would not; the soul desires to do one thing,
the flesh is compelled to do another. If any persons are called
righteous in scripture, and not only righteous but righteous in the
sight of God, they are called righteous according to that righteousness
mentioned in the passage I have quoted: "A just man falleth seven times
and riseth up again," [3201] and on the principle laid down that the
wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him in the day that he turns to
repentance. [3202] In fact Zachariah the father of John who is
described as a righteous man sinned in disbelieving the message sent to
him and was at once punished with dumbness. [3203] Even Job, who at the
outset of his history is spoken of as perfect and upright and
uncomplaining, is afterwards proved to be a sinner both by God's words
and by his own confession. If Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the prophets
also and the apostles were by no means free from sin and if the finest
wheat had chaff mixed with it, what can be said of us of whom it is
written: "What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord?" [3204] Yet
the chaff is reserved for future burning; as also are the tares which
at present are mingled with the growing corn. For one shall come whose
fan is in His hand, and shall purge His floor, and shall gather His
wheat into the garner, and shall burn the chaff in the fire of hell.
[3205]
4. Roaming thus through the fairest fields of scripture I have culled
its loveliest flowers to weave for your brows a garland of penitence;
for my aim is that, flying on the wings of a dove, you may find rest
[3206] and make your peace with the Father of mercy. Your former wife,
who is now your sister and fellow-servant, has told me that, acting on
the apostolic precept, [3207] you and she lived apart by consent that
you might give yourselves to prayer; but that after a time your feet
sank beneath you as if resting on water and indeed--to speak
plainly--gave way altogether. For her part she heard the Lord saying to
her as to Moses: "as for thee stand thou here by me;" [3208] and with
the psalmist she said of Him: "He hath set my feet upon a rock." [3209]
But your house--she went on--having no sure foundation of faith fell
before a whirlwind of the devil. [3210] Hers however still stands in
the Lord, and does not refuse its shelter to you; you can still be
joined in spirit to her to whom you were once joined in body. For, as
the apostle says, "he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" with
him. [3211] Moreover, when the fury of the barbarians and the risk of
captivity separated you again, you promised with a solemn oath that, if
she made her way to the holy places, you would follow her either
immediately or later, and that you would try to save your soul now that
by your carelessness you had seemed to lose it. Perform, now, the vow
which you then made in the presence of God. Human life is uncertain.
Therefore, lest you may be snatched away before you have fulfilled your
promise, imitate her whose teacher you ought to have been. For shame!
the weaker vessel overcomes the world, and yet the stronger is overcome
by it!
A woman leadeth in the high emprise;^ [3212]
and yet you will not follow her when her salvation leads you to the
threshold of the faith! Perhaps, however, you desire to save the
remnants of your property and to see the last of your friends and
fellow-citizens and of their cities and villas. If so, amid the horrors
of captivity, in the presence of exulting foes, and in the shipwreck of
the province, at least hold fast to the plank of penitence; [3213] and
remember your fellow-servant [3214] who daily sighs for your salvation
and never despairs of it. While you are wandering about your own
country (though, indeed, you no longer have a country; that which you
once had, you have lost) she is interceding for you in the venerable
spots which witnessed the nativity, crucifixion and resurrection of our
Lord and Saviour, and in the first of which He uttered His infant-cry.
She draws you to her by her prayers that you may be saved, if not by
your own exertions, at any rate by her faith. Of old one lay upon his
bed sick of the palsy, so powerless in all his joints that he could
neither move his feet to walk nor his hands to pray; yet when he was
carried to our Lord by others, he was by Him so completely restored to
health as to carry the bed which a little before had carried him.
[3215] You too--absent in the body but present to her faith--your
fellow-servant offers to her Lord and Saviour; and with the Canaanite
woman she says of you: "my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil."
[3216] Souls are of no sex; therefore I may fairly call your soul the
daughter of hers. For as a mother coaxes her unweaned child which is as
yet unable to take solid food; so does she call you to the milk
suitable for babes and offer to you the sustenance that a nursing
mother gives. Thus shall you be able to say with the prophet: "I have
gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget
thy commandments." [3217]
__________________________________________________________________
[3114] This lady lived in Gaul and was a diligent student of scripture.
Letter CXX. is address to her.
[3115] Joh. i. 41, 45.
[3116] Joh. i. 42.
[3117] Joh. i. 47.
[3118] Gen. xix. 15-26.
[3119] Cf. Wisdom x. 7.
[3120] Jas. ii. 23.
[3121] Gen. xviii. 1.
[3122] Cant. i. 7.
[3123] 1 Sam. xv. 35.
[3124] 2 Cor. ii. 4.
[3125] Ezek. ii. 10, LXX.
[3126] Prov. xviii. 3, LXX.
[3127] Isa. xxii. 12, 13.
[3128] Ezek. xxxiii. 10, 11.
[3129] Jer. ii. 25, LXX.
[3130] Jer. viii. 4.
[3131] Isa. xxx. 15, LXX.
[3132] Ezek. xviii. 30-32.
[3133] Ezek. xxxiii. 11.
[3134] Ps. lxxxv. 4.
[3135] Ps. xxx. 7.
[3136] Ps. xviii. 37, R.V.
[3137] Hos. ii. 7-9.
[3138] Hos. ii. 6.
[3139] Joh. xiv. 6.
[3140] Ps. cxxvi. 5, 6.
[3141] Ps. vi. 6.
[3142] Ps. xlii. 1-3.
[3143] Ps. lxiii. 1-3 R.V.
[3144] Luke xix. 41.
[3145] Luke xxii. 62.
[3146] Ps. cxix. 136.
[3147] Jer. ix. 1.
[3148] Jer. xxii. 10.
[3149] Matt. viii. 22.
[3150] Lam. ii. 18.
[3151] Rom. xii. 15.
[3152] Jer. ii. 21.
[3153] Jer. ii. 27.
[3154] Jer. iii. 6, 7.
[3155] Jer. iii. 1, Vulg. The Hebrew contains nothing corresponding to
the words "and I will receive thee." The Latin Version mentioned in the
text is of course the old Latin.
[3156] Isa. xxxi. 6, LXX.
[3157] Isa. xlv. 21, 22.
[3158] Isa. xlvi. 8, 9, LXX.
[3159] Joel ii. 12, 13.
[3160] Hos. xi. 8, 9.
[3161] Ps. vi. 5.
[3162] Ps. xxxii. 5, 6.
[3163] Lam. ii. 18.
[3164] Ps. lxxxv. 10.
[3165] In the Vulg. the fiftieth.
[3166] Cf. the heading of the psalm in A.V.
[3167] 2 Sam. xii. 13.
[3168] Ps. li. 1.
[3169] Ps. li. 2-4.
[3170] Rom. xi. 32.
[3171] Ps. li. 13.
[3172] Ps. xcvi. 6, Vulg.
[3173] Ps. xxxviii. 5.
[3174] Prov. xxviii. 13.
[3175] 1 Kings xxi. 19, 23.
[3176] 1 Kings xxi. 27-29.
[3177] Matt. xii. 41.
[3178] Matt. ix. 13.
[3179] Luke xv. 8-10.
[3180] Luke xv. 4, 5.
[3181] Luke xv. 10.
[3182] Matt. iii. 2.
[3183] Luke xv. 11-24.
[3184] Eccles. ix. 8.
[3185] Ps. iv. 6, acc. to the Gallican and Roman psalters. The
allusions throughout are to the ritual practised in Jerome's day in
connection with the reception of penitents.
[3186] Ezek. xxxiii. 12.
[3187] Prov. xxiv. 16.
[3188] Cf. Matt. xviii. 21, 22.
[3189] Cf. Luke vii. 47.
[3190] Luke vii. 48.
[3191] Cf. Luke xviii. 14.
[3192] Jer. xviii. 7-12.
[3193] Luke ii. 34.
[3194] 1 Cor. v. 1, 2.
[3195] 2 Cor. ii. 7.
[3196] Job xiv. 4, 5, LXX.
[3197] Job xxv. 5.
[3198] Job iv. 18.
[3199] Rom. vii. 24.
[3200] Rom. vii. 18.
[3201] Prov. xxiv. 16.
[3202] Cf. Ezek. xxxiii. 12.
[3203] Luke i. 20-22.
[3204] Jer. xxiii. 28.
[3205] Matt. iii. 12.
[3206] Ps. lv. 6.
[3207] 1 Cor. vii. 5.
[3208] Deut. v. 31.
[3209] Ps. xl. 2.
[3210] Cf. Matt. vii. 24-27.
[3211] 1 Cor. vi. 17.
[3212] Virgil, Æneid, i. 364.
[3213] A favourite phrase with Jerome. See Letter CXVII. § 3.
[3214] Viz. Artemia.
[3215] Matt. ix. 1-7.
[3216] Matt. xv. 22.
[3217] Ps. cxix. 176.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXIII. To Ageruchia.
An appeal to the widow Ageruchia, highborn lady of Gaul, not to marry
again. It should be compared with the letters to Furia (LIV.) and to
Salvina (LXXIX.) The allusion to Stilicho's treaty with Alaric fixes
the date to 409 a.d.
1. I must look for a new track on the old road and devise a natural
treatment, the same yet not the same, for a hackneyed and well-worn
theme. [3218] It is true that there is but one road; yet one can often
reach one's goal by striking across country. I have several times
written letters to widows [3219] in which for their instruction I have
sought out examples from scripture, weaving its varied flowers into a
single garland of chastity. On the present occasion I address myself to
Ageruchia; whose very name [3220] (allotted to her by the divine
guidance) has proved a prophecy of her after-life. Around her stand her
grandmother, her mother, and her aunt; a noble band of tried Christian
women. Her grandmother, Metronia, now a widow for forty years, reminds
us of Anna the daughter of Phanuel in the gospel. [3221] Her mother,
Benigna, now in the fourteenth year of her widowhood, is surrounded by
virgins whose chastity bears fruit a hundredfold. [3222] The sister of
Celerinus, Ageruchia's father, has nursed her niece from infancy and
indeed took her into her lap the moment that she was born. Deprived of
the solace of her husband she has for twenty years trained her
brother's child, teaching her the lessons which she has learned from
her own mother.
2. I make these brief remarks to shew my young friend that in resolving
not to marry again she does but perform a duty to her family; and that,
while she will deserve no praise for fulfilling it, she will be justly
blamed if she fails to do so. The more so that she has a posthumous son
named after his father Simplicius and thus cannot plead loneliness or
the want of an heir. For the lust of many shelters itself under such
excuses as though the promptings of incontinence were only a desire for
offspring. But why do I speak as to one who wavers when I hear that
Ageruchia seeks the church's protection against the many suitors whom
she meets in the palace? For the devil inflames men to vie with one
another in proving the chastity of our beloved widow; and rank and
beauty, youth and riches cause her to be sought after by all. But the
greater the assaults that are made upon her continence, the greater
will be the rewards that will follow her victory.
3. But no sooner do I clear the harbour than I find my way to the sea
barred by a rock. [3223] I am confronted with the authority of the
apostle Paul who in writing to Timothy thus speaks concerning widows:
"I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide
the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
For some are already turned aside after Satan." [3224] I must
accordingly begin by considering the meaning of this pronouncement and
examining the context of the whole passage. I must then plant my feet
in the steps of the apostle and, as the saying goes, not deviate a
hair's breadth from them either to this side or to that. He had
previously described his ideal widow as one who had been the wife of
one man, who had brought up children, who was well reported of for good
works, who had relieved the afflicted with her substance, [3225] whose
trust had been in God, and who had continued in prayer day and night.
[3226] With her he contrasted her opposite, saying: "She that liveth in
pleasure is dead while she liveth." And that he might warn his disciple
Timothy with all needful admonition, he immediately added these words:
"the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton
against Christ they will marry; having damnation because they have cast
off their first faith." [3227] It is then for these who have outraged
Christ their Spouse by committing fornication against Him (for this is
the sense of the Greek word katastreniasosi )--it is for these that the
apostle wishes a second marriage, thinking digamy preferable to
fornication; but this second marriage is a concession and not a
command.
4. We must also take the passage clause by clause. "I will," he says,
"that the younger women marry." Why, pray? because I would not have
young women commit fornication. "That they bear children;" [3228] for
what reason? That they may not be induced by fear of the consequences
to kill children whom they have conceived in adultery. "That they be
the heads of households." [3229] Wherefore, pray? Because it is much
more tolerable that a woman should marry again than that she should be
a prostitute, and better that she should have a second husband than
several paramours. The first alternative brings relief in a miserable
plight, but the second involves a sin and its punishment. He continues:
"that they give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully,"
a brief and comprehensive precept in which many admonitions are summed
up. As for instance these: that a woman must not bring discredit upon
her profession of widowhood by too great attention to her dress, that
she must not draw troops of young men after her by gay smiles or
expressive glances, that she must not profess one thing by her words
and another by her behaviour, that she must give no ground for the
application to herself of the well known line:
She gave a meaning look and slyly smiled. [3230]
Lastly, that Paul may compress into a few words all the reasons for
such marriages, he shews the motive of his command by saying: "for some
are already turned aside after Satan." Thus he allows to the
incontinent a second marriage, or in case of need a third, simply that
he may rescue them from Satan, preferring that a woman should be joined
to the worst of husbands rather than to the devil. To the Corinthians
he uses somewhat similar language: "I say therefore to the unmarried
and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they
cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to
burn." [3231] Why, O apostle, is it better to marry? He answers
immediately: because it is worse to burn. [3232]
5. Apart from these considerations, that which is absolutely good and
not merely relatively so is to be as the apostle, that is loose, not
bound; free, not enslaved; caring for the things of God, not for the
things of a wife. Immediately afterwards he adds: "The wife is bound by
the law to her husband as long as her husband liveth, but if her
husband be fallen asleep, [3233] she is at liberty to be married to
whom she will; only in the Lord. But she is happier if she so abide,
after my judgment: and I think also that I have the spirit of God."
[3234] This passage corresponds with the former in meaning, because the
spirit of the two is the same. For though the epistles are different,
they are the work of one author. While her husband lives the woman is
bound, and when he is dead, she is loosed. Marriage then is a bond, and
widowhood is the loosing of it. The wife is bound to the husband and
the husband to the wife; and so close is the tie that they have no
power over their own bodies, but each stands indebted to the other.
They who are under the yoke of wedlock have not the option of choosing
continence. When the apostle adds the words "only in the Lord," he
excludes heathen marriages of which he had spoken in another place
thus: "be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion
hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or
what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement
hath the temple of God with idols?" [3235] We must not plough with an
ox and an ass together; [3236] nor weave our wedding garment of
different colours. He at once takes back the concession he made, and,
as if repenting of his opinion, withdraws it by saying: "She is happier
if she so abide," that is, unmarried; and declares that in his judgment
this course is preferable. And that this may not be made light of as a
merely human utterance, he claims for it the authority of the Holy
Spirit, so that we are listening not to a fellowman making concessions
to the weakness of the flesh but to the Holy Spirit using the apostle
for his mouthpiece.
6. Again, no widow of youthful age must quiet her qualms of conscience
by the plea that he gives commandment that no widow is to be taken into
the number under three-score years old. [3237] He does not by this
arrangement urge unmarried girls or youthful widows to marry, seeing
that even of the married he says: "the time is short: it remaineth that
they that have wives be as though they had none." [3238] No, he is
speaking of widows who have relations able to support them, who have
sons and grandsons to be responsible for their maintenance. The apostle
commands these latter to shew piety at home, and to requite their
parents and to relieve them adequately; that the church may not be
charged, but may be free to relieve those that are widows indeed.
"Honour widows," he writes, "that are widows indeed," that is, such as
are desolate and have no relations to help them, who cannot labour with
their hands, who are weakened by poverty and overcome by years, whose
trust is in God and their only work prayer. [3239] From which it is
easy to infer that the younger widows, unless they are excused by ill
health, are either left to their own exertions or else are consigned to
the care of their children or relations. The word honour' in this
passage implies either alms or a gift, as also in the verse immediately
following: "Let the elders...be counted worthy of double honour,
especially they who labour in the word and doctrine." [3240] So also in
the gospel when the Lord discusses that commandment of the Law which
says: "Honour thy father and thy mother," [3241] He declares that it is
to be interpreted not of mere words which while offering an empty shew
of regard may still leave a parent's wants unrelieved, but of the
actual provision of the necessaries of life. The Lord commanded that
poor parents should be supported by their children and that these
should pay them back when old those benefits which they had themselves
received in their childhood. The scribes and pharisees on the other
hand taught the children to answer their parents by saying: "It is
Corban, that is to say, a gift [3242] which I have promised to the
altar and engaged to present to the temple: it will relieve you as much
there, as if I were to give it you directly to buy food." [3243] So it
frequently happened that while father and mother were destitute their
children were offering sacrifices for the priests and scribes to
consume. If then the apostle compels poor widows--yet only those who
are young and not broken down by sickness--to labour with their hands
that the church, not charged with their maintenance, may be able to
support such widows as are old, what plea can be urged by one who has
abundance of this world's goods, both for her own wants and those of
others, and who can make to herself friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness able to receive her into everlasting habitations?
[3244]
Consider too that no one is to be elected a widow, except she has been
the wife of one husband. We sometimes fancy it to be the distinctive
mark of the priesthood that none but monogamists shall be admitted to
the altar. But not only are the twice-married excluded from the
priestly office, they are debarred from receiving the alms of the
church. A woman who has resorted to a second marriage is held unworthy
to be supported by the faithful. And even the layman is bound by the
law of the priest, for his conduct must be such as to admit of his
election to the priesthood. If he has been twice married, he cannot be
so elected. Therefore, as priests are chosen from the ranks of laymen,
the layman also is bound by the commandment, fulfilment of which is
indispensable for the attainment of the priesthood. [3245]
7. We must distinguish between what the apostle himself desires and
what he is compelled to acquiesce in. If he allows me to marry again,
this is due to my own incontinence and not to his wish. For he wishes
all men to be as he is, and to think the things of God, and when once
they are loosed no more to seek to be bound. But when he sees unstable
men in danger through their incontinence of falling into the abyss of
lust, he extends to them the offer of a second marriage; that, if they
must wallow in the mire, it may be with one and not with many. The
husband of a second wife must not consider this a harsh saying or one
that conflicts with the rule laid down by the apostle. The apostle is
of two minds: first, he proclaims a command, "I say therefore to the
unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I."
Next. he makes a concession, "But if they cannot contain, let them
marry: for it is better to marry than to burn." [3246] He first shews
what he himself desires, then that in which he is forced to acquiesce.
He wishes us--after one marriage--to abide even as he, that is,
unmarried, and sets before us in his own apostolic example an instance
of the blessedness of which he speaks. If however he finds that we are
unwilling to do as he wishes, he makes a concession to our
incontinence. Which then of the two alternatives do we choose for
ourselves? The one which he prefers and which is in itself good? Or the
one which in comparison with evil is tolerable, yet as it is only a
substitute for evil is not altogether good? Suppose that we choose that
course which the apostle does not wish but to which he only consents
against his will, allowing those who seek lower ends to have their own
way; in this case we carry out not the apostle's wish but our own. We
read in the old testament that the daughters of the priests who have
been married once and have become widows are to eat of the priests'
food and that when they die they are to be buried with the same
ceremonies as their father and mother. [3247] If on the other hand they
take other husbands they are to be kept apart both from their father
and from the sacrifices and are to be counted as strangers. [3248]
8. These restraints on marriage are observed even among the heathen;
and it is our condemnation if the true faith cannot do for Christ what
false ones do for the devil, who has substituted for the saving
chastity of the gospel a damning chastity of his own. [3249] The
Athenian hierophant disowns his manhood and weakens his passions by a
perpetual restraint. [3250] The holy office of the flamen is limited to
those who have been once married, and the attendants of the flamens'
wives must also have had but one husband. [3251] Only monogamists are
allowed to share in the sacred rites connected with the Egyptian bull.
[3252] I need say nothing of the vestal virgins and those of Apollo,
the Achivan Juno, Diana, and Minerva, all of whom waste away in the
perpetual virginity required by their vocation. I will just glance at
the queen of Carthage [3253] who was willing to burn herself rather
than marry king Iarbas; at the wife of Hasdrubal [3254] who taking her
two children one in each hand cast, herself into the flames beneath her
rather than surrender her honour; and at Lucretia [3255] who having
lost the prize of her chastity refused to survive the defilement of her
soul. I will not lengthen my letter by quoting the many instances of
the like virtue which you can read to your profit in my first book
against Jovinian. [3256] I will merely relate one which took place in
your own country and which will shew you that chastity is held in high
honour even among wild and barbarous and cruel peoples. Once the
Teutons who came from the remote shores of the German Ocean overran all
parts of Gaul, and it was only when they had cut to pieces several
Roman armies that Marius at last defeated them in an encounter at Aquæ
Sextiæ. [3257] By the conditions of the surrender three hundred of
their married women were to be handed over to the Romans. When the
Teuton matrons heard of this stipulation they first begged the consul
that they might be set apart to minister in the temples of Ceres and
Venus; [3258] and then when they failed to obtain their request and
were removed by the lictors, they slew their little children and next
morning were all found dead in each other's arms having strangled
themselves in the night. [3259]
9. Shall then a highborn lady do what these barbarian women refused to
do even as prisoners of war? After losing a first husband, good or bad
as the case may be, shall she make trial of a second, and thus run
counter to the judgment of God? And in case that she immediately loses
this second, shall she take a third? And if he too is called to his
rest, shall she go on to a fourth and a fifth, and by so doing identify
herself with the harlots? No, a widow must take every precaution not to
overstep by an inch the bounds of chastity. For if she once oversteps
them and breaks through the modesty which becomes a matron, she will
soon riot in every kind of excess; so much so that the prophet's words
shall be true of her "Thou hast a whore's forehead, thou refusest to be
ashamed." [3260]
What then? do I condemn second marriages? not at all; but I commend
first ones. Do I expel twice-married persons from the church? Far from
it; but I urge those who have been once married to lives of continence.
The Ark of Noah contained unclean animals as well as clean. It
contained both creeping things and human beings. In a great house there
are vessels of different kinds, some to honour and some to dishonour.
[3261] In the gospel parable the seed sown in the good ground brings
forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
[3262] The hundredfold which comes first betokens the crown of
virginity; the sixtyfold which comes next refers to the work of widows;
while the thirtyfold--indicated by joining together the points of the
thumb and forefinger [3263] --denotes the marriage-tie. What room is
left for double marriages? None. They are not counted. Such weeds do
not grow in good ground but among briers and thorns, the favourite
haunts of those foxes to whom the Lord compares the impious Herod.
[3264] A woman who marries more than once fancies herself worthy of
praise because she is not so bad as the prostitutes, because she
compares favourably with these victims of indiscriminate lust by
surrendering herself to one alone and not to a number.
10. The story which I am about to relate is an incredible one; yet it
is vouched for by many witnesses. A great many years ago when I was
helping Damasus bishop of Rome with his ecclesiastical correspondence,
and writing his answers to the questions referred to him by the
councils of the east and west, I saw a married couple, both of whom
were sprung from the very dregs of the people. The man had already
buried twenty wives, and the woman had had twenty-two husbands. Now
they were united to each other as each believed for the last time. The
greatest curiosity prevailed both among men and women to see which of
these two veterans would live to bury the other. The husband triumphed
and walked before the bier of his often-married wife, amid a great
concourse of people from all quarters, with garland and palm-branch,
scattering spelt as he went along among an approving crowd. What shall
we say to such a woman as that? Surely just what the Lord said to the
woman of Samaria: "Thou hast had twenty-two husbands, and he by whom
you are now buried is not your husband." [3265]
11. I beseech you therefore, my devout daughter in Christ, not to dwell
on those passages which offer succour to the incontinent and the
unhappy but rather to read those in which chastity is crowned. It is
enough for you that you have lost the first and highest kind, that of
virginity, and that you have passed through the third to the second;
that is to say, having formerly fulfilled the obligations of a wife,
that you now live in continence as a widow. Think not of the lowest
grade, nay of that which does not count at all, I mean, second
marriage; and do not seek for far fetched precedents to justify you in
marrying again. You cannot too closely imitate your grandmother, your
mother, and your aunt; whose teaching and advice as to life will form
for you a rule of virtue. For if many wives in the lifetime of their
husbands come to realize the truth of the apostle's words: "all things
are lawful unto me but all things are not expedient," [3266] and make
eunuchs of themselves for the kingdom of heaven's sake [3267] either by
consent after their regeneration through the baptismal laver, or else
in the ardour of their faith immediately after their marriage; why
should not a widow, who by God's decree has ceased to have a husband,
joyfully cry again and again with Job: "the Lord gave, and the Lord
hath taken away," [3268] and seize the opportunity offered to her of
having power over her own body instead of again becoming the servant of
a man. Assuredly it is much harder to abstain from enjoying what you
have than it is to regret what you have lost. Virginity is the easier
because virgins know nothing of the promptings of the flesh, and
widowhood is the harder because widows cannot help thinking of the
license they have enjoyed in the past. And it is harder still if they
suppose their husbands to be lost and not gone before; for while the
former alternative brings pain, the latter causes joy.
12. The creation of the first man should teach us to reject more
marriages than one. There was but one Adam and but one Eve; in fact the
woman was fashioned from a rib of Adam. [3269] Thus divided they were
subsequently joined together in marriage; in the words of scripture
"the twain shall be one flesh," not two or three. "Therefore shall a
man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife."
[3270] Certainly it is not said "to his wives." Paul in explaining the
passage refers it to Christ and the church; [3271] making the first
Adam a monogamist in the flesh and the second a monogamist in the
spirit. As there is one Eve who is "the mother of all living," [3272]
so is there one church which is the parent of all Christians. And as
the accursed Lamech made of the first Eve two separate wives, [3273] so
also the heretics sever the second into several churches which,
according to the apocalypse of John, ought rather to be called
synagogues of the devil than congregations of Christ. [3274] In the
Book of Songs we read as follows:--"there are threescore queens, and
fourscore concubines, and virgins without number. My dove, my undefiled
is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of
her that bare her." [3275] It is to this choice one that the same John
addresses an epistle in these words, "the elder unto the elect lady and
her children." [3276] So too in the case of the ark which the apostle
Peter interprets as a type of the church, [3277] Noah brings in for his
three sons one wife apiece and not two. [3278] Likewise of the unclean
animals pairs only are taken, male and female, to shew that digamy has
no place even among brutes, creeping things, crocodiles and lizards.
And if of the clean animals there are seven taken of each kind, [3279]
that is, an uneven number; this points to the palm which awaits
virginal chastity. For on leaving the ark Noah sacrificed victims to
God [3280] not of course of the animals taken by twos for these were
kept to multiply their species, but of those taken by sevens some of
which had been set apart for sacrifice.
13. It is true that the patriarchs had each of them more wives than one
and that they had numerous concubines besides. And as if their example
was not enough, David had many wives and Solomon a countless number.
Judah went in to Tamar thinking her to be a harlot; [3281] and
according to the letter that killeth the prophet Hosea married not only
a whore but an adulteress. [3282] If these instances are to justify us
let us neigh after every woman that we meet; [3283] like the people of
Sodom and Gomorrah let us be found by the last day buying and selling,
marrying and giving in marriage; [3284] and let us only end our
marrying with the close of our lives. And if both before and after the
deluge the maxim held good: "be fruitful and multiply and replenish the
earth:" [3285] what has that to do with us upon whom the ends of the
ages are come, [3286] unto whom it is said, "the time is short," [3287]
and "now the axe is laid unto the root of the trees;" [3288] that is to
say, the forests of marriage and of the law must be cut down by the
chastity of the gospel. There is "a time to embrace, and a time to
refrain from embracing." [3289] Owing to the near approach of the
captivity Jeremiah is forbidden to take a wife. [3290] In Babylon
Ezekiel says: "my wife is dead and my mouth is opened." [3291] Neither
he who wished to marry nor he who had married could in wedlock prophesy
freely. In days gone by men rejoiced to hear it said of them: "thy
children shall be like olive plants round about thy table," and "thou
shalt see thy children's children." [3292] But now it is said of those
who live in continence: "he that is joined unto the Lord is one
spirit;" [3293] and "my soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand
upholdeth me." [3294] Then it was said "an eye for an eye;" now the
commandment is "whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to
him the other also." [3295] In those days men said to the warrior:
"gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty;" [3296] now it is said
to Peter: "put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that
take the sword shall perish with the sword." [3297]
In speaking thus I do not mean to sever the law from the gospel, as
Marcion [3298] falsely does. No, I receive one and the same God in both
who, as the time and the object vary, is both the Beginning and the
End, who sows that He may reap, who plants that He may have somewhat to
cut down, and who lays the foundation that in the fulness of time He
may crown the edifice. Besides, if we are to deal with symbols and
types of things to come, we must judge of them not by our own opinions
but in the light of the apostle's explanations. Hagar and Sarah, or
Sinai and Zion, are typical of the two testaments. [3299] Leah who was
tender-eyed and Rachel whom Jacob loved [3300] signify the synagogue
and the church. So likewise do Hannah and Peninnah of whom the former,
at first barren, afterwards exceeded the latter in fruitfulness. In
Isaac and Rebekah we see an early example of monogamy: it was only to
Rebekah that the Lord revealed Himself in the hour of childbirth and
she alone went of herself to enquire of the Lord. [3301] What shall I
say of Tamar who bore twin sons, Pharez and Zarah? [3302] At their
birth was broken down that middle wall of partition which typified the
division existing between the two peoples; [3303] while the binding of
Zarah's hand with the scarlet thread even then marked the conscience of
the Jews with the stain of Christ's blood. And how shall I speak of the
whore married by the prophet [3304] who is a figure either of the
church as gathered in from the Gentiles or--an interpretation which
better suits the passage--of the synagogue? First adopted from among
the idolaters by Abraham and Moses, this has now denied the Saviour and
proved unfaithful to Him. Therefore it has long been deprived of its
altar, priests, and prophets and has to abide many days for its first
husband. [3305] For when the fulness of the Gentiles shall have come
in, all Israel shall be saved. [3306]
14. I have tried to compress a great deal into a limited space as a
draughtsman does when he delineates a large country in a small map. For
I wish to deal with other questions, the first of which I shall give in
Anna's words to her sister Dido:
Why waste your youth alone in ceaseless grief
Unblest with offspring, sweetest gift of love?
Think you the buried dead require this?
To whom the sufferer thus briefly replies:
'Twas you, my sister, you, who were the first
To plunge my frenzied soul into this woe.
Why could I not have lived a virgin life
Like some wild creature innocent of care?
Alas! I pledged my soul unto the dead:
I vowed a vow and I have broken it. [3307]
You set before me the joys of wedlock. I for my part will remind you of
Dido's sword and pyre and funeral flames. In marriage there is not so
much good to be hoped for as there is evil which may happen and must be
feared. Passion when indulged always brings repentance with it; it is
never satisfied, and once quenched it is soon kindled anew. Its growth
or decay is a matter of habit; led like a captive by impulse it refuses
to obey reason. But you will argue, the management of wealth and
property requires the superintendence of a husband.' Do you mean to say
that the affairs of those who live single are ruined; and that, unless
you make yourself as much a slave as your own servants, you will not be
able to govern your household? Do not your grandmother, your mother and
your aunt enjoy even more than their old influence and respect, looked
up to as they are by the whole province and by the leaders of the
churches? Do not soldiers and travellers manage their domestic affairs
and give entertainments to one another with no wives to help them?
[3308] Why can you not have grave and elderly servants or freed-men,
such as those who have nursed you in your childhood, to preside over
your house, to answer public calls, to pay taxes; men who will look up
to you as a patroness, who will love you as a nursling, who will revere
you as a saint? "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things
shall be added unto you." [3309] If you are careful for raiment the
gospel bids you "consider the lilies;" and, if for food, to go back to
the fowls which "sow not neither do they reap; yet your heavenly father
feedeth them." [3310] How many virgins and widows there are who have
looked after their property for themselves without thereby incurring
any stain of scandal!
15. Do not associate with young women or cleave to them, for it is on
account of such that the apostle makes his concession of second
marriage, and so you may be shipwrecked in what appears to be calm
water. If Paul can say to Timothy, "the younger widows refuse," [3311]
and again "love the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters,
with all purity," [3312] what plea can you urge for refusing to hear my
admonitions? Avoid all persons to whom a suspicion of evil living may
attach itself, and do not content yourself with the trite answer, my
own conscience is enough for me; I do not care what people say of me.'
That was not the principle on which the apostle acted. He provided
things honest not only in the sight of God but in the sight of all men;
[3313] that the name of God might not be blasphemed among the Gentiles.
[3314] Though he had power to lead about a sister, a wife, [3315] he
would not do so, for he did not wish to be judged by an unbeliever's
conscience. [3316] And, though he might have lived by the gospel,
[3317] he laboured day and night with his own hands, that he might not
be burdensome to the believers. [3318] "If meat," he says, "make my
brother to offend. I will eat no flesh while the world standeth."
[3319] Let us then say, if a sister or a brother causes not one or two
but the whole church to offend, I will not see that sister or that
brother.' It is better to lose a portion of one's substance than to
imperil the salvation of one's soul. It is better to lose that which
some day, whether we like it or not, must be lost to us and to give it
up freely, than to lose that for which we should sacrifice all that we
have. Which of us can add--I will not say a cubit for that would be an
immense addition--but the tenth part of a single inch to his stature?
Why are we careful what we shall eat or what we shall drink? Let us
"take no thought for the morrow: sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof." [3320]
Jacob in his flight from his brother left behind in his father's house
great riches and made his way with nothing into Mesopotamia. Moreover,
to prove to us his powers of endurance, he took a stone for his pillow.
Yet as he lay there he beheld a ladder set up on the earth reaching to
heaven and behold the Lord stood above it, and the angels ascended and
descended on it; [3321] the lesson being thus taught that the sinner
must not despair of salvation nor the righteous man rest secure in his
virtue. [3322] To pass over much of the story (for there is no time to
explain all the points in the narrative) after twenty years he who
before had passed over Jordan with his staff returned into his native
land with three droves of cattle, rich in flocks and herds and richer
still in children. [3323] The apostles likewise travelled throughout
the world without either money in their purses, or staves in their
hands, or shoes on their feet; [3324] and yet they could speak of
themselves as "having nothing and yet possessing all things." [3325]
"Silver and gold," say they, "have we none, but such as we have give we
thee: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." [3326]
For they were not weighed down with the burthen of riches. Therefore
they could stand, as Elijah, in the crevice of the rock, they could
pass through the needle's eye, and behold the back parts of the Lord.
[3327]
But as for us we burn with covetousness and, even while we declaim
against the love of money, we hold out our skirts to catch gold and
never have enough. [3328] There is a common saying about the Megarians
which may rightly be applied to all who suffer from this passion: "They
build as if they are to live forever; they live as if they are to die
to-morrow." We do the same, for we do not believe the Lord's words.
When we attain the age which all desire we forget the nearness of that
death which as human beings we owe to nature and with futile hope
promise to ourselves a long length of years. No old man is so weak and
decrepit as to suppose that he will not live for one year more. A
forgetfulness of his true condition gradually creeps upon him; so
that--earthly creature that he is and close to dissolution as he
stands--he is lifted up into pride, and in imagination seats himself in
heaven.
16. But what am I doing? Whilst I talk about the cargo, the vessel
itself founders. He that letteth [3329] is taken out of the way, and
yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near. Yes, Antichrist is near
whom the Lord Jesus Christ "shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth." [3330] "Woe unto them," he cries, "that are with child, and to
them that give suck in those days." [3331] Now these things are both
the fruits of marriage.
I shall now say a few words of our present miseries. A few of us have
hitherto survived them, but this is due not to anything we have done
ourselves but to the mercy of the Lord. Savage tribes in countless
numbers have overrun all parts of Gaul. The whole country between the
Alps and the Pyrenees, between the Rhine and the Ocean, has been laid
waste by hordes of Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans, Gepids, Herules,
Saxons, Burgundians, Allemanni and--alas! for the commonweal!--even
Pannonians. For "Assur also is joined with them." [3332] The once noble
city of Moguntiacum [3333] has been captured and destroyed. In its
church many thousands have been massacred. The people of Vangium [3334]
after standing a long siege have been extirpated. The powerful city of
Rheims, the Ambiani, the Altrebatæ, [3335] the Belgians on the skirts
of the world, Tournay, Spires, and Strasburg have fallen to Germany:
while the provinces of Aquitaine and of the Nine Nations, of Lyons and
of Narbonne are with the exception of a few cities one universal scene
of desolation. And those which the sword spares without, famine ravages
within. I cannot speak without tears of Toulouse which has been kept
from falling hitherto by the merits of its reverend bishop Exuperius.
[3336] Even the Spains are on the brink of ruin and tremble daily as
they recall the invasion of the Cymry; and, while others suffer
misfortunes once in actual fact, they suffer them continually in
anticipation.
17. I say nothing of other places that I may not seem to despair of
God's mercy. All that is ours now from the Pontic Sea to the Julian
Alps in days gone by once ceased to be ours. For thirty years the
barbarians burst the barrier of the Danube and fought in the heart of
the Roman Empire. Long use dried our tears. For all but a few old
people had been born either in captivity or during a blockade, and
consequently they did not miss a liberty which they had never known.
Yet who will hereafter credit the fact or what histories will seriously
discuss it, that Rome has to fight within her own borders not for glory
but for bare life; and that she does not even fight but buys the right
to exist by giving gold and sacrificing all her substance? This
humiliation has been brought upon her not by the fault of her Emperors
[3337] who are both most religious men, but by the crime of a
half-barbarian traitor [3338] who with our money has armed our foes
against us. [3339] Of old the Roman Empire was branded with eternal
shame because after ravaging the country and routing the Romans at the
Allia, Brennus with his Gauls entered Rome itself. [3340] Nor could
this ancient stain be wiped out until Gaul, the birth-place of the
Gauls, and Gaulish Greece, [3341] wherein they had settled after
triumphing over East and West, were subjugated to her sway. Even
Hannibal [3342] who swept like a devastating storm from Spain into
Italy, although he came within sight of the city, did not dare to lay
siege to it. Even Pyrrhus [3343] was so completely bound by the spell
of the Roman name that destroying everything that came in his way, he
yet withdrew from its vicinity and, victor though he was, did not
presume to gaze upon what he had learned to be a city of kings. Yet in
return for such insults--not to say such haughty pride--as theirs which
ended thus happily for Rome, one [3344] banished from all the world
found death at last by poison in Bithynia; while the other [3345]
returning to his native land was slain in his own dominions. The
countries of both became tributary to the Roman people. But now, even
if complete success attends our arms, we can wrest nothing from our
vanquished foes but what we have already lost to them. The poet Lucan
describing the power of the city in a glowing passage says: [3346]
If Rome be weak, where shall we look for strength?
we may vary his words and say:
If Rome be lost, where shall we look for help?
or quote the language of Virgil:
Had I a hundred tongues and throat of bronze
The woes of captives I could not relate
Or ev'n recount the names of all the slain. [3347]
Even what I have said is fraught with danger both to me who say it and
to all who hear it; for we are no longer free even to lament our fate,
and are unwilling, nay, I may even say, afraid to weep for our
sufferings.
Dearest daughter in Christ, answer me this question: will you marry
amid such scenes as these? Tell me, what kind of husband will you take?
One that will run or one that will fight? In either case you know what
the result will be. Instead of the Fescennine song, [3348] the hoarse
blare of the terrible trumpet will deafen your ears and your very
brideswomen may be turned into mourners. In what pleasures can you hope
to revel now that you have lost the proceeds of all your possessions,
now that you see your small retinue under close blockade and a prey to
the inroads of pestilence and famine? But far be it from me to think so
meanly of you or to harbour any suspicions of one who has dedicated her
soul to the Lord. Though nominally addressed to you my words are really
meant for others such as are idle, inquisitive and given to gossip.
These wander from house to house and from one married lady to another,
[3349] their god is their belly and their glory is in their shame,
[3350] of the scriptures they know nothing except the texts which
favour second marriages, but they love to quote the example of others
to justify their own self-indulgence, and flatter themselves that they
are no worse than their fellow-sinners. When you have confounded the
shameless proposals of such women by explaining the true drift of the
apostle's meaning; then to show you by what mode of life you can best
preserve your widowhood, you may read with advantage what I have
written. I mean my treatise on the preservation of virginity addressed
to Eustochium [3351] and my two letters to Furia [3352] and Salvina.
[3353] Of these two latter you may like to know that the first is
daughter-in-law to Probus some time consul, and the second daughter to
Gildo formerly governour of Africa. This tract on monogamy I shall call
by your name.
__________________________________________________________________
[3218] Cf. Letter LX. § 6.
[3219] Letters LIV., LXXV., LXXIX., and others.
[3220] Ageruchia = Greatheart.
[3221] Luke ii. 36, 37.
[3222] See Letter XLVIII., § 2; also § 9 infra.
[3223] Cf. Letter LXXVII. § 3.
[3224] 1 Tim. v. 14, 15.
[3225] 1 Tim. v. 9, 10.
[3226] 1 Tim. v. 5.
[3227] 1 Tim. v. 11, 12.
[3228] 1 Tim. v. 14, 15.
[3229] So Vulg.
[3230] Ovid, Am. iii. 2, 83.
[3231] 1 Cor. vii. 8, 9.
[3232] Cf. Letters XLVIII. § 19, and LXXIX. § 10.
[3233] So R.V. marg.
[3234] 1 Cor. vii. 39, 40, cf. Rom. vii. 2.
[3235] 2 Cor. vi. 14-16.
[3236] Deut. xxii. 10.
[3237] 1 Tim. v. 9.
[3238] 1 Cor. vii. 29.
[3239] 1 Tim. v. 3-5, 16.
[3240] 1 Tim. v. 17.
[3241] Ex. xx. 12.
[3242] Mark vii. 11.
[3243] Text corrupt: probably quasi' should be substituted for si.'
[3244] Cf. Luke xvi. 9.
[3245] A reminiscence of Tert. de Exh. Cast. vii.
[3246] 1 Cor. vii. 8, 9.
[3247] Jerome seems to be here relying on tradition.
[3248] Lev. xxii. 12, 13.
[3249] From Tert. de Exh. Cast. xiii.
[3250] Julian, Orat. v.
[3251] See Dict. Antiq. s.v. flamen.
[3252] The sacred bull of Memphis, generally called Apis.
[3253] Dido.
[3254] Who refused to survive the fall of Carthage. The story is told
by Polybius.
[3255] See Livy, I. cc. 57, 58.
[3256] Against Jov. i. 20.
[3257] The battle of Aix was fought in 102 b.c.
[3258] The priestesses in these temples seem to have been vowed to
chastity.
[3259] Val. Max. vi. 1.
[3260] Jer. iii. 3.
[3261] 2 Tim. ii. 20.
[3262] Matt. xiii. 8: for this explanation of the parable see Letter
XLVIII. § 2.
[3263] See Letter XLVIII. § 2 and note there.
[3264] Luke xiii. 32.
[3265] Cf. Joh. iv. 18.
[3266] 1 Cor. vi. 12.
[3267] Matt. xix. 12.
[3268] Job i. 21.
[3269] Gen. ii. 21, 22.
[3270] Gen. ii. 24, LXX.
[3271] Eph. v. 31, 32.
[3272] Gen. iii. 20.
[3273] Gen. iv. 19.
[3274] Rev. ii. 9.
[3275] Cant. vi. 8, 9.
[3276] 2 Joh. i. In Latin choice' and elect' are one word.
[3277] 1 Pet. iii. 20, 21.
[3278] Gen. vii. 13.
[3279] Gen. vii. 2.
[3280] Gen. viii. 20.
[3281] Gen. xxxviii. 12-18.
[3282] Hos. i. 2, 3.
[3283] Cf. Jer. v. 8.
[3284] Luke xvii. 27-29.
[3285] Gen. i. 28; ix. 7.
[3286] 1 Cor. x. 11, R.V.
[3287] 1 Cor. vii. 29.
[3288] Matt. iii. 10.
[3289] Eccles. iii. 5.
[3290] Jer. xvi. 2.
[3291] Cf. Ezek. xxiv. 16-18, 27.
[3292] Ps. cxxviii. 3, 6.
[3293] 1 Cor. vi. 17.
[3294] Ps. lxiii. 8.
[3295] Matt. v. 38, 39.
[3296] Ps. xlv. 3.
[3297] Matt. xxvi. 52.
[3298] A gnostic of the second century who rejected the whole of the
old testament as incompatible with the new.
[3299] Gal. iv. 22-26.
[3300] Gen. xxix. 17, 18.
[3301] Gen. xxv. 22, 23.
[3302] Gen. xxxviii. 27-30.
[3303] Eph. ii. 14.
[3304] Gomer the wife of Hosea.
[3305] Hos. ii. 7; iii. 3.
[3306] Rom. xi. 25, 26.
[3307] Virg. A. iv. 32-34: 548, 552.
[3308] From Tert. de Exh. Cast. xii.
[3309] Matt. vi. 33.
[3310] Matt. vi. 26, 28.
[3311] 1 Tim. v. 11.
[3312] 1 Tim. v. 2. Jerome substitutes love' for rebuke.'
[3313] Rom. xii. 17, cf. Letter cxvii. § 4.
[3314] Rom. ii. 24.
[3315] 1 Cor. ix. 5.
[3316] 1 Cor. x. 29.
[3317] 1 Cor. ix. 14.
[3318] 1 Cor. iv. 12; 1 Thess. ii. 9; 2 Cor. xii. 14.
[3319] 1 Cor. viii. 13.
[3320] Matt. vi. 25, 27, 34.
[3321] Gen. xxviii. 11-13.
[3322] Cf. Letters cviii. § 13 and cxviii. § 7.
[3323] Gen. xxxii. 7, 10.
[3324] Matt. x. 9, 10.
[3325] 2 Cor. vi. 10.
[3326] Acts iii. 6.
[3327] 1 Kings xix. 11-13, cf. Exod. xxxiii. 21-23.
[3328] Cf. Juv. i. 88.
[3329] Jerome follows Tertullian, Irenæus, and the majority of the
fathers in supposing the apostle to allude to the Roman Empire. See
Letter CXXI. § 11, Comm. in Hierem. xxv. 26, Comm. in Dan. vii. 7, 8.
[3330] 2 Thess. ii. 7, 8.
[3331] Matt. xxiv. 19.
[3332] Ps. lxxxiii. 8.
[3333] Now Maintz.
[3334] Now Worms.
[3335] Tribes whose memories linger in the names Amiens and Arras.
[3336] See note on Letter LIV. § 11.
[3337] Arcadius and Honorius.
[3338] Stilicho who induced the senate to grant a subsidy to the Gothic
King Alaric. See Gibbon, C. xxx.
[3339] This, one of Jerome's few criticisms on the public policy of his
day, shows him to have taken a narrow and inadequate view of the issues
involved.
[3340] In the year 390 b.c.
[3341] i.e. Galatia.
[3342] The great Carthaginian general in the second Punic war.
[3343] King of Epirus who invaded Italy in the years 280, 279, 276, 275
b.c.
[3344] Hannibal.
[3345] Pyrrhus.
[3346] Lucan, Phars. v. 274.
[3347] Virg. A. vi. 625-627.
[3348] See note on Letter CXXX. § 5.
[3349] 1 Tim. v. 13.
[3350] Phil. iii. 19.
[3351] Letter XXII.
[3352] Letter LIV.
[3353] Letter LXXIX.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXIV. To Avitus.
Avitus to whom this letter is addressed is probably the same person who
induced Jerome to write to Salvina (see Letter LXXIX., §I, ante). The
occasion of writing is as follows. Ten years previously (that is to say
in a.d. 399 or 400) Pammachius had asked Jerome to supply him with a
correct version of Origen's First Principles to enable him to detect
the variations introduced by Rufinus into his rendering. This Jerome
willingly did (see Letters LXXXIII. and LXXXIV.) but when the work in
its integrity was perused by Pammachius he thought it so erroneous in
doctrine that he determined not to circulate it. However, "a certain
brother" induced him to lend the ms. to him for a short time; and then,
when he had got it into his hands, had a hasty and incorrect transcript
made, which he forthwith published much to the chagrin of Pammachius.
Falling into the hands of Avitus a copy of this much perplexed him and
he seems to have appealed to Jerome for an explanation. This the latter
now gives forwarding at the same time an authentic edition of his
version of the First Principles. The date of the letter is a.d. 409 or
410.
1. About ten years ago that saintly man Pammachius sent me a copy of a
certain person's rendering, [3354] or rather misrendering, of Origen's
First Principles; with a request that in a Latin version I should give
the true sense of the Greek and should set down the writer's words for
good or for evil without bias in either direction. [3355] When I did as
he wished and sent him the book, [3356] he was shocked to read it and
locked it up in his desk lest being circulated it might wound the souls
of many. However, a certain brother, who had "a zeal for God but not
according to knowledge," [3357] asked for a loan of the manuscript that
he might read it; and, as he promised to return it without delay,
Pammachius, thinking no harm could happen in so short a time,
unsuspectingly consented. Hereupon he who had borrowed the book to
read, with the aid of scribes copied the whole of it and gave it back
much sooner than he had promised. Then with the same rashness or--to
use a less severe term--thoughtlessness he made bad worse by confiding
to others what he had thus stolen. Moreover, since a bulky treatise on
an abstruse subject is difficult to reproduce with accuracy, especially
if it has to be taken down surreptitiously and in a hurry, order and
sense were sacrificed in several passages. Whence it comes, my dear
Avitus, that you ask me to send you a copy of my version as made for
Pammachius and not for the public, a garbled edition of which has been
published by the aforesaid brother.
2. Take then what you have asked for; but know that there are countless
things in the book to be abhorred, and that, as the Lord says, you will
have to walk among scorpions and serpents. [3358] It begins by saying
that Christ was made God's son not born; [3359] that God the Father, as
He is by nature invisible, is invisible even to the Son; [3360] that
the Son, who is the likeness of the invisible Father, compared with the
Father is not the truth but compared with us who cannot receive the
truth of the almighty Father seems a figure of the truth so that we
perceive the majesty and magnitude of the greater in the less, the
Father's glory limited in the Son; [3361] that God the Father is a
light incomprehensible and that Christ compared with him is but a
minute brightness, although by reason of our incapacity to us he
appears a great one. [3362] The Father and the Son are compared to two
statues, a larger one and a small; the first filling the world and
being somehow invisible through its size, the second cognisable by the
eyes of men. [3363] God the Father omnipotent the writer terms good and
of perfect goodness; but of the Son he says: "He is not good but an
emanation and likeness of goodness; not good absolutely but only with a
qualification, as the good shepherd' and the like." [3364] The Holy
Spirit he places after the Father and the Son as third in dignity and
honour. And while he declares that he does not know whether the Holy
Spirit is created or uncreated, [3365] he has later on given his own
opinion that except God the Father alone there is nothing uncreated.
"The Son," he states, "is inferior to the Father, inasmuch as He is
second and the Father first; and the Holy Spirit which dwells in all
the saints is inferior to the Son. In the same way the power of the
Father is greater than that of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Likewise
the power of the Son is greater than that of the Holy Spirit, and as a
consequence the Holy Spirit in its turn has greater virtue than other
things called holy." [3366]
3. Then, when he comes to deal with rational creatures and to describe
their lapse into earthly bodies as due to their own negligence, he goes
on to say: "Surely it argues great negligence and sloth for a soul so
far to empty itself as to fall into sin and allow itself to be tied to
the material body of an unreasoning brute;" and in a subsequent
passage: "These reasonings induce me to suppose that it is by their own
free act that some are numbered with God's saints and servants, and
that it was through their own fault that others fell from holiness into
such negligence that they were changed into forces of an opposite
kind." [3367] He maintains that after every end a fresh beginning
springs forth and an end from each beginning, and that wholesale
variation is possible; so that one who is now a human being may in
another world become a demon, while one who by reason of his negligence
is now a demon may hereafter be placed in a more material body and thus
become a human being. [3368] So far does he carry this transforming
process that on his theory an archangel may become the devil and the
devil in turn be changed back into an archangel. "Such as have wavered
or faltered but have not altogether fallen shall be made subject, for
rule and government and guidance, to better things--to principalities
and powers, to thrones and dominations"; and of these perhaps another
human race will be formed, when in the words of Isaiah there shall be
"new heavens and a new earth.' [3369] But such as have not deserved to
return through humanity to their former estate shall become the devil
and his angels, demons of the worst sort; and according to what they
have done shall have special duties assigned to them in particular
worlds." Moreover, the very demons and rulers of darkness in any world
or worlds, if they are willing to turn to better things, may become
human beings and so come back to their first beginning. That is to say,
after they have borne the discipline of punishment and torture for a
longer or a shorter time in human bodies, they may again reach the
angelic pinnacles from which they have fallen. Hence it may be shewn
that we men may change into any other reasonable beings, and that not
once only or on emergency but time after time; we and angels shall
become demons if we neglect our duty; and demons, if they will take to
themselves virtues, may attain to the rank of angels.
4. Bodily substances too are to pass away utterly or else at the end of
all things will become highly rarified like the sky and æther and other
subtle bodies. It is clear that these principles must affect the
writer's view of the resurrection. The sun also and the moon and the
rest of the constellations are alive. Nay more; as we men by reason of
our sins are enveloped in bodies material and sluggish; so the lights
of heaven have for like reasons received bodies more or less luminous,
and demons have been for more serious faults clothed with starry
frames. This, he argues, is the view of the apostle who writes:--"the
creation has been subjected to vanity and shall be delivered for the
revealing of the sons of God." [3370] That it may not be supposed that
I am imputing to him ideas of my own I shall give his actual words. "At
the end and consummation of the world," he writes, "when souls and
beings endowed with reason shall be released from prison by the Lord,
they will move slowly or fly quickly according as they have previously
been slothful or energetic. And as all of them have free will and are
free to choose virtue or vice, those who choose the latter will be much
worse off than they now are. But those who choose the former will
improve their condition. Their movements and decisions in this
direction or in that will determine their various futures; whether,
that is, angels are to become men or demons, and whether demons are to
become men or angels." Then after adducing various arguments in support
of his thesis and maintaining that while not incapable of virtue the
devil has yet not chosen to be virtuous, he has finally reasoned with
much diffuseness that an angel, a human soul, and a demon--all
according to him of one nature but of different wills--may in
punishment for great negligence or folly be transformed into brutes.
Moreover, to avoid the agony of punishment and the burning flame the
more sensitive may choose to become low organisms, to dwell in water,
to assume the shape of this or that animal; so that we have reason to
fear a metamorphosis not only into four-footed things but even into
fishes. Then, lest he should be held guilty of maintaining with
Pythagoras the transmigration of souls, he winds up the wicked
reasoning with which he has wounded his reader by saying: "I must not
be taken to make dogmas of these things; they are only thrown out as
conjectures to shew that they are not altogether overlooked."
5. In his second book he maintains a plurality of worlds; not, however,
as Epicurus taught, many like ones existing at once, but a new one
beginning each time that the old comes to an end. There was a world
before this world of ours, and after it there will be first one and
then another and so on in regular succession. He is in doubt whether
one world shall be so completely similar to another as to leave no room
for any difference between them, or whether one world shall never
wholly be indistinguishable from another. And again a little farther on
he writes: "if, as the course of the discussion makes necessary, all
things can live without body, all bodily existence shall be swallowed
up and that which once has been made out of nothing shall again be
reduced to nothing. And yet a time will come when its use will be once
more necessary." And in the same context: "but if, as reason and the
authority of scripture shew, this corruptible shall put on incorruption
and this mortal shall put on immortality, death shall be swallowed up
in victory and corruption in incorruption. [3371] And it may be that
all bodily existence shall be removed, for it is only in this that
death can operate." And a little farther on: "if these things are not
contrary to the faith, it may be that we shall some day live in a
disembodied state. Moreover, if only he is fully subject to Christ who
is disembodied, and if all must be made subject to Him, we too shall
lose our bodies when we become fully subject to Him." And in the same
passage: "if all are to be made subject to God, all shall lay aside
their bodies; and then all bodily existence shall be brought to nought.
But if through the fall of reasonable beings it is a second time
required it will reappear. For God has left souls to strive and
struggle, to teach them that full and complete victory is to be
attained not by their own efforts but by His grace. And so to my mind
worlds vary with the sins which cause them, and those are exploded
theories which maintain that all worlds are alike." And again: "three
conjectures occur to me with regard to the end; it is for the reader to
determine which is nearest to the truth. For either we shall be
bodiless when being made subject to Christ we shall be made subject to
God and He shall be all in all; or as things made subject to Christ
shall be with Christ Himself made subject to God and brought under one
law, so all substance shall be refined into its most perfect form and
rarified into æther which is a pure and uncompounded essence; or else
the sphere which I have called motionless and all that it contains will
be dissolved into nothing, and the sphere in which the antizone [3372]
itself is contained shall be called good ground,' [3373] and that other
sphere which in its revolution surrounds the earth and goes by the name
of heaven shall be reserved for the abode of the saints."
6. In speaking thus does he not most clearly follow the error of the
heathen and foist upon the simple faith of Christians the ravings of
philosophy? In the same book he writes: "it remains that God is
invisible. But if He is by nature invisible, He must be so even to the
Saviour." And lower down: "no soul which has descended into a human
body has borne upon it so true an impress of its previous character as
Christ's soul of which He says: no man taketh it from me, but I lay it
down of myself.'" [3374] And in another place: "we must carefully
consider whether souls, when they have won salvation and have attained
to the blessed life, may not cease to be souls. For as the Lord and
Saviour came to seek and to save that which was lost [3375] that it
might cease to be lost; so the lost soul which the Lord came to save,
when saved, will cease to be a soul. We must ask ourselves whether, as
the lost was not lost once and again will not be, the soul likewise may
have been and again may be not a soul." [3376] And after a good many
remarks upon the soul he brings in the following, "nous or"
intelligence by falling becomes a soul; and by acquiring virtue this
will become intelligence again. This at least is a fair inference from
the case of Esau who for his old sins is condemned to lead a lower
life. And concerning the heavenly bodies we must make a similar
acknowledgment. The soul of the sun--or whatever else you like to call
it--does not date its existence from the creation of the world; it
already existed before it entered its shining and glowing body. So also
with the moon and stars. From antecedent causes they have been made
subject to vanity not willingly but for future reward, [3377] and are
forced to do not their own will but the creator's who has assigned to
them their several spheres."
7. Hellfire, moreover, and the torments with which holy scripture
threatens sinners he explains not as external punishments but as the
pangs of guilty consciences when by God's power the memory of our
transgressions is set before our eyes. "The whole crop of our sins
grows up afresh from seeds which remain in the soul, and all our
dishonourable and undutiful acts are again pictured before our gaze.
Thus it is the fire of conscience and the stings of remorse which
torture the mind as it looks back on former self-indulgence." And
again: "but perhaps this coarse and earthly body ought to be described
as mist and darkness; for at the end of this world and when it becomes
necessary to pass into another, the like darkness will lead to the like
physical birth." In speaking thus he clearly pleads for the
transmigration of souls as taught by Pythagoras and Plato. [3378] And
at the end of the second book in dealing with our perfection he has
said: "when we shall have made such progress as not only to cease to be
flesh or body but perhaps also to cease to be souls our perfect
intelligence and perception, undimmed with any mist of passion, will
discern reasonable and intelligible substances face to face.
8. In the third book the following faulty statements are contained. "If
we once admit that, when one vessel is made to honour and another to
dishonour, [3379] this is due to antecedent causes; why may we not
revert to the mystery of the soul and allow that it is loved in one and
hated in another because of its past actions, before in Jacob it
becomes a supplanter and before in Esau it is supplanted?" [3380] And
again: "the fact that souls are made some to honour and some to
dishonour is to be explained by their previous history." And in the
same place: "on this hypothesis of mine a vessel made to honour which
fails to fulfil its object will in another world become a vessel made
to dishonour; and contrariwise a vessel which has from a previous fault
been condemned to dishonour will, if it accepts correction in this
present life, become in the new creation a vessel sanctified and meet
for the Master's use and prepared unto every good work.'" [3381] And he
immediately goes on to say: "I believe that men who begin with small
faults may become so hardened in wickedness that, if they do not repent
and turn to better things, they must become inhuman energies; [3382]
and contrariwise that hostile and demonic beings may in course of time
so far heal their wounds and check the current of their former sins
that they may attain to the abode of the perfect. As I have often said,
in those countless and unceasing worlds in which the soul lives and has
its being some grow worse and worse until they reach the lowest depths
of degradation; while others in those lowest depths grow better and
better until they reach the perfection of virtue." Thus he tries to
shew that men, or rather their souls, may become demons; and that
demons in turn may be restored to the rank of angels. In the same book
he writes: "this too must be considered; why the human soul is
diversely acted upon now by influences of one kind and now by
influences of another." And he surmises that this is due to conduct
which has preceded birth. It is for this, he argues, that John leaps in
his mother's womb when at Mary's salutation Elizabeth declares herself
unworthy of her notice. [3383] And he immediately subjoins: "on the
other hand infants that are hardly weaned are possessed with evil
spirits and become diviners and soothsayers; [3384] indeed, some are
indwelt from their earliest years with the spirit of a python. Now as
they have done nothing to bring upon themselves these visitations, one
who holds that nothing happens without God's permission, and that all
things are governed by His justice, cannot suppose that God's
providence has abandoned them without good reason."
9. Again, of the world he writes thus: "The belief commends itself to
me that there was a world before this world and that after it there
will be another. Do you wish to know that after the decay of this world
there will be a new one? Hear the words of Isaiah: the new heavens and
the new earth which I will make shall remain before me.' [3385] Do you
wish to know that before the making of this world there have previously
been others? Listen to the Preacher who says: the thing which hath
been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which
shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there
anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already
of old time, which was before us.' [3386] A passage which proves not
only that other worlds have been but that other worlds shall be; not,
however, simultaneously and side by side but one after another." And he
immediately adds: "I hold that heaven is the abode of the deity, the
true place of rest; and that it was there that reasonable creatures
enjoyed their ancient bliss, before coming down to a lower plane and
exchanging the invisible for the visible, they fell to the earth and
came to need material bodies. Now that they have fallen, God the
creator has made for them bodies suitable to their surroundings; and
has fashioned this visible world, and has sent into it ministers to
ensure the salvation and correction of the fallen. Of these ministers
some have held assigned positions and have been subject to the world's
necessary laws; while others have intelligently performed duties laid
upon them in times and seasons determined by God's plan. To the former
class belong the sun, moon, and stars called by the apostle the
creation;' and these have had allotted to them the heights of heaven.
Now the creation is subjected to vanity [3387] because it is encased in
material bodies and visible to the eye. And yet it is made subject to
vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same
in hope.' Others again of the second class, at particular places and
times known to their Maker only, we believe to be His angels sent to
steer the world." A little farther on he says: "the affairs of the
world are so ordered by Providence that while some angels fall from
heaven others freely glide down to earth. The former are hurled down
against their will; the latter descend from choice alone. The former
are forced to continue in a distasteful service for a fixed period; the
latter spontaneously embrace the task of lending a hand to those who
fall." Again he writes: "whence it follows that these different
movements result in the creation of different worlds; and that this
world of ours will be succeeded by one quite unlike it. Now, as regards
this falling and rising, this rewarding of virtue and punishment of
vice, whether they take place in the past, present, or future, God, the
creator, can alone apportion desert and make all things converge to one
end. For He only knows why He allows some to follow their own
inclination and to descend from the higher planes to the lowest; and
why He visits others and giving them His hand draws them back to their
former state and places them once more in heaven."
10. In discussing the end of the world he has made use of the following
language. "Since, as I have often said, a new beginning springs from
the end, it may be asked whether bodies will then continue to exist, or
whether, when they have been annihilated, we shall live without bodies
and be incorporeal as we know God to be. Now there can be no doubt but
that, if bodies or, as the apostle calls them, visible things, belong
only to our sensible world, the life of the disembodied will be
incorporeal." And a little farther on: "when the apostle writes, the
creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the
liberty of the glory of the children of God,' [3388] I explain his
words thus. Reasonable and incorporeal beings are the highest of God's
creatures, for not being clothed with bodies they are not the slaves of
corruption. Since where there are bodies, there corruption is sure to
be found. But hereafter the creation shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption,' and then men shall receive the glory of the
children of God and God shall be all in all." And in the same passage
he writes: "that the final state will be an incorporeal one is rendered
credible by the words of our Saviour's prayer: as thou, Father, art in
me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.' [3389] For we ought
to realize what God is and what the Saviour will finally be, and how
the likeness to the Father and the Son here promised to the Saints
consists in this that as They are one in Themselves so we shall be one
in Them. For if in the end the life of the Saints is to be assimilated
to the life of God, we must either admit that the Lord of the universe
is clothed with a body and that he is enveloped in matter as we are in
flesh; or, if it is unbecoming to suppose this, especially in persons
who have but small clues from which to infer God's majesty and to guess
at the glory of His innate and transcendent nature, we are reduced to
the following dilemma. Either we shall always have bodies and in that
case must despair of ever being like God; or, if the blessedness of the
life of God is really promised to us, the conditions of His life must
be the conditions of ours."
11. These passages prove what his view is regarding the resurrection.
For he evidently maintains that all bodies will perish and that we
shall be incorporeal as according to him we were before we received our
present bodies. Again when he comes to argue for a variety of worlds
and to maintain that angels will become demons, demons either angels or
men, and men in their turn demons; in a word that everything will be
turned into something else, he thus sums up his own opinion: "no doubt,
after an interval matter will exist afresh and bodies will be formed
and a different world will be created to meet the varying wills of
reasonable beings who, having forfeited the perfect bliss which
continues to the end, have gradually fallen into so great wickedness as
to change their nature and refuse to keep their first estate of
unalloyed blessedness. Many reasonable beings, it is right to say, keep
it until a second, a third, and a fourth world, and give God no ground
for changing their condition. Others deteriorate so little that they
seem to have lost hardly anything, and others again have to be hurled
headlong into the abyss. God who orders all things alone knows how to
use each class according to its deserts in a suitable sphere; for He
only understands opportunities and motives and the course in which the
world must be steered. Thus one who has borne away the palm for
wickedness and has sunk into the lowest degradation will in the world
which is hereafter to be fashioned be made a devil, a kind of first
fruits of the Lord's handiwork, to be a laughing stock to the angels
who have lost their first virtue." What is this but to argue that the
sinful men of this world may become a devil and demons in another; and
contrariwise that those who are now demons may hereafter become either
men or angels? And after a lengthy discussion in which he maintains
that all corporeal creatures must exchange their material for subtle
and spiritual bodies and that all substance must become one pure and
inconceivably bright body, of which the human mind can at present form
no conception, he winds up thus:--"God shall be all in all;' that is to
say, all bodily existence shall be made as perfect as possible; it
shall be brought into the divine essence, than which there is none
better."
12. In the fourth and last book of his work the following passages
deserve the church's condemnation. "It may be that as, when men die in
this world by the separation of soul and body, they are allotted
different positions in hell according to the difference in their works;
so when angels die, out of the system of the heavenly Jerusalem, they
come down to this world as a hell and are placed on earth according to
their deserts." And again: "as we have compared the souls which pass
from this world to hell with those which as they come from heaven to us
are in a manner dead; so we must carefully inquire whether this is true
of all souls without exception. For in that case souls born on earth
when they desire better things rise out of hell and assume human bodies
or when they desire worse things come down to us from better worlds;
and in the firmament above us likewise there are souls on their way
from our world to higher ones, and others who, while they have fallen
from heaven, have not sinned so grievously as to be thrust down to
earth." He thus tries to prove that the firmament, that is the sky, is
hell compared with heaven; and that this earth is hell compared with
the firmament; and again that our world is heaven to hell. Or in other
words what is hell to some is heaven to others. And not content with
saying this he goes on: "at the end of all things when we shall return
to the heavenly Jerusalem the hostile powers shall declare war [3390]
against the people of God to breathe and exercise their valour and
strengthen their resolve. For this they cannot have until they have
faced and foiled their foes; of whom we read in the book of Numbers
[3391] that they are overcome by reason, discipline, and tactical
skill."
13. After saying that according to the apocalypse of John "the
everlasting gospel" which shall be revealed in heaven [3392] as much
surpasses our gospel as Christ's preaching does the sacraments [3393]
of the ancient law, he has asserted what it is sacrilegious even to
think; that Christ will once more suffer in the sky for the salvation
of demons. And although he has not expressly said it, it is yet implied
in his words that as for men God became man to set men free, so for the
salvation of demons when He comes to deliver them He will become a
demon. To shew that this is no gloss of mine, I must give his own
words: "As Christ," he writes, "has fulfilled the shadow of the law by
the shadow of the gospel, and as all law is a pattern and shadow of
things done in heaven, we must inquire whether we are justified in
supposing that even the heavenly law and the rites of the celestial
worship are still incomplete and need the true gospel which in the
apocalypse of John is called everlasting to distinguish it from ours
which is only temporal, set forth in a world that shall pass away. Now
if we extend our inquiry to the passion of our Lord and Saviour, it may
indeed be overbold to suppose that He will suffer in heaven; yet if
there is spiritual wickedness in heavenly places [3394] and if we
confess without a blush that the Lord has once been crucified to
destroy those things which He has destroyed by His passion; why need we
fear to imagine a like occurrence in the upper world in the fulness of
time, so that the nations of all realms shall be saved by a passion of
Christ?"
14. Here is another blasphemy which he has spoken of the Son. "Assuming
that the Son knows the Father, it would seem that by this knowledge He
can comprehend Him as much as a craftsman can comprehend the rules of
his art. And, doubtless, if the Father is in the Son, He is also
comprehended by Him in whom He is. But if we mean by comprehension not
merely that the knower takes a thing in by perception and insight but
that he contains it within himself by virtue of a special faculty; in
this sense we cannot say that the Son comprehends the Father. For the
Father comprehends all things, and of these the Son is one; therefore,
He comprehends the Son." And to shew us reasons why, while the Father
comprehends the Son, the Son cannot comprehend the Father, he adds:
"the curious reader may inquire whether the Father knows Himself in the
same way that the Son knows Him. But if he recalls the words: the
Father who sent me is greater than I,' [3395] he will allow that they
must be universally true and will admit that, in knowledge as in
everything else, the Father is greater than the Son, and knows Himself
more perfectly and immediately than the Son can do."
15. The following passage is a convincing proof that he holds the
transmigration of souls and annihilation of bodies. "If it can be shewn
that an incorporeal and reasonable being has life in itself
independently of the body and that it is worse off in the body than out
of it; then beyond a doubt bodies are only of secondary importance and
arise from time to time to meet the varying conditions of reasonable
creatures. Those who require bodies are clothed with them, and
contrariwise, when fallen souls have lifted themselves up to better
things, their bodies are once more annihilated. They are thus ever
vanishing and ever reappearing." And to prevent us from minimizing the
impiety of his previous utterances he ends his work by maintaining that
all reasonable beings, that is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, angels, powers, dominations, and virtues, and even man by right
of his soul's dignity, are of one and the same essence. "God," he
writes, "and His only-begotten Son and the Holy Spirit are conscious of
an intellectual and reasonable nature. But so also are the angels, the
powers, and the virtues, as well as the inward man who is created in
the image and after the likeness of God. [3396] From which I conclude
that God and they are in some sort of one essence." He adds "in some
sort" to escape the charge of blasphemy; and while in another place he
will not allow the Son and the Holy Spirit to be of one substance with
the Father lest by so doing he should appear to make the divine essence
divisible, he here bestows the nature of God almighty upon angels and
men.
16. This being the nature of Origen's book, is it anything short of
madness to change a few blasphemous passages regarding the Son and the
Holy Spirit and then to publish the rest unchanged with an unprincipled
eulogy when the parts unaltered as well as the parts altered flow from
the same fountain head of gross impiety? This is not the time to
confute all the statements made in detail; and indeed those who have
written against Arius, Eunomius, Manichæus, and various other heretics
must be supposed to have answered these blasphemies as well. If anyone,
therefore, wishes to read the work let him walk with his feet shod
towards the land of promise; let him guard against the jaws of the
serpent and the crooked jaws of the scorpion; let him read this
treatise first and before he enters upon the path let him know the
dangers which he will have to avoid.
__________________________________________________________________
[3354] The certain person' is of course Rufinus.
[3355] See Letter LXXXIII.
[3356] See Letter LXXXIV.
[3357] Rom. x. 2, R.V.
[3358] Cf. Luke x. 19; Ezek. ii. 6.
[3359] This statement is not borne out by the existing fragments of the
treatise. In fact Origen declares Christ's divinity in unambiguous
language. "Being God he was made man" First Principles, I. Preface.
[3360] F. P., I. 1, 8.
[3361] F. P., I. 2, 6.
[3362] F. P., I. 2, 7.
[3363] F. P., I. 2, 8.
[3364] F. P., I. 2, 9, 13. The last words are omitted by Rufinus.
[3365] F. P., I. Preface, 4.
[3366] F. P., I. 3, 5. The words are omitted by Rufinus.
[3367] F. P., I. 5, 5.
[3368] F. P., I. 6, 2.
[3369] Isa. lxv. 17.
[3370] Rom. viii. 19-21, R.V.
[3371] 1 Cor. xv. 53, 54.
[3372] This word is doubtful.
[3373] Matt. xiii. 8.
[3374] Joh. x. 18.
[3375] Luke xix. 10.
[3376] The paralogism in this reasoning--so obvious to modern minds--is
due to the confusion of the copula with the verb substantive.
[3377] Rom. viii. 20.
[3378] Phædo, 70-77.
[3379] 2 Tim. ii. 20.
[3380] Mal. i. 2, 3.
[3381] 2 Tim. ii. 21.
[3382] i.e. demons.
[3383] Luke i. 41.
[3384] Cf. Acts xvi. 16, A.V. margin.
[3385] Isa. lxvi. 22.
[3386] Eccles. i. 9, 10.
[3387] Rom. viii. 20, R.V.
[3388] Rom. viii. 21, R.V.
[3389] Joh. xvii. 21.
[3390] Reading adversariorum fortitudinum...bella consurgere.
[3391] Passim.
[3392] Rev. xiv. 6.
[3393] This term had not in Jerome's time become restricted to its
later sense. Anything mysterious or sacred was called a sacrament. Here
it refers to the mystic teaching of the O.T.
[3394] Eph. vi. 12.
[3395] Joh. xiv. 28.
[3396] 2 Cor. iv. 16; Gen. i. 27.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXV. To Rusticus.
Rusticus, a young monk of Toulouse, (to be carefully distinguished from
the recipient of Letter CXXII.) is advised by Jerome not to become an
anchorite but to continue in a community. Rules are suggested for the
monastic life and a vivid picture is drawn of the difference between a
good monk and a bad. Incidentally Jerome indulges his spleen against
his dead opponent Rufinus (§18). The date of the letter is 411 a.d.
1. No man is happier than the Christian, for to him is promised the
kingdom of heaven. No man struggles harder than he, for he goes daily
in danger of his life. No man is stronger, for he overcomes the Devil.
No man is weaker, for he is overcome by the flesh. Both pairs of
statements can be proved by many examples. For instance, the robber
believes upon the cross and immediately hears the assuring words:
"verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise:"
[3397] while Judas falls from the pinnacle of the apostolate into the
abyss of perdition. Neither the close intercourse of the banquet nor
the dipping of the sop [3398] nor the Lord's gracious kiss [3399] can
save him from betraying as man Him whom he had known as the Son of God.
Could any one have been viler than the woman of Samaria? Yet not only
did she herself believe, and after her six husbands find one Lord, not
only did she recognize that Messiah by the well, whom the Jews failed
to recognize in the temple; she brought salvation to many and, while
the apostles were away buying food, refreshed the Saviour's hunger and
relieved His weariness. [3400] Was ever man wiser than Solomon? Yet
love for women made even him foolish. Salt is good, and every offering
must be sprinkled with it. [3401] Wherefore also the apostle has given
commandment: "let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt."
[3402] But "if the salt have lost his savour," it is cast out. [3403]
And so utterly does it lose its value that it is not even fit for the
dunghill, [3404] whence believers fetch manure to enrich the barren
soil of their souls.
I begin thus, Rusticus my son, to teach you the greatness of your
enterprise and the loftiness of your ideal; and to shew you that only
by trampling under foot youthful lusts can you hope to climb the
heights of true maturity. For the path along which you walk is a
slippery one and the glory of success is less than the shame of
failure.
2. I need not now conduct the stream of my discourse through the
meadows of virtue, nor exert myself to shew to you the beauty of its
several flowers. I need not dilate on the purity of the lily, the
modest blush of the rose, the royal purple of the violet, or the
promise of glowing gems which their various colours hold out. For
through the mercy of God you have already put your hand to the plough;
[3405] you have already gone up upon the housetop like the apostle
Peter. [3406] Who when he became hungry among the Jews had his hunger
satisfied by the faith of Cornelius, and stilled the craving caused by
their unbelief through the conversion of the centurion and other
Gentiles. By the vessel let down from heaven to earth, the four corners
of which typified the four gospels, he was taught that all men can be
saved. Once more, this fair white sheet which in his vision was taken
up again was a symbol of the church which carries believers from earth
to heaven, an assurance that the Lord's promise should be fulfilled:
"blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." [3407]
All this means that I take you by the hand and do my best to impress
certain facts upon your mind; that, like a skilled sailor who has been
through many shipwrecks, I am anxious to caution an inexperienced
passenger of the risks before him. For on one side is the Charybdis of
covetousness, "the root of all evil;" [3408] and on the other lurks the
Scylla of detraction girt with the railing hounds of which the apostle
says: "if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not
consumed one of another." [3409] Sometimes, you must know, the
quicksands of vice [3410] suck us down as we sail at ease through the
calm water; and the desert of this world is not untenanted by venomous
reptiles.
3. Those who navigate the Red Sea--where we must pray that the true
Pharaoh may be drowned with all his host--have to encounter many
difficulties and dangers before they reach the city of Auxuma. [3411]
Nomad savages and ferocious wild beasts haunt the shores on either
side. Thus travellers must be always armed and on the alert, and they
must carry with them a whole year's provisions. Moreover, so full are
the waters of hidden reefs and impassable shoals that a look-out has
constantly to be kept from the masthead to direct the helmsman how to
shape his course. They may count themselves fortunate if after six
months they make the port of the above-mentioned city. At this point
the ocean begins, to cross which a whole year hardly suffices. Then
India is reached and the river Ganges--called in holy scripture
Pison--"which compasseth the whole land of Havilah" [3412] and is said
to carry down with it--from its source in paradise--various dyes and
pigments. Here are found rubies and emeralds, glowing pearls and gems
of the first water, such as high born ladies passionately desire. There
are also mountains of gold which however men cannot approach by reason
of the griffins, dragons, and huge monsters which haunt them; for such
are the guardians which avarice needs for its treasures.
4. What, you ask, is the drift of all this? Surely it is clear enough.
For if the merchants of the world undergo such hardships to win a
doubtful and passing gain, and if after seeking it through many dangers
they only keep it at risk of their lives; what should Christ's merchant
do who "selleth all that he hath" that he may acquire the "one pearl of
great price;" who with his whole substance buys a field that he may
find therein a treasure which neither thief can dig up nor robber carry
away? [3413]
5. I know that I must offend large numbers who will be angry with my
criticisms as aimed at their own deficiencies. Yet such anger does but
shew an uneasy conscience and they will pass a far severer sentence on
themselves than on me. For I shall not mention names; or copy the
licence of the old comedy [3414] which criticized individuals. Wise men
and wise women will try to hide or rather to correct whatever they
perceive to be amiss in them; they will be more angry with themselves
than with me, and will not be disposed to heap curses upon the head of
their monitor. For he, although he is liable to the same charges, is
certainly superior in this that he is discontented with his own faults.
6. I am told that your mother is a religious woman, a widow of many
years' standing; and that when you were a child she reared and taught
you herself. Afterwards when you had spent some time in the flourishing
schools of Gaul she sent you to Rome, sparing no expense and consoling
herself for your absence by the thought of the future that lay before
you. She hoped to see the exuberance and glitter of your Gallic
eloquence toned down by Roman sobriety, for she saw that you required
the rein more than the spur. So we are told of the greatest orators of
Greece that they seasoned the bombast of Asia with the salt of Athens
and pruned their vines when they grew too fast. For they wished to fill
the wine-press of eloquence not with the tendrils of mere words but
with the rich grape-juice of good sense. Your mother has done the same
thing for you; you should, therefore, look up to her as a parent, love
her as a tender nurse, and venerate her as a saint. You must not
imitate those who leave their own relations and pay court to strange
women. Their infamy is apparent to all, for what they aim at under the
pretence of pure affection [3415] is simply illicit intercourse. I know
some women of riper years, indeed a good many, who, finding pleasure in
their young freedmen, make them their spiritual children and thus,
pretending to be mothers to them, gradually overcome their own sense of
shame and allow themselves in the licence of marriage. Other women
desert their maiden sisters and unite themselves to strange widows.
There are some who hate their parents and have no affection for their
kin. Their state of mind is indicated by a restlessness which disdains
excuses; they rend the veil of chastity and put it aside like a cobweb.
Such are the ways of women; not, indeed, that men are any better. For
there are persons to be seen who (for all their girded loins, sombre
garb, and long beards) are inseparable from women, live under one roof
with them, dine in their company, have young girls to wait upon them,
and, save that they do not claim to be called husbands, are as good as
married. Still it is no fault of Christianity that a hypocrite falls
into sin; rather, it is the confusion of the Gentiles that the churches
condemn what is condemned by all good men.
7. But if for your part you desire to be a monk and not merely to seem
one, be more careful of your soul than of your property; for in
adopting a religious profession you have renounced this once for all.
Let your garments be squalid to shew that your mind is white; and your
tunic coarse to prove that you despise the world. But give not way to
pride lest your dress and language be found at variance. Baths
stimulate the senses and must, therefore, be avoided; for to quench
natural heat is the aim of chilling fasts. Yet even these must be
moderate, for, if they are carried to excess, they weaken the stomach
and by making more food necessary to it promote indigestion, that
fruitful parent of unclean desires. A frugal and temperate diet is good
for both body and soul.
See your mother as often as you please but not with other women, for
their faces may dwell in your thoughts and so
A secret wound may fester in your breast. [3416]
The maidservants who attend upon her you must regard as so many snares
laid to entrap you; for the lower their condition is the more easy is
it for you to effect their ruin. John the Baptist had a religious
mother and his father was a priest. [3417] Yet neither his mother's
affection nor his father's wealth could induce him to live in his
parents' house at the risk of his chastity. He lived in the desert, and
seeking Christ with his eyes refused to look at anything else. His
rough garb, his girdle made of skins, his diet of locusts and wild
honey [3418] were all alike designed to encourage virtue and
continence. The sons of the prophets, who were the monks of the Old
Testament, built for themselves huts by the waters of Jordan and
forsaking the crowded cities lived in these on pottage and wild herbs.
[3419] As long as you are at home make your cell your paradise, [3420]
gather there the varied fruits of scripture, let this be your favourite
companion, and take its precepts to your heart. If your eye offend you
or your foot or your hand, cast them from you. [3421] To spare your
soul spare nothing else. The Lord says: "whosoever looketh on a woman
to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his
heart." [3422] "Who can say," writes the wise man, "I have made my
heart clean?" [3423] The stars are not pure in the Lord's sight; how
much less men whose whole life is one long temptation. [3424] Woe be to
us who commit fornication every time that we cherish lust. "My sword,"
God says, "hath drunk its fill in heaven;" [3425] much more then upon
the earth with its crop of thorns and thistles. [3426] The chosen
vessel [3427] who had Christ's name ever on his lips kept under his
body and brought it into subjection. [3428] Yet even he was hindered by
carnal desire and had to do what he would not. As one suffering
violence he cries: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from
the body of this death?" [3429] Is it likely then that you can pass
without fall or wound, unless you keep your heart with all diligence,
[3430] and say with the Saviour: "my mother and my brethren are these
which hear the word of God and do it." [3431] This may seem cruelty,
but it is really affection. What greater proof, indeed, can there be of
affection than to guard for a holy mother a holy son? She too desired
your eternal welfare and is content to forego seeing you for a time
that she may see you for ever with Christ. She is like Hannah who
brought forth Samuel not for her own solace but for the service of the
tabernacle. [3432]
The sons of Jonadab, we are told, drank neither wine nor strong drink
and dwelt in tents pitched wherever night overtook them. [3433]
According to the psalter they were the first to undergo captivity; for,
when the Chaldæans began to ravage Judah they were compelled to take
refuge in cities. [3434]
8. Others may think what they like and follow each his own bent. But to
me a town is a prison and solitude paradise. Why do we long for the
bustle of cities, we whose very name speaks of loneliness? [3435] To
fit him for the leadership of the Jewish people Moses was trained for
forty years in the wilderness; [3436] and it was not till after these
that the shepherd of sheep became a shepherd of men. The apostles were
fishers on lake Gennesaret before they became "fishers of men." [3437]
But at the Lord's call they forsook all that they had, father, net, and
ship, and bore their cross daily without so much as a rod in their
hands.
I say these things that, in case you desire to enter the ranks of the
clergy, you may learn what you must afterwards teach, that you may
offer a reasonable sacrifice [3438] to Christ, that you may not think
yourself a finished soldier while still a raw recruit, or suppose
yourself a master while you are as yet only a learner. It does not
become one of my humble abilities to pass judgment upon the clergy or
to speak to the discredit of those who are ministers in the churches.
They have their own rank and station and must keep it. If ever you
become one of them my published letter to Nepotian [3439] will teach
you the mode of life suitable to you in that vocation. At present I am
dealing with the forming and training of a monk; of one too who has put
the yoke of Christ upon his neck after receiving a liberal education in
his younger days.
9. The first point to be considered is whether you ought to live by
yourself or in a monastery with others. [3440] For my part I should
like you to have the society of holy men so as not to be thrown
altogether on your resources. For if you set out upon a road that is
new to you without a guide, you are sure to turn aside immediately
either to the right or to the left, to lay yourself open to the
assaults of error, to go too far or else not far enough, to weary
yourself with running too fast or to loiter by the way and to fall
asleep. In loneliness pride quickly creeps upon a man: if he has fasted
for a little while and has seen no one, he fancies himself a person of
some note; forgetting who he is, whence he comes, and whither he goes,
he lets his thoughts riot within and outwardly indulges in rash speech.
Contrary to the apostle's wish he judges another man's servants, [3441]
puts forth his hand to grasp whatever his appetite desires, sleeps as
long he pleases, fears nobody, does what he likes, fancies everyone
inferior to himself, spends more of his time in cities than in his
cell, and, while with the brothers he affects to be retiring, rubs
shoulders with the crowd in the streets. What then, you will say? Do I
condemn a solitary life? By no means: in fact I have often commended
it. But I wish to see the monastic schools turn out soldiers who have
no fear of the rough training of the desert, who have exhibited the
spectacle of a holy life for a considerable time, who have made
themselves last that they might be first, who have not been overcome by
hunger or satiety, whose joy is in poverty, who teach virtue by their
garb and mien, and who are too conscientious to invent--as some silly
men do--monstrous stories of struggles with demons, designed to magnify
their heroes in the eyes of the crowd and before all to extort money
from it.
10. Quite recently we have seen to our sorrow a fortune worthy of
Croesus brought to light by a monk's death, and a city's alms,
collected for the poor, left by will to his sons and successors. After
sinking to the bottom the iron has once more floated upon the surface,
[3442] and men have again seen among the palm-trees the bitter waters
of Marah. [3443] In this there is, however, nothing strange, for the
man had for his companion and teacher one who turned the hunger of the
needy into a source of wealth for himself and kept back sums left to
the miserable to his own subsequent misery. Yet their cry came up to
heaven and entering God's ears overcame His patience. Wherefore, He
sent an angel of woe to say to this new Carmelite, this second Nabal,
[3444] "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then
whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?" [3445]
11. If I wish you then not to live with your mother, it is for the
reasons given above, and above all for the two following. If she offers
you delicacies to eat, you will grieve her by refusing them; and if you
take them, you will add fuel to the flame that already burns within
you. Again in a house where there are so many girls you will see in the
daytime sights that will tempt you at night. Never take your hand or
your eyes off your book; learn the psalms word for word, pray without
ceasing, [3446] be always on the alert, and let no vain thoughts lay
hold upon you. Direct both body and mind to the Lord, overcome wrath by
patience, love the knowledge of scripture, and you will no longer love
the sins of the flesh. Do not let your mind become a prey to
excitement, for if this effects a lodgment in your breast it will have
dominion over you and will lead you into the great transgression.
[3447] Always have some work on hand, that the devil may find you busy.
If apostles who had the right to live of the Gospel [3448] laboured
with their own hands that they might be chargeable to no man, [3449]
and bestowed relief upon others whose carnal things they had a claim to
reap as having sown unto them spiritual things; [3450] why do you not
provide a supply to meet your needs? Make creels of reeds or weave
baskets out of pliant osiers. Hoe your ground; mark out your garden
into even plots; and when you have sown your cabbages or set your
plants convey water to them in conduits; that you may see with your own
eyes the lovely vision of the poet:
Art draws fresh water from the hilltop near
Till the stream plashing down among the rocks
Cools the parched meadows and allays their thirst. [3451]
Graft unfruitful stocks with buds and slips that you may shortly be
rewarded for your toil by plucking sweet apples from them. Construct
also hives for bees, for to these the proverbs of Solomon send you,
[3452] and you may learn from the tiny creatures how to order a
monastery and to discipline a kingdom. Twist lines too for catching
fish, and copy books; that your hand may earn your food and your mind
may be satisfied with reading. For "every one that is idle is a prey to
vain desires." [3453] In Egypt the monasteries make it a rule to
receive none who are not willing to work; for they regard labour as
necessary not only for the support of the body but also for the
salvation of the soul. Do not let your mind stray into harmful
thoughts, or, like Jerusalem in her whoredoms, open its feet to every
chance comer. [3454]
12. In my youth when the desert walled me in with its solitude I was
still unable to endure the promptings of sin and the natural heat of my
blood; and, although I tried by frequent fasts to break the force of
both, my mind still surged with [evil] thoughts. [3455] To subdue its
turbulence I betook myself to a brother [3456] who before his
conversion had been a Jew and asked him to teach me Hebrew. Thus, after
having familiarised myself with the pointedness of Quintilian, the
fluency of Cicero, the seriousness of Fronto and the gentleness of
Pliny, I began to learn my letters anew and to study to pronounce words
both harsh and guttural. What labour I spent upon this task, what
difficulties I went through, how often I despaired, how often I gave
over and then in my eagerness to learn commenced again, can be attested
both by myself the subject of this misery and by those who then lived
with me. But I thank the Lord that from this seed of learning sown in
bitterness I now cull sweet fruits.
13. I will recount also another thing that I saw in Egypt. There was in
a community a young Greek the flame of whose desire neither continual
fasting nor the severest labour could avail to quench. He was in great
danger of falling, when the father of the monastery saved him by the
following device. He gave orders to one of the older brothers to pursue
him with objurgations and reproaches, and then after having thus
wronged him to be beforehand with him in laying a complaint against
him. When witnesses were called they spoke always on behalf of the
aggressor. On hearing such falsehoods he used to weep that no one gave
credit to the truth; the father alone used cleverly to put in a word
for him that he might not be "swallowed up with overmuch sorrow."
[3457] To make the story short, a year passed in this way and at the
expiration of it the young man was asked concerning his former evil
thoughts and whether they still troubled him. "Good gracious," he
replied, "how can I find pleasure in fornication when I am not allowed
so much as to live?" Had he been a solitary hermit, by whose aid could
he have overcome the temptations that assailed him?
14. The world's philosophers drive out an old passion by instilling a
new one; they hammer out one nail by hammering in another. [3458] It
was on this principle that the seven princes of Persia acted towards
king Ahasuerus, for they subdued his regret for queen Vashti by
inducing him to love other maidens. [3459] But whereas they cured one
fault by another fault and one sin by another sin, we must overcome our
faults by learning to love the opposite virtues. "Depart from evil,"
says the psalmist, "and do good; seek peace and pursue it." [3460] For
if we do not hate evil we cannot love good. Nay more, we must do good
if we are to depart from evil. We must seek peace if we are to avoid
war. And it is not enough merely to seek it; when we have found it and
when it flees before us we must pursue it with all our energies. For
"it passeth all understanding;" [3461] it is the habitation of God. As
the psalmist says, "in peace also is his habitation." [3462] The
pursuing of peace is a fine metaphor and may be compared with the
apostle's words, "pursuing hospitality." [3463] It is not enough, he
means, for us to invite guests with our lips; we should be as eager to
detain them as though they were robbers carrying off our savings.
15. No art is ever learned without a master. Even dumb animals and wild
herds follow leaders of their own. Bees have princes, and cranes fly
after one of their number in the shape of a Y. [3464] There is but one
emperor and each province has but one judge. Rome was founded by two
brothers, [3465] but, as it could not have two kings at once, was
inaugurated by an act of fratricide. So too Esau and Jacob strove in
Rebekah's womb. [3466] Each church has a single bishop, a single
archpresbyter, a single archdeacon; [3467] and every ecclesiastical
order is subjected to its own rulers. A ship has but one pilot, a house
but one master, and the largest army moves at the command of one man.
That I may not tire you by heaping up instances, my drift is simply
this. Do not rely on your own discretion, but live in a monastery. For
there, while you will be under the control of one father, you will have
many companions; and these will teach you, one humility, another
patience, a third silence, and a fourth meekness. You will do as others
wish; you will eat what you are told to eat; you will wear what clothes
are given you; you will perform the task allotted to you; you will obey
one whom you do not like, you will come to bed tired out; you will go
to sleep on your feet and you will be forced to rise before you have
had sufficient rest. When your turn comes, you will recite the psalms,
a task which requires not a well modulated voice but genuine emotion.
The apostle says: "I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the
understanding also," [3468] and to the Ephesians, "make melody in your
hearts to the Lord." [3469] For he had read the precept of the
psalmist: "Sing ye praises with understanding." [3470] You will serve
the brothers, you will wash the guests' feet; if you suffer wrong you
will bear it in silence; the superior of the community you will fear as
a master and love as a father. Whatever he may order you to do you will
believe to be wholesome for you. You will not pass judgment upon those
who are placed over you, for your duty will be to obey them and to do
what you are told, according to the words spoken by Moses: "keep
silence and hearken, O Israel." [3471] You will have so many tasks to
occupy you that you will have no time for [evil] thoughts; and while
you pass from one thing to another and fresh work follows work done,
you will only be able to think of what you have it in charge at the
moment to do.
16. But I myself have seen monks of quite a different stamp from this,
men whose renunciation of the world has consisted in a change of
clothes and a verbal profession, while their real life and their former
habits have remained unchanged. Their property has increased rather
than diminished. They still have the same servants and keep the same
table. Out of cheap glasses and common earthenware they swallow gold.
With servants about them in swarms they claim for themselves the name
of hermits. Others who though poor think themselves discerning, walk as
solemnly as pageants [3472] through the streets and do nothing but
snarl [3473] at every one whom they meet. Others shrug their shoulders
and croak out what is best known to themselves. While they keep their
eyes fixed upon the earth, they balance swelling words upon their
tongues. [3474] Only a crier is wanted to persuade you that it is his
excellency the prefect who is coming along. Some too there are who from
the dampness of their cells and from the severity of their fasts, from
their weariness of solitude and from excessive study have a singing in
their ears day and night and turn melancholy mad so as to need the
poultices of Hippocrates [3475] more than exhortations from me. Great
numbers are unable to break free from the crafts and trades they have
previously practised. They no longer call themselves dealers but they
carry on the same traffic as before; seeking for themselves not "food
and raiment" [3476] as the apostle directs, but money-profits and these
greater than are looked for by men of the world. In former days the
greed of sellers was kept within bounds by the action of the Ædiles or
as the Greeks call them market-inspectors, [3477] and men could not
then cheat with impunity. But now persons who profess religion are not
ashamed to seek unjust profits and the good name of Christianity is
more often a cloak for fraud than a victim to it. I am ashamed to say
it, yet it must be said--we are at least bound to blush for our
infamy--while in public we hold out our hands for alms we conceal gold
beneath our rags; and to the amazement of every one after living as
poor men we die rich and with our purses well-filled.
But you, since you will not be alone but one of a community, will have
no temptation to act thus. Things at first compulsory will become
habitual. You will set to work unbidden and will find pleasure in your
toil. You will forget things which are behind and will reach forth to
those which are before. [3478] You will think less of the evil that
others do than of the good you ought to do.
17. Be not led by the multitude of those who sin, neither let the host
of those who perish tempt you to say secretly: "What? must all be lost
who live in cities? Behold, they continue to enjoy their property, they
serve churches, they frequent baths, they do not disdain cosmetics, and
yet they are universally well-spoken of." To this kind of remark I have
before replied and now shortly reply again that the object of this
little work is not to discuss the clergy but to lay down rules for a
monk. The clergy are holy men and their lives are always worthy of
praise. Rouse yourself then and so live in your monastery that you may
deserve to be a clergyman, that you may preserve your youth from
defilement, that you may go to Christ's altar as a virgin out of her
chamber. See that you are well-reported of without and that women are
familiar with your reputation but not with your appearance. When you
come to mature years, if, that is, you live so long, and when you have
been chosen into the ranks of the clergy either by the people of the
city or by its bishop, act in a way that befits a clergyman, and choose
for your models the best of your brothers. For in every rank and
condition of life the bad are mingled with the good.
18. Do not be carried away by some mad caprice and rush into
authorship. Learn long and carefully what you propose to teach. Do not
credit all that flatterers say to you, or, I should rather say, do not
lend too ready an ear to those who mean to mock you. They will fawn
upon you with fulsome praise and do their best to blind your judgment;
yet if you suddenly look behind you, you will find that they are making
gestures of derision with their hands, either a stork's neck or the
flapping ears of a donkey or a thirsty dog's protruding tongue. [3479]
Never speak evil of anyone or suppose that you make yourself better by
assailing the reputations of others. The charges we bring against them
often come home to ourselves; we inveigh against faults which are as
much ours as theirs; and so our eloquence ends by telling against
ourselves. It is as though dumb persons were to criticize orators. When
the grunter [3480] wished to speak he used to come forward at a snail's
pace [3481] and to utter a word now and again with such long pauses
between that he seemed less making a speech than gasping for breath.
Then, when he had placed his table and arranged on it his pile of
books, he used to knit his brow, to draw in his nostrils, to wrinkle
his forehead and to snap his fingers, signs meant to engage the
attention of his pupils. Then he would pour forth a torrent of nonsense
and declaim so vehemently against every one that you would take him for
a critic like Longinus [3482] or fancy him a second Cato the Censor
[3483] passing judgment on Roman eloquence and excluding whom he
pleased from the senate of the learned. As he had plenty of money he
made himself still more popular by giving entertainments. Numbers of
persons shared in his hospitality; and thus it was not surprising that
when he went out he was surrounded always by a buzzing throng. At home
he was a monster like Nero, abroad a paragon like Cato. Made up of
different and opposing natures, as a whole he baffled description. You
would say that he was formed of jarring elements like that unnatural
and unheard of monster of which the poet tells us that it was in front
a lion, behind a dragon, in the middle the goat whose name it bears.'
[3484]
19. Men such as these you must never look at or associate with. Nor
must you turn aside your heart unto words of evil [3485] lest the
psalmist say to you: "Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother;
thou slanderest thine own mother's son," [3486] and lest you become as
"the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows," [3487] and as the
man whose "words were softer than oil yet were they drawn swords."
[3488] The Preacher expresses this more clearly still when he says:
"Surely the serpent will bite where there is no enchantment, and the
slanderer is no better." [3489] But you will say, I am not given to
detraction, but how can I check others who are?' If we put forward such
a plea as this it can only be that we may "practise wicked works with
men that work iniquity." [3490] Yet Christ is not deceived by this
device. It is not I but an apostle who says: "Be not deceived; God is
not mocked." [3491] "Man looketh upon the outward appearance but the
Lord looketh upon the heart." [3492] And in the proverbs Solomon tells
us that as "the north wind driveth away rain, so doth an angry
countenance a backbiting tongue." [3493] It sometimes happens that an
arrow when it is aimed at a hard object rebounds upon the bowman,
wounding the would-be wounder, and thus, the words are fulfilled, "they
were turned aside like a deceitful bow," [3494] and in another passage:
"whoso casteth a stone on high casteth it on his own head." [3495] So
when a slanderer sees anger in the countenance of his hearer who will
not hear him but stops his ears that he may not hear of blood, [3496]
he becomes silent on the moment, his face turns pale, his lips stick
fast, his mouth becomes parched. Wherefore the same wise man says:
"meddle not with them that are given to detraction: for their calamity
shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?" [3497] of
him who speaks, that is, and of him who hears. Truth does not love
corners or seek whisperers. To Timothy it is said, "Against an elder
receive not an accusation suddenly; but him that sinneth rebuke before
all, that others also may fear." [3498] When a man is advanced in years
you must not be too ready to believe evil of him; his past life is
itself a defence, and so also is his rank as an elder. Still, since we
are but human and sometimes in spite of the ripeness of our years fall
into the sins of youth, if I do wrong and you wish to correct me,
accuse me openly of my fault: do not backbite me secretly. "Let the
righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness, and let him reprove me; but
let not the oil of the sinner enrich my head." [3499] For what says the
apostle? "Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth." [3500] By the mouth of Isaiah the Lord speaks thus:
"O my people, they who call you happy cause you to err and destroy the
way of your paths." [3501] How do you help me by telling my misdeeds to
others? You may, without my knowing of it, wound some one else by the
narration of my sins or rather of those which you slanderously
attribute to me; and while you are eager to spread the news in all
quarters, you may pretend to confide in each individual as though you
had spoken to no one else. Such a course has for its object not my
correction but the indulgence of your own failing. The Lord gives
commandment that those who sin against us are to be arraigned privately
or else in the presence of a witness, and that if they refuse to hear
reason, the matter is to be laid before the church, and those who
persist in their wickedness are to be regarded as heathen men and
publicans. [3502]
20. I lay great emphasis on these points that I may deliver a young man
who is dear to me from the itching both of the tongue and of the ears:
that, since he has been born again in Christ, I may present him without
spot or wrinkle [3503] as a chaste virgin, [3504] chaste in mind as
well as in body; that the virginity of which he boasts may be more than
nominal and that he may not be shut out by the bridegroom because being
unprovided with the oil of good works his lamp has gone out. [3505] In
Proculus you have a reverend and most learned prelate, [3506] able by
the sound of his voice to do more for you than I with my written sheets
and sure to direct you on your path by daily homilies. He will not
suffer you to turn to the right hand or to the left or to leave the
king's highway; for to this Israel pledges itself to keep in its hasty
passage to the land of promise. [3507] May God hear the voice of the
church's supplication. "Lord, ordain peace for us, for thou hast also
wrought all our works for us." [3508] May our renunciation of the world
be made freely and not under compulsion! May we seek poverty gladly to
win its glory and not suffer anguish because others lay it upon us! For
the rest amid our present miseries with the sword making havoc around
us, he is rich enough who has bread sufficient for his need, and he is
abundantly powerful who is not reduced to be a slave. Exuperius [3509]
the reverend bishop of Toulouse, imitating the widow of Zarephath,
[3510] feeds others though hungry himself. His face is pale with
fasting, yet it is the cravings of others that torment him most. In
fact he has bestowed his whole substance to meet the needs of Christ's
poor. Yet none is richer than he, for his wicker basket contains the
body of the Lord, and his plain glass-cup the precious blood. Like his
Master he has banished greed out of the temple; and without either
scourge of cords or words of chiding he has overthrown the chairs of
them that sell doves, that is, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He has
upset the tables of Mammon and has scattered the money of the
money-changers; zealous that the house of God may be called a house of
prayer and not a den of robbers. [3511] In his steps follow closely and
in those of others like him in virtue, whom the priesthood makes poor
men and more than ever humble. Or if you will be perfect, go out with
Abraham from your country and from your kindred, and go whither you
know not. [3512] If you have substance, sell it and give to the poor.
If you have none, then are you free from a great burthen. Destitute
yourself, follow a destitute Christ. The task is a hard one, it is
great and difficult; but the reward is also great.
__________________________________________________________________
[3397] Luke xxiii. 43.
[3398] Joh. xiii. 26.
[3399] Matt. xxvi. 49.
[3400] Joh. iv.
[3401] Lev. ii. 13.
[3402] Col. iv. 6.
[3403] Matt. v. 13.
[3404] Luke xiv. 35.
[3405] Luke ix. 62.
[3406] Acts x. 3-16.
[3407] Matt. v. 8.
[3408] 1 Tim. vi. 10.
[3409] Gal. v. 15.
[3410] Lybicæ Syrtes.
[3411] An important city of Abyssinia in Jerome's day, 120 miles from
the Red Sea. It is now in ruins.
[3412] Gen. ii. 11.
[3413] Matt. xiii. 45-46; vi. 19, 20.
[3414] The Old Comedy at Athens ridiculed citizens by name. Most of the
extant plays of Aristophanes belong to it.
[3415] Pietas.
[3416] Virgil, Æn. iv. 67.
[3417] Pontifex.
[3418] Mark i. 6.
[3419] 2 Kings iv. 38, 39; vi. 1, 2.
[3420] i.e. garden.'
[3421] Matt. xviii. 8, 9.
[3422] Matt. v. 28.
[3423] Prov. xx. 9.
[3424] Job xxv. 5, 6.
[3425] Isa. xxxiv. 5, R.V.
[3426] Gen. iii. 18.
[3427] Acts ix. 15.
[3428] 1 Cor. ix. 27.
[3429] Rom. vii. 24.
[3430] Prov. iv. 23.
[3431] Luke viii. 21.
[3432] 1 Sam. i. 27, 28.
[3433] Jer. xxxv. 6, 7.
[3434] See Letter LVIII. § 5 and note there.
[3435] An allusion to the word monachus,' solitary' or monk.'
[3436] Acts vii. 29, 30.
[3437] Matt. iv. 19.
[3438] Rom. xii. 1.
[3439] Letter LII.
[3440] Cf. Letter CXXX. § 17.
[3441] Rom. xiv. 4.
[3442] 2 Kings vi. 5, 6.
[3443] Ex. xv. 23, 27.
[3444] 1 Sam. xxv. 38.
[3445] Luke xii. 20.
[3446] 1 Thess. v. 17.
[3447] Ps. xix. 13.
[3448] 1 Cor. ix. 14.
[3449] 1 Thess. ii. 9; 1 Cor. iv. 12.
[3450] 1 Cor. ix. 11.
[3451] Virg., G. i. 108-10.
[3452] Prov. vi. 8, LXX.
[3453] Prov. xiii. 4, LXX.
[3454] Ezek. xvi. 25.
[3455] Cf. Letter XXII. § 7.
[3456] In Letter XVIII. § 10 Jerome speaks of his teacher as one so
learned in the Hebrew language that the very scribes regarded him as a
Chaldæan (i.e., as a graduate of the Babylonian school of Rabbinic
learning).
[3457] 2 Cor. ii. 7.
[3458] Cic., T. Q. iv. 35.
[3459] Esth. ii. 1-4.
[3460] Ps. xxxiv. 14.
[3461] Phil. iv. 7.
[3462] Ps. lxxvi. 2, LXX.
[3463] Rom. xii. 13, R.V. marg.
[3464] Pliny, N. H. x. 32.
[3465] Romulus and Remus, the first of whom slew the second.
[3466] Gen. xxv. 22.
[3467] When Jerome wrote, these terms had but recently come into use in
the West; no doubt, however, the offices described by them were of
older date. Archpresbyters seem to have been the forerunners of those
who are now called "rural deans."
[3468] 1 Cor. xiv. 15.
[3469] Eph. v. 19.
[3470] Ps. xlvii. 7.
[3471] Deut. xxvii. 9, R.V.
[3472] Cic., Off. 1. 36.
[3473] Caninam exercent facundiam. The phrase recurs in Letter CXXXIV.
§ 1.
[3474] See also Lactantius, vi. 18.
[3475] The most celebrated physician of antiquity.
[3476] 1 Tim. vi. 8.
[3477] 'agoranmoi .
[3478] Phil. iii. 13.
[3479] Imitated from Persius (I. 58-60).
[3480] i.e., Rufinus who was now dead. The nickname is taken from a
burlesque very popular in Jerome's day entitled "The Porker's Last Will
and Testament." In this the testator's full name is set down as Marcus
Grunnius Corocotta, i.e., Mark Grunter Hog. In the beginning of the
twelfth book of his commentary on Isaiah Jerome mentions the
"Testament" as being then a popular school book.
[3481] Plautus, Aulularia, I. 1. 10.
[3482] A Platonist of the third century after Christ, much celebrated
for his learning and critical skill. "To judge like Longinus" became a
synonym for accurate discrimination.
[3483] A martinet of the old school, who did his utmost to oppose what
he considered the luxury of his age. He was censor in 184 b.c.
[3484] Lucr. V. 905, Munro. The words come first from Homer, Il. vi.
181.
[3485] Ps. cxli. 4, Vulg.
[3486] Ps. l. 20.
[3487] Ps. lvii. 4.
[3488] Ps. lv. 21.
[3489] Eccl. x. 11, R.V. marg.
[3490] Ps. cxli. 4.
[3491] Gal. vi. 7.
[3492] 1 Sam. xvi. 7.
[3493] Prov. xxv. 23.
[3494] Ps. lxxviii. 57.
[3495] Ecclus. xxvii. 25.
[3496] Isa. xxxiii. 15.
[3497] Prov. xxiv. 21, 22 Vulg.
[3498] 1 Tim. v. 19, 20 (inexact).
[3499] Ps. cxli. 5. LXX.
[3500] Heb. xii. 6.
[3501] Isa. iii. 12. LXX.
[3502] Matt. xviii. 15-17.
[3503] Eph. v. 27.
[3504] 2 Cor. xi. 2.
[3505] Matt. xxv. 1-10.
[3506] He was bishop of Massilia (Marseilles).
[3507] Num. xx. 17.
[3508] Isa. xxvi. 12. LXX.
[3509] Bishop of Toulouse. See Letter LIV. 11, and Pref. to Comm. on
Zech.
[3510] 1 Kings xvii. 8-16.
[3511] John ii. 14-16; Matt. xxi. 12, 13.
[3512] Gen. xii. 1; Heb. xi. 8.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXVI. To Marcellinus and Anapsychia.
Marcellinus, a Roman official of high rank, and Anapsychia his wife had
written to Jerome from Africa to ask him his opinion on the vexed
question of the origin of the soul. Jerome in his reply briefly
enumerates the several views that have been held on the subject. For
fuller information he refers his questioners to his treatise against
Rufinus and also to their bishop Augustin who will, he says, explain
the matter to them by word of mouth. Although it hardly appears in this
letter Jerome is a decided creationist (see his Comm. on Eccles. xii.
7). But, though he vehemently condemns Rufinus (Ap. ii. 10) for
professing ignorance on the subject, he assents (Letter CXXXIV.) to
Augustin (Letter CXXXI.) who similarly professes ignorance but seems to
lean to traducianism. The date of writing is a.d. 412.
To his truly holy lord and lady, his children worthy of the highest
respect and affection, Marcellinus and Anapsychia, Jerome sends
greeting.
1. I have at last received from Africa your joint letter and no longer
regret the effrontery which led me, in spite of your silence to ply you
both with so many missives. I hoped, indeed, by so doing to gain a
reply and to learn of your welfare not indirectly from others but
directly from yourselves. I well remember your little problem about the
nature of the soul; although I ought not to call it little, seeing that
it is one of the greatest with which the church has to deal. You ask
whether it has fallen from heaven, as Pythagoras, all Platonists, and
Origen suppose; or whether it is part of God's essence as the Stoics,
Manes, and the Spanish Priscillianists hint. Whether souls created long
since are kept in God's storehouse as some ecclesiastical writers
[3513] foolishly imagine; or whether they are formed by God and
introduced into bodies day by day according to that saying in the
Gospel: "my Father worketh hitherto and I work;" [3514] or whether,
lastly, they are transmitted by propagation. This is the view of
Tertullian, Apollinaris, and most western writers who hold that soul is
derived from soul as body is from body and that the conditions of life
are the same for men and brutes. I have given my opinion on the matter
in my reply to the treatise which Rufinus presented to Anastasius,
bishop of Rome, of holy memory. He strives in this by an evasive and
crafty but sufficiently foolish confession to play with the simplicity
of his hearers, but only succeeds in playing with his own faith or
rather want of it. My book, [3515] which has been published a good
while, contains an answer to the calumnies which in his various
writings Rufinus has directed against me. Your reverend father Oceanus
[3516] has, I think, a copy of it. But if you cannot procure it your
bishop Augustine is both learned and holy. He will teach you by word of
mouth and will give you his opinion, or rather mine, in his own words.
2. I have long wished to attack the prophecies of Ezekiel and to make
good the promises which I have so often given to curious readers. When,
however, I began to dictate I was so confounded by the havoc wrought in
the West and above all by the sack of Rome that, as the common saying
has it, I forgot even my own name. Long did I remain silent knowing
that it was a time to weep. [3517] This year I began again and had
written three books of commentary when a sudden incursion of those
barbarians of whom your Virgil speaks [3518] as the "far-wandering men
of Barce" (and to whom may be applied what holy scripture says of
Ishmael: "he shall dwell over against all his brethren" [3519] )
overran the borders of Egypt, Palestine, Phenicia, and Syria, and like
a raging torrent carried everything before them. It was with difficulty
and only through Christ's mercy that we were able to escape from their
hands. But if, as the great orator says, "amid the clash of arms law
ceases to be heard;" [3520] how much more truly may it be said that war
puts an end to the study of holy scripture. For this requires plenty of
books and silence and careful copyists and above all freedom from alarm
and a sense of security. I have accordingly only been able to complete
two books and these I have sent to my daughter, Fabiola, [3521] from
whom you can if you like borrow them. For want of time I have not been
able as yet to transcribe the rest. But when you have read these you
will have seen the ante-chamber and will easily form from this a notion
of the whole edifice. I trust in God's mercy and believe that, as he
has helped me in the difficult opening chapters of the prophecy, so he
will help me in the chapters towards the close. These describe the wars
of Gog and Magog, and set forth the mode of building, the plan, and the
dimensions of the holy and mysterious temple.
3. Our reverend brother Oceanus to whom you desire an introduction is a
great and good man and so learned in the law of the Lord that no words
of mine are needed to make him able and willing to instruct you both
and to explain to you in conformity with the rules which govern our
common studies, my opinion and his on all questions arising out of the
scriptures. In conclusion, my truly holy lord and lady, may Christ our
God by his almighty power have you in his safekeeping and cause you to
live long and happily.
__________________________________________________________________
[3513] The allusion is probably to Clement of Alexandria.
[3514] John v. 17.
[3515] Against Rufinus, ii. §§ 8-10; iii. §30; in neither place,
however, does Jerome clearly state his own view.
[3516] See Letter LXIX, introduction. It is doubtful whether Oceanus
was in holy orders although the title father' seems to imply it.
[3517] Eccl. iii. 4.
[3518] Virg., A. iv. 43. It does not appear who these barbarians were.
Barce is near Cyrene in Africa.
[3519] Gen. xvi. 12. R.V. marg.
[3520] Cicero, pro Milon. 4.
[3521] This Fabiola (who must be carefully distinguished from the lady
so often mentioned by Jerome) is probably the person to whom Augustine
addressed a letter on communion with the spiritual world.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXVII. To Principia.
This letter is really a memoir of Marcella (for whom see note on Letter
XXIII.) addressed to her greatest friend. After describing her history,
character, and favourite studies, Jerome goes on to recount her eminent
services in the cause of orthodoxy at a time when, through the efforts
of Rufinus, it seemed likely that Origenism would prevail at Rome (§§9,
10). He briefly relates the fall of the city and the horrors consequent
upon it (§§12, 13) which appear to have been the immediate cause of
Marcella's death (§14). The date of the letter is 412 a.d.
1. You have besought me often and earnestly, Principia, [3522] virgin
of Christ, to dedicate a letter to the memory of that holy woman
Marcella, [3523] and to set forth the goodness long enjoyed by us for
others to know and to imitate. I am so anxious myself to do justice to
her merits that it grieves me that you should spur me on and fancy that
your entreaties are needed when I do not yield even to you in love of
her. In putting upon record her signal virtues I shall receive far more
benefit myself than I can possibly confer upon others. If I have
hitherto remained silent and have allowed two years to go over without
making any sign, this has not been owing to a wish to ignore her as you
wrongly suppose, but to an incredible sorrow which so overcame my mind
that I judged it better to remain silent for a while than to praise her
virtues in inadequate language. Neither will I now follow the rules of
rhetoric in eulogizing one so dear to both of us and to all the saints,
Marcella the glory of her native Rome. I will not set forth her
illustrious family and lofty lineage, nor will I trace her pedigree
through a line of consuls and prætorian prefects. I will praise her for
nothing but the virtue which is her own and which is the more noble,
because forsaking both wealth and rank she has sought the true nobility
of poverty and lowliness.
2. Her father's death left her an orphan, and she had been married less
than seven months when her husband was taken from her. Then as she was
young, and highborn, as well as distinguished for her beauty--always an
attraction to men--and her self-control, an illustrious consular named
Cerealis paid court to her with great assiduity. Being an old man he
offered to make over to her his fortune so that she might consider
herself less his wife than his daughter. Her mother Albina went out of
her way to secure for the young widow so exalted a protector. But
Marcella answered: "had I a wish to marry and not rather to dedicate
myself to perpetual chastity, I should look for a husband and not for
an inheritance;" and when her suitor argued that sometimes old men live
long while young men die early, she cleverly retorted: "a young man may
indeed die early, but an old man cannot live long." This decided
rejection of Cerealis convinced others that they had no hope of winning
her hand.
In the gospel according to Luke we read the following passage: "there
was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of
Aser: she was of great age, and had lived with an husband seven years
from her virginity; and she was a widow of about fourscore and four
years, which departed not from the temple but served God with fastings
and prayers night and day." [3524] It was no marvel that she won the
vision of the Saviour, whom she sought so earnestly. Let us then
compare her case with that of Marcella and we shall see that the latter
has every way the advantage. Anna lived with her husband seven years;
Marcella seven months. Anna only hoped for Christ; Marcella held Him
fast. Anna confessed him at His birth; Marcella believed in Him
crucified. Anna did not deny the Child; Marcella rejoiced in the Man as
king. I do not wish to draw distinctions between holy women on the
score of their merits, as some persons have made it a custom to do as
regards holy men and leaders of churches; the conclusion at which I aim
is that, as both have one task, so both have one reward.
3. In a slander-loving community such as Rome, filled as it formerly
was with people from all parts and bearing the palm for wickedness of
all kinds, detraction assailed the upright and strove to defile even
the pure and the clean. In such an atmosphere it is hard to escape from
the breath of calumny. A stainless reputation is difficult nay almost
impossible to attain; the prophet yearns for it but hardly hopes to win
it: "Blessed," he says, "are the undefiled in the way who walk in the
law of the Lord." [3525] The undefiled in the way of this world are
those whose fair fame no breath of scandal has ever sullied, and who
have earned no reproach at the hands of their neighbours. It is this
which makes the Saviour say in the gospel: "agree with," or be
complaisant to, "thine adversary whilst thou art in the way with him."
[3526] Who ever heard a slander of Marcella that deserved the least
credit? Or who ever credited such without making himself guilty of
malice and defamation? No; she put the Gentiles to confusion by shewing
them the nature of that Christian widowhood which her conscience and
mien alike set forth. For women of the world are wont to paint their
faces with rouge and white-lead, to wear robes of shining silk, to
adorn themselves with jewels, to put gold chains round their necks, to
pierce their ears and hang in them the costliest pearls of the Red Sea,
[3527] and to scent themselves with musk. While they mourn for the
husbands they have lost they rejoice at their own deliverance and
freedom to choose fresh partners--not, as God wills, to obey these
[3528] but to rule over them.
With this object in view they select for their partners poor men who
contented with the mere name of husbands are the more ready to put up
with rivals as they know that, if they so much as murmur, they will be
cast off at once. Our widow's clothing was meant to keep out the cold
and not to shew her figure. Of gold she would not wear so much as a
seal-ring, choosing to store her money in the stomachs of the poor
rather than to keep it at her own disposal. She went nowhere without
her mother, and would never see without witnesses such monks and clergy
as the needs of a large house required her to interview. Her train was
always composed of virgins and widows, and these women serious and
staid; for, as she well knew, the levity of the maids speaks ill for
the mistress and a woman's character is shewn by her choice of
companions. [3529]
4. Her delight in the divine scriptures was incredible. She was for
ever singing, "Thy words have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin
against thee," [3530] as well as the words which describe the perfect
man, "his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he
meditate day and night." [3531] This meditation in the law she
understood not of a review of the written words as among the Jews the
Pharisees think, but of action according to that saying of the apostle,
"whether, therefore, ye eat or drink or what soever ye do, do all to
the glory of God." [3532] She remembered also the prophet's words,
"through thy precepts I get understanding," [3533] and felt sure that
only when she had fulfilled these would she be permitted to understand
the scriptures. In this sense we read elsewhere that "Jesus began both
to do and teach." [3534] For teaching is put to the blush when a man's
conscience rebukes him; and it is in vain that his tongue preaches
poverty or teaches alms-giving if he is rolling in the riches of
Croesus and if, in spite of his threadbare cloak, he has silken robes
at home to save from the moth.
Marcella practised fasting, but in moderation. She abstained from
eating flesh, and she knew rather the scent of wine than its taste;
touching it only for her stomach's sake and for her often infirmities.
[3535] She seldom appeared in public and took care to avoid the houses
of great ladies, that she might not be forced to look upon what she had
once for all renounced. She frequented the basilicas of apostles and
martyrs that she might escape from the throng and give herself to
private prayer. So obedient was she to her mother that for her sake she
did things of which she herself disapproved. For example, when her
mother, careless of her own offspring, was for transferring all her
property from her children and grandchildren to her brother's family,
Marcella wished the money to be given to the poor instead, and yet
could not bring herself to thwart her parent. Therefore she made over
her ornaments and other effects to persons already rich, content to
throw away her money rather than to sadden her mother's heart.
5. In those days no highborn lady at Rome had made profession of the
monastic life, or had ventured--so strange and ignominious and
degrading did it then seem--publicly to call herself a nun. It was from
some priests of Alexandria, and from pope Athanasius, and subsequently
from Peter, [3536] who, to escape the persecution of the Arian
heretics, had all fled for refuge to Rome as the safest haven in which
they could find communion--it was from these that Marcella heard of the
life of the blessed Antony, then still alive, and of the monasteries in
the Thebaid founded by Pachomius, and of the discipline laid down for
virgins and for widows. Nor was she ashamed to profess a life which she
had thus learned to be pleasing to Christ. Many years after her example
was followed first by Sophronia and then by others, of whom it may be
well said in the words of Ennius: [3537]
Would that ne'er in Pelion's woods
Had the axe these pinetrees felled.
My revered friend Paula was blessed with Marcella's friendship, and it
was in Marcella's cell that Eustochium, that paragon of virgins, was
gradually trained. Thus it is easy to see of what type the mistress was
who found such pupils.
The unbelieving reader may perhaps laugh at me for dwelling so long on
the praises of mere women; yet if he will but remember how holy women
followed our Lord and Saviour and ministered to Him of their substance,
and how the three Marys stood before the cross and especially how Mary
Magdalen--called the tower [3538] from the earnestness and glow of her
faith--was privileged to see the rising Christ first of all before the
very apostles, he will convict himself of pride sooner than me of
folly. For we judge of people's virtue not by their sex but by their
character, and hold those to be worthy of the highest glory who have
renounced both rank and wealth. It was for this reason that Jesus loved
the evangelist John more than the other disciples. For John was of
noble birth [3539] and known to the high priest, yet was so little
appalled by the plottings of the Jews that he introduced Peter into his
court, [3540] and was the only one of the apostles bold enough to take
his stand before the cross. For it was he who took the Saviour's parent
to his own home; [3541] it was the virgin son [3542] who received the
virgin mother as a legacy from the Lord.
6. Marcella then lived the ascetic life for many years, and found
herself old before she bethought herself that she had once been young.
She often quoted with approval Plato's saying that philosophy consists
in meditating on death. [3543] A truth which our own apostle indorses
when he says: "for your salvation I die daily." [3544] Indeed according
to the old copies our Lord himself says: "whosoever doth not bear His
cross daily and come after me cannot be my disciple." [3545] Ages
before, the Holy Spirit had said by the prophet: "for thy sake are we
killed all the day long: we are counted as sheep for the slaughter."
[3546] Many generations afterwards the words were spoken: "remember the
end and thou shalt never do amiss," [3547] as well as that precept of
the eloquent satirist: "live with death in your mind; time flies; this
say of mine is so much taken from it." [3548] Well then, as I was
saying, she passed her days and lived always in the thought that she
must die. Her very clothing was such as to remind her of the tomb, and
she presented herself as a living sacrifice, reasonable and acceptable,
unto God. [3549]
7. When the needs of the Church at length brought me to Rome [3550] in
company with the reverend pontiffs, Paulinus and Epiphanius--the first
of whom ruled the church of the Syrian Antioch while the second
presided over that of Salamis in Cyprus,--I in my modesty was for
avoiding the eyes of highborn ladies, yet she pleaded so earnestly,
"both in season and out of season" [3551] as the apostle says, that at
last her perseverance overcame my reluctance. And, as in those days my
name was held in some renown as that of a student of the scriptures,
she never came to see me that she did not ask me some question
concerning them, nor would she at once acquiesce in my explanations but
on the contrary would dispute them; not, however, for argument's sake
but to learn the answers to those objections which might, as she saw,
be made to my statements. How much virtue and ability, how much
holiness and purity I found in her I am afraid to say; both lest I may
exceed the bounds of men's belief and lest I may increase your sorrow
by reminding you of the blessings that you have lost. This much only
will I say, that whatever in me was the fruit of long study and as such
made by constant meditation a part of my nature, this she tasted, this
she learned and made her own. Consequently after my departure from
Rome, in case of a dispute arising as to the testimony of scripture on
any subject, recourse was had to her to settle it. And so wise was she
and so well did she understand what philosophers call to prepon, that
is, the becoming, in what she did, that when she answered questions she
gave her own opinion not as her own but as from me or some one else,
thus admitting that what she taught she had herself learned from
others. For she knew that the apostle had said: "I suffer not a woman
to teach," [3552] and she would not seem to inflict a wrong upon the
male sex many of whom (including sometimes priests) questioned her
concerning obscure and doubtful points.
8. I am told that my place with her was immediately taken by you, that
you attached yourself to her, and that, as the saying goes, you never
let even a hair's-breadth [3553] come between her and you. You both
lived in the same house and occupied the same room so that every one in
the city knew for certain that you had found a mother in her and she a
daughter in you. In the suburbs you found for yourselves a monastic
seclusion, and chose the country instead of the town because of its
loneliness. For a long time you lived together, and as many ladies
shaped their conduct by your examples, I had the joy of seeing Rome
transformed into another Jerusalem. Monastic establishments for virgins
became numerous, and of hermits there were countless numbers. In fact
so many were the servants of God that monasticism which had before been
a term of reproach became subsequently one of honour. Meantime we
consoled each other for our separation by words of mutual
encouragement, and discharged in the spirit the debt which in the flesh
we could not pay. We always went to meet each other's letters, tried to
outdo each other in attentions, and anticipated each other in courteous
inquiries. Not much was lost by a separation thus effectually bridged
by a constant correspondence.
9. While Marcella was thus serving the Lord in holy tranquillity, there
arose in these provinces a tornado of heresy which threw everything
into confusion; indeed so great was the fury into which it lashed
itself that it spared neither itself nor anything that was good. And as
if it were too little to have disturbed everything here, it introduced
a ship [3554] freighted with blasphemies into the port of Rome itself.
The dish soon found itself a cover; [3555] and the muddy feet of
heretics fouled the clear waters [3556] of the faith of Rome. No wonder
that in the streets and in the market places a soothsayer can strike
fools on the back or, catching up his cudgel, shatter the teeth of such
as carp at him; when such venomous and filthy teaching as this has
found at Rome dupes whom it can lead astray. Next came the scandalous
version [3557] of Origen's book On First Principles, and that
fortunate' disciple [3558] who would have been indeed fortunate had he
never fallen in with such a master. Next followed the confutation set
forth by my supporters, which destroyed the case of the Pharisees
[3559] and threw them into confusion. It was then that the holy
Marcella, who had long held back lest she should be thought to act from
party motives, threw herself into the breach. Conscious that the faith
of Rome--once praised by an apostle [3560] --was now in danger, and
that this new heresy was drawing to itself not only priests and monks
but also many of the laity besides imposing on the bishop [3561] who
fancied others as guileless as he was himself, she publicly withstood
its teachers choosing to please God rather than men.
10. In the gospel the Saviour commends the unjust steward because,
although he defrauded his master, he acted wisely for his own
interests. [3562] The heretics in this instance pursued the same
course; for, seeing how great a matter a little fire had kindled,
[3563] and that the flames applied by them to the foundations had by
this time reached the housetops, and that the deception practised on
many could no longer be hid, they asked for and obtained letters of
commendation from the church, [3564] so that it might appear that till
the day of their departure they had continued in full communion with
it. Shortly afterwards [3565] the distinguished Anastasius succeeded to
the pontificate; but he was soon taken away, for it was not fitting
that the head of the world should be struck off [3566] during the
episcopate of one so great. He was removed, no doubt, that he might not
seek to turn away by his prayers the sentence of God passed once for
all. For the words of the Lord to Jeremiah concerning Israel applied
equally to Rome: "pray not for this people for their good. When they
fast I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt-offering and
oblation, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword
and by the famine and by the pestilence." [3567] You will say, what has
this to do with the praises of Marcella? I reply, She it was who
originated the condemnation of the heretics. She it was who furnished
witnesses first taught by them and then carried away by their heretical
teaching. She it was who showed how large a number they had deceived
and who brought up against them the impious books On First Principles,
books which were passing from hand to hand after being improved' by the
hand of the scorpion. [3568] She it was lastly who called on the
heretics in letter after letter to appear in their own defence. They
did not indeed venture to come, for they were so conscience-stricken
that they let the case go against them by default rather than face
their accusers and be convicted by them. This glorious victory
originated with Marcella, she was the source and cause of this great
blessing. You who shared the honour with her know that I speak the
truth. You know too that out of many incidents I only mention a few,
not to tire out the reader by a wearisome recapitulation. Were I to say
more, ill natured persons might fancy me, under pretext of commending a
woman's virtues, to be giving vent to my own rancour. I will pass now
to the remainder of my story.
11. The whirlwind [3569] passed from the West into the East and
threatened in its passage to shipwreck many a noble craft. Then were
the words of Jesus fulfilled: "when the son of man cometh, shall he
find faith on the earth?" [3570] The love of many waxed cold. [3571]
Yet the few who still loved the true faith rallied to my side. Men
openly sought to take their lives and every expedient was employed
against them. So hotly indeed did the persecution rage that "Barnabas
also was carried away with their dissimulation;" [3572] nay more he
committed murder, if not in actual violence at least in will. Then
behold God blew and the tempest passed away; so that the prediction of
the prophet was fulfilled, "thou takest away their breath, they die,
and return to their dust. [3573] In that very day his thoughts perish,"
[3574] as also the gospel-saying, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall
be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast
provided?" [3575]
12. Whilst these things were happening in Jebus [3576] a dreadful
rumour came from the West. Rome had been besieged [3577] and its
citizens had been forced to buy their lives with gold. Then thus
despoiled they had been besieged again so as to lose not their
substance only but their lives. My voice sticks in my throat; and, as I
dictate, sobs choke my utterance. The City which had taken the whole
world was itself taken; [3578] nay more famine was beforehand with the
sword and but few citizens were left to be made captives. In their
frenzy the starving people had recourse to hideous food; and tore each
other limb from limb that they might have flesh to eat. Even the mother
did not spare the babe at her breast. In the night was Moab taken, in
the night did her wall fall down. [3579] "O God, the heathen have come
into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have
made Jerusalem an orchard. [3580] The dead bodies of thy servants have
they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy
saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like
water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them." [3581]
Who can set forth the carnage of that night?
What tears are equal to its agony?
Of ancient date a sovran city falls;
And lifeless in its streets and houses lie
Unnumbered bodies of its citizens.
In many a ghastly shape doth death appear. [3582]
13. Meantime, as was natural in a scene of such confusion, one of the
bloodstained victors found his way into Marcella's house. Now be it
mine to say what I have heard, [3583] to relate what holy men have
seen; for there were some such present and they say that you too were
with her in the hour of danger. When the soldiers entered she is said
to have received them without any look of alarm; and when they asked
her for gold she pointed to her coarse dress to shew them that she had
no buried treasure. However they would not believe in her self-chosen
poverty, but scourged her and beat her with cudgels. She is said to
have felt no pain but to have thrown herself at their feet and to have
pleaded with tears for you, that you might not be taken from her, or
owing to your youth have to endure what she as an old woman had no
occasion to fear. Christ softened their hard hearts and even among
bloodstained swords natural affection asserted its rights. The
barbarians conveyed both you and her to the basilica of the apostle
Paul, that you might find there either a place of safety or, if not
that, at least a tomb. Hereupon Marcella is said to have burst into
great joy and to have thanked God for having kept you unharmed in
answer to her prayer. She said she was thankful too that the taking of
the city had found her poor, not made her so, that she was now in want
of daily bread, that Christ satisfied her needs so that she no longer
felt hunger, that she was able to say in word and in deed: "naked came
I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord
gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
[3584]
14. After a few days she fell asleep in the Lord; but to the last her
powers remained unimpaired. You she made the heir of her poverty, or
rather the poor through you. When she closed her eyes, it was in your
arms; when she breathed her last breath, your lips received it; you
shed tears but she smiled conscious of having led a good life and
hoping for her reward hereafter.
In one short night I have dictated this letter in honour of you,
revered Marcella, and of you, my daughter Principia; not to shew off my
own eloquence but to express my heartfelt gratitude to you both; my one
desire has been to please both God and my readers.
__________________________________________________________________
[3522] This Roman lady, like her friend Marcella, took a great interest
in the study of scripture. In Letter LXV. Jerome gives her an
explanation of the 45th Psalm.
[3523] See Letter XXIII.
[3524] Luke ii. 36, 37.
[3525] Ps. cxix. 1.
[3526] Matt. v. 25.
[3527] i.e. the Indian Ocean.
[3528] Eph. v. 22.
[3529] Cf. Letter LXXIX. § 9.
[3530] Ps. cxix. 11.
[3531] Ps. i. 2.
[3532] 1 Cor. x. 31.
[3533] Ps. cxix. 104.
[3534] Acts i. 1.
[3535] 1 Tim. v. 23.
[3536] The successor of Athanasius in the see of Alexandria.
[3537] A fragment from the Medea of Ennius relating to the unlucky ship
Argo which had brought Jason to Colchis. Here however the words seem
altogether out of place. Unless, indeed, they are supposed to be spoken
by pagans.
[3538] Magdala means tower.'
[3539] So Ewald.
[3540] Joh. xviii. 15, 16, R.V.
[3541] Joh. xix. 26, 27.
[3542] Tertullian goes so far as to call him Christ's eunuch' (de
Monog. c. xvii.).
[3543] Tota philosophorum vita commentatio mortis est--Cicero, T. Q. i.
30, 74 (summarizing Plato's doctrine as given in his Phædo, p. 64).
[3544] 1 Cor. xv. 31 (apparently quoted from memory).
[3545] Luke xiv. 27; cf. ix. 23.
[3546] Ps. xliv. 22.
[3547] Ecclus. vii. 36.
[3548] Pers. v. 153 Corvington.
[3549] Rom. xii. 1.
[3550] In 382 a.d.
[3551] 2 Tim. iv. 2.
[3552] 1 Tim. ii. 12.
[3553] Literally "thickness of a nail."
[3554] The movement connected with Rufinus' translation of Origen's
Peri 'Archon. His coming was likened, in the dream of his friend
Macarius (Ruf. Apol. i. 11), to that of a ship laden with Eastern
wares.
[3555] The same proverb occurs in Letter VII. § 5.
[3556] Cf. Ezek. xxxiv. 18.
[3557] i.e. That published by Rufinus. See Letter LXXX.
[3558] 'olbios, i.e. Macarius, a Roman Christian who wrote a book on
the providence of God. To him Rufinus dedicated his version of Origen's
treatise.
[3559] Apparently the Roman clergy who sided with Rufinus.
[3560] Rom. i. 8.
[3561] Siricius, the successor of Damasus. He died a.d. 398.
[3562] Luke xvi. 8.
[3563] James iii. 5.
[3564] Rufinus obtained such letters from Pope Siricius when he left
Rome for Aquileia. See Jer. Apol. iii. 21.
[3565] 398 a.d.
[3566] The allusion is to the capture of Rome by Alaric in 410 a.d.
[3567] Jer. xiv. 11, 12.
[3568] Emendata manu scorpii. The scorpion is Rufinus whom Jerome
accused of suppressing the worst statements of Origen so that the
subtler heresy might be accepted.
[3569] i.e. the Origenistic heresy.
[3570] Luke xviii. 8.
[3571] Matt. xxiv. 12.
[3572] Gal. ii. 13. The allusion is perhaps to John of Jerusalem;
possibly to Chrysostom.
[3573] Ps. civ. 29.
[3574] Ps. cxlvi. 4.
[3575] Luke xii. 20.
[3576] The Canaanite name for Jerusalem.
[3577] By Alaric the Goth, 408 a.d.
[3578] By Alaric, 410 a.d.
[3579] Isa. xv. 1.
[3580] Ps. lxxix. 1. LXX.
[3581] Ps. lxxix. 1-3.
[3582] Virg. A. ii. 361.
[3583] Virg. A. vi. 266.
[3584] Job i. 21, LXX.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXVIII. To Gaudentius.
Gaudentius had written from Rome to ask Jerome's advice as to the
bringing up of his infant daughter; whom after the religious fashion of
the day he had dedicated to a life of virginity. Jerome's reply may be
compared with his advice to Laeta (Letter CVII.) which it closely
resembles. It is noticeable also for the vivid account which it gives
of the sack of Rome by Alaric in a.d. 410. The date of the letter is
a.d. 413.
1. It is hard to write to a little girl who cannot understand what you
say, of whose mind you know nothing, and of whose inclinations it would
be rash to prophesy. In the words of a famous orator "she is to be
praised more for what she will be than for what she is." [3585] For how
can you speak of self-control to a child who is eager for cakes, who
babbles on her mother's knee, and to whom honey is sweeter than any
words? Will she hear the deep things of the apostle when all her
delight is in nursery tales? Will she heed the dark sayings of the
prophets when her nurse can frighten her by a frowning face? Or will
she comprehend the majesty of the gospel, when its splendour dazzles
the keenest intellect? Shall I urge her to obey her parents when with
her chubby hand she beats her smiling mother? For such reasons as these
my dear Pacatula must read some other time the letter that I send her
now. Meanwhile let her learn the alphabet, spelling, grammar, and
syntax. To induce her to repeat her lessons with her little shrill
voice, hold out to her as rewards cakes and mead and sweetmeats. [3586]
She will make haste to perform her task if she hopes afterwards to get
some bright bunch of flowers, some glittering bauble, some enchanting
doll. She must also learn to spin, shaping the yarn with her tender
thumb; for, even if she constantly breaks the threads, a day will come
when she will no longer break them. Then when she has finished her
lessons she ought to have some recreation. At such times she may hang
round her mother's neck, or snatch kisses from her relations. Reward
her for singing psalms that she may love what she has to learn. Her
task will then become a pleasure to her and no compulsion will be
necessary.
2. Some mothers when they have vowed a daughter to virginity clothe her
in sombre garments, wrap her up in a dark cloak, and let her have
neither linen nor gold ornaments. They wisely refuse to accustom her to
what she will afterwards have to lay aside. Others act on the opposite
principle. "What is the use," say they, "of keeping such things from
her? Will she not see them with others? Women are fond of finery and
many whose chastity is beyond question dress not for men but for
themselves. Give her what she asks for, but shew her that those are
most praised who ask for nothing. It is better that she should enjoy
things to the full and so learn to despise them than that from not
having them she should wish to have them." "This," they continue, "was
the plan which the Lord adopted with the children of Israel. When they
longed for the fleshpots of Egypt He sent them flights of quails and
allowed them to gorge themselves until they were sick. [3587] Those who
have once lived worldly lives more readily forego the pleasures of
sense than such as from their youth up have known nothing of desire."
For while the former--so they argue--trample on what they know, the
latter are attracted by what is to them unknown. While the former
penitently shun the insidious advances which pleasure makes, the latter
coquet with the allurements of sense and fancying them to be as sweet
as honey find them to be deadly poison. They quote the passage which
says that "the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb;" [3588]
which is sweet indeed in the eater's mouth but is afterwards found more
bitter than gall. [3589] This they argue, is the reason that neither
honey nor wax is offered in the sacrifices of the Lord, [3590] and that
oil the product of the bitter olive is burned in His temple. [3591]
Moreover it is with bitter herbs that the passover is eaten, [3592] and
"with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." [3593] He that
receives these shall suffer persecution in the world. Wherefore the
prophet symbolically sings: "I sat alone because I was filled with
bitterness." [3594]
3. What then, I reply? Is youth to run riot that self-indulgence may
afterwards be more resolutely rejected? Far from it, they rejoin: "let
every man, wherein he is called, therein abide. [3595] Is any called
being circumcised,"--that is, as a virgin?--"let him not become
uncircumcised" [3596] --that is, let him not seek the coat of marriage
given to Adam on his expulsion from the paradise of virginity. [3597]
"Is any called in uncircumcision,"--that is, having a wife and
enveloped in the skin of matrimony? let him not seek the nakedness of
virginity [3598] and of that eternal chastity which he has lost once
for all. No, let him "possess his vessel in sanctification and honour,"
[3599] let him drink of his own wells not out of the dissolute cisterns
[3600] of the harlots which cannot hold within them the pure waters of
chastity. [3601] The same Paul also in the same chapter, when
discussing the subjects of virginity and marriage, calls those who are
married slaves of the flesh, but those not under the yoke of wedlock
freemen who serve the Lord in all freedom. [3602]
What I say I do not say as universally applicable; my treatment of the
subject is only partial. I speak of some only, not of all. However my
words are addressed to those of both sexes, and not only to "the weaker
vessel." [3603] Are you a virgin? Why then do you find pleasure in the
society of a woman? Why do you commit to the high seas your frail
patched boat, why do you so confidently face the great peril of a
dangerous voyage? You know not what you desire, and yet you cling to
her as though you had either desired her before or, to put it as
leniently as possible, as though you would hereafter desire her. Women,
you will say, make better servants than men. In that case choose a
misshapen old woman, choose one whose continence is approved in the
Lord. Why should you find pleasure in a young girl, pretty, and
voluptuous? You frequent the baths, walk abroad sleek and ruddy, eat
flesh, abound in riches, and wear the most expensive clothes; and yet
you fancy that you can sleep safely beside a death-dealing serpent. You
tell me perhaps that you do not live in the same house with her. This
is only true at night. But you spend whole days in conversing with her.
Why do you sit alone with her? Why do you dispense with witnesses? By
so doing if you do not actually sin you appear to do so, and (so
important is your influence) you embolden unhappy men by your example
to do what is wrong. You too, whether virgin or widow, why do you allow
a man to detain you in conversation so long? Why are you not afraid to
be left alone with him? At least go out of doors to satisfy the wants
of nature, and for this at any rate leave the man with whom you have
given yourself more liberty than you would with your brother, and have
behaved more immodestly than you would with your husband. You have some
question, you say, to ask concerning the holy scriptures. If so, ask it
publicly; let your maids and your attendants hear it. "Everything that
is made manifest is light." [3604] He who says only what he ought does
not look for a corner to say it in; he is glad to have hearers for he
likes to be praised. He must be a fine teacher, on the other hand, who
thinks little of men, does not care for the brothers, and labours in
secret merely to instruct just one weak woman!
3a. I have wandered for a little from my immediate subject to discuss
the procedure of others in such a case as yours; and while it is my
object to train, nay rather to nurse, the infant Pacatula, I have in a
moment drawn upon myself the hostility of many women who are by no
means daughters of peace. [3605] But I shall now return to my proper
theme.
A girl should associate only with girls, she should know nothing of
boys and should dread even playing with them. She should never hear an
unclean word, and if amid the bustle of the household she should chance
to hear one, she should not understand it. Her mother's nod should be
to her as much a command as a spoken injunction. She should love her as
her parent, obey her as her mistress, and reverence her as her teacher.
She is now a child without teeth and without ideas, but, as soon as she
is seven years old, a blushing girl knowing what she ought not to say
and hesitating as to what she ought, she should until she is grown up
commit to memory the psalter and the books of Solomon; the gospels, the
apostles and the prophets should be the treasure of her heart. She
should not appear in public too freely or too frequently attend crowded
churches. All her pleasure should be in her chamber. She must never
look at young men or turn her eyes upon curled fops; and the wanton
songs of sweet voiced girls which wound the soul through the ears must
be kept from her. The more freedom of access such persons possess, the
harder is it to avoid them when they come; and what they have once
learned themselves they will secretly teach her and will thus
contaminate our secluded Danaë by the talk of the crowd. Give her for
guardian and companion a mistress and a governess, one not given to
much wine or in the apostle's words idle and a tattler, but sober,
grave, industrious in spinning wool [3606] and one whose words will
form her childish mind to the practice of virtue. For, as water follows
a finger drawn through the sand, so one of soft and tender years is
pliable for good or evil; she can be drawn in whatever direction you
choose to guide her. Moreover spruce and gay young men often seek
access for themselves by paying court to nurses or dependants or even
by bribing them, and when they have thus gently effected their approach
they blow up the first spark of passion until it bursts into flame and
little by little advance to the most shameless requests. And it is
quite impossible to check them then, for the verse is proved true in
their case: "It is ill rebuking what you have once allowed to become
ingrained." [3607] I am ashamed to say it and yet I must; high born
ladies who have rejected more high born suitors cohabit with men of the
lowest grade and even with slaves. Sometimes in the name of religion
and under the cloak of a desire for celibacy they actually desert their
husbands in favour of such paramours. You may often see a Helen
following her Paris without the smallest dread of Menelaus. Such
persons we see and mourn for but we cannot punish, for the multitude of
sinners procures tolerance for the sin.
4. The world sinks into ruin: yes! but shameful to say our sins still
live and flourish. The renowned city, the capital of the Roman Empire,
is swallowed up in one tremendous fire; and there is no part of the
earth where Romans are not in exile. Churches once held sacred are now
but heaps of dust and ashes; and yet we have our minds set on the
desire of gain. We live as though we are going to die tomorrow; yet we
build as though we are going to live always in this world. [3608] Our
walls shine with gold, our ceilings also and the capitals of our
pillars; yet Christ dies before our doors naked and hungry in the
persons of His poor. The pontiff Aaron, we read, faced the raging
flames, and by putting fire in his censer checked the wrath of God. The
High Priest stood between the dead and the living, and the fire dared
not pass his feet. [3609] On another occasion God said to Moses, "Let
me alone....that I may consume this people," [3610] shewing by the
words "let me alone" that he can be withheld from doing what he
threatens. The prayers of His servant hindered His power. Who, think
you, is there now under heaven able to stay God's wrath, to face the
flame of His judgment, and to say with the apostle, "I could wish that
I myself were accursed for my brethren"? [3611] Flocks and shepherds
perish together, because as it is with the people, so is it with the
priest. [3612] Of old it was not so. Then Moses spoke in a passion of
pity, "yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I
pray thee, out of thy book." [3613] He is not satisfied to secure his
own salvation, he desires to perish with those that perish. And he is
right, for "in the multitude of people is the king's honour." [3614]
Such are the times in which our little Pacatula is born. Such are the
swaddling clothes in which she draws her first breath; she is destined
to know of tears before laughter and to feel sorrow sooner than joy.
And hardly does she come upon the stage when she is called on to make
her exit. Let her then suppose that the world has always been what it
is now. Let her know nothing of the past, let her shun the present, and
let her long for the future.
These thoughts of mine are but hastily mustered. For my grief for lost
friends has known no intermission and only recently have I recovered
sufficient composure to write an old man's letter to a little child. My
affection for you, brother Gaudentius, has induced me to make the
attempt and I have thought it better to say a few words than to say
nothing at all. The grief that paralyses my will will excuse my
brevity; whereas, were I to say nothing, the sincerity of my friendship
might well be doubted.
__________________________________________________________________
[3585] Spes in ea magis laudanda est quam res. Cic. de Rep. Jerome
again quotes the words in Letter CXXX. § 1.
[3586] cf. Hor. 1 S. i. 25, 26.
[3587] Numb. xi. 4, 20, 31.
[3588] Prov. v. 3.
[3589] Rev. x. 9, 10.
[3590] Lev. ii. 11.
[3591] Ex. xxvii. 20.
[3592] Ex. xii. 8.
[3593] 1 Cor. v. 8.
[3594] Jer. xv. 17, LXX.
[3595] 1 Cor. vii. 24.
[3596] 1 Cor. vii. 18.
[3597] Gen. iii. 21.
[3598] Gen. iii. 25.
[3599] 1 Thess. iv. 4.
[3600] Jer. ii. 13, Cisternas dissipates.
[3601] Prov. v. 15.
[3602] 1 Cor. vii. 21, 22.
[3603] 1 Pet. iii. 7.
[3604] Eph. v. 13, R.V.
[3605] Male pacatæ, a pun on Pacatula, which means Little Peaceful.'
[3606] Lanifica. Cf. the well-known epitaph on a Roman matron: "She
stayed at home and spun wool."
[3607] Already quoted in Letter CVII. § 8.
[3608] cf. Letter CXXIII. 15.
[3609] Nu. xvi. 46-48, Vulg.
[3610] Ex. xxxii. 10.
[3611] Rom. ix. 3.
[3612] Isa. xxiv. 2.
[3613] Ex. xxxii. 32.
[3614] Prov. xiv. 28.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXIX. To Dardanus.
In answer to a question put by Dardanus, prefect of Gaul, Jerome writes
concerning the Promised Land which he identifies not with Canaan but
with heaven. He then points out that the present sufferings of the Jews
are due altogether to the crime of which they have been guilty in the
crucifixion of Christ. The date of the letter is 414 a.d.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXX. To Demetrias.
Jerome writes to Demetrias, a highborn lady of Rome who had recently
embraced the vocation of a virgin. After narrating her life's history
first at Rome and then in Africa, he goes on to lay down rules and
principles to guide her in her new life. These which cover the whole
field of ascetic practice and include the duties of study, of prayer,
of fasting, of obedience, of giving up money for Christ, and of
constant industry, are in substance similar to those which thirty years
before Jerome had suggested to Eustochium (Letter XXII.). The tone of
the letter is however milder and less fanatical; the asceticism
recommended is not so severe; there is less of rhapsody and more of
common sense. This letter should also be compared with the letter
addressed to Demetrias by Pelagius, which is given in Vol. xi. of
Jerome's works (Migne's Patr. Lat. xxx. ed.). The date is 414 a.d.
1. Of all the subjects that I have treated from my youth up until now,
either with my own pen or that of my secretaries I have dealt with none
more difficult than that which now occupies me. I am going to write to
Demetrias a virgin of Christ and a lady whose birth and riches make her
second to none in the Roman world. If, therefore, I employ language
adequate to describe her virtue, I shall be thought to flatter her; and
if I suppress some details on the score that they might appear
incredible, my reserve will not do justice to her undoubted merits.
What am I to do then? I am unequal to the task before me, yet I cannot
venture to decline it. Her grandmother and her mother are both women of
mark, and they have alike authority to command, faith to seek and
perseverance to obtain that which they require. It is not indeed
anything very new or special that they ask of me; my wits have often
been exercised upon similar themes. What they wish for is that I should
raise my voice and bear witness as strongly as I can to the virtues of
one who--in the words of the famous orator [3615] --is to be praised
less for what she is than for what she gives promise of being. Yet,
girl though she is, she has a glowing faith beyond her years, and has
started from a point at which others think it a mark of signal virtue
to leave off.
2. Let detraction stand aloof and envy give way; let no charge of self
seeking be brought against me. I write as a stranger to a stranger, at
least so far as the personal appearance is concerned. For the inner man
finds itself well known by that knowledge whereby the apostle Paul knew
the Colossians and many other believers whom he had never seen. How
high an esteem I entertain for this virgin, nay more what a miracle of
virtue I think her, you may judge by the fact that being occupied in
the explanation of Ezekiel's description of the temple--the hardest
piece in the whole range of scripture--and finding myself in that part
of the sacred edifice wherein is the Holy of Holies and the altar of
incense, I have chosen by way of a brief rest to pass from that altar
to this, that upon it I might consecrate to eternal chastity a living
offering acceptable to God [3616] and free from all stain. I am aware
that the bishop [3617] has with words of prayer covered her holy head
with the virgin's bridal-veil, reciting the while the solemn sentence
of the apostle: "I wish to present you all as a chaste virgin to
Christ." [3618] She stood as a queen at his right hand, her clothing of
wrought gold and her raiment of needlework. [3619] Such was the coat of
many colours, that is, formed of many different virtues, which Joseph
wore; and similar ones were of old the ordinary dress of king's
daughters. Thereupon [3620] the bride herself rejoices and says: "the
king hath brought me into his chambers," [3621] and the choir of her
companions responds: "the king's daughter is all glorious within."
[3622] Thus she is a professed virgin. Still these words of mine will
not be without their use. The speed of racehorses is quickened by the
applause of spectators; prize fighters are urged to greater efforts by
the cries of their backers; and when armies are drawn up for battle and
swords are drawn, the general's speech does much to fire his soldiers'
valour. So also is it on the present occasion. The grandmother and the
mother have planted, but it is I that water and the Lord that giveth
the increase. [3623]
3. It is the practice of the rhetoricians to exalt him who is the
subject of their praises by referring to his forefathers and the past
nobility of his race, so that a fertile root may make up for barren
branches and that you may admire in the stem what you have not got in
the fruit. Thus I ought now to recall the distinguished names of the
Probi and of the Olybrii, and that illustrious Anician house, the
representatives of which have seldom or never been unworthy of the
consulship. Or I ought to bring forward Olybrius our virgin's father,
whose untimely loss Rome has had to mourn. I fear to say more of him,
lest I should intensify the pain of your saintly mother, and lest the
commemoration of his virtues should become a renewing of her grief. He
was a dutiful son, a loveable husband, a kind master, a popular
citizen. He was made consul while still a boy; [3624] but the goodness
of his character made him more illustrious as a senator. He was happy
in his death [3625] for it saved him from seeing the ruin of his
country; and happier still in his offspring, for the distinguished name
of his great grandmother Demetrias has become yet more distinguished
now that his daughter Demetrias has vowed herself to perpetual
chastity.
4. But what am I doing? Forgetful of my purpose and filled with
admiration for this young man, I have spoken in terms of praise of mere
worldly advantages; whereas I should rather have commended our virgin
for having rejected all these, and for having determined to regard
herself not as a wealthy or a high born lady, but simply as a woman
like other women. Her strength of mind almost passes belief. Though she
had silks and jewels freely at her disposal, and though she was
surrounded by crowds of eunuchs and serving-women, a bustling household
of flattering and attentive domestics, and though the daintiest feasts
that the abundance of a large house could supply were daily set before
her; she preferred to all these severe fasting, rough clothing, and
frugal living. For she had read the words of the Lord: "they that wear
soft clothing are in kings' houses." [3626] She was filled with
admiration for the manner of life followed by Elijah and by John the
Baptist; both of whom confined and mortified their loins with girdles
of skin, [3627] while the second of them is said to have come in the
spirit and power of Elijah as the forerunner of the Lord. [3628] As
such he prophesied while still in his mother's womb, [3629] and before
the day of judgment won the commendation of the Judge. [3630] She
admired also the zeal of Anna the daughter of Phanuel, who continued
even to extreme old age to serve the Lord in the temple with prayers
and fastings. [3631] When she thought of the four virgins who were the
daughters of Philip, [3632] she longed to join their band and to be
numbered with those who by their virginal purity have attained the
grace of prophecy. With these and similar meditations she fed her mind,
dreading nothing so much as to offend her grandmother and her mother.
Although she was encouraged by their example, she was discouraged by
their expressed wish and desire; not indeed that they disapproved of
her holy purpose, but that the prize was so great that they did not
venture to hope for it, or to aspire to it. Thus this poor novice in
Christ's service was sorely perplexed. She came to hate all her fine
apparel and cried like Esther to the Lord: "Thou knowest that I abhor
the sign of my high estate"--that is to say, the diadem which she wore
as queen--"and that I abhor it as a menstruous rag." [3633] Among the
holy and highborn ladies who have seen and known her some have been
driven by the tempest which has swept over Africa, from the shores of
Gaul to a refuge in the holy places. These tell me that secretly night
after night, though no one knew of it but the virgins dedicated to God
in her mother's and grandmother's retinue, Demetrias, refusing sheets
of linen and beds of down, spread a rug of goat's hair upon the ground
and watered her face with ceaseless tears. Night after night she cast
herself in thought at the Saviour's knees and implored him to accept
her choice, to fulfil her aspiration, and to soften the hearts of her
grandmother and of her mother.
5. Why do I still delay to relate the sequel? When her wedding day was
now close at hand and when a marriage chamber was being got ready for
the bride and bridegroom; secretly without any witnesses and with only
the night to comfort her, she is said to have nerved herself with such
considerations as these: "What ails you, Demetrias? Why are you so
fearful of defending your chastity? What you need is freedom and
courage. If you are so panic-stricken in time of peace, what would you
do if you were called on to undergo martyrdom? If you cannot bear so
much as a frown from your own, how would you steel yourself to face the
tribunals of persecutors? If men's examples leave you unmoved, at least
gather courage and confidence from the blessed martyr Agnes [3634] who
vanquished the temptations both of youth and of a despot and by her
martyrdom hallowed the very name of chastity. Unhappy girl! you know
not, you know not to whom your virginity is due. It is not long since
you have trembled in the hands of the barbarians and clung to your
grandmother and your mother cowering under their cloaks for safety. You
have seen yourself a prisoner [3635] and your chastity not in your own
power. You have shuddered at the fierce looks of your enemies; you have
seen with secret agony the virgins of God ravished. Your city, once the
capital of the world, is now the grave of the Roman people; and will
you on the shores of Libya, yourself an exile, accept an exile for a
husband? Where will you find a matron to be present at your bridal?
[3636] Whom will you get to escort you home? No tongue but a harsh
Punic one will sing for you the wanton Fescennine verses. [3637] Away
with all hesitations! Perfect love' of God casteth out fear.' [3638]
Take to yourself the shield of faith, the breastplate of righteousness,
the helmet of salvation, [3639] and sally forth to battle. The
preservation of your chastity involves a martyrdom of its own. Why do
you fear your grandmother? Why do you dread your mother? Perhaps they
may themselves wish for you a course which they do not think you wish
for yourself." When by these and other arguments she had wrought
herself to the necessary pitch of resolution, she cast from her as so
many hindrances all her ornaments and worldly attire. Her precious
necklaces, costly pearls, and glowing gems she put back in their cases.
Then dressing herself in a coarse tunic and throwing over herself a
still courser cloak she came in at an unlooked for moment, threw
herself down suddenly at her grandmother's knees, and with tears and
sobs shewed her what she really was. That staid and holy woman was
amazed when she beheld her granddaughter in so strange a dress. Her
mother was completely overcome for joy. Both women could hardly believe
that true which they had longed to be true. Their voices stuck in their
throats, [3640] and, what with blushing and turning pale, with fright
and with joy, they were a prey to many conflicting emotions.
6. I must needs give way here and not attempt to describe what defies
description. In the effort to explain the greatness of that joy past
all belief, the flow of Tully's eloquence would run dry and the bolts
poised and hurled by Demosthenes would become spent and fall short.
Whatever mind can conceive or speech can interpret of human gladness
was seen then. Mother and child, grandmother and granddaughter kissed
each other again and again. The two elder women wept copiously for joy,
they raised the prostrate girl, they embraced her trembling form. In
her purpose they recognized their own mind, and congratulated each
other that now a virgin was to make a noble house more noble still by
her virginity. She had found they said, a way to benefit her family and
to lessen the calamity of the ruin of Rome. Good Jesus! What exultation
there was all through the house! Many virgins sprouted out at once as
shoots from a fruitful stem, and the example set by their patroness and
lady was followed by a host both of clients and servants. Virginity was
warmly espoused in every house and although those who made profession
of it were as regards the flesh of lower rank than Demetrias they
sought one reward with her, the reward of chastity. My words are too
weak. Every church in Africa danced for joy. The news reached not only
the cities, towns, and villages but even the scattered huts. Every
island between Africa and Italy was full of it, the glad tidings ran
far and wide, disliked by none. Then Italy put off her mourning and the
ruined walls of Rome resumed in part their olden splendour; for they
believed the full conversion of their fosterchild to be a sign of God's
favour towards them. You would fancy that the Goths had been
annihilated and that that concourse of deserters and slaves had fallen
by a thunderbolt from the Lord on high. There was less elation in Rome
when Marcellus won his first success at Nola [3641] after thousands of
Romans had fallen at the Trebia, Lake Thrasymenus, and Cannæ. There was
less joy among the nobles cooped up in the capitol, on whom the future
of Rome depended, when after buying their lives with gold they heard
that the Gauls had at length been routed. [3642] The news penetrated to
the coasts of the East, and this triumph of Christian glory was heard
of in the remote cities of the interior. What Christian virgin was not
proud to have Demetrias as a companion? What mother did not call
Juliana's womb blessed? Unbelievers may scoff at the doubtfulness of
rewards to come. Meantime, in becoming a virgin you have gained more
than you have sacrificed. Had you become a man's bride but one province
would have known of you; while as a Christian virgin you are known to
the whole world. Mothers who have but little faith in Christ are
unhappily wont to dedicate to virginity only deformed and crippled
daughters for whom they can find no suitable husbands. Glass beads, as
the saying goes, are thought equal to pearls. [3643] Men who pride
themselves on their religion give to their virgin daughters sums
scarcely sufficient for their maintenance, and bestow the bulk of their
property upon sons and daughters living in the world. Quite recently in
this city a rich presbyter left two of his daughters who were professed
virgins with a mere pittance, while he provided his other children with
ample means for self-indulgence and pleasure. The same thing has been
done, I am sorry to say, by many women who have adopted the ascetic
life. Would that such instances were rare, but unfortunately they are
not. Yet the more frequent they are the more blessed are those who
refuse to follow an example which is set them by so many.
7. All Christians are loud in their praises of Christ's holy
yokefellows, [3644] because they gave to Demetrias when she professed
herself a virgin the money which had been set apart as a dowry for her
marriage. They would not wrong her heavenly bridegroom; in fact they
wished her to come to Him with all her previous riches, that these
might not be wasted on the things of the world, but might relieve the
distress of God's servants.
Who would believe it? That Proba, who of all persons of high rank and
birth in the Roman world bears the most illustrious name, whose holy
life and universal charity have won for her esteem even among the
barbarians, who has made nothing of the regular consulships enjoyed by
her three sons, Probinus, Olybrius, and Probus,--that Proba, I say, now
that Rome has been taken and its contents burned or carried off, is
said to be selling what property she has and to be making for herself
friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that these may receive her
into everlasting habitations! [3645] Well may the church's ministers,
whatever their degree, and those monks who are only monks in name,
blush for shame that they are buying estates, when this noble lady is
selling them.
Hardly had she escaped from the hands of the barbarians, hardly had she
ceased weeping for the virgins whom they had torn from her arms, when
she was overwhelmed by a sudden and unbearable bereavement, one too
which she had had no cause to fear, the death of her loving son. [3646]
Yet as one who was to be grandmother to a Christian virgin, she bore up
against this death-dealing stroke, strong in hope of the future and
proving true of herself the words of the lyric:
"Should the round world in fragments burst, its fall
May strike the just, may slay, but not appal." [3647]
We read in the book of Job how, while the first messenger of evil was
yet speaking, there came also another; [3648] and in the same book it
is written: "is there not a temptation"--or as the Hebrew better gives
it--"a warfare to man upon earth?" [3649] It is for this end that we
labour, it is for this end that we risk our lives in the warfare of
this world, that we may be crowned in the world to come. That we should
believe this to be true of men is nothing wonderful, for even the Lord
Himself was tempted, [3650] and of Abraham the scripture bears witness
that God tempted him. [3651] It is for this reason also that the
apostle says: "we glory in tribulations....knowing that tribulation
worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience hope; and
hope maketh not ashamed;" [3652] and in another passage: "Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or
persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written,
For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep
for the slaughter." [3653] The prophet Isaiah comforts those in like
case in these words: "ye that are weaned from the milk, ye that are
drawn from the breasts, look for tribulation upon tribulation, but also
for hope upon hope." [3654] For, as the apostle puts it "the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us." [3655] Why I have here brought together all
these passages the sequel will make plain.
Proba who had seen from the sea the smoke of her native city and had
committed her own safety and that of those dear to her to a fragile
boat, found the shores of Africa even more cruel than those which she
had left. For one [3656] lay in wait for her of whom it would be hard
to say whether he was more covetous or heartless, one who cared for
nothing but wine and money, one who under pretence of serving the
mildest of emperors [3657] stood forth as the most savage of all
despots. If I may be allowed to quote a fable of the poets, he was like
Orcus [3658] in Tartarus. Like him too he had with him a Cerberus,
[3659] not three headed but many headed, ready to seize and rend
everything within his reach. He tore betrothed daughters from their
mothers' arms [3660] and sold high-born maidens in marriage to those
greediest of men, the merchants of Syria. No plea of poverty induced
him to spare either ward or widow or virgin dedicated to Christ. Indeed
he looked more at the hands than at the faces of those who appealed to
him. Such was the dread Charybdis and such the hound-girt Scylla which
this lady encountered in fleeing from the barbarians; monsters who
neither spared the shipwrecked nor heeded the cry of those made
captive. Cruel wretch! [3661] at least imitate the enemy of the Roman
Empire. The Brennus of our day [3662] took only what he found, but you
seek what you cannot find.
Virtue, indeed, is always exposed to envy, and cavillers may marvel at
the secret agreement by which Proba purchased the chastity of her
numerous companions. They may allege that the count who could have
taken all would not have been satisfied [3663] with a part; and that
she could not have questioned his claim since in spite of her rank she
was but a slave in his despotic hands. I perceive also that I am laying
myself open to the attacks of enemies and that I may seem to be
flattering a lady of the highest birth and distinction. Yet these men
will not be able to accuse me when they learn that hitherto I have said
nothing about her. I have never either in the lifetime of her husband
or since his decease praised her for the antiquity of her family or for
the extent of her wealth and power, subjects which others might perhaps
have improved in mercenary speeches. My purpose is to praise the
grandmother of my virgin in a style befitting the church, and to thank
her for having aided with her goodwill the desire which Demetrias has
formed. For the rest my cell, my food and clothing, my advanced years,
and my narrow circumstances sufficiently refute the charge of flattery.
In what remains of my letter I shall direct all my words to Demetrias
herself, whose holiness ennobles her as much as her rank, and of whom
it may be said that the higher she climbs the more terrible will be her
fall.
For the rest
This one thing, child of God, I lay on thee;
Yea before all, and urge it many times: [3664]
Love to occupy your mind with the reading of scripture. Do not in the
good ground of your breast gather only a crop of darnel and wild oats.
Do not let an enemy sow tares among the wheat when the householder is
asleep [3665] (that is when the mind which ever cleaves to God is off
its guard); but say always with the bride in the song of songs: "By
night I sought him whom my soul loveth. Tell me where thou feedest,
where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon;" [3666] and with the
psalmist: "my soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth
me;" [3667] and with Jeremiah: "I have not found it hard....to follow
thee," [3668] for "there is no grief in Jacob neither is there travail
in Israel." [3669] When you were in the world you loved the things of
the world. You rubbed your cheeks with rouge and used whitelead to
improve your complexion. You dressed your hair and built up a tower on
your head with tresses not your own. I shall say nothing of your costly
earrings, your glistening pearls from the depths of the Red Sea, [3670]
your bright green emeralds, your flashing onyxes, your liquid
sapphires,--tones which turn the heads of matrons, and make them eager
to possess the like. For you have relinquished the world and besides
your baptismal vow have taken a new one; you have entered into a
compact with your adversary and have said: "I renounce thee, O devil,
and thy world and thy pomp and thy works." Observe, therefore, the
treaty that you have made, and keep terms with your adversary while you
are in the way of this world. Otherwise he may some day deliver you to
the judge and prove that you have taken what is his; and then the judge
will deliver you to the officer--at once your foe and your avenger--and
you will be cast into prison; into that outer darkness [3671] which
surrounds us with the greater horror as it severs us from Christ the
one true light. [3672] And you shall by no means come out thence till
you have paid the uttermost farthing, [3673] that is, till you have
expiated your most trifling sins; for we shall give account of every
idle word in the day of judgment. [3674]
8. In speaking thus I do not wish to utter an ill-omened prophecy
against you but only to warn you as an apprehensive and prudent monitor
who in your case fears even what is safe. What says the scripture? "If
the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place."
[3675] We must always stand under arms and in battle array, ready to
engage the foe. When he tries to dislodge us from our position and to
make us fall back, we must plant our feet firmly down, and say with the
psalmist, "he hath set my feet upon a rock" [3676] and "the rocks are a
refuge for the conies." [3677] In this latter passage for conies' many
read hedgehogs.' Now the hedgehog is a small animal, very shy, and
covered over with thorny bristles. When Jesus was crowned with thorns
and bore our sins and suffered for us, it was to make the roses of
virginity and the lilies of chastity grow for us out of the brambles
and briers which have formed the lot of women since the day when it was
said to Eve, "in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire
shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee." [3678] We are
told that the bridegroom feeds among the lilies, [3679] that is, among
those who have not defiled their garments, for they have remained
virgins [3680] and have hearkened to the precept of the Preacher: "let
thy garments be always white." [3681] As the author and prince of
virginity He says boldly of Himself: "I am the rose of Sharon and the
lily of the valleys." [3682] "The rocks" then "are a refuge for the
conies" who when they are persecuted in one city flee into another
[3683] and have no fear that the prophetic words "refuge failed me"
[3684] will be fulfilled in their case. "The high hills are a refuge
for the wild goats," [3685] and their food are the serpents which a
little child draws out of their holes. Meanwhile the leopard lies down
with the kid and the lion eats straw like the ox; [3686] not of course
that the ox may learn ferocity from the lion but that the lion may
learn docility from the ox.
But let us turn back to the passage first quoted, "If the spirit of the
ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place," a sentence which is
followed by these words: "for yielding pacifieth great offences."
[3687] The meaning is, that if the serpent finds his way into your
thoughts you must "keep your heart with all diligence" [3688] and sing
with David, "cleanse thou me from secret faults: keep back thy servant
also from presumptuous sins," and come not to "the great transgression"
[3689] which is sin in act. Rather slay the allurements to vice while
they are still only thoughts; and dash the little ones of the daughter
of Babylon against the stones [3690] where the serpent can leave no
trail. Be wary and vow a vow unto the Lord: "let them not have dominion
over me: then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great
transgression." [3691] For elsewhere also the scripture testifies, "I
will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third
and fourth generation." [3692] That is to say, God will not punish us
at once for our thoughts and resolves but will send retribution upon
their offspring, that is, upon the evil deeds and habits of sin which
arise out of them. As He says by the mouth of Amos: "for three
transgressions of such and such a city and for four I will not turn
away the punishment thereof." [3693]
9. I cull these few flowers in passing from the fair field of the holy
scriptures. They will suffice to warn you that you must shut the door
of your breast and fortify your brow by often making the sign of the
cross. Thus alone will the destroyer of Egypt find no place to attack
you; thus alone will the first-born of your soul escape the fate of the
first-born of the Egyptians; [3694] thus alone will you be able with
the prophet to say: "my heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I
will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and
harp." [3695] For, sin stricken as she is, even Tyre is bidden to take
up her harp [3696] and to do penance; like Peter she is told to wash
away the stains of her former foulness with bitter tears. Howbeit, let
us know nothing of penitence, lest the thought of it lead us into sin.
It is a plank for those who have had the misfortune to be shipwrecked;
[3697] but an inviolate virgin may hope to save the ship itself. For it
is one thing to look for what you have cast away, and another to keep
what you have never lost. Even the apostle kept under his body and
brought it into subjection, lest having preached to others he might
himself become a castaway. [3698] Heated with the violence of sensual
passion he made himself the spokesman of the human race: "O wretched
man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" and
again, "I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing:
for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good,
I find not. For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I
would not, that I do;" [3699] and once more: "they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you." [3700]
10. After you have paid the most careful attention to your thoughts,
you must then put on the armour of fasting and sing with David: "I
chastened my soul with fasting," [3701] and "I have eaten ashes like
bread," [3702] and "as for me when they troubled me my clothing was
sackcloth." [3703] Eve was expelled from paradise because she had eaten
of the forbidden fruit. Elijah on the other hand after forty days of
fasting was carried in a fiery chariot into heaven. For forty days and
forty nights Moses lived by the intimate converse which he had with
God, thus proving in his own case the complete truth of the saying,
"man doth not live by bread only but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of the Lord." [3704] The Saviour of the world, who in His
virtues and His mode of life has left us an example to follow, [3705]
was, immediately after His baptism, taken up by the spirit that He
might contend with the devil, [3706] and after crushing him and
overthrowing him might deliver him to his disciples to trample under
foot. For what says the apostle? "God shall bruise Satan under your
feet shortly." [3707] And yet after the Saviour had fasted forty days,
it was through food that the old enemy laid a snare for him, saying,
"If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."
[3708] Under the law, in the seventh month after the blowing of
trumpets and on the tenth day of the month, a fast was proclaimed for
the whole Jewish people, and that soul was cut off from among his
people which on that day preferred self-indulgence to self-denial.
[3709] In Job it is written of behemoth that "his strength is in his
loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly." [3710] Our foe uses
the heat of youthful passion to tempt young men and maidens and "sets
on fire the wheel of our birth." [3711] He thus fulfils the words of
Hosea, "they are all adulterers, their heart is like an oven;" [3712]
an oven which only God's mercy and severe fasting can extinguish. These
are "the fiery darts" [3713] with which the devil wounds men and sets
them on fire, and it was these which the king of Babylon used against
the three children. But when he made his fire forty-nine cubits high
[3714] he did but turn to his own ruin [3715] the seven weeks which the
Lord had appointed for a time of salvation. [3716] And as then a fourth
bearing a form like the son of God slackened the terrible heat [3717]
and cooled the flames of the blazing fiery furnace, until, menacing as
they looked, they became quite harmless, so is it now with the virgin
soul. The dew of heaven and severe fasting quench in a girl the flame
of passion and enable her soul even in its earthly tenement to live the
angelic life. Therefore the chosen vessel [3718] declares that
concerning virgins he has no commandment of the Lord. [3719] For you
must act against nature or rather above nature if you are to forswear
your natural function, to cut off your own root, to cull no fruit but
that of virginity, to abjure the marriage-bed, to shun intercourse with
men, and while in the body to live as though out of it.
11. I do not, however, lay on you as an obligation any extreme fasting
or abnormal abstinence from food. Such practices soon break down weak
constitutions and cause bodily sickness before they lay the foundations
of a holy life. It is a maxim of the philosophers that virtues are
means, and that all extremes are of the nature of vice; [3720] and it
is in this sense that one of the seven wise men propounds the famous
saw quoted in the comedy, "In nothing too much." [3721] You must not go
on fasting until your heart begins to throb and your breath to fail and
you have to be supported or carried by others. No; while curbing the
desires of the flesh, you must keep sufficient strength to read
scripture, to sing psalms, and to observe vigils. For fasting is not a
complete virtue in itself but only a foundation on which other virtues
may be built. The same may be said of sanctification and of that
chastity without which no man shall see the Lord. [3722] Each of these
is a step on the upward way, yet none of them by itself will avail to
win the virgin's crown. The gospel teaches us this in the parable of
the wise and foolish virgins; the former of whom enter into the
bridechamber of the bridegroom, while the latter are shut out from it
because not having the oil of good works [3723] they allow their lamps
to fail. [3724] This subject of fasting opens up a wide field in which
I have often wandered myself, [3725] and many writers have devoted
treatises to the subject. I must refer you to these if you wish to
learn the advantages of self-restraint and on the other hand the evils
of over-feeding.
12. Follow the example of your Spouse: [3726] be subject to your
grandmother and to your mother. Never look upon a man, especially upon
a young man, except in their company. Never know a man whom they do not
know. It is a maxim of the world that the only sure friendship is one
based on an identity of likes and dislikes. [3727] You have been taught
by their example as well as instructed by the holy life of your home to
aspire to virginity, to recognize the commandments of Christ, to know
what is expedient for you and what course you ought to choose. But do
not regard what is your own as absolutely your own. Remember that part
of it belongs to those who have communicated their chastity to you and
from whose honourable marriages and beds undefiled [3728] you have
sprung up like a choice flower. For you are destined to produce perfect
fruit if only you will humble yourself under the mighty hand of God,
[3729] always remembering that it is written: "God resisteth the proud
and giveth grace to the humble." [3730] Now where there is grace, this
is not given in return for works but is the free gift of the giver, so
that the apostles' words are fulfilled: "it is not of him that willeth
nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." [3731] And yet
it is ours to will and not to will; and all the while the very liberty
that is ours is only ours by the mercy of God.
13. Again in selecting for yourself eunuchs and maids and servingmen
look rather to their characters than to their good looks; for, whatever
their age or sex, and even if mutilation ensures in them a compulsory
chastity, you must take account of their dispositions, for these cannot
be operated on save by the fear of Christ. When you are present
buffoonery and loose talk must find no place. You should never hear an
improper word; if you do hear one, you must not be carried away by it.
Abandoned men often make use of a single light expression to try the
gates of chastity. [3732] Leave to worldlings the privileges of
laughing and being laughed at. One who is in your position ought to be
serious. Cato the Censor, in old time a leading man in your city, (the
same who in his last days turned his attention to Greek literature
without either blushing for himself as censor or despairing of success
on account of his age) is said by Lucilius [3733] to have laughed only
once in his life, and the same remark is made about Marcus Crassus.
These men may have affected this austere mien to gain for themselves
reputation and notoriety. For so long as we dwell in the tabernacle of
this body and are enveloped with this fragile flesh, we can but
restrain and regulate our affections and passions; we cannot wholly
extirpate them. Knowing this the psalmist says: "be ye angry and sin
not;" [3734] which the apostle explains thus: "let not the sun go down
upon your wrath." [3735] For, if to be angry is human, to put an end to
one's anger is Christian.
14. I think it unnecessary to warn you against covetousness since it is
the way of your family both to have riches and to despise them. The
apostle too tells us that covetousness is idolatry, [3736] and to one
who asked the Lord the question: "Good Master what good thing shall I
do that I may have eternal life?" He thus replied: "If thou wilt be
perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou
shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me." [3737] Such is
the climax of complete and apostolic virtue--to sell all that one has
and to distribute to the poor, [3738] and thus freed from all earthly
encumbrance to fly up to the heavenly realms with Christ. To us, or I
should rather say to you, a careful stewardship is entrusted, although
in such matters full freedom of choice is left to every individual,
whether old or young. Christ's words are "if thou wilt be perfect." I
do not compel you, He seems to say, I do not command you, but I set the
palm before you, I shew you the prize; it is for you to choose whether
you will enter the arena and win the crown. Let us consider how wisely
Wisdom has spoken. "Sell that thou hast." To whom is the command given?
Why, to him to whom it was said, "if thou wilt be perfect." Sell not a
part of thy goods but "all that thou hast." And when you have sold
them, what then? "Give to the poor." Not to the rich, not to your
kinsfolk, not to minister to self indulgence; but to relieve need. It
does not matter whether a man is a priest or a relation or a connexion,
you must think of nothing but his poverty. Let your praises come from
the stomachs of the hungry and not from the rich banquets of the
overfed. We read in the Acts of the Apostles how, while the blood of
the Lord was still warm and believers were in the fervour of their
first faith, they all sold their possessions and laid the price of them
at the apostles' feet (to shew that money ought to be trampled
underfoot) and "distribution was made unto every man according as he
had need." [3739] But Ananias and Sapphira proved timid stewards, and
what is more, deceitful ones; therefore they brought on themselves
condemnation. For having made a vow they offered their money to God as
if it were their own and not His to whom they had vowed it; and keeping
back for their own use a part of that which belonged to another,
through fear of famine which true faith never fears, they drew down on
themselves suddenly the avenging stroke, which was meant not in cruelty
towards them but as a warning to others. [3740] In fact the apostle
Peter by no means called down death upon them as Porphyry [3741]
foolishly says. He merely announced God's judgment by the spirit of
prophecy, that the doom of two persons might be a lesson to many. From
the time of your dedication to perpetual virginity your property is
yours no longer; or rather is now first truly yours because it has come
to be Christ's. Yet while your grandmother and mother are living you
must deal with it according to their wishes. If, however, they die and
rest in the sleep of the saints (and I know that they desire that you
should survive them); when your years are riper, and your will
steadier, and your resolution stronger, you will do with your money
what seems best to you, or rather what the Lord shall command, knowing
as you will that hereafter you will have nothing save that which you
have here spent on good works. Others may build churches, may adorn
their walls when built with marbles, may procure massive columns, may
deck the unconscious capitals with gold and precious ornaments, may
cover church doors with silver and adorn the altars with gold and gems.
I do not blame those who do these things; I do not repudiate them.
[3742] Everyone must follow his own judgment. And it is better to spend
one's money thus than to hoard it up and brood over it. However your
duty is of a different kind. It is yours to clothe Christ in the poor,
to visit Him in the sick, to feed Him in the hungry, to shelter Him in
the homeless, particularly such as are of the household of faith,
[3743] to support communities of virgins, to take care of God's
servants, of those who are poor in spirit, who serve the same Lord as
you day and night, who while they are on earth live the angelic life
and speak only of the praises of God. Having food and raiment they
rejoice and count themselves rich. They seek for nothing more,
contented if only they can persevere in their design. For as soon as
they begin to seek more they are shewn to be undeserving even of those
things that are needful.
The preceding counsels have been addressed to a virgin who is wealthy
and a lady of rank.
15. But what I am now going to say will be addressed to the virgin
alone. I shall take into consideration, that is, not your circumstances
but yourself. In addition to the rule of psalmody and prayer which you
must always observe at the third, sixth, and ninth hours, at evening,
at midnight, and at dawn, [3744] you should determine how much time you
will bind yourself to give to the learning and reading of scripture,
aiming to please and instruct the soul rather than to lay a burthen
upon it. When you have spent your allotted time in these studies, often
kneeling down to pray as care for your soul will impel you to do; have
some wool always at hand, shape the threads into yarn with your thumb,
attach them to the shuttle, and then throw this to weave a web, or roll
up the yarn which others have spun or lay it out for the weavers.
Examine their work when it is done, find fault with its defects, and
arrange how much they are to do. If you busy yourself with these
numerous occupations, you will never find your days long; however late
the summer sun may be in setting, a day will always seem too short on
which something remains undone. By observing such rules as these you
will save yourself and others, you will set a good example as a
mistress, and you will place to your credit the chastity of many. For
the scripture says: "the soul of every idler is filled with desires."
[3745] Nor may you excuse yourself from toil on the plea that God's
bounty has left you in want of nothing. No; you must labour with the
rest, that being always busy you may think only of the service of the
Lord. I shall speak quite plainly. Even supposing that you give all
your property to the poor, Christ will value nothing more highly than
what you have wrought with your own hands. You may work for yourself or
to set an example to your virgins; or you may make presents to your
mother and grandmother to draw from them larger sums for the relief of
the poor.
16. I have all but passed over the most important point of all. While
you were still quite small, bishop Anastasius of holy and blessed
memory ruled the Roman church. [3746] In his days a terrible storm of
heresy [3747] came from the East and strove first to corrupt and then
to undermine that simple faith which an apostle has praised. [3748]
However the bishop, rich in poverty and as careful of his flock as an
apostle, at once smote the noxious thing on the head, and stayed the
hydra's hissing. Now I have reason to fear--in fact a report has
reached me to this effect--that the poisonous germs of this heresy
still live and sprout in the minds of some to this day. I think,
therefore, that I ought to warn you, in all kindness and affection, to
hold fast the faith of the saintly Innocent, the spiritual son of
Anastasius and his successor in the apostolic see; and not to receive
any foreign doctrine, however wise and discerning you may take yourself
to be. Men of this type whisper in corners and pretend to inquire into
the justice of God. Why, they ask, was a particular soul born in a
particular province? What is the reason that some are born of Christian
parents, others among wild beasts and savage tribes who have no
knowledge of God? Wherever they can strike the simple with their
scorpion-sting and form an ulcer fitted to their purpose, there they
diffuse their venom. "Is it for nothing, think you,"--thus they
argue--"that a little child scarcely able to recognize its mother by a
laugh or a look of joy, [3749] which has done nothing either good or
evil, is seized by a devil or overwhelmed with jaundice or doomed to
bear afflictions which godless men escape, while God's servants have to
bear them?" Now if God's judgments, they say, are "true and righteous
altogether," [3750] and if "there is no unrighteousness in Him," [3751]
we are compelled by reason to believe that our souls have pre-existed
in heaven, that they are condemned to and, if I may so say, buried in
human bodies because of some ancient sins, and that we are punished in
this valley of weeping [3752] for old misdeeds. This according to them
is the prophet's reason for saying: "Before I was afflicted I went
astray," [3753] and again, "Bring my soul out of prison." [3754] They
explain in the same way the question of the disciples in the gospel:
"Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" [3755]
and other similar passages.
This godless and wicked teaching was formerly ripe in Egypt and the
East; and now it lurks secretly like a viper in its hole among many
persons in those parts, defiling the purity of the faith and gradually
creeping on like an inherited disease till it assails a large number.
But I am sure that if you hear it you will not accept it. For you have
preceptresses under God whose faith is a rule of sound doctrine. You
will understand what I mean, for God will give you understanding in all
things. You must not ask me on the spot to give you a refutation of
this dreadful heresy and of others worse still; for were I to do so I
should "criticize where I ought to forbid," [3756] and my present
object is not to refute heretics but to instruct a virgin. However, I
have defeated their wiles and counterworked their efforts to undermine
the truth in a treatise [3757] which by God's help I have written; and
if you desire to have this, I shall send it to you promptly and with
pleasure. I say, if you desire to have it, for as the proverb says,
wares proffered unasked are little esteemed, and a plentiful supply
brings down prices, which are always highest where scarcity prevails.
17. Men often discuss the comparative merits of life in solitude and
life in a community; and the preference is usually given to the first
over the second. Still even for men there is always the risk that,
being withdrawn from the society of their fellows, they may become
exposed to unclean and godless imaginations, and in the fulness of
their arrogance and disdain may look down upon everyone but themselves,
and may arm their tongues to detract from the clergy or from those who
like themselves are bound by the vows of a solitary life. [3758] Of
such it is well said by the psalmist, "as for the children of men their
teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword." [3759] Now
if all this is true of men, how much more does it apply to women whose
fickle and vacillating minds, if left to their own devices, soon
degenerate. I am myself acquainted with anchorites of both sexes who by
excessive fasting have so impaired their faculties that they do not
know what to do or where to turn, when to speak or when to be silent.
Most frequently those who have been so affected have lived in solitary
cells, cold and damp. Moreover if persons untrained in secular learning
read the works of able church writers, they only acquire from them a
wordy fluency and not, as they might do, a fuller knowledge of the
scriptures. The old saying is found true of them, although they have
not the wit to speak, they cannot remain silent. They teach to others
the scriptures that they do not understand themselves; and if they are
fortunate enough to convince them, they take upon themselves airs as
men of learning. [3760] In fact, they set up as instructors of the
ignorant before they have gone to school themselves. It is a good thing
therefore to defer to one's betters, to obey those set over one, to
learn not only from the scriptures but from the example of others how
one ought to order one's life, and not to follow that worst of
teachers, one's own self-confidence. Of women who are thus presumptuous
the apostle says that they "are carried about with every wind of
doctrine, [3761] ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge
of the truth." [3762]
18. Avoid the company of married women who are devoted to their
husbands and to the world, that your mind may not become unsettled by
hearing what a husband says to his wife, or a wife to her husband. Such
conversations are filled with deadly venom. To express his condemnation
of them the apostle has taken a verse of a profane writer and has
pressed it into the service of the church. It may be literally rendered
at the expense of the metre: "evil communications corrupt good
manners." [3763] No; you should choose for your companions staid and
serious women, particularly widows and virgins, persons of approved
conversation, of few words, and of a holy modesty. Shun gay and
thoughtless girls, who deck their heads and wear their hair in fringes,
who use cosmetics to improve their skins and affect tight sleeves,
dresses without a crease, and dainty buskins; and by pretending to be
virgins more easily sell themselves into destruction. Moreover, the
character and tastes of a mistress are often inferred from the
behaviour of her attendants. Regard as fair and lovable and a fitting
companion one who is unconscious of her good looks and careless of her
appearance; who does not expose her breast out of doors or throw back
her cloak to reveal her neck; who veils all of her face except her
eyes, and only uses these to find her way.
19. I hesitate about what I am going to say but, as often happens,
whether I like it or not, it must be said; not that I have reason to
fear anything of the kind in your case, for probably you know nothing
of such things and have never even heard of them, but that in advising
you I may warn others. A virgin should avoid as so many plagues and
banes of chastity all ringletted youths who curl their hair and scent
themselves with musk; to whom may well be applied the words of
Petronius Arbiter, "too much perfume makes an ill perfume." [3764] I
need not speak of those who by their pertinacious visits to virgins
bring discredit both on themselves and on these; for, even if nothing
wrong is done by them, no wrong can be imagined greater than to find
oneself exposed to the calumnies and attacks of the heathen. I do not
here speak of all, but only of those whom the church itself rebukes,
whom sometimes it expels, and against whom the censure of bishops and
presbyters is not seldom directed. For, as it is, it is almost more
dangerous for giddy girls to shew themselves in the abodes of religion
than even to walk abroad. Virgins who live in communities and of whom
large numbers are assembled together, should never go out by themselves
or unaccompanied by their mother. [3765] A hawk often singles out one
of a flight of doves, pounces on it and tears it open till it is gorged
with its flesh and blood. Sick sheep stray from the flock and fall into
the jaws of wolves. I know some saintly virgins who on holy days keep
at home to avoid the crowds and refuse to go out when they must either
take a strong escort, or altogether avoid all public places.
It is about thirty years since I published a treatise on the
preservation of virginity, [3766] in which I felt constrained to oppose
certain vices and to lay bare the wiles of the devil for the
instruction of the virgin to whom it was addressed. My language then
gave offence to a great many, for everyone applied what I said to
himself and instead of welcoming my admonitions turned away from me as
an accuser of his deeds. Was it any use, do you ask, thus to arm a host
of remonstrants and to show by my complaints the wounds which my
conscience received? Yes, I answer, for, while they have passed away,
my book still remains. I have also written short exhortations to
several virgins and widows, and in these smaller works I have gathered
together all that there is to be said on the subject. So that I am
reduced to the alternative of repeating exhortations which seem
superfluous or of omitting them to the serious injury of this treatise.
The blessed Cyprian has left a noble work on virginity; [3767] and many
other writers, both Greek and Latin, have done the same. Indeed the
virginal life has been praised both with tongue and pen among all
nations and particularly among the churches. Most, however, of those
who have written on the subject have addressed themselves to such as
have not yet chosen virginity, and who need help to enable them to
choose aright. But I and those to whom I write have made our choice;
and our one object is to remain constant to it. Therefore, as our way
lies among scorpions and adders, among snares and banes, let us go
forward staff in hand, our loins girded and our feet shod; [3768] that
so we may come to the sweet waters of the true Jordan, and enter the
land of promise and go up to the house of God. Then shall we sing with
the prophet: "Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the
place where thine honour dwelleth;" [3769] and again: "one thing have I
desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life." [3770]
Happy is the soul, happy is the virgin in whose heart there is room for
no other love than the love of Christ. For in Himself He is wisdom and
chastity, patience and justice and every other virtue. Happy too is she
who can recall a man's face without the least sigh of regret, and who
has no desire to set eyes on one whom, after she has seen him, she may
find herself unwilling to give up. Some there are, however, who by
their ill-behaviour bring discredit on the holy profession of virginity
and upon the glory of the heavenly and angelic company who have made
it. These must be frankly told either to marry if they cannot contain,
or to contain if they will not marry. It is also a matter for laughter
or rather for tears, that when mistresses walk abroad they are preceded
by maids better dressed than themselves; indeed so usual has this
become that, if of two women you see one less neat than the other, you
take her for the mistress as a matter of course. And yet these maids
are professed virgins. Again not a few virgins choose sequestered
dwellings where they will not be under the eyes of others, in order
that they may live more freely than they otherwise could do. They take
baths, do what they please, and try as much as they can to escape
notice. We see these things and yet we put up with them; in fact, if we
catch sight of the glitter of gold, we are ready to account of them as
good works.
20. I end as I began, not content to have given you but a single
warning. Love the holy scriptures, and wisdom will love you. Love
wisdom, and it will keep you safe. Honour wisdom, and it will embrace
you round about. [3771] Let the jewels on your breast and in your ears
be the gems of wisdom. Let your tongue know no theme but Christ, let no
sound pass your lips that is not holy, and let your words always
reproduce that sweetness of which your grandmother and your mother set
you the example. Imitate them, for they are models of virtue.
__________________________________________________________________
[3615] Cicero in his Dialogue on the Republic. Cf. Or. xxx.
[3616] Rom. xii. 1.
[3617] Pontifex.
[3618] 2 Cor. xi. 2.
[3619] Ps. xlv. 9, 13, 14.
[3620] i.e. After receiving the veil.
[3621] Cant. i. 4.
[3622] Ps. xlv. 13.
[3623] 1 Cor. iii. 6.
[3624] In the year 395 a.d.
[3625] Which took place before the fall of Rome in 410 a.d.
[3626] Matt. xi. 8.
[3627] 2 Kings i. 8; Matt. iii. 4.
[3628] Matt. xi. 14; Luke i. 17.
[3629] Luke i. 41.
[3630] Matt. xi. 7-14. Jerome here borrows a phrase from Cyprian, de
Op. et El. xv.
[3631] Luke ii. 36, 37.
[3632] Acts xxi. 9.
[3633] Esther xiv. 16.
[3634] A virgin 13 years old beheaded at Rome under Diocletian after
vain efforts first made to overcome her faith by subjecting her to
assault and outrage.
[3635] See § 7 for the cruelties of the Count Herælian.
[3636] Quam habitura pronubam?
[3637] Wedding songs so called from the place of their origin,
Fescennia in Etruria. See Catullus LXI. for the several customs here
mentioned.
[3638] 1 John iv. 18.
[3639] Eph. vi. 14-17.
[3640] Virg., A. ii. 774.
[3641] Over Hannibal, b.c. 216. Jerome is quoting from Cicero, Brutus,
III.
[3642] The reference is to the siege of the Capitol by Brennus and the
Gauls, b.c. 390.
[3643] See note on Letter LXXIX. § 7.
[3644] i.e. Juliana and Proba, the mother and grandmother of Demetrias.
[3645] Luke xvi. 9.
[3646] i.e. Olybrius, the father of Demetrias.
[3647] Horace, Carm. iii. 3. 7, 8.
[3648] Job i. 16.
[3649] Job vii. 1.
[3650] Matt. iv. 1, sqq.
[3651] Gen. xxii. 1.
[3652] Rom. v. 3-5.
[3653] Rom. viii. 35, 36.
[3654] Isa. xxviii. 9, 10, LXX.
[3655] Rom. viii. 18.
[3656] Heraclian, Count of Africa.
[3657] Honorius.
[3658] i.e. Pluto, king of the lower world.
[3659] Sabinus, the son-in-law of Heraclian.
[3660] Virg., A. x. 79.
[3661] Jerome here apostrophizes Heraclian.
[3662] Alaric the Goth.
[3663] Reading dedignatus for dignatus.
[3664] Virg., A. iii. 435.
[3665] Matt. xiii. 25.
[3666] Cant. iii. 1; i. 7.
[3667] Ps. lxiii. 8.
[3668] Jer. xvii. 16, LXX.
[3669] Nu. xxiii. 21, LXX.
[3670] i.e. The Indian Ocean.
[3671] Matt. viii. 12.
[3672] Joh. viii. 12.
[3673] Matt. v. 25, 26.
[3674] Matt. xii. 36.
[3675] Eccles. x. 4. Jerome takes the ruler' to be the devil.
[3676] Ps. xl. 2.
[3677] Ps. civ. 18.
[3678] Gen. iii. 16.
[3679] Cant. ii. 16.
[3680] Rev. xiv. 4.
[3681] Eccles. ix. 8.
[3682] Cant. ii. 1.
[3683] Matt. x. 23.
[3684] Ps. cxlii. 4.
[3685] Ps. civ. 18.
[3686] Isa. xi. 6-8.
[3687] Eccles. x. 4.
[3688] Prov. iv. 23.
[3689] Ps. xix. 12-14.
[3690] Ps. cxxxvii. 9.
[3691] Ps. xix. 13.
[3692] Nu. xiv. 18.
[3693] Amos i. 3.
[3694] Exod. xii. 23, 29.
[3695] Ps. lvii. 7, 8.
[3696] Isa. xxiii. 15, 16.
[3697] See Letter CXXII. § 4.
[3698] 1 Cor. ix. 27.
[3699] Rom. vii. 24, 18, 19.
[3700] Rom. viii. 8, 9.
[3701] Ps. lxix. 10.
[3702] Ps. cii. 9.
[3703] Ps. xxxv. 13, Vulg.
[3704] Deut. viii. 3.
[3705] Joh. xiii. 15; 1 Pet. ii. 21.
[3706] Matt. iv. 1.
[3707] Rom. xvi. 20.
[3708] Matt. iv. 3.
[3709] Lev. xxiii. 27, 29.
[3710] Job xl. 16. Cf. Letter XXII. § 11.
[3711] Jas. iii. 6, R.V. marg.
[3712] Hos. vii. 4, Vulg.
[3713] Eph. vi. 16.
[3714] Song of the Three Holy Children 24.
[3715] Dan. iv. 16, 25, 32.
[3716] Lev. xxv. 8.
[3717] Dan. iii. 25.
[3718] Acts ix. 15.
[3719] 1 Cor. vii. 25.
[3720] See Letter CVIII. § 20.
[3721] Meden 'agan quoted by Terence (Andria, 61).
[3722] Heb. xii. 14, R.V.
[3723] See Jerome's commentary on the parable.
[3724] Matt. xxv. 1-12.
[3725] See Letters XXII., LII., etc.
[3726] Luke ii. 51.
[3727] Sall. Cat. i. 20.
[3728] Heb. xiii. 4.
[3729] 1 Pet. v. 6.
[3730] 1 Pet. v. 5.
[3731] Rom. ix. 16.
[3732] Cf. Letter XXII. § 24.
[3733] The fragment of Lucilius (preserved by Cic. de Fin. V. 30) says
nothing of Cato: possibly therefore the text is here corrupt. See for
Cato Letter LII. § 3.
[3734] Ps. iv. 4, LXX.
[3735] Eph. iv. 26.
[3736] Eph. v. 5.
[3737] Matt. xix. 16, 21.
[3738] Luke xviii. 22. Cf. Letter CXIX. § 4.
[3739] Acts iv. 34, 35.
[3740] Acts v. 1-10.
[3741] A philosopher of the Neoplatonic school (fl. 232-300 a.d.). Of
his books against Christianity only small fragments remain.
[3742] But see Letter LII. § 10.
[3743] Gal. vi. 10.
[3744] See note on Letter XXII. § 37.
[3745] Prov. xiii. 4, LXX. comp. Letter CXXV. § 11.
[3746] Anastasius was pope from 398 to 402 a.d.
[3747] That of the Origenists.
[3748] Rom. i. 8.
[3749] Virg. Ecl. iv. 60.
[3750] Ps. xix. 9.
[3751] Ps. xcii. 15.
[3752] Ps. lxxxiv. 6, R.V.
[3753] Ps. cxix. 67.
[3754] Ps. cxlii. 7.
[3755] John ix. 2.
[3756] A phrase borrowed from Cicero (p. Sext. Rosc.).
[3757] Apparently Letter CXXIV. concerning Origen's book on First
Principles.
[3758] Cf. Letter CXXV. § 9.
[3759] Ps. lvii. 4.
[3760] Cf. Letters LIII. § 7, and LXVI. § 9.
[3761] Eph. iv. 14.
[3762] 2 Tim. iii. 7.
[3763] 1 Cor. xv. 33; the words are quoted from a lost comedy of
Menander.
[3764] The words are not extant in Petronius but occur in Martial ii.
12. 4.
[3765] i.e. the head of the community.
[3766] Letter XXII. to Eustochium.
[3767] See Letter XXII. § 22 ante.
[3768] Exod. xii. 11.
[3769] Ps. xxvi. 8.
[3770] Ps. xxvii. 4.
[3771] Cf. Letter LII. § 3.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXXI. From Augustine.
At the suggestion of Jerome, Marcellinus (for whom see Letter CXXVI.)
had consulted Augustine on the difficult question of the origin of the
soul but had failed to get any definite opinion from this latter.
Augustine now writes to Jerome confessing his inability to decide the
question and asking for advice upon it. He begins by reciting--and
justifying--his own belief that the soul is immortal and incorporeal
and that its fall into sin is due not to God but to its own free
choice. He then goes on to say that he is quite ready to accept
creationism as a solution of the difficulty if Jerome will shew him how
this theory is reconcilable with the church's condemnation of Pelagius
and its assertion of the doctrine of original sin. The damnation of
unbaptized infants is assumed throughout.
The date of the letter is 415 a.d. Its number in the Letters of
Augustine is CLXVI.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXXII. From Augustine.
In this letter Augustine deals with the statement of James ii. 10
("whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of all") and explains it by saying that every breach of the law
is a breach of love. He also takes occasion to criticise two doctrines
of the schools then prevalent, (1) that all sins are equal and (2) that
he who has one virtue has all and that all virtues are wanting to him
who lacks one.
The date of the letter is 415 a.d. Its number in the Letters of
Augustine is CLXVII.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXXIII. To Ctesiphon.
Ctesiphon had written to Jerome for his opinion on two points in the
teaching of Pelagius, (1) his quietism and (2) his denial of original
sin. Jerome now refutes these two doctrines and points out that
Pelagius has drawn them partly from the philosophers and partly from
the heretics. He censures Rufinus, who had died 5 years before, for
attributing to Sixtus bishop of Rome a book which is really the work of
Xystus a Pythagorean, and for passing off as the composition of the
martyr Pamphilus a panegyric of Origen really due to his friend
Eusebius. In both these assertions, however, Jerome is more wrong than
right. (See Prolegomena to the works of Rufinus.) The letter concludes
with a promise to deal more fully with the heresy of Pelagius at some
future time, a promise afterwards redeemed by the publication of a
dialogue against the Pelagians.' The date of the letter is 415 a.d.
1. In acquainting me with the new controversy which has taken the place
of the old you are wrong in thinking that you have acted rashly, for
your conduct has been prompted by zeal and friendship. Already before
the arrival of your letter many in the East have been deceived into a
pride which apes humility and have said with the devil: "I will ascend
into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will be
like the Most High." [3772] Can there be greater presumption than to
claim not likeness to God but equality with Him, and so to compress
into a few words the poisonous doctrines of all the heretics which in
their turn flow from the statements of the philosophers, particularly
of Pythagoras and Zeno the founder of the Stoic school? For those
states of feeling which the Greeks call pathe and which we may describe
as "passions," relating to the present or the future such as vexation
and gladness, hope and fear,--these, they tell us, it is possible to
root out of our minds; in fact all vice may be destroyed root and
branch in man by meditation on virtue and constant practice of it. The
position which they thus take up is vehemently assailed by the
Peripatetics who trace themselves to Aristotle, and by the new
Academics of whom Cicero is a disciple; and these overthrow not the
facts of their opponents--for they have no facts--but the shadows and
wishes which do duty for them. To maintain such a doctrine is to take
man's nature from him, to forget that he is constituted of body as well
as soul, to substitute mere wishes for sound teaching. [3773] For the
apostle says:--"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the
body of this death?" [3774] But as I cannot say all that I wish in a
short letter I will briefly touch on the points that you must avoid.
Virgil writes:--
Thus mortals fear and hope, rejoice and grieve,
And shut in darkness have no sight of heaven. [3775]
For who can escape these feelings? Must we not all clap our hands when
we are joyful, and shrink at the approach of sorrow? Must not hope
always animate us and fear put us in terror? So in one of his Satires
the poet Horace, whose words are so weighty, writes:
From faults no mortal is completely free;
He that has fewest is the perfect man. [3776]
2. Well does one of our own writers [3777] say: "the philosophers are
the patriarchs of the heretics." It is they who have stained with their
perverse doctrine the spotlessness of the Church, not knowing that of
human weakness it is said: "Why is earth and ashes proud?" [3778] So
likewise the apostle: "I see another law in my members warring against
the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity"; [3779] and again,
"The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not that I
do." [3780] Now if Paul does what he wills not, what becomes of the
assertion that a man may be without sin if he will? Given the will, how
is it to have its way when the apostle tells us that he has no power to
do what he wishes? Moreover if we ask them who the persons are whom
they regard as sinless they seek to veil the truth by a new subterfuge.
They do not, they say, profess that men are or have been without sin;
all that they maintain is that it is possible for them to be so.
Remarkable teachers truly, who maintain that a thing may be which on
their own shewing, never has been; whereas the scripture says:--"The
thing which shall be, it is that which hath been already of old time."
[3781]
I need not go through the lives of the saints or call attention to the
moles and spots which mark the fairest skins. Many of our writers, it
is true, unwisely, take this course; however, a few sentences of
scripture will dispose alike of the heretics and the philosophers. What
says the chosen vessel? "God had concluded all in unbelief that he
might have mercy upon all;" [3782] and in another place, "all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God." [3783] The preacher also
who is the mouthpiece of the Divine Wisdom freely protests and says:
"there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not:"
[3784] and again, "if thy people sin against thee, for there is no man
that sinneth not:" [3785] and "who can say, I have made my heart
clean?" [3786] and "none is clean from stain, not even if his life on
earth has been but for one day." David insists on the same thing when
he says: "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother
conceive me;" [3787] and in another psalm, "in thy sight shall no man
living be justified." [3788] This last passage they try to explain away
from motives of reverence, arguing that the meaning is that no man is
perfect in comparison with God. Yet the scripture does not say: "in
comparison with thee shall no man living be justified" but "in thy
sight shall no man living be justified." And when it says "in thy
sight" it means that those who seem holy to men to God in his fuller
knowledge are by no means holy. For "man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." [3789] But if in the
sight of God who sees all things and to whom the secrets of the heart
lie open [3790] no man is just; then these heretics instead of adding
to man's dignity, clearly take away from God's power. I might bring
together many other passages of scripture of the same import; but were
I to do so, I should exceed the limits I will not say of a letter but
of a volume.
3. It is with no new doctrines that in their self-applauding perfidy
they deceive the simple and untaught. They cannot, however, deceive
theologians who meditate in the law of the Lord day and night. [3791]
Let those blush then for their leaders and companions who say that a
man may be "without sin" if he will, or, as the Greeks term it
anamartetos , "sinless." As such a statement sounds intolerable to the
Eastern churches, they profess indeed only to say that a man may be
"without sin" and do not presume to allege that he may be "sinless" as
well. As if, forsooth, "sinless" and "without sin" had different
meanings; whereas the only difference between them is that Latin
requires two words to express what Greek gives in one. If you adopt
"without sin" and reject "sinless," then condemn the preachers of
sinlessness. But this you cannot do. You know [3792] very well what it
is that you teach your pupils in private; and that while you say one
thing with your lips you engrave another on your heart. To us, ignorant
outsiders you speak in parables; but to your own followers you avow
your secret meaning. And for this you claim the authority of scripture
which says: "to the multitudes Jesus spake in parables;" but to his own
disciples He said: "it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." [3793]
But to return; I will shortly set forth the names of your leaders and
companions to shew you who those are of whose fellowship you make your
boast. Manichæus says of his elect--whom he places among Plato's orbits
in heaven--that they are free from all sin, and cannot sin even if they
will. To so great heights have they attained in virtue that they laugh
at the works of the flesh. Then there is Priscillian in Spain whose
infamy makes him as bad as Manichæus, and whose disciples profess a
high esteem for you. These are rash enough to claim for themselves the
twofold credit of perfection and wisdom. Yet they shut themselves up
alone with women and justify their sinful embraces by quoting the
lines:
The almighty father takes the earth to wife;
Pouring upon her fertilizing rain,
That from her womb new harvest he may reap. [3794]
These heretics have affinities with Gnosticism which may be traced to
the impious teaching of Basilides. [3795] It is from him that you
derive the assertion that without knowledge of the law it is impossible
to avoid sin. But why do I speak of Priscillian who has been condemned
by the whole world and put to death by the secular sword? [3796]
Evagrius [3797] of Ibera in Pontus who sends letters to virgins and
monks and among others to her whose name bears witness to the blackness
of her perfidy, [3798] has published a book of maxims on apathy, or, as
we should say, impassivity or imperturbability; a state in which the
mind ceases to be agitated and--to speak simply--becomes either a stone
or a God. His work is widely read, in the East in Greek and in the West
in a Latin translation made by his disciple Rufinus. [3799] He has also
written a book which professes to be about monks and includes in it
many not monks at all whom he declares to have been Origenists, and who
have certainly been condemned by the bishops. I mean Ammonius,
Eusebius, Euthymius, [3800] Evagrius himself, Horus, [3801] Isidorus,
[3802] and many others whom it would be tedious to enumerate. He is
careful, however, to do as the physicians, of whom Lucretius says:
[3803]
To children bitter wormwood still they give
In cups with juice of sweetest honey smeared.
That is to say, he has set in the forefront of his book John, [3804] an
undoubted Catholic and saint, by his means to introduce to the church
the heretics mentioned farther on. But who can adequately characterize
the rashness or madness which has led him to ascribe a book of the
Pythagorean philosopher Xystus, [3805] a heathen who knew nothing of
Christ, to Sixtus [3806] a martyr and bishop of the Roman church? In
this work the subject of perfection is discussed at length in the light
of the Pythagorean doctrine which makes man equal with God and of one
substance with Him. Thus many not knowing that its author was a
philosopher and supposing that they are reading the words of a martyr,
drink of the golden cup of Babylon. Moreover in its pages there is no
mention of prophets, patriarchs, apostles, or of Christ; so that
according to Rufinus [3807] there has been a bishop and a martyr who
had nothing to do with Christ. Such is the book from which you and your
followers quote passages against the church. In the same way he played
fast and loose with the name of the holy martyr Pamphilus ascribing to
him the first of the six books in defence of Origen written by Eusebius
of Cæsarea [3808] who is admitted by every body to have been an Arian.
His object in doing so was of course to commend to Latin ears Origen's
four wonderful books about First Principles.
Would you have me name another of your masters in heresy? Much of your
teaching is traceable to Origen. For, to give one instance only, when
he comments on the psalmist's words: "My reins also instruct me in the
night season," [3809] he maintains that when a holy man like yourself
has reached perfection, he is free even at night from human infirmity
and is not tempted by evil thoughts. You need not blush to avow
yourself a follower of these men; it is of no use to disclaim their
names when you adopt their blasphemies. Moreover, your teaching
corresponds to Jovinian's second position. [3810] You must, therefore,
take the answer which I have given to him as equally applicable to
yourself. Where men's opinions are the same their destinies can hardly
be different.
4. Such being the state of the case, what object is served by "silly
women laden with sins, carried about with every wind of doctrine, ever
learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth?" [3811]
Or how is the cause helped by the men who dance attendance upon these,
men with itching ears [3812] who know neither how to hear nor how to
speak? They confound old mire with new cement and, as Ezekiel says,
daub a wall with untempered mortar; so that, when the truth comes in a
shower, they are brought to nought. [3813] It was with the help of the
harlot Helena that Simon Magus founded his sect. [3814] Bands of women
accompanied Nicolas of Antioch that deviser of all uncleanness. [3815]
Marcion sent a woman before him to Rome to prepare men's minds to fall
into his snares. [3816] Apelles possessed in Philumena an associate in
his false doctrines. [3817] Montanus, that mouthpiece of an unclean
spirit, used two rich and high born ladies Prisca and Maximilla first
to bribe and then to pervert many churches. [3818] Leaving ancient
history I will pass to times nearer to our own. Arius intent on leading
the world astray began by misleading the Emperor's sister. [3819] The
resources of Lucilla helped Donatus to defile with his polluting
baptism many unhappy persons throughout Africa. [3820] In Spain the
blind woman Agape led the blind man Elpidius into the ditch. [3821] He
was followed by Priscillian, an enthusiastic votary of Zoroaster and a
magian before he became a bishop. A woman named Galla seconded his
efforts and left a gadabout sister to perpetuate a second heresy of a
kindred form. [3822] Now also the mystery of iniquity is working.
[3823] Men and women in turn lay snares for each other till we cannot
but recall the prophet's words: "the partridge hath cried aloud, she
hath gathered young which she hath not brought forth, she getteth
riches and not by right; in the midst of her days she shall leave them,
and at her end she shall be a fool." [3824]
5. The better to deceive men they have added to the maxim given above
[3825] the saving clause "but not without the grace of God;" and this
may at the first blush take in some readers. However, when it is
carefully sifted and considered, it can deceive nobody. For while they
acknowledge the grace of God, they tell us that our acts do not depend
upon His help. Rather, they understand by the grace of God free will
and the commandments of the Law. They quote Isaiah's words: "God hath
given the law to aid men," [3826] and say that we ought to thank Him
for having created us such that of our own free will we can choose the
good and avoid the evil. Nor do they see that in alleging this the
devil uses their lips to hiss out an intolerable blasphemy. For if
God's grace is limited to this that He has formed us with wills of our
own, and if we are to rest content with free will, not seeking the
divine aid lest this should be impaired, we should cease to pray; for
we cannot entreat God's mercy to give us daily what is already in our
hands having been given to us once for all. Those who think thus make
prayer impossible and boast that free will makes them not merely
controllers of themselves but as powerful as God. For they need no
external help. Away with fasting, away with every form of
self-restraint! For why need I strive to win by toil what has once for
all been placed within my reach? The argument that I am using is not
mine; it is that put forward by a disciple of Pelagius, or rather one
who is the teacher and commander of his whole army. [3827] This man,
who is the opposite of Paul for he is a vessel of perdition, roams
through thickets--not, as his partisans say, of syllogisms, but of
solecisms, and theorizes thus: "If I do nothing without the help of God
and if all that I do is His act, I cease to labour and the crown that I
shall win will belong not to me but to the grace of God. It is idle for
Him to have given me the power of choice if I cannot use it without His
constant help. For will that requires external support ceases to be
will. God has given me freedom of choice, but what becomes of this if I
cannot do as I wish?" Accordingly he propounds the following dilemma:
"Either once for all I use the power which is given to me, and so
preserve the freedom of my will; or I need the help of another, in
which case the freedom of my will is wholly abrogated."
6. Surely the man who says this is no ordinary blasphemer; the poison
of his heresy is no common poison. Since our wills are free, they
argue, we are no longer dependent upon God; and they forget the
Apostle's words "what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if
thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received
it?" [3828] A nice return, truly, does a man make to God when to assert
the freedom of his will he rebels against Him! For our parts we gladly
embrace this freedom, but we never forget to thank the Giver; knowing
that we are powerless unless He continually preserves in us His own
gift. As the apostle says, "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." [3829] To will and to run
are mine, but they will cease to be mine unless God brings me His
continual aid. For the same apostle says "it is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do." [3830] And in the Gospel the Saviour says:
"my Father worketh hitherto and I work." [3831] He is always a giver,
always a bestower. It is not enough for me that he has given me grace
once; He must give it me always. I seek that I may obtain, and when I
have obtained I seek again. I am covetous of God's bounty; and as He is
never slack in giving, so I am never weary in receiving. The more I
drink, the more I thirst. For I have read the song of the psalmist: "O
taste and see that the Lord is good." [3832] Every good thing that we
have is a tasting of the Lord. When I fancy myself to have finished the
book of virtue, I shall then only be at the beginning. For "the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," [3833] and this fear is in its
turn cast out by love. [3834] Men are only perfect so far as they know
themselves to be imperfect. "So likewise ye," Christ says, "when ye
shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are
unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do."
[3835] If he is unprofitable who has done all, what must we say of him
who has failed to do so? This is why the Apostle declares that he has
attained in part and apprehended in part, that he is not yet perfect,
and that forgetting those things which are behind he reaches forth unto
those things which are before. [3836] Now he who always forgets the
past and longs for the future shews that he is not content with the
present.
They are for ever objecting to us that we destroy free will. Nay, we
reply, it is you who destroy it; for you use it amiss and disown the
bounty of its Giver. Which really destroys freedom? the man who thanks
God always and traces back his own tiny rill to its source in Him? or
the man who says: "come not near to me, for I am holy; [3837] I have no
need of Thee. Thou hast given me once for all freedom of choice to do
as I wish. Why then dost Thou interfere again to prevent me from doing
anything unless Thou Thyself first makest Thy gifts effective in me?"
To such an one I would say: "your profession of belief in God's grace
is insincere. For you explain this of the state in which man has been
created and you do not look for God to help him in his actions. To do
this, you argue, would be to surrender human freedom. Thus disdaining
the aid of God you have to look to men for help."
7. Listen, only listen, to the blasphemer. "Suppose," he avers, "that I
want to bend my finger or to move my hand, to sit, to stand, to walk,
to run to and fro, to spit or to blow my nose, to perform the offices
of nature; must the help of God be always indispensable to me?"
Thankless, nay blasphemous wretch, hear the apostle's declaration:
"whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God." [3838] Hear also the words of James: "go to now, ye that
say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city and continue there
a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain. Whereas ye know not what shall
be on the morrow: for what is your life? It is even a vapour that
appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought
to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that. But now
ye rejoice in your boastings; all such rejoicing is evil." [3839] You
fancy that a wrong is inflicted on you and your freedom of choice is
destroyed if you are forced to fall back on God as the moving cause of
all your actions, if you are made dependent on His Will, and if you
have to echo the psalmist's words: "mine eyes are ever toward the Lord:
for it is he that shall pluck my feet out of the net." [3840] And so
you presume rashly to maintain that each individual is governed by his
own choice. But if he is governed by his own choice, what becomes of
God's help? If he does not need Christ to rule him, why does Jeremiah
write: "the way of man is not in himself" [3841] and "the Lord
directeth his steps." [3842]
You say that the commandments of God are easy, and yet you cannot
produce any one who has fulfilled them all. Answer me this: are they
easy or are they difficult? If they are easy, then produce some one who
has fulfilled them all. Explain also the words of the psalmist: "thou
dost cause toil by thy law," [3843] and "because of the words of thy
lips I have kept hard ways." [3844] And make plain our Lord's sayings
in the gospel: "enter ye in at the strait gate;" [3845] and "love your
enemies;" and "pray for them which persecute you." [3846] If on the
other hand the commandments are difficult and if no man has kept them
all, how have you presumed to say that they are easy? Do not you see
that you contradict yourself? For either they are easy and countless
numbers have kept them; or they are difficult and you have been too
hasty in calling them easy.
8. It is a common argument with your party to say that God's
commandments are either possible or impossible. So far as they are the
former you admit that they are rightly laid upon us; but so far as they
are the latter you allege that blame attaches not to us who have
received them but to God who has imposed them on us. What! has God
commanded me to be what He is, [3847] to put no difference between
myself and my creator, to be greater than the greatest of the angels,
to have a power which no angels possess? Sinlessness is made a
characteristic of Christ, "who did no sin neither was guile found in
his mouth." [3848] But if I am sinless as well as He, how is
sinlessness any longer His distinguishing mark? for if this distinction
exists, your theory becomes fatal to itself.
You assert that a man may be without sin if he will; and then, as
though awakening from a deep sleep, you try to deceive the unwary by
adding the saving clause "yet not without the grace of God." For if by
his own efforts a man can keep himself without sin, what need has he of
God's grace? If on the other hand he can do nothing without this, what
is the use of saying that he can do what he cannot do? It is argued
that a man may be without sin and perfect if he only wills it. What
Christian is there who does not wish to be sinless or who would reject
perfection if, as you say, it is to be had for the wishing, and if the
will is sure to be followed by the power? There is no Christian who
does not wish to be sinless; wishing to be so, therefore, they all will
be so. Whether you like it or not you will be caught in this dilemma,
that you can produce nobody or hardly anybody who is without sin, yet
have to admit that everybody may be sinless if he likes. God's
commandments, it is argued, are possible to keep. Who denies it? But
how this truth is to be understood the chosen vessel thus most clearly
explains: "what the law could not do in that it was weak through the
flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for
sin, condemned sin in the flesh;" [3849] and again: "by the deeds of
the law there shall no flesh be justified." [3850] And to shew that it
is not only the law of Moses that is meant or all those precepts which
collectively are termed the law, the same apostle writes: "I delight in
the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my
members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that
I am: who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of
God through Jesus Christ our Lord." [3851] Other words of his further
explain his meaning: "we know that the law is spiritual: but I am
carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I know [3852] not: for what
I would that do I not, but what I hate that do I. If then I do that
which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it
is no more I that do it: but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that
in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me: but how to perform that which is good I find not. For
the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I
do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin
that dwelleth in me." [3853]
9. But you will demur to this and say that I follow the teaching [3854]
of the Manichæans and others who make war against the church's doctrine
in the interest of their belief that there are two natures diverse from
one another and that there is an evil nature which can in no wise be
changed. But it is not against me that you must make this imputation
but against the apostle who knows well that God is one thing and man
another, that the flesh is weak and the spirit strong. [3855] "The
flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh: and
these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the
things that ye would." [3856] But from me you will never hear that any
nature is essentially evil. Let us learn then from him who tells us so
in what sense the flesh is weak. Ask him why he has said: "the good
that I would, I do not; the evil which I would not, that I do." [3857]
What necessity fetters his will? What compulsion commands him to do
what he dislikes? And why must he do not what he wishes but what he
dislikes and does not wish? He will answer you thus: "nay, but, O man,
who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say unto
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter
power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour
and another unto dishonour?" [3858] Bring a yet graver charge against
God and ask Him why, when Esau and Jacob were still in the womb, He
said: "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." [3859] Accuse Him of
injustice because, when Achan the son of Carmi stole part of the spoil
of Jericho, He butchered so many thousands for the fault of one. [3860]
Ask Him why for the sin of the sons of Eli the people were well-nigh
annihilated and the ark captured. [3861] And why, when David sinned by
numbering the people, so many thousands lost their lives. [3862] Or
lastly make your own the favorite cavil of your associate Porphyry, and
ask how God can be described as pitiful and of great mercy when from
Adam to Moses and from Moses to the coming of Christ He has suffered
all nations to die in ignorance of the Law and of His commandments.
[3863] For Britain, that province so fertile in despots, the Scottish
tribes, and all the barbarians round about as far as the ocean were
alike without knowledge of Moses and the prophets. Why should Christ's
coming have been delayed to the last times? Why should He not have come
before so vast a number had perished? Of this last question the blessed
apostle in writing to the Romans most wisely disposes by admitting that
he does not know and that only God does. Do you too, then, condescend
to remain ignorant of that into which you inquire. Leave to God His
power over what is His own; He does not need you to justify His
actions. I am the hapless being against whom you ought to direct your
insults, I who am for ever reading the words: "by grace ye are saved,"
[3864] and "blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is
covered." [3865] Yet, to lay bare my own weakness, I know that I wish
to do many things which I ought to do and yet cannot. For while my
spirit is strong and leads me to life my flesh is weak and draws me to
death. And I have the warning of the Lord in my ears: "watch and pray
that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak." [3866]
10. It is in vain that you misrepresent me and try to convince the
ignorant that I condemn free will. Let him who condemns it be himself
condemned. We have been created endowed with free will; still it is not
this which distinguishes us from the brutes. For human free will, as I
have said before, depends upon the help of God and needs His aid moment
by moment, a thing which you and yours do not choose to admit. Your
position is that, if a man once has free will, he no longer needs the
help of God. It is true that freedom of the will brings with it freedom
of decision. Still man does not act immediately on his free will, but
requires God's aid who Himself needs no aid. You yourself boast that a
man's righteousness may be perfect and equal to God's; yet you confess
that you are a sinner. Answer me this, then; do you or do you not wish
to be free from sin? If you do, why on your principle do you not carry
out your desire? And if you do not, do you not prove yourself a
despiser of God's commandments? If you are a despiser, then you are a
sinner. And if you are a sinner, then the scripture says: "unto the
wicked God saith, what hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that
thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? seeing thou hatest
instruction and castest my words behind thee." [3867] So long as you
are unwilling to do what God commands, so long do you cast His words
behind you. And yet like a new apostle you lay down for the world what
to do and what not to do. However, your words and your thoughts by no
means correspond. For when you say that you are a sinner--yet that a
man may be without sin if he will, you wish it to be understood that
you are a saint and free from all sin. It is only out of humility
[3868] that you call yourself a sinner; to give you a chance of
praising others while you depreciate yourself.
11. Another of your arguments is also intolerable, one which runs thus:
"To be sinless is one thing, to be able to be so is another. The first
is not in our power, the second generally is. For though none ever has
been sinless, yet, if a man wills to be so, he can be so." What sort of
reasoning, I ask, is this? that a man can be what a man never has been!
that a thing is possible which according to your own admission, no man
has yet achieved! You are predicating of man a quality which, for aught
you know, he may never possess! and you are assigning to any chance
person a grace which you cannot shew to have marked patriarchs,
prophets, or apostles. Listen to the Church's words, plain as they may
seem to you or crude or ignorant. And speak what you think; preach
publicly what secretly you tell your disciples. You profess to have
freedom of choice; why do you not speak your thoughts freely? Your
secret chambers hear one doctrine, the crowd around the platform hear
another. The uneducated throng, I suppose, is not able to digest your
esoteric teaching. Satisfied with the milk-diet of an infant it cannot
take solid food. [3869]
I have written nothing yet, and still you menace me with the thunders
of a reply; hoping, I suppose, that I may be scared by your terrors and
may not venture to open my mouth. You fail to see that my purpose in
writing is to force you to answer and to commit yourself plainly to
doctrines which at present you maintain or ignore, as time, place, and
person require. One kind of freedom I must deny to you, the freedom to
deny what you have once written. An open avowal on your part of the
opinions that you hold will be a victory for the church. For either the
language of your reply will correspond to mine, in which case I shall
count you no longer as opponents but as friends; or else you will
gainsay my doctrine, in which case the making known of your opinion to
all the churches will be a triumph for me. To have brought your tenets
to light is to have overcome them. Blasphemy is written on the face of
them, and a doctrine, which in its very statement is blasphemous, needs
no refutation. You threaten me with a reply, but this nobody can escape
except the man who does not write at all. How do you know what I am
going to say that you talk of a reply? Perhaps I shall take your view
and then you will have sharpened your wits to no purpose. Eunomians,
Arians, Macedonians--all these, unlike in name, alike in impiety, give
me no trouble. For they say what they think. Yours is the only heresy
which blushes openly to maintain what secretly it does not fear to
teach. But the frenzy of the disciples exposes the silence of the
masters; for what they have heard from them in the closet they preach
upon the housetop. If their auditors like what they say, their masters
get the credit; and if they dislike it, only the disciples are blamed,
the masters go free. In this way your heresy has grown and you have
deceived many; especially those who cleave to women and are assured
that they cannot sin. You are always teaching, you are always denying;
you deserve to have the prophet's words applied to you: "give to them
glory, O Lord, when they are in travail and in the throes of labour.
Give them, O Lord; what wilt thou give? Give them a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts." [3870] My temper rises and I cannot check my words.
The limits of a letter do not admit of a lengthy discussion. I assail
nobody by name here. It is only against the teacher of perverse
doctrine that I have spoken. If resentment shall induce him to reply,
he will but betray himself like a mouse which always leaves traces of
its presence; and, when it comes to blows in earnest, will receive more
serious wounds.
12. From my youth up until now I have spent many years in writing
various works and have always tried to teach my hearers the doctrine
that I have been taught publicly in church. I have not followed the
philosophers in their discussions but have preferred to acquiesce in
the plain words of the apostles. For I have known that it is written:
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent," [3871] and "the foolishness of God is
wiser than men." [3872] This being the case, I challenge my opponents
thoroughly to sift all my past writings and, if they can find anything
that is faulty in them, to bring it to light. One of two things must
happen. Either my works will be found edifying and I shall confute the
false charges brought against me; or they will be found blameworthy and
I shall confess my error. For I would sooner correct an error than
persevere in an opinion proved to be wrong. And as for you, illustrious
doctor, go you and do likewise: either defend the statements that you
have made, and support your clever theories with corresponding
eloquence, and do not when the whim takes you disown your own words; or
if, as a man may do, you have made a mistake, confess it frankly and
restore harmony where there has been disagreement. Recall to mind how
even the soldiers did not rend the coat of the Saviour. [3873] When you
see brothers at strife you laugh; and are glad that some are called by
your name and others by that of Christ. Better would it be to imitate
Jonah and say: "If it is for my sake that this great tempest is upon
you, take me up and cast me forth into the sea." [3874] He in his
humility was thrown into the deep that he might rise again in glory to
be a type of the Lord. [3875] But you are lifted up in your pride to
the stars, only that of you too Jesus may say: "I beheld Satan as
lightning fall from heaven." [3876]
13. It is true that in the holy scriptures many are called righteous,
as Zacharias and Elizabeth, Job, Jehosaphat, Josiah, and many others
who are mentioned in the sacred writings. Of this fact I shall, if God
gives me grace, give a full explanation in the work which I have
promised [3877] ; in this letter it must suffice to say that they are
called righteous, not because they are faultless but because their
faults are eclipsed by their virtues. [3878] In fact Zacharias is
punished with dumbness, [3879] Job is condemned out of his own mouth,
[3880] and Jehoshaphat and Josiah who are beyond a doubt described as
righteous are narrated to have done things displeasing to the Lord. The
first leagued himself with the ungodly Ahab and brought upon himself
the rebuke of Micaiah; [3881] and the second--though forbidden by the
word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah--went against Pharaoh-Nechoh, king
of Egypt, and was slain by him. [3882] Yet they are both called
righteous. Of the rest this is not the time to write; for you have
asked me not for a treatise but for a letter. For a complete refutation
I require leisure and then I hope to destroy all their cavils by the
help of Christ. For this purpose I shall rely on the holy scriptures in
which God every day speaks to those who believe. And this is the
warning which I would give through you to all who are assembled within
your holy and illustrious house, that they should not allow one or at
the most three mannikins to taint them with the dregs of so many
heresies and with the infamy--to say the least--attaching to them. A
place once famous for virtue and holiness must not be defiled by the
presumption of the devil and by unclean associations. And let those who
supply money to such men know that they are adding to the ranks of the
heretics, raising up enemies to Christ and fostering his avowed
opponents. It is idle for them to profess one thing with their lips
when by their actions they are proved to think another.
__________________________________________________________________
[3772] Isa. xiv. 13, 14.
[3773] Cf. Letter LXXIX. § 9.
[3774] Rom. vii. 24.
[3775] Virgil, Æneid, vi. 733, 734.
[3776] Horace, Sat. I. iii. 68, 69.
[3777] Tertullian, against Hermogenes, c. ix.
[3778] Ecclus. x. 9.
[3779] Rom. vii. 23.
[3780] Rom. vii. 19.
[3781] Eccles. i. 9. Jerome inverts the words of the Preacher.
[3782] Rom. xi. 32.
[3783] Rom. iii. 23.
[3784] Eccles. vii. 20.
[3785] 1 Kings viii. 46.
[3786] Prov. xx. 9.
[3787] Ps. li. 5.
[3788] Ps. cxliii. 2.
[3789] 1 Sam. xvi. 7.
[3790] Ps. xliv. 21; Heb. iv. 13.
[3791] Ps. i. 2.
[3792] Jerome here addresses Pelagius.
[3793] Matt. xiii. 3, 11.
[3794] Virgil, Georg. ii. 325-327.
[3795] See note on Letter LXXV. § 3.
[3796] He was condemned by a council at Saragossa in 380-381 a.d. and
was put to death by Maximus at Trêves in 385 a.d. at the instigation of
the Spanish bishops. Martin of Tours tried to save his life in vain.
[3797] According to Sozomen (H. E. vi. c. 30) Evagrius was in his youth
befriended by Gregory of Nyssa, who left him in Constantinople to
assist Nectarius in dealing with theological questions. Being in
danger, both as to his chastity and as to his personal safety on
account of an acquaintance he had formed with a lady of rank, he
withdrew to Jerusalem, where he was nursed through a severe illness by
Melanium. The rest of his life he spent as an ascetic in the Egyptian
desert. See also Pallad. Hist. Laus., § lxxxvi.
[3798] Viz., Melanium, who having sided with Rufinus in his controversy
with Jerome, incurred the latter's displeasure. The name means black.'
See Letter IV. § 2.
[3799] Viz., Rufinus of Aquileia, Jerome's former friend.
[3800] These three were known as the long brothers.' Their expulsion
from Egypt by Theophilus was one of the causes which led to the
downfall of John of Chrysostom.
[3801] A contemporary Egyptian monk of great celebrity.
[3802] See Letter XCII. and note.
[3803] Lucretius, i. 935-937.
[3804] Viz., John of Lycopolis, an Egyptian hermit of the latter half
of the fourth century. His reputation for sanctity was only second to
that of Antony. The book about monks here spoken of does not occur in
the list of the writings of Evagrius in the Dict. of Chr. Biog., taken
from Socrates, Gennadius and Palladius. Rufinus' History of the Monks
bears a close affinity to the Historia Lausiaca of Palladius, who was
closely allied to Evagrius; and it is possible that Jerome may have
attributed Palladius' work to Evagrius. See Prolegomena to Rufinus, and
comp. Ruf. Hist. Mon. i. with Pall. Hist. Laus., xliii.
[3805] In his references (here and in his comm. on Jeremiah, book iv.,
ch. 22) to the Gnomes of Sixtus or Xystus, Jerome is both inaccurate
and unfair. For Rufinus merely states that the author was traditionally
identified with Sixtus, bishop of Rome and martyr; and he does not
endorse the statement. In its present form the book is so strongly
Christian in tone and language that it is strange to find it described
as Christless and heathen. Of its origin nothing certain is known, but
probably it is "the production of an early Christian philosopher
working up heathen material with a leaven of the Gospel" (Dict. Chr.
Biog. s. v. Xystus).
[3806] It is not clear which Sixtus is meant. Sixtus I. is not known to
have been a martyr and Sixtus II. can hardly be intended. For though
his claim to the title is undisputed he can scarcely have written what
Origen already quotes as well known.
[3807] Jerome elsewhere twits Rufinus with the same mistake (see Comm.
on Jer., book iv., ch. 22). He was not, however, alone in making it,
for even Augustine was for a time similarly deceived (see his
Retractations, ii. 42).
[3808] Cf. Against Rufinus, i. 8, 9. There is now no doubt that Jerome
was wrong and Rufinus right as to the authorship of the book. See the
article entitled Eusebius in the Dict. of Christian Biog. and the
prolegomena to his works as issued in this series.
[3809] Ps. xvi. 7 and Origen's Comm. ad loc.
[3810] See Against Jovinian, book ii. 1. His second position is that
"persons baptized with water and the spirit cannot be tempted of the
devil."
[3811] Eph. iv. 14; 2 Tim. iii. 6, 7.
[3812] 2 Tim. iv. 3.
[3813] Ezek. xiii. 10-16.
[3814] This legendary companion and disciple of Simon Magus is said to
have been identified by him with Helen of Troy. According to Justin
Martyr she had been a prostitute at Tyre.
[3815] Cf. Epiphanius, Adv. Hær. lib. i. tom. ii, p. 76, ed. Migne.
[3816] Jerome is alone in speaking of this emissary. It has been
suggested that he may have had in mind the gnostic Marcellina, who came
to Rome during the episcopate of Anicetus.
[3817] Apelles, the most famous of the disciples of Marcion, lived and
taught mainly at Rome. Philumena was a clairvoyante whose revelations
he regarded as inspired.
[3818] See Letter XLI.
[3819] Constantia, sister of Constantine the Great.
[3820] Lucilla, a wealthy lady of Carthage, having been condemned by
its bishop Cæcilianus, is said to have procured his deposition by
bribing his fellow-bishops.
[3821] Agape, a Spanish lady, was a disciple of the gnostic Marcus of
Memphis (cf. Letter LXXV. § 3). She was thus one of the links between
the gnosticism of the East and the Priscillianism of Spain. Elpidius
was a rhetorician who spread in Spain the Zoroastrian opinions which
culminated in Priscillianism.
[3822] Of these sisters nothing further is known.
[3823] 2 Th. ii. 7.
[3824] Jer. xvii. 11, Vulg.
[3825] Viz., "A man may be without sin." See for this and the other
statements of Pelagius, Aug. de Gestis Pelagii, esp. c. 2 and 6.
Jerome's Anti-Pelagian Dialogue takes these words as containing the
essence of Pelagianism.
[3826] Isa. viii. 20, LXX.
[3827] Celestius is meant, after Pelagius the principal champion of
free will.
[3828] 1 Cor. iv. 7.
[3829] Rom. ix. 16.
[3830] Phil. ii. 13.
[3831] John v. 17.
[3832] Ps. xxxiv. 8.
[3833] Ps. cxi. 10.
[3834] 1 Joh. iv. 18.
[3835] Luke xvii. 10.
[3836] Phil. iii. 12, 13.
[3837] Isa. lxv. 5, LXX.
[3838] 1 Cor. x. 31.
[3839] Jas. iv. 13-16.
[3840] Ps. xxv. 15.
[3841] Jer. x. 23.
[3842] Prov. xvi. 9.
[3843] Ps. xciv. 20, LXX and Vulg.
[3844] Ps. xvii. 4, LXX.
[3845] Matt. vii. 13.
[3846] Matt. v. 44.
[3847] autarkes, self-determined.
[3848] 1 Pet. ii. 22.
[3849] Rom. viii. 3.
[3850] Rom. iii. 20.
[3851] Rom. vii. 22-25. In the Latin as in the Greek one word does duty
for grace' and thanks.'
[3852] R.V.
[3853] Rom. vii. 14-20.
[3854] This is the well known dualism of Manes (Manichæus), who held
that the physical world and the human body are essentially evil.
[3855] cf. Matt. xxvi. 41.
[3856] Gal. v. 17.
[3857] Rom. vii. 19.
[3858] Rom. ix. 20, 21.
[3859] Mal. i. 2, 3; Rom. ix. 13.
[3860] Josh. vii.
[3861] 1 Sam. iv.
[3862] 2 Sam. xxiv.
[3863] This objection is dealt with at length by Augustine (Letter CXI.
§§ 8-15. See Vol. I. Series I. of this Library).
[3864] Eph. ii. 5.
[3865] Ps. xxxii. 1.
[3866] Matt. xxvi. 41.
[3867] Ps. l. 16, 17.
[3868] Or rather, mock humility.
[3869] cf. 1 Cor. iii. 2.
[3870] Hos. ix. 11, 14, partly after the LXX., partly from memory.
[3871] Isa. xxix. 14, as quoted by Paul, 1 Cor. i. 19.
[3872] 1 Cor. i. 25.
[3873] Joh. xix. 23, 24.
[3874] Jon. i. 12.
[3875] Matt. xii. 39, 40.
[3876] Luke x. 18.
[3877] The Anti-Pelagian Dialogue, to which this letter is a kind of
prelude.
[3878] Cf. Letter CXXIII. § 3.
[3879] Luke i. 20-22.
[3880] Job xlii. 6.
[3881] 1 Kings xxii. 19.
[3882] 2 Chr. xxxv. 20-24.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXXIV. To Augustine.
Jerome acknowledges the receipt of Letters CXXXI. and CXXXII. and
excuses himself from answering the questions raised in them on the
twofold ground (1) that the times are evil and (2) that it is
inexpedient that he should be supposed to differ from Augustine. He
prays for the speedy extinction of Pelagianism, regrets that he cannot
send Augustine a critical Latin text of the O.T., and concludes with a
number of salutations from himself and those with him. The date of the
letter is 416 a.d. Its number in Augustine's Letters is CLXXII.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXXV. From Pope Innocent to Aurelius.
Shortly after the synod of Diospolis the Pelagians exulting in their
success made an attack upon Jerome's monasteries at Bethlehem which
they pillaged and partially burned. This gained for him the sympathy of
Innocent who now (a.d. 417) asks Aurelius to transmit to him the letter
which follows this.
Innocent to his most esteemed friend and brother Aurelius. [3883]
Our fellow-presbyter Jerome has informed us of your most dutiful desire
to come to see us. We suffer with him as with a member of our own
flock. We have been swift also to take such measures as have appeared
to us expedient and practicable. As you count yourself one of us, most
dear brother, make haste to transmit the following letter [3884] to the
aforesaid Jerome.
__________________________________________________________________
[3883] At this time bishop of Carthage and a friend of Augustine.
[3884] Letter CXXXVI.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXXVI. From Pope Innocent to Jerome.
Innocent expresses his sympathy with Jerome and promises to take strong
measures to punish his opponents if he will bring specific charges
against them. The date of the letter is a.d. 417.
Innocent to his most esteemed son, the presbyter Jerome.
The apostle [3885] bears witness that contention has never done good in
the church; and for this reason he gives direction that heretics should
be admonished once or twice in the beginning of their heresy and not
subjected to a long series of rebukes. Where this rule is negligently
observed, the evil to be guarded against so far from being evaded is
rather intensified.
Your grief and lamentation have so affected us that we can neither act
nor advise.
To begin however, we commend you for the constancy of your faith. To
quote your own words spoken many times in the ears of many, a man will
gladly face misrepresentation or even personal danger on behalf of the
truth; if he is looking for the blessedness that is to come. We remind
you of what you have yourself preached although we are sure that you
need no reminder. The spectacle of these terrible evils has so
thoroughly roused us that we have hastened to put forth the authority
of the apostolic see to repress the plague in all its manifestations;
but as your letters name no individuals and bring no specific charges,
there is no one at present against whom we can proceed. But we do all
that we can; we sympathize deeply with you. And if you will lay a clear
and unambiguous accusation against any persons in particular we will
appoint suitable judges to try their cases; or if you, our highly
esteemed son, think that it is needful for us to take yet graver and
more urgent action, we shall not be slow to do so. Meantime we have
written to our brother bishop John [3886] advising him to act more
considerately, so that nothing may occur in the church committed to him
which it is his duty to foresee and to prevent, and that nothing may
happen which may subsequently prove a source of trouble to him.
__________________________________________________________________
[3885] Tit. iii. 10, 11.
[3886] i.e. John of Jerusalem. See the next letter.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXXVII. From Pope Innocent to John, Bishop of Jerusalem.
Innocent censures John for having allowed the Pelagians to effuse the
disturbance at Bethlehem mentioned in the two preceding letters and
exhorts him to be more watchful over his diocese in future. The date of
the letter is a.d. 417. This was the year of the death of both John and
Innocent, and it is probable that John never received the letter.
Innocent to his most highly esteemed brother John.
The holy virgins Eustochium and Paula [3887] have deplored to me the
ravages, murders, fires and outrages of all kinds, which they say that
the devil has perpetrated in the district belonging to their church;
for with wonderful clemency and generosity they have left untold the
name and motive of his human agent. Now although there can be no doubt
as to who is the guilty person; [3888] yet you, my brother, ought to
have taken precautions and to have been more careful of your flock so
that no disturbance of the kind might arise; for others suffer by your
negligence, and you encourage men by it to make havoc of the Lord's
flock till His tender lambs, fleeced and weakened by fire, sword and
persecution, their relations murdered and dead, are, as we are
informed, themselves scarce alive. Does it not touch your sacred
responsibility as a priest [3889] that the devil has shewn himself so
powerful against you and yours? Against you, I say; for surely it
speaks ill of your capacity as a priest that a crime so terrible should
have been committed in the pale of your church. Where were your
precautions? Where, after the blow had been struck, were your attempts
at relief? Where too were your words of comfort? These ladies tell me
that up to the present they have been in a state of too great
apprehension to complain of what they have already suffered. I should
judge more gravely of the matter had they spoken to me concerning it
more freely than they have. Beware then, brother, of the wiles of the
old enemy, and in the spirit of a good ruler be vigilant either to
correct or to repress such evils. For they have reached my ears in the
shape of rumours rather than as specific accusations. If nothing is
done, the law of the Church on the subject of injuries may compel the
person who has failed to defend his flock to shew cause for his
negligence.
__________________________________________________________________
[3887] i.e. Paula the younger, Eustochium's niece, concerning whose
education Jerome had written to her mother Læta (Letter CVII.).
[3888] The attack was supposed to have been instigated by Pelagius.
[3889] In Jerome's writings this title is often given to bishops.
Presbyters are by him rarely so called.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXXVIII. To Riparius.
Jerome praises Riparius for his zeal on behalf of the Catholic faith
and for his efforts to put down the Pelagians. He then describes the
attack made by these heretics upon the monasteries of Bethlehem. Now,
he is glad to say, they have at last been driven from Palestine. Most
of them, that is, for some still linger at Joppa including one of their
chief leaders. The date is a.d. 417.
That you fight Christ's battles against the enemies of the Catholic
Faith your own letters have informed me as well as the reports of many
persons, but I am told that you find the winds contrary and that those
who ought to have been the world's champions have backed the cause of
perdition to each other's ruin. You are to know that in this part of
the world, without any human help and merely by the decree of Christ,
Catiline [3890] has been driven not only from the capital but from the
borders of Palestine. Lentulus, however, and many of his
fellow-conspirators still linger to our sorrow in Joppa. I myself have
thought it better to change my abode than to surrender the true faith;
and have chosen to leave my pleasant home rather than to suffer
contamination from heresy. For I could not communicate with men who
would either have insisted on my instant submission or would else have
summoned me to support my opinions by the sword. A good many, I dare
say, have told you the story of my sufferings and of the vengeance
which Christ's uplifted hand has on my behalf taken upon my enemies. I
would beg of you, therefore, to complete the task which you have taken
up and not, while you are in it, to leave Christ's church without a
defender. Every one knows the weapons that must be used in this
warfare; and you, I feel sure will ask for no others. You must contend
with all your might against the foe; but it must be not with physical
force but with that spiritual charity which is never overcome. The
reverend brothers who are with me, unworthy as I am, salute you warmly.
The reverend brother, the deacon Alentius, is sure to give you, my
worshipful friend, a faithful narrative of all the facts. May Christ
our Lord, of His almighty power, keep you safe and mindful of me, truly
reverend sir and esteemed brother.
__________________________________________________________________
[3890] Pelagius would naturally be understood by Catiline, and
Celestius by Lentulus, who was Catiline's lieutenant. But it is known
that, after the Synod of Diospolis which acquitted them, Celestius went
to Africa, Ephesus, Constantinople, and Rome, while Pelagius apparently
remained in Palestine, where he died.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXXXIX. To Apronius.
Of Apronius nothing is known; but from the mention of Innocent (for
whom see Letter CXLIII.) it seems a fair inference that he lived in the
West. Jerome here congratulates him on his steadfastness in the faith
and exhorts him to come to Bethlehem. He then touches on the mischief
done by Pelagius and complains that his own monastery has been
destroyed by him or by his partisans. The date of the letter is a.d.
417.
I know not by what wiles of the devil it has come to pass that all your
toil and the efforts of the reverend presbyter Innocent [3891] and my
own prayers and wishes seem for the moment to produce no effect. God be
thanked that you are well and that the fire of faith glows in you even
when you are in the midst of the devil's wiles. My greatest joy is to
hear that my spiritual sons are fighting in the cause of Christ; and
assuredly He in whom we believe will so quicken this zeal of ours that
we shall be glad freely to shed our blood in defence of His faith.
I grieve to hear that a noble family has been subverted, [3892] for
what reason I cannot learn; for the bearer of the letter could give me
no information. We may well grieve over the loss of our common friends
and ask Christ the only potentate and Lord [3893] to have mercy upon
them. At the same time we have deserved to receive punishment at God's
hand for we [3894] have harboured the enemies of the Lord.
The best course you can take is to leave everything and to come to the
East, before all to the holy places; for everything is now quiet here.
The heretics have not, it is true, purged the venom from their breasts,
but they do not venture to open their impious mouths. They are "like
the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear." [3895] Salute your reverend
brothers on my behalf.
As for our house, [3896] so far as fleshly wealth is concerned, it has
been completely destroyed by the onslaughts of the heretics; but by the
mercy of Christ it is still filled with spiritual riches. To live on
bread is better than to lose the faith.
__________________________________________________________________
[3891] At this time in Palestine whither he had come as the bearer of
letters from Augustine to Jerome and others.
[3892] The family meant is probably the one warned by Jerome in his
letter to Ctesiphon (CXXXIII, § 13). In that case the troubler of its
peace is of course Pelagius.
[3893] 1 Tim. vi. 15.
[3894] It would seem as if Jerome, like Augustine, had at first thought
favourably of Pelagius.
[3895] Ps. lviii. 4.
[3896] i.e. the monastic establishment under Jerome's guidance at
Bethlehem. See Letters CXXXV.-CXXXVII.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXL. To Cyprian the Presbyter.
Cyprian had visited Jerome at Bethlehem and had asked him to write an
exposition of Psalm XC. in simple language such as might be readily
understood. With this request Jerome now complies, giving a very full
account of the psalm, verse by verse, and bringing the treasures of his
learning and especially his knowledge of Hebrew to bear upon it. He
asserts its Mosaic authorship but is careful to add that "the man of
God" may have spoken not for himself but in the name of the Jewish
people. He speaks of the five books into which the psalter is divisible
and says that it is a mistake to ascribe all the psalms to David. An
allusion to the doctrine of Pelagius shows that the letter must belong
to Jerome's last years, and Vallarsi is probably right in assigning it
to a.d. 418.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXLI. To Augustine
A short note in which Jerome praises Augustine for the determined stand
which he has made against heresy and speaks of him as "the restorer of
the ancient faith." The allusion seems to be to his action in the
Pelagian controversy. If so, the date is probably 418 a.d. This letter
is among those of Augustine, number 195.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXLII. To Augustine.
There is good ground for supposing this to form part of the previous
letter. If so, Jerome speaks in a figure of the success gained by
Pelagianism in Palestine. "Jerusalem," he says, "is in the hands of
Nebuchadnezzar and will not heed the voice of Jeremiah," that is, as
the context shews, Jerome himself. This letter is among those of
Augustine, number 123.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXLIII. To Alypius and Augustine.
In this letter Jerome congratulates Alypius and Augustine on their
success in strangling the heresy of Cælestius, the co-adjutor of
Pelagius, and states that, if he can find time and secretaries, he
hopes to write a refutation of the absurd errors of the Pelagian
pseudodeacon Annianus. The date is 419 a.d. This letter is among those
of Augustine, number 202.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXLIV. From Augustine to Optatus.
Augustine writes to Optatus, bishop of Milevis, to say that he cannot
send him a copy of his letter to Jerome on the origin of the soul
(Letter CXXXI.) as it is incomplete without Jerome's reply which he has
not yet received. He then criticises the arguments with which Optatus
combats traducianism and points out that his reasoning is inconclusive.
The date of the letter is a.d. 420. The letter has been somewhat
compressed in translation: the involved sentences of the original have
been simplified and its redundancies curtailed.
To the blessed lord and brother, sincerely loved and longed-for, his
fellow-bishop Optatus, Augustine [sends] greeting in the Lord.
1. By the hand of the reverend presbyter Saturninus I have received a
letter from you, venerable sir, in which you earnestly ask me for what
I have not yet got. You thus shew clearly your belief that I have
already had a reply to my question on the subject. Would that I had!
Knowing the eagerness of your expectation, I should never have dreamed
of keeping back from you your share in the gift; but if you will
believe me, dear brother, it is not so. Although five years have
elapsed since I despatched to the East my letter (which was one of
inquiry, not of assertion), I have so far received no reply, and am
consequently unable to untie the knot as you wish me to do. Had I had
both [3897] letters, I should gladly have sent you both; but I think it
better not to circulate mine [3898] by itself lest he to whom it is
addressed and who may still answer me as I desire should prove
displeased. If I were to publish so elaborate a treatise as mine
without his reply to it, he might be justly indignant, and suppose me
more intent on displaying my talents than on promoting some useful end.
It would look as if I were bent on starting problems too hard for him
to solve. It is better to wait for the answer which he probably means
to send. For I am well aware that he has other subjects to occupy him
which are more serious and urgent than this question of mine. Your
holiness will readily understand this if you read what he wrote to me a
year later when my messenger was returning. The following is an extract
from his letter: [3899]
"A most trying time has come upon us [3900] in which I have found it
better to hold my peace than to speak. Consequently my studies have
ceased, that I may not give occasion to what Appius calls the eloquence
of dogs.' [3901] For this reason I have not been able to send any
answer to your two learned and brilliant letters. Not, indeed, that I
think anything in them needs correction, but that I recall the
Apostle's words: One judges in this way, another in that; let every man
give full expression to his own opinion.' [3902] All that a lofty
intellect can draw from the well of holy scripture has been drawn by
you. So much your reverence must allow me to say in praise of your
ability. But though in any discussion between us our joint object is
the advancement of learning, our rivals and especially the heretics
will ascribe any difference of opinion between us to mutual jealousy.
For my part, however, I am resolved to love you, to look up to you, to
reverence and admire you, and to defend your opinions as my own. I have
also in a dialogue which I have recently brought out made allusion to
your holiness in suitable terms. Let us, rather, then, strain every
nerve to banish from the churches that most pernicious heresy, [3903]
which feigns repentance that it may have liberty to teach in our
churches. For were it to come out into the light of day, it would be
expelled and die."
2. You can see, worshipful brother, from this reply that my friend does
not refuse to answer my inquiry; he postpones it because he is
condemned to give his time to more urgent matters. Moreover, that he is
well disposed towards me is clear from his friendly warning that a
controversy between us begun in all charity and in the interests of
learning may be misconstrued by jealous and heretical persons as due to
mutual illfeeling. No; it will be better for the public to have both
together, his explanation as well as my inquiry. For, as I shall have
to thank him for instructing me if he is able to explain the matter,
the discussion will be of no small advantage when it comes to the
knowledge of the world. Those who come after us will not only know what
view they ought to take of a subject thus fully argued but will also
learn how under the divine mercy brothers in affection may dispute a
difficult question and yet preserve each other's esteem.
3. On the other hand, if I were to publish the letter in which I raise
this obscure point without the reply in which it may be set at rest, it
might circulate widely and reach men who "comparing themselves," as the
Apostle says, "with themselves," [3904] would misconstrue a motive
which they could not understand, and would explain my feeling towards
one whom I love and esteem for his immense services not as it would
appear to them (for it would be invisible to them) but as their own
fancy and malice would dictate. Now this is a danger which, so far as
in me lies, I am bound to guard against. But if a document which I am
unwilling to publish is published without my consent and placed in
hands from which I would withhold it, then I shall have to resign
myself to the will of God. Indeed, had I wished to keep my words
permanently undivulged I should never have sent them to any one. For if
(though I hope it may not be so) chance or necessity shall prevent any
reply being ever given me, my letter of inquiry is still bound sooner
or later to come to light. Nor will it be useless to those who read it;
for, although they will nor find what they seek, they will learn how
much better it is, when one is uninformed, to put questions than to
make assertions; and in the meantime those whom they consult [3905]
will work out the points raised by me, laying aside contention and in
the interests of learning and charity trying to obtain sound opinions
about them. Thus they will either arrive at the solutions they desire,
or their faculties will be quickened and they will learn from the
investigation that farther inquiry is useless. At present, however, as
I have no reason to despair of an answer from my friend I have decided
not to publish the letter I have sent him, and I trust, my dear
comrade, that this decision may commend itself to you. It should do so,
for you have not asked for my letter so much as for the answer to it;
and this I would gladly send you if I had it to send. It is true that
in your epistle you speak of "the lucid demonstration of my wisdom
which in virtue of my life the Giver of light has bestowed upon me";
and if by this you mean not the way in which I have stated the problem
but a solution which I have obtained of the point in question, I should
like to gratify your wish. But I must admit that I have so far failed
to discover how the soul can derive its sin from Adam (a truth which it
is unlawful to question) and yet not itself be derived from Adam. At
present I think it better to sift the matter farther than to dogmatize
rashly.
4. Your letter speaks of "many old men and persons educated by learned
priests whom you have failed to recall to your modest way of thinking,
and to a statement of the case which is truth itself." You do not,
however, explain what this mode of expression is. If your old men hold
fast what they have received from learned priests, how comes it that
you are troubled by a boorish mob of unlettered clerics? On the other
hand, if the old men and the unlettered clerics have wickedly departed
from the priests' teachings, surely these latter are the persons to
correct them and restrain them from controversial excesses. Again when
you say that "you as a new-fledged and inexperienced teacher have been
afraid to tamper with the doctrines handed down by great and famous
bishops, and that you have been loth to draw men into a better path
lest you should cast discredit on the dead," do you not imply that in
refusing to agree with you the objects of your solicitude are but
preferring the tradition of great and famous bishops to the views of a
new-fledged and inexperienced teacher? Of their conduct in the matter I
say nothing, but I am most anxious to learn that "mode of expression
which is truth itself," not the thing expressed, but the mode of
expression.
5. For you have made it sufficiently plain to me that you disapprove of
those who assert that men's souls are derived from that of the
protoplast [3906] and propagated from one generation to another; but as
your letter does not inform me, I have no means of knowing on what
grounds and from what passages of scripture you have shewn this view to
be false. What does commend itself to you is not clear either from your
letter to the brothers at Cæsarea or from that which you have lately
addressed to me. Only I see that you believe and write that "God has
been, is, and will be the maker of men, and that there is nothing
either in heaven or on earth which does not owe its existence wholly to
Him." This is of course a truism which nobody can call in question. But
as you affirm that souls are not propagated, you ought to explain out
of what God makes them. Is it out of some pre-existing material, or is
it out of nothing? For it is impossible that you should hold the
opinion of Origen, Priscillian, and other heretics that it is for deeds
done in a former life that souls are confined in earthly and mortal
bodies. This opinion is, indeed, flatly contradicted by the apostle who
says of Jacob and Esau that before they were born they had done neither
good nor evil. [3907] Your view of the matter, then, is known to me
though only partially, but of your reasons for supposing it to be true
I know nothing. This was why in a former letter I asked you to send me
your confession of faith, the one which you were vexed to find that one
of your presbyters had signed dishonestly. I now again ask you for
this, as well as for any passages of scripture which you have brought
to bear on the question. For you say in your letter to the brothers at
Cæsarea that you "have resolved to have all definitions of dogma
reviewed by lay judges, sitting by general invitation, and
investigating all points touching the faith." And you continue: "the
divine mercy has made it possible for them to put forward their views
in a positive and definite form, which your modest ability has
reinforced with a great weight of evidence." Now it is this "great
weight of evidence" which I am so anxious to obtain. For, so far as I
can see, your one aim has been to refute your opponents when they deny
that our souls are the handiwork of God. If they hold such a view, you
are right in thinking that it should be condemned. Were they to say the
same thing of our bodies, they would be forced to retract it, or else
be held up to execration. For what Christian can deny that every single
human body is the work of God? Yet when we admit that they are of
divine origin we do not mean to deny that they are humanly engendered.
When therefore it is asserted that our souls are procreated from a kind
of immaterial seed, and that they, like our bodies, come to us from our
parents, yet are made souls by the working of God, it is not by human
guesses that the assertion is to be refuted, but by the witness of
divine scripture. Numbers of passages may indeed be quoted from the
sacred books which have canonical authority, to prove that our souls
are God's handiwork. But such passages only refute those who deny that
each several human soul is made by God; not at all those who while they
admit this contend that, like our bodies, they are formed by divine
agency through the instrumentality of parents. To refute these you must
look for unmistakable texts; or, if you have already discovered such,
shew your affection by communicating them to me. For though I seek them
most diligently I fail to find them.
As stated shortly by yourself (at the end of your letter to the
brothers at Cæsarea) your dilemma is as follows: "inasmuch as I am your
son and disciple and have but recently by God's help come to consider
these mysteries, I beg you with your priestly wisdom to teach me which
of two opposite views I ought to hold. Am I to maintain that souls are
transmitted by generation, and that they are derived in some mysterious
way from Adam our first-formed father? [3908] Or am I with your
brothers and the priests who are here to hold that God has been, is,
and will be the author and maker of all things and all men?"
6. Of the two alternatives which you thus put forward you wish to be
urged to choose one or other; and this would be the course of wisdom if
your alternatives were so contrary that the choice of one would involve
the rejection of the other. But as it is, instead of selecting one of
them a man may say that they are both true. He may maintain that the
souls of all mankind are derived from Adam our first-formed father, and
yet believe and assert that God has been, is, and will be the author
and maker of all things and all men. How on your principles is such a
man to be confuted? Shall we say: "If they are transmitted by
generation God is not their author, for He does not make them?" In that
case he will reply: "Bodies too are engendered and not made by God; on
your shewing, then He is not their author." Will any one maintain that
God is the maker of no bodies but Adam's which He made out of the dust
and Eve's which He formed out of Adam's side; and that other bodies are
not made by Him because they are engendered by human parents?
7. If your opponents go so far in maintaining the derivation of souls
as to deny that they are made and formed by God, you may use this
argument as a weapon to confute them so far as God's help enables you.
But if, while they assert that the soul's beginnings come from Adam
first and then from a man's parents, they at the same time hold that
the soul in every man is created and formed by God the author of all
things, they can only be confuted out of scripture. Search therefore
till you find a passage that is neither obscure nor capable of a double
meaning; or if you have already found one, hand it on to me as I have
begged you to do. But if, like myself, you have so far failed to
discover any such passage, you must still strain every nerve to confute
those who say that souls are in no sense God's handiwork. This seems to
be your opponents position, for in your first letter you write that
"they have secretly whispered scandalous doctrines and have forsaken
your communion and the obedience of the church on account of this
foolish, nay impious opinion." Against such men defend and uphold by
every possible expedient the doctrine you have laid down in the same
letter, that God has been, is, and will be the maker of souls; and that
everything in heaven and on earth owes its existence wholly to Him. For
this is true of every creature; and as such is to be believed,
asserted, defended, and proved. God has been, is, and will be the
author and maker of all things and all men as you have told your
fellow-bishops of the province of Cæsarea, exhorting them to adopt the
doctrine by the example of your brothers and fellow-priests. But there
are two quite distinct dilemmas: (1) Is God the author and maker of all
souls and bodies (the true view), or is there something in nature which
He has not made (a view which is wholly erroneous)? (2) If souls are
undoubtedly God's handiwork, does He make them directly, or indirectly
by propagation? It is in dealing with this second dilemma that I would
have you to be sober and vigilant. Else in refuting the
propagation-theory you may fall incautiously into the heresy of
Pelagius. Everybody knows that human bodies are propagated by
generation; yet if we are right in saying that all human souls--and not
only those of Adam and Eve--are created by God, it is clear that to
assert their transmission by generation is not to deny their divine
origin. For in this view God makes the soul as He makes the body,
indirectly by a process of generation. If the truth condemns this as an
error, some fresh argument must be sought to confute it. No persons
could better advise you on the point (if only they were within reach)
than those dead worthies whom you feared to discredit by drawing men
away from them into a better path. They were, you said, great and
famous bishops while you were a new-fledged and inexperienced teacher;
thus you were loth to tamper with their doctrines. Would that I could
know on what passages these great men rested their opinion that souls
are transmitted! For in your letter to the brothers at Cæsarea, you
speak of their view with a total disregard of their authority, as a new
invention, an unheard-of doctrine; though we all know that, error as it
may be, it is no novelty but old and of ancient date.
8. Now when we have reason to be doubtful about a point, we need not
doubt that we are right in doubting. There is no doubt but that we
ought to doubt things that are doubtful. For instance, the Apostle has
no doubt about doubting whether he was in the body or out of the body
when he was carried up into the third heaven. [3909] Whether it was
thus or thus, he says, I know not; God knows. Why may not I, then, so
long as I have no light, doubt whether my soul comes to me by
generation or unengendered? Why may I not be doubtful about this, so
long as I do not doubt that in either case it is the work of God most
high? Why may I not say; "I know that my soul owes its existence to God
and is altogether His handiwork; but whether it comes by generation, as
the body does, or unengendered, as was Adam's soul, I know not; God
knows." You wish me to assert positively one view or the other. I might
do so if I knew which was right. You may have some light on the point,
and if so you will find me keener to learn what I know not than to
teach what I know. But if, like myself, you are in the dark, you should
pray, as I do, that either through one of His servants, or with His own
lips, He would teach us who said to His disciples: "Be not ye called
masters; for one is your master, even Christ." [3910] Yet such
knowledge is only expedient for us when He knows it to be expedient who
knows both what He has to teach and what we ought to learn.
Nevertheless, to you, my dear friend, I confess my eagerness. Still
much as I desire to know this after which you seek, I would sooner know
when the desire of all nations shall come and when the kingdom of the
saints will be set up, than how my soul has come to its earthly abode.
But when His disciples (who are our apostles) put this question to the
all-knowing Christ, they were told: "It is not yours to know the times
or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power." [3911] What
if Christ, who knows what is expedient for us, knows this knowledge not
to be expedient? Through Him I know that it is not ours to know the
times which God has placed in His own power; but concerning the origin
of souls, I am ignorant whether it is or is not ours to know. If I
could be sure that such knowledge is not for us, I should cease not
only to dogmatize, but even to inquire. As it is, though the subject is
so deep and dark that my fear of becoming a rash teacher is almost
greater than my eagerness to learn the truth, I still wish to know it
if I can do so. It may be that the knowledge for which the psalmist
prays: "Lord, make me to know mine end," [3912] is much more necessary;
yet I would that my beginning also might be revealed to me.
9. But even as touching this I must not be ungrateful to my Master. I
know that the human soul is spiritual not corporeal, that it is endowed
with reason and intelligence, and that it is not of God's essence but a
thing created. It is both mortal and immortal: the first because it is
subject to corruption and separable from the life of God in which it is
alone blessed, the second because its consciousness must ever continue
and form the source of its happiness or woe. It does not, it is true,
owe its immersion in the flesh to acts done before the flesh; yet in
man it is never without sin, not even when "its life has been but for
one day." [3913] Of those engendered of the seed of Adam no man is born
without sin, and it is necessary even for babes to be born anew in
Christ by the grace of regeneration. All this I know concerning the
soul, and it is much; the greater part of it, indeed, is not only
knowledge but matter of faith as well. I rejoice to have learned it all
and I can truly say that I know it. If there are things of which I am
still ignorant (as whether God creates souls by generation or apart
from it--for that He does create them I have no doubt) I would sooner
know the truth than be ignorant of it. But so long as I cannot know it
I had rather suspend my judgment than assert what is plainly contrary
to an indisputable truth.
10. You, my brother, ask me to decide for you whether men's souls as
made by the Creator come like their bodies by generation from Adam, or
whether like his soul they are made without generation and separately
for each individual. For in one way or the other we both admit that
they are God's handiwork. Suffer me then in turn to ask you a question.
Can a soul derive original sin from a source from which it is not
itself derived? For unless we are to fall into the detestable heresy of
Pelagius, we must both of us allow that all souls do derive original
sin from Adam. And if you cannot answer my question, pray give me leave
to confess my ignorance alike of your question and of my own. But if
you already know what I ask, teach me and then I will teach you what
you wish to know. Pray do not be displeased with me for taking this
line, for though I have given you no positive answer to your question,
I have shewn you how you ought to put it. When once you are clear about
that, you may be quite positive where you have been doubtful. [3914]
This much I have thought it right to write to your holiness seeing that
you are so sure that the transmission of souls is a doctrine to be
rejected. Had I been writing to maintainers of the doctrine I might
perhaps have shewn how ignorant they are of what they fancy they know
and how cautious they should be not to make rash assertions.
It may perhaps perplex you that in my friend's answer as I have quoted
it in this letter he mentions two letters of mine to which he has no
time to reply. Only one of these deals with the problem of the soul;
[3915] in the other I have asked light on another difficulty. [3916]
Again when he urges me to take more pains for the removal from the
church of a most pernicious heresy, he alludes to the error of the
Pelagians which I earnestly beg you, my brother, at all hazards to
avoid. In speculating or arguing on the origin of the soul you must
never give place to this heresy with its insidious suggestions. For
there is no soul, save that of the one Mediator, which does not derive
original sin from Adam. Original sin is that which is fastened on the
soul at its birth and from which it can only be freed by being born
again.
__________________________________________________________________
[3897] That is Augustine's to Jerome and the expected answer.
[3898] In Jerome's Letters, No. CXXXI.; in Augustine's, No. CLXVI.
[3899] In Jerome's Letters, No. CXXXIV.; in Augustine's, No. CLXXII.
[3900] After the Council of Diospolis Jerome suffered much from the
violence of the Pelagians. See Letters CXXXVI.-CXXXIX.
[3901] i.e. railing.
[3902] Suo sensu abundet. Rom. xiv. 5, Vulg.
[3903] i.e. Pelagianism.
[3904] 2 Cor. x. 12.
[3905] At this point the text is obscure.
[3906] i.e. Adam, "our first-formed father." (Wisd. x. 1.)
[3907] Rom. ix. 11.
[3908] Wisdom x. 1.
[3909] 2 Cor. xii. 4.
[3910] Matt. xxiii. 10.
[3911] Acts i. 7.
[3912] Ps. xxxix. 4.
[3913] Job xiv. 5, LXX.
[3914] i.e. you may be quite sure that souls are created by God.
[3915] Letter CXXXI., ante.
[3916] Letter CXXXII., ante.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXLV. To Exuperantius.
Jerome advises Exuperantius, a Roman soldier, to come to Bethlehem and
with his brother Quintilian to become a monk. According to Palladius
(H. L. c. lxxx.) Exuperantius came to Jerome but went away again unable
to endure his violence and ill-will.' The date of the letter is
unknown.
Among all the favours that my friendship with the reverend brother
Quintilian has conferred upon me the greatest is this that he has
introduced me in the spirit to you whom I do not know personally. Who
can fail to love a man who, while he wears the cloak and uniform of a
soldier does the work of a prophet, and while his outer man gives
promise of quite a different character, overcomes this by the inner man
which is formed after the image of the creator. I come forward
therefore to challenge you to an interchange of letters and beg that
you will often give me occasion to reply to you that I may for the
future feel less constraint in writing.
For the present I will content myself by suggesting to your discretion
that you should bear in mind the apostle's words: "Art thou bound unto
a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a
wife;" [3917] that is, seek not that binding which is contrary to
loosing. He who has contracted the obligations of marriage, is bound,
and he who is bound is a slave; on the other hand he who is loosed is
free. Since therefore you rejoice in the freedom of Christ, since your
life is better than your profession, since you are all but on the
housetop of which the Saviour speaks; you ought not to come down to
take your clothes, [3918] you ought not to look behind you, you ought
not having put your hand to the plough, then to let it go. [3919]
Rather, if you can, imitate Joseph and leave your garment in the hand
of your Egyptian mistress, [3920] that naked you may follow your Lord
and Saviour. For in the gospel He says: "Whosoever doth not leave all
that he hath and bear his cross and come after me cannot be my
disciple." [3921] Cast from you the burthen of the things of this
world, and seek not those riches which in the gospel are compared to
the humps [3922] of camels. Naked and unencumbered fly up to heaven;
masses of gold will but impede the wings of your virtue. I do not speak
thus because I know you to be covetous, but because I have a notion
that your object in remaining so long in the army is to fill that purse
which the Lord has commanded you to empty. For they who have
possessions and riches are bidden to sell all that they have and to
give to the poor and then to follow the Saviour. [3923] Thus if your
worship is rich already you ought to fulfil the command and sell your
riches; or if you are still poor you ought not to amass what you will
have to pay away. Christ accepts the sacrifices made for him [3924]
according as he who makes them has a willing mind. Never were any men
poorer than the apostles; yet never any left more for the Lord than
they. The poor widow in the gospel who cast but two mites into the
treasury was set before all the men of wealth because she gave all that
she had. [3925] So it should be with you. Seek not for wealth which you
will have to pay away; but rather give up that which you have already
acquired that Christ may know his new recruit to be brave and resolute,
and then when you are a great way off His Father will run with joy to
meet you. He will give you a robe, will put a ring upon your finger,
and will kill for you the fatted calf. [3926] Then when you are freed
from all encumbrances God will soon make a way for you to cross the sea
to me with your reverend brother Quintilian. I have now knocked at the
door of friendship: if you open it to me you will find me a frequent
visitor.
__________________________________________________________________
[3917] 1 Cor. vii. 27.
[3918] Matt. xxiv. 17, 18.
[3919] Luke ix. 62.
[3920] Gen. xxxix. 12.
[3921] Luke xiv. 26, 27.
[3922] Pravitates, deformities. Matt. xix. 24.
[3923] Matt. xix. 21.
[3924] 2 Cor. viii. 12.
[3925] Luke xxi. 1-4.
[3926] Luke xv. 20-23.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXLVI. To Evangelus.
Jerome refutes the opinion of those who make deacons equal to
presbyters, but in doing so himself makes presbyters equal to bishops.
The date of the letter is unknown.
1. We read in Isaiah the words, "the fool will speak folly," [3927] and
I am told that some one has been mad enough to put deacons before
presbyters, that is, before bishops. For when the apostle clearly
teaches that presbyters are the same as bishops, must not a mere server
of tables and of widows [3928] be insane to set himself up arrogantly
over men through whose prayers the body and blood of Christ are
produced? [3929] Do you ask for proof of what I say? Listen to this
passage: "Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the
saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the bishops and
deacons." [3930] Do you wish for another instance? In the Acts of the
Apostles Paul thus speaks to the priests [3931] of a single church:
"Take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock, in the which the Holy
Ghost hath made you bishops, to feed the church of God which He
purchased with His own blood." [3932] And lest any should in a spirit
of contention argue that there must then have been more bishops than
one in a single church, there is the following passage which clearly
proves a bishop and a presbyter to be the same. Writing to Titus the
apostle says: "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest
set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain presbyters [3933]
in every city, as I had appointed thee: if any be blameless, the
husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or
unruly. For a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God." [3934]
And to Timothy he says: "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which
was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the
presbytery." [3935] Peter also says in his first epistle: "The
presbyters which are among you I exhort, who am your fellow-presbyter
and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the
glory that shall be revealed: feed the flock of Christ [3936] ...taking
the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly, according unto
God." [3937] In the Greek the meaning is still plainer, for the word
used is episkopountes , that is to say, overseeing, and this is the
origin of the name overseer or bishop. [3938] But perhaps the testimony
of these great men seems to you insufficient. If so, then listen to the
blast of the gospel trumpet, that son of thunder, [3939] the disciple
whom Jesus loved [3940] and who reclining on the Saviour's breast drank
in the waters of sound doctrine. One of his letters begins thus: "The
presbyter unto the elect lady and her children whom I love in the
truth;" [3941] and another thus: "The presbyter unto the well-beloved
Gaius whom I love in the truth." [3942] When subsequently one presbyter
was chosen to preside over the rest, this was done to remedy schism and
to prevent each individual from rending the church of Christ by drawing
it to himself. For even at Alexandria from the time of Mark the
Evangelist until the episcopates of Heraclas and Dionysius the
presbyters always named as bishop one of their own number chosen by
themselves and set in a more exalted position, just as an army elects a
general, or as deacons appoint one of themselves whom they know to be
diligent and call him archdeacon. For what function, excepting
ordination, belongs to a bishop that does not also belong to a
presbyter? It is not the case that there is one church at Rome and
another in all the world beside. Gaul and Britain, Africa and Persia,
India and the East worship one Christ and observe one rule of truth. If
you ask for authority, the world outweighs its capital. [3943] Wherever
there is a bishop, whether it be at Rome or at Engubium, whether it be
at Constantinople or at Rhegium, whether it be at Alexandria or at
Zoan, his dignity is one and his priesthood is one. Neither the command
of wealth nor the lowliness of poverty makes him more a bishop or less
a bishop. All alike are successors of the apostles. [3944]
2. But you will say, how comes it then that at Rome a presbyter is only
ordained on the recommendation of a deacon? To which I reply as
follows. Why do you bring forward a custom which exists in one city
only? Why do you oppose to the laws of the Church a paltry exception
which has given rise to arrogance and pride? The rarer anything is the
more it is sought after. In India pennyroyal is more costly than
pepper. Their fewness makes deacons persons of consequence [3945] while
presbyters are less thought of owing to their great numbers. But even
in the church of Rome the deacons stand while the presbyters seat
themselves, although bad habits have by degrees so far crept in that I
have seen a deacon, in the absence of the bishop, seat himself among
the presbyters and at social gatherings give his blessing to them.
[3946] Those who act thus must learn that they are wrong and must give
heed to the apostles words: "it is not reason that we should leave the
word of God and serve tables." [3947] They must consider the reasons
which led to the appointment of deacons at the beginning. They must
read the Acts of the Apostles and bear in mind their true position.
Of the names presbyter and bishop the first denotes age, the second
rank. In writing both to Titus and to Timothy the apostle speaks of the
ordination of bishops and of deacons, but says not a word of the
ordination of presbyters; for the fact is that the word bishops
includes presbyters also. Again when a man is promoted it is from a
lower place to a higher. Either then a presbyter should be ordained a
deacon, from the lesser office, that is, to the more important, to
prove that a presbyter is inferior to a deacon; or if on the other hand
it is the deacon that is ordained presbyter, this latter should
recognize that, although he may be less highly paid than a deacon, he
is superior to him in virtue of his priesthood. In fact as if to tell
us that the traditions handed down by the apostles were taken by them
from the old testament, bishops, presbyters and deacons occupy in the
church the same positions as those which were occupied by Aaron, his
sons, and the Levites in the temple. [3948]
__________________________________________________________________
[3927] Isa. xxxii. 6, R.V.
[3928] Acts vi. 1, 2.
[3929] Ad quorum preces Christi corpus sanguisque conficitur. Cp.
Letter XIV. § 8.
[3930] Ph. i. 1.
[3931] Sacerdotes.
[3932] Acts xx. 28, R.V.
[3933] A.V. elders.'
[3934] Tit. i. 5-7.
[3935] 1 Tim. iv. 14.
[3936] A.V. of God.'
[3937] 1 Pet. v. 1, 2. The last clause from R.V.
[3938] episkopos.
[3939] Mark iii. 17.
[3940] Joh. xiii. 23.
[3941] 2 Joh. 1.
[3942] 3 Joh. 1.
[3943] Orbis major est urbe.
[3944] In this passage Jerome does his best to minimize the distinction
between bishops and presbyters. Elsewhere also he stands up for the
rights of the latter (see Letter LII. § 7).
[3945] At Rome there were only seven, that having been the number of
servers' appointed by the apostles. (See Acts vi. and Sozomen H. E.
vii. 19.)
[3946] Contrary to the eighteenth canon of Nicæa.
[3947] Acts vi. 2.
[3948] This analogy had become very common in Jerome's day. The germ of
it is to be found in Clem. ad Cor. I. xl.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXLVII. To Sabinianus.
Jerome writes in severe but moderate language to Sabinianus, a deacon,
calling on him to repent of his sins. Of these he recounts at length
the two most serious, an act of adultery at Rome and an attempt to
seduce a nun at Bethlehem. The date of the letter is uncertain.
1. Of old, when it had repented the Lord that he had anointed Saul to
be king over Israel, [3949] we are told that Samuel mourned for him;
and again, when Paul heard that there was fornication among the
Corinthians and such fornication as was not so much as named among the
gentiles, [3950] he besought them to repent with these tearful words:
"lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you and that I
shall bewail many which have sinned already and have not repented of
the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have
committed." [3951] If an apostle or a prophet, themselves immaculate,
could speak thus with a clemency embracing all, how much more earnestly
should a sinner like me plead with a sinner like you. You have fallen
and refuse to rise; you do not so much as lift your eyes to heaven;
having wasted your father's substance you take pleasure in the husks
that the swine eat; [3952] and climbing the precipice of pride you fall
headlong into the deep. You make your belly your God instead of Christ;
you are a slave to lust; your glory is in your shame; [3953] you fatten
yourself like a victim for the slaughter, and imitate the lives of the
wicked, careless of their doom. "Thou knowest not that the goodness of
God leadeth thee to repentance. But after thy hardness and impenitent
heart thou treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath."
[3954] Or is it that your heart is hardened, as Pharaoh's was, because
your punishment is deferred and you are not smitten at the moment? The
ten plagues were sent upon Pharaoh not as by an angry God but as by a
warning father, and his day of grace was prolonged until he repented of
his repentance. Yet doom overtook him when he pursued through the
wilderness the people whom he had previously let go and presumed to
enter the very sea in the eagerness of his pursuit. For only in this
one way could he learn the lesson that He is to be dreaded whom even
the elements obey. He had said: "I know not the Lord, neither will I
let Israel go;" [3955] and you imitate him when you say: "The vision
that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times
that are far off." [3956] Yet the same prophet confutes you with these
words: "Thus saith the Lord God, There shall none of my words be
prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done."
David too says of the godless (and of godlessness you have proved
yourself not a slight but an eminent example), that in this world they
rejoice in good fortune and say: "How doth God know? And is there
knowledge in the Most High? Behold these are the ungodly who prosper in
the world; they increase in riches." [3957] Then almost losing his
footing and staggering where he stands he complains, saying "Verily I
have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency."
[3958] For he had previously said: "I was envious at the foolish, when
I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no regard for death,
[3959] but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men
are; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride
compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could
wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they
speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their
tongue walketh through the earth." [3960]
2. Does not this whole psalm seem to you to be written of yourself?
Certainly you are hale and strong; and like a new apostle of
Antichrist, when you are found out in one city, you pass to another.
[3961] You are in no need of money, no crushing blow strikes you down,
neither are you plagued as other men who are not like you mere brute
beasts. Therefore you are lifted up into pride, and lust covers you as
a garment. Out of your fat and bloated carcass you breathe out words
fraught with death. You never consider that you must some day die, nor
feel the slightest repentance when you have satisfied your lust. You
have more than heart can wish; and, not to be alone in your wrongdoing,
you invent scandals concerning those who are God's servants. Though you
know it not, it is against the most High that you are speaking iniquity
and against the heavens that you are setting your mouth. It is no
wonder that God's servants small and great are blasphemed by you, when
your fathers did not scruple to call even the master of the house
Beelzebub. "The disciple is not above his master nor the servant above
his lord." [3962] If they did this with the green tree, what will you
do with me, the dry? [3963] Much in the same way also the offended
believers in the book of Malachi gave expression to feelings like
yours; for they said, "It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it
that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully
before the Lord of Hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they
that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even
delivered." Yet the Lord afterwards threatens them with a day of
judgment; and announcing beforehand the distinction that shall then be
made between the righteous and the unrighteous, speaks to them thus:
"Return ye, [3964] and discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not." [3965]
3. All this may perhaps seem to you matter for jesting, seeing that you
take so much pleasure in comedies and lyrics and mimes like those of
Lentulus; [3966] although so blunted is your wit that I am not disposed
to allow that you can understand even language so simple. You may treat
the words of prophets with contempt, but Amos will still make answer to
you: "Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions and for four shall
I not turn away from him?" [3967] For inasmuch as Damascus, Gaza, Tyre,
Edom, the Ammonites and the Moabites, the Jews also and the children of
Israel, although God had often prophesied to them to turn and to
repent, had refused to hear His voice, the Lord wishing to shew that He
had most just cause for the wrath that he was going to bring upon them
used the words already quoted, "For three transgressions and for four
shall I not turn away from them?" It is wicked, God says, to harbour
evil thoughts; yet I have allowed them to do so. It is still more
wicked to carry them out; yet in My mercy and kindness I have permitted
even this. But should the sinful thought have become the sinful deed?
Should men in their pride have trampled thus on my tenderness?
Nevertheless "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that
the wicked turn from his way and live;" [3968] and as it is not they
that are whole who need a physician but they that are sick, [3969] even
after his sin I hold out a hand to the prostrate sinner and exhort him,
polluted as he is in his own blood, [3970] to wash away his stains with
tears of penitence. But if even then he shews himself unwilling to
repent, and if, after he has suffered shipwreck, he refuses to clutch
the plank which alone can save him, I am compelled at last to say:
"Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions and for four shall I not
turn away from him?" For this "turning away" God accounts a punishment,
inasmuch as the sinner is left to his own devices. It is thus that he
visits the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation; [3971] not punishing those who sin immediately but
pardoning their first offences and only passing sentence on them for
their last. For if it were otherwise and if God were to stand forth on
the moment as the avenger of iniquity, the church would lose many of
its saints; and certainly would be deprived of the apostle Paul. The
prophet Ezekiel, from whom we have quoted above, repeating God's words
spoken to himself speaks thus: "Open thy mouth and eat what I shall
give thee. And behold," he says, "an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a
roll of a book was therein; and he spread it before me; and it was
written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations,
and a song, and woe." [3972] The first of these three belongs to you if
you prove willing, as a sinner, to repent of your sins. The second
belongs to those who are holy, who are called upon to sing praises to
God; for praise does not become a sinner's mouth. And the third belongs
to persons like you who in despair have given themselves over to
uncleanness, to fornication, to the belly, and to the lowest lusts; men
who suppose that death ends all and that there is nothing beyond it;
who say: "When the overflowing scourge shall pass through it shall not
come unto us." [3973] The book which the prophet eats is the whole
series of the Scriptures, which in turn bewail the penitent, celebrate
the righteous, and curse the desperate. For nothing is so displeasing
to God as an impenitent heart. Impenitence is the one sin for which
there is no forgiveness. For if one who ceases to sin is pardoned even
after he has sinned, and if prayer has power to bend the judge; it
follows that every impenitent sinner must provoke his judge to wrath.
Thus despair is the one sin for which there is no remedy. By obstinate
rejection of God's grace men turn His mercy into sternness and
severity. Yet, that you may know that God does every day call sinners
to repentance, hear Isaiah's words: "In that day," he says, "did the
Lord God of Hosts call to weeping and to mourning and to baldness and
to girding with sackcloth: and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen,
and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine; let us eat and
drink, for to-morrow we shall die." After these words filled with the
recklessness of despair the Scripture goes on to say: "And it was
revealed in my ears by the Lord of Hosts, Surely this iniquity shall
not be purged from you till ye die." [3974] Only when they become dead
to sin, will their sin be forgiven them. For, so long as they live in
sin, it cannot be put away.
4. Have mercy I beseech you upon your soul. Consider that God's
judgment will one day overtake you. Remember by what a bishop you were
ordained. The holy man was mistaken in his choice; but this he might
well be. For even God repented that he had anointed Saul to be king.
[3975] Even among the twelve apostles Judas was found a traitor. And
Nicolas of Antioch--a deacon like yourself [3976] --disseminated the
Nicolaitan heresy and all manner of uncleanness. [3977] I do not now
bring up to you the many virgins whom you are said to have seduced, or
the noble matrons who have suffered death [3978] because violated by
you, or the greedy profligacy with which you have hied through dens of
sin. For grave and serious as such sins are in themselves, they are
trivial indeed when compared with those which I have now to narrate.
How great must be the sin beside which seduction and adultery are
insignificant? Miserable wretch that you are! when you enter the cave
wherein the Son of God was born, where truth sprang out of the earth
and the land did yield her increase, [3979] it is to make an
assignation. Have you no fear that the babe will cry from the manger,
that the newly delivered virgin will see you, that the mother of the
Lord will behold you? The angels cry aloud, the shepherds run, the star
shines down from heaven, the wise men worship, Herod is terrified,
Jerusalem is in confusion, and meantime you creep into a virgin's cell
to seduce the virgin to whom it belongs. I am filled with consternation
and a shiver runs through me, soul and body, when I try to set before
your eyes the deed that you have done. The whole church was keeping
vigil by night and proclaiming Christ as its Lord; in one spirit though
in different tongues the praises of God were being sung. Yet you were
squeezing your love-notes into the openings of what is now the altar,
as it was once the manger, of the Lord, choosing this place in order
that your unhappy victim might find and read them when she came to
kneel and worship there. Then you took your place among the singers,
and with impudent nods communicated your passion to her.
5. Oh! crying shame! I can go no farther. For sobs anticipate my words,
and indignation and grief choke me in the act of utterance. Oh! for the
sea of Tully's eloquence! Oh! for the impetuous current of the
invective of Demosthenes! Yet in this case I am sure you would both be
dumb; your eloquence would fail you. A deed has been disclosed which no
rhetoric can explain; a crime has been discovered which no mime can
represent, nor jester play, nor comedian describe. [3980]
It is usual in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria for virgins and
widows who have vowed themselves to God and have renounced the world
and have trodden under foot its pleasures, to ask the mothers of their
communities to cut their hair; not that afterwards they go about with
heads uncovered in defiance of the apostle's command, [3981] for they
wear a close-fitting cap and a veil. No one knows of this in any single
case except the shearers and the shorn, but as the practice is
universal, it is almost universally known. The custom has in fact
become a second nature. It is designed to save those who take no baths
and whose heads and faces are strangers to all unguents, from
accumulated dirt and from the tiny creatures which are sometimes
generated about the roots of the hair.
6. Let us see then, my good friend, how you acted in these
surroundings. You promised to marry your unhappy victim; and then in
that venerable cave you took from her, either as securities for her
fidelity or as a pledge of the engagement, some locks of hair, some
handkerchiefs, and a girdle, swearing at the same time that you would
never love another as you loved her. Then you ran to the place where
the shepherds were watching their flocks when they heard the angels
singing over head, and there again you plighted your troth. I say no
more; I do not accuse you of kissing her or of embracing her. Although
I believe that there is nothing of which you are not capable, still the
sacred character of stable and field forbids me to suppose you guilty
except in will and determination. Unhappy man! When you first stood
beside the virgin in the cave, surely a mist must have dimmed your
eyes, your tongue must have been paralysed, your arms must have fallen
to your sides, your chest must have heaved, your gait must have become
unsteady. She had assumed the bridal-veil of Christ in the basilica of
the apostle Peter and had vowed to live henceforth in the monastery, in
the spots consecrated by the Lord's Cross, His Resurrection, and His
Ascension; and yet after all this you dared to accept that hair, which
at Christ's command she had cut off in the cave of His birth, as a
token of her readiness to sleep with you. Again you used to sit beneath
her window from the evening till the morning; and because owing to its
height you could not come to close quarters with her, you conveyed
things to her and she in her turn to you by the aid of a cord. How
careful the lady superior must have been is shewn by the fact that you
never saw the virgin except in church; and that, although both of you
had the same inclination, you could find no means of conversing with
each other except at a window under cover of night. As I was afterwards
told you used to be quite sorry when the sun rose. Your face looked
bloodless, shrunken, and pale; and to remove all suspicion, you used to
be for ever reading Christ's gospel as if you were a deacon indeed.
[3982] I and others used to attribute your paleness to fasting, and to
admire your bloodless lips--so unlike the brilliant colour which they
generally shewed--in the belief that they were caused by frequent
vigils. You were already preparing ladders to fetch the unhappy virgin
from her cell; you had already arranged your route, ordered vessels,
settled a day, and thought out the details of your flight, when,
behold, the angel who kept the door of Mary's chamber, who watched over
the cradle of the Lord and who bore in his arms the infant Christ, in
whose presence you had committed these great sins, himself and none
other, betrayed you.
7. Oh! my unlucky eyes! Oh! day worthy of the most solemn curse, on
which with utter consternation I read your letters, the contents of
which I am forced to remember still! What obscenities they contained!
What blandishments! What exultant triumph in the prospect of the
virgin's dishonour. A deacon should not have even known such things,
much less should he have spoken of them. Unhappy man! where can you
have learned them, you who used to boast that you had been reared in
the church. It is true, however, that in these letters you swear that
you have never led a chaste life and that you are not really a deacon.
If you try to disown them your own handwriting will convict you, and
the very letters will cry out against you. But meantime you may make
what you can of your sin, for what you have written is so foul that I
cannot bring it up as evidence against you.
8. You threw yourself down at my knees, you prostrated yourself, you
begged me--I use your own words--to spare "your half-pint of blood."
Oh! miserable wretch! you thought nothing of God's judgment, and feared
no vengeance but mine. I forgave you, I admit; what else being a
Christian could I do? I urged you to repent, to wear sackcloth, to roll
in ashes, to seek seclusion, to live in a monastery, to implore God's
mercy with constant tears. You however showed yourself a pillar of
confidence, and excited as you were by the viper's sting you became to
me a deceitful bow; you shot at me arrows of reviling. I am become your
enemy because I tell you the truth. [3983] I do not complain of your
calumnies; everyone knows that you only praise men as infamous as
yourself. What I lament is that you do not lament yourself, that you do
not realize that you are dead, that, like a gladiator ready for
Libitina, [3984] you deck yourself out for your own funeral. You wear
not sackcloth but linen, you load your fingers with rings, you use
toothpowder for your teeth, you arrange the stray hairs on your brown
skull to the best advantage. Your bull's neck bulges out with fat and
droops no whit because it has given way to lust. Moreover you are
redolent of perfume, you go from one bath to another, you wage war
[3985] against the hair that grows in spite of you, you walk through
the forum and the streets a spruce and smooth-faced rake. Your face has
become the face of a harlot: you know not how to blush. [3986] Return,
unhappy man, to the Lord, and He will return to you. [3987] Repent, and
He will repent of the evil that He has purposed to bring upon you.
9. Why is it that you disregard your own scars and try to defame
others? Why is it that when I give you the best advice you attack me
like a madman? It may be that I am as infamous as you publicly
proclaim; in that case you can at least repent as heartily as I do. It
may be that I am as great a sinner as you make me out; if so, you can
at least imitate a sinner's tears. Are my sins your virtues? Or does it
alleviate your misery that many are in the same plight as yourself? Let
a few tears fall on the silk and fine linen which make you so
resplendent. Realize that you are naked, torn, unclean, a beggar.
[3988] It is never too late to repent. [3989] You may have gone down
from Jerusalem and may have been wounded on the way; yet the Samaritan
will set you upon his beast, and will bring you to the inn and will
take care of you. [3990] Even if you are lying in your grave, the Lord
will raise you though your flesh may stink. [3991] At least imitate
those blind men for whose sake the Saviour left His home and heritage
and came to Jericho. They were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of
death when the light shone upon them. [3992] For when they learned that
it was the Lord who was passing by they began to cry out saying: "Thou
Son of David, have mercy on us." [3993] You too will have your sight
restored; if you cry to Him, and cast away your filthy garments at His
call. [3994] "When thou shalt turn and bewail thyself then shalt thou
be saved, and then shalt thou know where thou hast hitherto been."
[3995] Let Him but touch your scars and pass his hands over your
eyeballs; and although you may have been born blind from the womb and
although your mother may have conceived you in sin, he will purge you
with hyssop and you shall be clean, he will wash you and you shall be
whiter than snow. [3996] Why is it that you are bowed together and bent
down to the ground, why is it that you are still prostrate in the mire?
She whom Satan had bound for eighteen years came to the Saviour; and
being cured by Him was made straight so that she could once more look
up towards heaven. [3997] God says to you what He said to Cain: "Thou
hast sinned: hold thy peace." [3998] Why do you flee from the face of
God and dwell in the land of Nod? Why do you struggle in the waves
[3999] when you can plant your feet upon the rock? See to it that
Phinehas does not thrust you through with his spear while you are
committing fornication with the Midianitish woman. [4000] Amnon did not
spare Tamar, [4001] and you her brother and kinsman in the faith have
had no mercy upon this virgin. But why is it that when you have defiled
her you change into an Absalom and desire to kill a David who mourns
over your rebellion and spiritual death? The blood of Naboth [4002]
cries out against you. The vineyard also of Jezreel, that is, of God's
seed, demands due vengeance upon you, seeing that you have turned it
into a garden of pleasures and made it a seed-bed of lust. God sends
you an Elijah to tell you of torment and of death. Bow yourself down
therefore and put on sackcloth for a little while; then perhaps the
Lord will say of you what He said of Ahab: "Seest thou how Ahab
humbleth himself before me? Because he humbleth himself before me,
[4003] I will not bring the evil in his days."
10. But possibly you flatter yourself that since the bishop who has
made you a deacon is a holy man, his merits will atone for your
transgressions. I have already told you that the father is not punished
for the son nor the son for the father. "The soul that sinneth it shall
die." [4004] Samuel too had sons who forsook the fear of the Lord and
"turned aside after lucre" and iniquity. [4005] Eli also was a holy
priest, but he had sons of whom we read in the Hebrew that they lay
with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of God, and
that like you they shamelessly claimed for themselves the right to
minister in His sanctuary. [4006] Wherefore the tabernacle itself was
overthrown and the holy place made desolate by reason of the sins of
those who were God's priests. And even Eli himself offended God by
shewing too great leniency to his sons; therefore, so far from the
righteousness of your bishop being able to deliver you, it is rather to
be feared that your wickedness may hurl him from his seat and that
falling on his back like Eli he may perish irretrievably. [4007] If the
Levite Uzzah was smitten merely because he tried to hold up from
falling the ark which it was his special province to carry; [4008] what
punishment, think you, will be inflicted upon you who have tried to
overthrow the Lord's ark when standing firm? The more estimable the
bishop is who ordained you, the more detestable are you who have
disappointed the expectations of so good a man. His long ignorance of
your misdoings is indeed easy to account for; as it generally happens
that we are the last to know the scandals which affect our homes, and
are ignorant of the sins of our children and wives even when our
neighbors talk of nothing else. At all events all Italy was aware of
your evil life; and it was everywhere a subject of lamentation that you
should still stand before the altar of Christ. For you had neither the
cunning nor the forethought to conceal your vices. So hot were you, so
lecherous, and so wanton, so entirely under the sway of this and that
caprice of self-indulgence, that, not content with satisfying your
passions, you gloried in each intrigue as a triumph and emerged from it
bearing palms of victory.
11. Once more the fire of unchastity seized you, this time among savage
swords and in the quarters of a married barbarian of great influence
and power. You were not afraid to commit adultery in a house where the
injured husband might have punished you without calling in a judge's
aid. You found yourself attracted and drawn to suburban parks and
gardens; and, in the husband's absence behaved as boldly and madly as
if you supposed your companion to be not your paramour but your wife.
She was at last captured, but you escaped through an underground
passage and secretly made your way to Rome. There you hid yourself
among some Samnite robbers; and on the first hint that the aggrieved
husband was coming down from the Alps like a new Hannibal in search of
you, you did not think yourself safe till you had taken refuge on
shipboard. So hasty indeed was your flight that you chose to face a
tempest at sea rather than take the consequences of remaining on shore.
Somehow or other you reached Syria, and on arriving there professed a
wish to go on to Jerusalem and there to serve the Lord. Who could
refuse to welcome one who declared himself to be a monk; especially if
he were ignorant of your tragical career and had read the letters of
commendation which your bishop had addressed to other prelates? [4009]
Unhappy man! you transformed yourself into an angel of light; [4010]
and while you were in reality a minister of Satan, you pretended to be
a minister of righteousness. You were only a wolf in sheep's clothing;
[4011] and having played the adulterer once towards the wife of a man,
you desired now to play the adulterer to the spouse of Christ. [4012]
12. My design in recounting these events has been to sketch for you the
picture of your evil life and to set your misdeeds plainly before your
eyes. I have wished to prevent you from making God's mercy and His
abundant tenderness an excuse for committing new sins and to save you
from crucifying to yourself the son of God afresh and putting Him to an
open shame. For you may do these things if you do not read the words
which follow the passage to which I have alluded. They are these: "The
earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth
forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessings
from God: but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected and is
nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." [4013]
__________________________________________________________________
[3949] 1 Sam. xv. 11, 17.
[3950] 1 Cor. v. 1.
[3951] 2 Cor. xii. 21.
[3952] Luke xvi. 13, 16.
[3953] Phil. iii. 19.
[3954] Rom. ii. 4, 5.
[3955] Ex. v. 2.
[3956] Ezek. xii. 27, 28.
[3957] Ps. lxxiii. 11, 12.
[3958] Ps. lxxiii. 13.
[3959] So the Vulgate, from which Jerome quotes.
[3960] Ps. lxxiii. 3-9.
[3961] Cf. Matt. x. 23.
[3962] Matt. x. 24, 25.
[3963] Luke xxiii. 31.
[3964] So the Latin.
[3965] Mal. iii. 14, 15, 18.
[3966] A writer and actor of mimes, probably in the first century of
the Empire.
[3967] Am. i. 3, LXX.
[3968] Ezek. xxxiii. 11.
[3969] Luke v. 31.
[3970] Cf. Ezek. xvi. 6.
[3971] Ex. xx. 5.
[3972] Ezek. iii. 1; ii. 9, 10, Vulg.
[3973] Is. xxviii. 15.
[3974] Isa. xxii. 12-14.
[3975] 1 Sam. xv. 11.
[3976] Acts vi. 5.
[3977] Rev. ii. 6, 15.
[3978] Women guilty of adultery were legally punishable with death
until the time of Justinian.
[3979] Ps. lxxxv. 11, 12.
[3980] Mimus, scurra, atellanus.
[3981] 1 Cor. xi. 5, 6.
[3982] At the Eucharistic service the gospel was commonly though not
exclusively read by a deacon. (See Const. Apost. II. 57, 5, and
Sozomen, H. C. VII. 19.)
[3983] Gal. iv. 16.
[3984] The goddess who in the Roman pantheon presided over funerals.
The gladiators meant are the so-called bustuarii who were engaged to
fight at the funeral pile (bustum) in honour of the dead.
[3985] i.e. by the use of depilatories.
[3986] Jer. iii. 3.
[3987] Mal. iii. 7.
[3988] Rev. iii. 17.
[3989] Cf. Cyprian, Epist. ad Demet. xxv.
[3990] Luke x. 30-34.
[3991] Joh. xi. 39, 44.
[3992] Luke i. 79.
[3993] Matt. ix. 27; cf. Luke xviii. 35-38.
[3994] Mark x. 50.
[3995] Isa. xxx. 15, LXX.
[3996] Ps. li. 5, 7.
[3997] Luke xiii. 11-13.
[3998] Gen. iv. 7, LXX.
[3999] An etymological allusion. Nod = ebb and flow.'
[4000] Num. xxv. 6-8.
[4001] 2 Sam. xiii. 14.
[4002] 1 Kings xxi. 13.
[4003] 1 Kings xxi. 29.
[4004] Ezek. xviii. 4.
[4005] 1 Sam. viii. 3.
[4006] 1 Sam. ii. 12-17, 22.
[4007] 1 Sam. iv. 18.
[4008] 2 Sam. vi. 6, 7.
[4009] Sacerdotes, lit. priests.
[4010] 2 Cor. xi. 14, 15.
[4011] Matt. vii. 15.
[4012] i.e. to the church at large represented by individual virgins.
[4013] Heb. vi. 6, 7-8.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXLVIII. To the Matron Celantia.
This is an interesting letter addressed to a lady of rank, on the
principles and methods of a holy life. It is not, however, the work of
Jerome, of whose style it shews few traces. It has been ascribed in
turn to Paulinus of Nola and Sulpicius Severus.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CXLIX. On the Jewish Festivals.
The theme of this letter is the abrogation of the Jewish festivals by
the evangelical law. It has no claim to be considered a work of Jerome.
__________________________________________________________________
Letter CL. From Procopius to Jerome.
This letter is extant also among those of Procopius of Gaza, to whose
works it properly belongs. As this Procopius flourished a century later
than Jerome, the letter cannot be addressed to him.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Treatises.
The Life of Paulus the First Hermit.
------------------------
The Life of Paulus was written in the year 374 or 375 during Jerome's
stay in the desert of Syria, as is seen from c. 6, and was dedicated to
Paulus of Concordia as stated in Jerome's Ep. x. c. 3.
1. It has been a subject of wide-spread and frequent discussion what
monk was the first to give a signal example of the hermit life. For
some going back too far have found a beginning in those holy men Elias
and John, of whom the former seems to have been more than a monk and
the latter to have begun to prophesy before his birth. Others, and
their opinion is that commonly received, maintain that Antony was the
originator of this mode of life, which view is partly true. Partly I
say, for the fact is not so much that he preceded the rest as that they
all derived from him the necessary stimulus. But it is asserted even at
the present day by Amathas and Macarius, two of Antony's disciples, the
former of whom laid his master in the grave, that a certain Paul of
Thebes was the leader in the movement, though not the first to bear the
name, and this opinion has my approval also. Some as they think fit
circulate stories such as this--that he was a man living in an
underground cave with flowing hair down to his feet, and invent many
incredible tales which it would be useless to detail. Nor does the
opinion of men who lie without any sense of shame seem worthy of
refutation. So then inasmuch as both Greek and Roman writers have
handed down careful accounts of Antony, I have determined to write a
short history of Paul's early and latter days, more because the thing
has been passed over than from confidence in my own ability. What his
middle life was like, and what snares of Satan he experienced, no man,
it is thought, has yet discovered.
2. During the persecutions of Decius and Valerian, [4014] when
Cornelius at Rome and Cyprian at Carthage shed their blood in blessed
martyrdom, many churches in Egypt and the Thebaid were laid waste by
the fury of the storm. At that time the Christians would often pray
that they might be smitten with the sword for the name of Christ. But
the desire of the crafty foe was to slay the soul, not the body; and
this he did by searching diligently for slow but deadly tortures. In
the words of Cyprian himself who suffered at his hands: they who wished
to die were not suffered to be slain. We give two illustrations, both
as specially noteworthy and to make the cruelty of the enemy better
known.
3. A martyr, steadfast in faith, who stood fast as a conqueror amidst
the racks and burning plates, was ordered by him to be smeared with
honey and to be made to lie under a blazing sun with his hands tied
behind his back, so that he who had already surmounted the heat of the
frying-pan might be vanquished by the stings of flies. Another who was
in the bloom of youth was taken by his command to some delightful
pleasure gardens, and there amid white lilies and blushing roses, close
by a gently murmuring stream, while overhead the soft whisper of the
wind played among the leaves of the trees, was laid upon a deep
luxurious feather-bed, bound with fetters of sweet garlands to prevent
his escape. When all had withdrawn from him a harlot of great beauty
drew near and began with voluptuous embrace to throw her arms around
his neck, and, wicked even to relate! to handle his person, so that
when once the lusts of the flesh were roused, she might accomplish her
licentious purpose. What to do, and whither to turn, the soldier of
Christ knew not. Unconquered by tortures he was being overcome by
pleasure. At last with an inspiration from heaven he bit off the end of
his tongue and spat it in her face as she kissed him. Thus the
sensations of lust were subdued by the intense pain which followed.
4. While such enormities were being perpetrated in the lower part of
the Thebaid, Paul and his newly married sister were bereaved of both
their parents, he being about sixteen years of age. He was heir to a
rich inheritance, highly skilled in both Greek and Egyptian learning,
gifted with a gentle disposition and a deep love for God. Amid the
thunders of persecution he retired to a house at a considerable
distance and in a more secluded spot. But to what crimes does not the
"accursed thirst for gold" impel the human heart? His brother-in-law
conceived the thought of betraying the youth whom he was bound to
conceal. Neither a wife's tears which so often prevail, nor the ties of
blood, nor the all-seeing eye of God above him could turn the traitor
from his wickedness. "He came, he was urgent, he acted with cruelty
while seeming only to press the claims of affection."
5. The young man had the tact to understand this, and, conforming his
will to the necessity, fled to the mountain wilds to wait for the end
of the persecution. He began with easy stages, and repeated halts, to
advance into the desert. At length he found a rocky mountain, at the
foot of which, closed by a stone, was a cave of no great size. He
removed the stone (so eager are men to learn what is hidden), made
eager search, and saw within a large hall, open to the sky, but shaded
by the wide-spread branches of an ancient palm. The tree, however, did
not conceal a fountain of transparent clearness, the waters whereof no
sooner gushed forth than the stream was swallowed up in a small opening
of the same ground which gave it birth. There were besides in the
mountain, which was full of cavities, many habitable places, in which
were seen, now rough with rust, anvils and hammers for stamping money.
The place, Egyptian writers relate, was a secret mint at the time of
Antony's union with Cleopatra.
6. Accordingly, regarding his abode as a gift from God, he fell in love
with it, and there in prayer and solitude spent all the rest of his
life. The palm afforded him food and clothing. And, that no one may
deem this impossible, I call to witness Jesus and His holy angels that
I have seen and still see in that part of the desert which lies between
Syria and the Saracens' country, monks of whom one was shut up for
thirty years and lived on barley bread and muddy water, while another
in an old cistern (called in the country dialect of Syria Gubba) kept
himself alive on five dried figs a day. What I relate then is so
strange that it will appear incredible to those who do not believe the
words that "all things are possible to him that believeth."
7. But to return to the point at which I digressed. The blessed Paul
had already lived on earth the life of heaven for a hundred and
thirteen years, and Antony at the age of ninety was dwelling in another
place of solitude (as he himself was wont to declare), when the thought
occurred to the latter, that no monk more perfect than himself had
settled in the desert. However, in the stillness of the night it was
revealed to him that there was farther in the desert a much better man
than he, and that he ought to go and visit him. So then at break of day
the venerable old man, supporting and guiding his weak limbs with a
staff, started to go: but what direction to choose he knew not.
Scorching noontide came, with a broiling sun overhead, but still he did
not suffer himself to be turned from the journey he had begun. Said he,
"I believe in my God: some time or other He will shew me the
fellow-servant whom He promised me." He said no more. All at once he
beholds a creature of mingled shape, half horse half man, called by the
poets Hippocentaur. At the sight of this he arms himself by making on
his forehead the sign of salvation, and then exclaims, "Holloa! Where
in these parts is a servant of God living?" The monster after gnashing
out some kind of outlandish utterance, in words broken rather than
spoken through his bristling lips, at length finds a friendly mode of
communication, and extending his right hand points out the way desired.
Then with swift flight he crosses the spreading plain and vanishes from
the sight of his wondering companion. But whether the devil took this
shape to terrify him, or whether it be that the desert which is known
to abound in monstrous animals engenders that kind of creature also, we
cannot decide.
8. Antony was amazed, and thinking over what he had seen went on his
way. Before long in a small rocky valley shut in on all sides he sees a
mannikin with hooked snout, horned forehead, and extremities like
goats' feet. When he saw this, Antony like a good soldier seized the
shield of faith and the helmet of hope: the creature none the less
began to offer to him the fruit of the palm-trees to support him on his
journey and as it were pledges of peace. Antony perceiving this stopped
and asked who he was. The answer he received from him was this: "I am a
mortal being and one of those inhabitants of the desert whom the
Gentiles deluded by various forms of error worship under the names of
Fauns, Satyrs, and Incubi. I am sent to represent my tribe. We pray you
in our behalf to entreat the favour of your Lord and ours, who, we have
learnt, came once to save the world, and whose sound has gone forth
into all the earth.'" As he uttered such words as these, the aged
traveller's cheeks streamed with tears, the marks of his deep feeling,
which he shed in the fulness of his joy. He rejoiced over the Glory of
Christ and the destruction of Satan, and marvelling all the while that
he could understand the Satyr's language, and striking the ground with
his staff, he said, "Woe to thee, Alexandria, who instead of God
worshippest monsters! Woe to thee, harlot city, into which have flowed
together the demons of the whole world! What will you say now? Beasts
speak of Christ, and you instead of God worship monsters." He had not
finished speaking when, as if on wings, the wild creature fled away.
Let no one scruple to believe this incident; its truth is supported by
what took place when Constantine was on the throne, a matter of which
the whole world was witness. For a man of that kind was brought alive
to Alexandria and shewn as a wonderful sight to the people. Afterwards
his lifeless body, to prevent its decay through the summer heat, was
preserved in salt and brought to Antioch that the Emperor might see it.
9. To pursue my proposed story. Antony traversed the region on which he
had entered, seeing only the traces of wild beasts, and the wide waste
of the desert. What to do, whither to wend his way, he knew not.
Another day had now passed. One thing alone was left him, his confident
belief that he could not be forsaken by Christ. The darkness of the
second night he wore away in prayer. While it was still twilight, he
saw not far away a she-wolf gasping with parching thirst and creeping
to the foot of the mountain. He followed it with his eyes; and after
the beast had disappeared in a cave he drew near and began to look
within. His curiosity profited nothing: the darkness hindered vision.
But, as the Scripture saith, perfect love casteth out fear. With
halting step and bated breath he entered, carefully feeling his way; he
advanced little by little and repeatedly listened for the sound. At
length through the fearful midnight darkness a light appeared in the
distance. In his eager haste he struck his foot against a stone and
roused the echoes; whereupon the blessed Paul closed the open door and
made it fast with a bar. Then Antony sank to the ground at the entrance
and until the sixth hour or later craved admission, saying, "Who I am,
whence, and why I have come, you know. I know I am not worthy to look
upon you: yet unless I see you I will not go away. You welcome beasts:
why not a man? I asked and I have found: I knock that it may be opened
to me. But if I do not succeed, I will die here on your threshold. You
will surely bury me when I am dead."
"Such was his constant cry: unmoved he stood.
To whom the hero thus brief answer made" [4015]
"Prayers like these do not mean threats; there is no trickery in tears.
Are you surprised at my not welcoming you when you have come here to
die?" Thus with smiles Paul gave him access, and, the door being
opened, they threw themselves into each other's arms, greeted one
another by name, and joined in thanksgiving to God.
10. After the sacred kiss Paul sat down and thus began to address
Antony. "Behold the man whom you have sought with so much toil, his
limbs decayed with age, his gray hairs unkempt. You see before you a
man who ere long will be dust. But love endures all things. Tell me
therefore, I pray you, how fares the human race? Are new homes
springing up in the ancient cities? What government directs the world?
Are there still some remaining for the demons to carry away by their
delusions?" Thus conversing they noticed with wonder a raven which had
settled on the bough of a tree, and was then flying gently down till it
came and laid a whole loaf of bread before them. They were astonished,
and when it had gone, "See," said Paul, "the Lord truly loving, truly
merciful, has sent us a meal. For the last sixty years I have always
received half a loaf: but at your coming Christ has doubled his
soldier's rations."
11. Accordingly, having returned thanks to the Lord, they sat down
together on the brink of the glassy spring. At this point a dispute
arose as to who should break the bread, and nearly the whole day until
eventide was spent in the discussion. Paul urged in support of his view
the rites of hospitality, Antony pleaded age. At length it was arranged
that each should seize the loaf on the side nearest to himself, pull
towards him, and keep for his own the part left in his hands. Then on
hands and knees they drank a little water from the spring, and offering
to God the sacrifice of praise passed the night in vigil. At the return
of day the blessed Paul thus spoke to Antony: "I knew long since,
brother, that you were dwelling in those parts: long ago God promised
you to me for a fellow-servant; but the time of my falling asleep now
draws nigh; I have always longed to be dissolved and to be with Christ;
my course is finished, and there remains for me a crown of
righteousness. Therefore you have been sent by the Lord to lay my poor
body in the ground, yea to return earth to earth."
12. On hearing this Antony with tears and groans began to pray that he
would not desert him, but would take him for a companion on that
journey. His friend replied: "You ought not to seek your own, but
another man's good. It is expedient for you to lay aside the burden of
the flesh and to follow the Lamb; but it is expedient for the rest of
the brethren to be trained by your example. Wherefore be so good as to
go and fetch the cloak Bishop Athanasius gave you, to wrap my poor body
in." The blessed Paul asked this favour not because he cared much
whether his corpse when it decayed were clothed or naked (why should he
indeed, when he had so long worn a garment of palm-leaves stitched
together?); but that he might soften his friend's regrets at his
decease. Antony was astonished to find Paul had heard of Athanasius and
his cloak; and, seeing as it were Christ Himself in him, he mentally
worshipped God without venturing to add a single word; then silently
weeping he once more kissed his eyes and hands, and set out on his
return to the monastery which was afterwards seized by the Saracens.
His steps lagged behind his will. Yet, exhausted as he was with fasting
and broken by age, his courage proved victorious over his years.
13. At last wearied and panting for breath he completed his journey and
reached his little dwelling. Here he was met by two disciples who had
begun to wait upon him in his advanced age. Said they, "Where have you
stayed so long, father?" He replied, "Woe to me a sinner! I do not
deserve the name of monk. I have seen Elias, I have seen John in the
desert, and I have really seen Paul in Paradise." He then closed his
lips, beat upon his breast, and brought out the cloak from his cell.
When his disciples asked him to explain the matter somewhat more fully
he said, "There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak." [4016]
14. He then went out, and without taking so much as a morsel of food
returned the same way he came, longing for him alone, thirsting to see
him, having eyes and thought for none but him. For he was afraid, and
the event proved his anticipations correct, that in his absence his
friend might yield up his spirit to Christ. And now another day had
dawned and a three hours' journey still remained, when he saw Paul in
robes of snowy white ascending on high among the bands of angels, and
the choirs of prophets and apostles. Immediately he fell on his face,
and threw the coarse sand upon his head, weeping and wailing as he
cried, "Why do you cast me from you, Paul? Why go without one farewell?
Have you made yourself known so late only to depart so soon?"
15. The blessed Antony used afterwards to relate that he traversed the
rest of the distance at such speed that he flew along like a bird; and
not without reason: for on entering the cave he saw the lifeless body
in a kneeling attitude, with head erect and hands uplifted. The first
thing he did, supposing him to be alive, was to pray by his side. But
when he did not hear the sighs which usually come from one in prayer,
he fell to kisses and tears, and he then understood that even the dead
body of the saint with duteous gestures was praying to God unto whom
all things live.
16. Then having wrapped up the body and carried it forth, all the while
chanting hymns and psalms according to the Christian tradition, Antony
began to lament that he had no implement for digging the ground. So in
a surging sea of thought and pondering many plans he said: "If I return
to the monastery, there is a four days' journey: if I stay here I shall
do no good. I will die then, as is fitting, beside Thy warrior, O
Christ, and will quickly breathe my last breath. While he turned these
things over in his mind, behold, two lions from the recesses of the
desert with manes flying on their necks came rushing along. At first he
was horrified at the sight, but again turning his thoughts to God, he
waited without alarm, as though they were doves that he saw. They came
straight to the corpse of the blessed old man and there stopped, fawned
upon it and lay down at its feet, roaring aloud as if to make it known
that they were mourning in the only way possible to them. Then they
began to paw the ground close by, and vie with one another in
excavating the sand, until they dug out a place just large enough to
hold a man. And immediately, as if demanding a reward for their work,
pricking up their ears while they lowered their heads, they came to
Antony and began to lick his hands and feet. He perceived that they
were begging a blessing from him, and at once with an outburst of
praise to Christ that even dumb animals felt His divinity, he said,
"Lord, without whose command not a leaf drops from the tree, not a
sparrow falls to the ground, grant them what thou knowest to be best."
Then he waved his hand and bade them depart. When they were gone he
bent his aged shoulders beneath the burden of the saint's body, laid it
in the grave, covered it with the excavated soil, and raised over it
the customary mound. Another day dawned, and then, that the
affectionate heir might not be without something belonging to the
intestate dead, he took for himself the tunic which after the manner of
wicker-work the saint had woven out of palm-leaves. And so returning to
the monastery he unfolded everything in order to his disciples, and on
the feast-days of Easter and Pentecost he always wore Paul's tunic.
17. I may be permitted at the end of this little treatise to ask those
who do not know the extent of their possessions, who adorn their homes
with marble, who string house to house and field to field, what did
this old man in his nakedness ever lack? Your drinking vessels are of
precious stones; he satisfied his thirst with the hollow of his hand.
Your tunics are of wrought gold; he had not the raiment of the meanest
of your slaves. But on the other hand, poor though he was, Paradise is
open to him; you with all your gold will be received into Gehenna. He
though naked yet kept the robe of Christ; you, clad in your silks, have
lost the vesture of Christ. Paul lies covered with worthless dust, but
will rise again to glory; over you are raised costly tombs, but both
you and your wealth are doomed to the burning. Have a care, I pray you,
at least have a care for the riches you love. Why are even the
grave-clothes of your dead made of gold? Why does not your vaunting
cease even amid mourning and tears? Cannot the carcases of rich men
decay except in silk?
18. I beseech you, reader, whoever you may be, to remember Jerome the
sinner. He, if God would give him his choice, would much sooner take
Paul's tunic with his merits, than the purple of kings with their
punishment.
__________________________________________________________________
[4014] a.d. 249-260.
[4015] Virg. Æn. ii, 650, and vi, 672.
[4016] Eccl. iii. 7.
__________________________________________________________________
The Life of S. Hilarion.
------------------------
The life of Hilarion was written by Jerome in 390 at Bethlehem. Its
object was to further the ascetic life to which he was devoted. It
contains, amidst much that is legendary, some statements which attach
it to genuine history, and is in any case a curious record of the state
of the human mind in the 4th century. A theory started in Germany, that
it was a sort of religious romance, seems destitute of foundation. It
may possibly have been, in Jerome's intention, a contribution to the
church history the writing of which he proposed but never executed.
(See the Life of Malchus, c. 1.)
1. Before I begin to write the life of the blessed Hilarion I invoke
the aid of the Holy Spirit who dwelt in him, that He who bestowed upon
the saint his virtues may grant me such power of speech to relate them
that my words may be adequate to his deeds. For the virtue of those who
have done great deeds is esteemed in proportion to the ability with
which it has been praised by men of genius. Alexander the Great of
Macedon who is spoken of by Daniel as the ram, or the panther, or the
he-goat, on reaching the grave of Achilles exclaimed "Happy Youth! to
have the privilege of a great herald of your worth," meaning, of
course, Homer. I, however, have to tell the story of the life and
conversation of a man so renowned that even Homer were he here would
either envy me the theme or prove unequal to it. It is true that that
holy man Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, who had much
intercourse with Hilarion, set forth his praises in a short but widely
circulated letter. Yet it is one thing to praise the dead in general
terms, another to relate their characteristic virtues. And so we in
taking up the work begun by him do him service rather than wrong: we
despise the abuse of some who as they once disparaged my hero Paulus,
[4017] will now perhaps disparage Hilarion; the former they censured
for his solitary life; they may find fault with the latter for his
intercourse with the world; the one was always out of sight, therefore
they think he had no existence; the other was seen by many, therefore
he is deemed of no account. It is just what their ancestors the
Pharisees did of old! they were not pleased with [4018] John fasting in
the desert, nor with our Lord and Saviour in the busy throng, eating
and drinking. But I will put my hand to the work on which I have
resolved, and go on my way closing my ears to the barking of Scylla's
hounds.
2. The birth place of Hilarion was the village Thabatha, situate about
five miles to the south of Gaza, a city of Palestine. His parents were
idolaters, and therefore, as the saying is, the rose blossomed on the
thorn. By them he was committed to the charge of a Grammarian at
Alexandria, where, so far as his age allowed, he gave proofs of
remarkable ability and character: and in a short time endeared himself
to all and became an accomplished speaker. More important than all
this, he was a believer in the Lord Jesus, and took no delight in the
madness of the circus, the blood of the arena, the excesses of the
theatre: his whole pleasure was in the assemblies of the Church.
3. At that time he heard of the famous name of Antony, which was in the
mouth of all the races of Egypt. He was fired with a desire to see him,
and set out for the desert. He no sooner saw him than he changed his
former mode of life and abode with him about two months, studying the
method of his life and the gravity of his conduct: his assiduity in
prayer, his humility in his dealings with the brethren, his severity in
rebuke, his eagerness in exhortation. He noted too that the saint would
never on account of bodily weakness break his rule of abstinence or
deviate from the plainness of his food. At last, unable to endure any
longer the crowds of those who visited the saint because of various
afflictions or the assaults of demons, and deeming it a strange anomaly
that he should have to bear in the desert the crowds of the cities, he
thought it was better for him to begin as Antony had begun. Said he:
"Antony is reaping the reward of victory like a hero who has proved his
bravery. I have not entered on the soldier's career." He therefore
returned with certain monks to his country, and, his parents being now
dead, gave part of his property to his brothers, part to the poor,
keeping nothing at all for himself, for he remembered with awe the
passage in the Acts of the Apostles and dreaded the example and the
punishment of Ananias and Sapphira; above all he was mindful of the
Lord's words, [4019] "whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all
that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." At this time he was about
fifteen years old. Accordingly, stripped bare and armed with the
weapons of Christ, he entered the wilderness which stretches to the
left seven miles from Majoma, the port of Gaza, as you go along the
coast to Egypt. And although the locality had a record of robbery and
of blood, and his relatives and friends warned him of the danger he was
incurring, he despised death that he might escape death.
4. His courage and tender years would have been a marvel to all, were
it not that his heart was on fire and his eyes bright with the gleams
and sparks of faith. His cheeks were smooth, his body thin and
delicate, unfit to bear the slightest injury which cold or heat could
inflict. What then? With no other covering for his limbs but a shirt of
sackcloth, and a cloak of skins which the blessed Antony had given him
when he set out, and a blanket of the coarsest sort, he found pleasure
in the vast and terrible wilderness with the sea on one side and the
marshland on the other. His food was only fifteen dried figs after
sunset. And because the district was notorious for brigandage, it was
his practice never to abide long in the same place. What was the devil
to do? Whither could he turn? He who once boasted and said, [4020] "I
will ascend into heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of the
sky, I will be like the most High," saw himself conquered and trodden
under foot by a boy whose years did not allow of sin.
5. Satan therefore tickled his senses and, as is his wont, lighted in
his maturing body the fires of lust. This mere beginner in Christ's
school was forced to think of what he knew not, and to revolve whole
trains of thought concerning that of which he had no experience. Angry
with himself and beating his bosom (as if with the blow of his hand he
could shut out his thoughts) "Ass!" he exclaimed, "I'll stop your
kicking, I will not feed you with barley, but with chaff. I will weaken
you with hunger and thirst, I will lade you with heavy burdens, I will
drive you through heat and cold, that you may think more of food than
wantonness." So for three or four days afterwards he sustained his
sinking spirit with the juice of herbs and a few dried figs, praying
frequently and singing, and hoeing the ground that the suffering of
fasting might be doubled by the pain of toil. At the same time he wove
baskets of rushes and emulated the discipline of the Egyptian monks,
and put into practice the Apostle's precept, [4021] "If any will not
work, neither let him eat." By these practices he became so enfeebled
and his frame so wasted, that his bones scarcely held together.
6. One night he began to hear the wailing of infants, the bleating of
flocks, the lowing of oxen, the lament of what seemed to be women, the
roaring of lions, the noise of an army, and moreover various portentous
cries which made him in alarm shrink from the sound ere he had the
sight. He understood that the demons were disporting themselves, and
falling on his knees he made the sign of the cross on his forehead.
Thus armed as he lay he fought the more bravely, half longing to see
those whom he shuddered to hear, and anxiously looking in every
direction. Meanwhile all at once in the bright moonlight he saw a
chariot with dashing steeds rushing upon him. He called upon Jesus, and
suddenly before his eyes, the earth was opened and the whole array was
swallowed up. Then he said, [4022] "The horse and his rider hath He
thrown into the sea." And, [4023] "Some trust in chariots, and some in
horses; but we will triumph in the name of the Lord our God."
7. So many were his temptations and so various the snares of demons
night and day, that if I wished to relate them, a volume would not
suffice. How often when he lay down did naked women appear to him, how
often sumptuous feasts when he was hungry! Sometimes as he prayed a
howling wolf sprang past or a snarling fox, and when he sang a
gladiatorial show was before him, and a man newly slain would seem to
fall at his feet and ask him for burial.
8. Once upon a time he was praying with his head upon the ground. As is
the way with men, his attention was withdrawn from his devotions, and
he was thinking of something else, when a tormentor sprang upon his
back and driving his heels into his sides and beating him across the
neck with a horse-whip cried out "Come! why are you asleep?" Then with
a loud laugh asked if he was tired and would like to have some barley.
9. From his sixteenth to his twentieth year he shielded himself from
heat and rain in a little hut which he had constructed of reeds and
sedge. Afterwards he built himself a small cell which remains to the
present day, five feet in height, that is less than his own height, and
only a little more in length. One might suppose it a tomb rather than a
house.
10. He shaved his hair once a year on Easter Day, and until his death
was accustomed to lie on the bare ground or on a bed of rushes. The
sackcloth which he had once put on he never washed, and he used to say
that it was going too far to look for cleanliness in goats' hair-cloth.
Nor did he change his shirt unless the one he wore was almost in rags.
He had committed the Sacred Writings to memory, and after prayer and
singing was wont to recite them as if in the presence of God. It would
be tedious to narrate singly the successive steps of his spiritual
ascent; I will therefore set them in a summary way before my reader,
and describe his mode of life at each stage, and will afterwards return
to proper historical sequence.
11. From his twentieth to his twenty-seventh year, for three years his
food was half a pint of lentils moistened with cold water, and for the
next three dry bread with salt and water. From his twenty-seventh year
onward to the thirtieth, he supported himself on wild herbs and the raw
roots of certain shrubs. From his thirty-first to his thirty-fifth
year, he had for food six ounces of barley bread, and vegetables
slightly cooked without oil. But finding his eyes growing dim and his
whole body shrivelled with a scabby eruption and dry mange, he added
oil to his former food and up to the sixty-third year of his life
followed this temperate course, tasting neither fruit nor pulse, nor
anything whatsoever besides. Then when he saw that his bodily health
was broken down, and thought death was near, from his sixty-fourth year
to his eightieth he abstained from bread. The fervour of his spirit was
so wonderful, that at times when others are wont to allow themselves
some laxity of living he appeared to be entering like a novice on the
service of the Lord. He made a sort of broth from meal and bruised
herbs, food and drink together scarcely weighing six ounces, and, while
obeying this rule of diet, he never broke his fast before sunset, not
even on festivals nor in severe sickness. But it is now time to return
to the course of event.
12. While still living in the hut, at the age of eighteen, robbers came
to him by night, either supposing that he had something which they
might carry off, or considering that they would be brought into
contempt if a solitary boy felt no dread of their attacks. They
searched up and down between the sea and the marsh from evening until
daybreak without being able to find his resting place. Then, having
discovered the boy by the light of day they asked him, half in jest,
"What would you do if robbers came to you?" He replied, "He that has
nothing does not fear robbers." Said they, "At all events, you might be
killed." "I might," said he, "I might; and therefore I do not fear
robbers because I am prepared to die." Then they marvelled at his
firmness and faith, confessed how they had wandered about in the night,
and how their eyes had been blinded, and promised to lead a stricter
life in the future.
13. He had now spent twenty-two years in the wilderness and was the
common theme in all the cities of Palestine, though everywhere known by
repute only. The first person bold enough to break into the presence of
the blessed Hilarion was a certain woman of Eleutheropolis who found
that she was despised by her husband on account of her sterility (for
in fifteen years she had borne no fruit of wedlock). He had no
expectation of her coming when she suddenly threw herself at his feet.
"Forgive my boldness," she said: "take pity on my necessity. Why do you
turn away your eyes? Why shun my entreaties? Do not think of me as a
woman, but as an object of compassion. It was my sex that bore the
Saviour. [4024] They that are whole have no need of a physician, but
they that are sick." At length, after a long time he no longer turned
away, but looked at the woman and asked the cause of her coming and of
her tears. On learning this he raised his eyes to heaven and bade her
have faith, then wept over her as she departed. Within a year he saw
her with a son.
14. This his first miracle was succeeded by another still greater and
more notable. Aristæneté the wife of Elpidius who was afterwards
pretorian prefect, a woman well known among her own people, still
better known among Christians, on her return with her husband, from
visiting the blessed Antony, was delayed at Gaza by the sickness of her
three children; for there, whether it was owing to the vitiated
atmosphere, or whether it was, as afterwards became clear, for the
glory of God's servant Hilarion, they were all alike seized by a
semi-tertian ague and despaired of by the physicians. The mother lay
wailing, or as one might say walked up and down between the corpses of
her three sons not knowing which she should first have to mourn for.
When, however, she knew that there was a certain monk in the
neighbouring wilderness, forgetting her matronly state (she only
remembered she was a mother) she set out accompanied by her handmaids
and eunuchs, and was hardly persuaded by her husband to take an ass to
ride upon. On reaching the saint she said, "I pray you by Jesus our
most merciful God, I beseech you by His cross and blood, to restore to
me my three sons, so that the name of our Lord and Saviour may be
glorified in the city of the Gentiles. Then shall his servants enter
Gaza and the idol Marnas shall fall to the ground." At first he refused
and said that he never left his cell and was not accustomed to enter a
house, much less the city; but she threw herself upon the ground and
cried repeatedly, "Hilarion, servant of Christ, give me back my
children: Antony kept them safe in Egypt, do you save them in Syria."
All present were weeping, and the saint himself wept as he denied her.
What need to say more? the woman did not leave him till he promised
that he would enter Gaza after sunset. On coming thither he made the
sign of the cross over the bed and fevered limbs of each, and called
upon the name of Jesus. Marvellous efficacy of the Name! As if from
three fountains the sweat burst forth at the same time: in that very
hour they took food, recognized their mourning mother, and, with thanks
to God, warmly kissed the saint's hands. When the matter was noised
abroad, and the fame of it spread far and wide, the people flocked to
him from Syria and Egypt, so that many believed in Christ and professed
themselves monks. For as yet there were no monasteries in Palestine,
nor had anyone known a monk in Syria before the saintly Hilarion. It
was he who originated this mode of life and devotion, and who first
trained men to it in that province. The Lord Jesus had in Egypt the
aged Antony: in Palestine He had the youthful Hilarion.
15. Facidia is a hamlet belonging to Rhino-Corura, a city of Egypt.
From this village a woman who had been blind for ten years was brought
to the blessed Hilarion, and on being presented to him by the brethren
(for there were now many monks with him) affirmed that she had spent
all her substance on physicians. The saint replied: "If you had given
to the poor what you have wasted on physicians, the true physician
Jesus would have cured you." But when she cried aloud and entreated
pity, he spat into her eyes, in imitation of the Saviour, and with
similar instant effect.
16. A charioteer, also of Gaza, stricken by a demon in his chariot
became perfectly stiff, so that he could neither move his hand nor bend
his neck. He was brought on a litter, but could only signify his
petition by moving his tongue; and was told that he could not be healed
unless he first believed in Christ and promised to forsake his former
occupation. He believed, he promised, and he was healed: and rejoiced
more in the saving of the soul than in that of the body.
17. Again, a very powerful youth called Marsitas from the neighbourhood
of Jerusalem plumed himself so highly on his strength that he carried
fifteen bushels of grain for a long time and over a considerable
distance, and considered it as his highest glory that he could beat the
asses in endurance. This man was afflicted with a grievous demon and
could not endure chains, or fetters, but broke even the bolts and bars
of the doors. He had bitten off the noses and ears of many: had broken
the feet of some, the legs of others. He had struck such terror of
himself into everybody, that he was laden with chains and dragged by
ropes on all sides like a wild bull to the monastery. As soon as the
brethren saw him they were greatly alarmed (for the man was of gigantic
size) and told the Father. He, seated as he was, commanded him to be
brought to him and released. When he was free, "Bow your head," said
he, "and come." The man began to tremble; he twisted his neck round and
did not dare to look him in the face, but laid aside all his fierceness
and began to lick his feet as he sat. At last the demon which had
possessed the young man being tortured by the saint's adjurations came
forth on the seventh day.
18. Nor must we omit to tell that Orion, a leading man and wealthy
citizen of Aira, on the coast of the Red Sea, being possessed by a
legion of demons was brought to him. Hands, neck, sides, feet were
laden with iron, and his glaring eyes portended an access of raging
madness. As the saint was walking with the brethren and expounding some
passage of Scripture the man broke from the hands of his keepers,
clasped him from behind and raised him aloft. There was a shout from
all, for they feared lest he might crush his limbs wasted as they were
with fasting. The saint smiled and said, "Be quiet, and let me have my
rival in the wrestling match to myself." Then he bent back his hand
over his shoulder till he touched the man's head, seized his hair and
drew him round so as to be foot to foot with him; he then stretched
both his hands in a straight line, and trod on his two feet with both
his own, while he cried out again and again, "To torment with you! ye
crowd of demons, to torment!" The sufferer shouted aloud and bent back
his neck till his head touched the ground, while the saint said, "Lord
Jesus, release this wretched man, release this captive. Thine it is to
conquer many, no less than one." What I now relate is unparalleled:
from one man's lips were heard different voices and as it were the
confused shouts of a multitude. Well, he too was cured, and not long
after came with his wife and children to the monastery bringing many
gifts expressive of his gratitude. The saint thus addressed him--"Have
you not read what befell Gehazi and Simon, one of whom took a reward,
the other offered it, the former in order to sell grace, the latter to
buy it?" And when Orion said with tears, "Take it and give it to the
poor," he replied, "You can best distribute your own gifts, for you
tread the streets of the cities and know the poor. Why should I who
have forsaken my own seek another man's? To many the name of the poor
is a pretext for their avarice; but compassion knows no artifices. No
one better spends than he who keeps nothing for himself." The man was
sad and lay upon the ground. "Be not sad, my son," he said; "what I do
for my own good I do also for yours. If I were to take these gifts I
should myself offend God, and, moreover, the legion would return to
you."
19. There is a story relating to Majomites of Gaza which it is
impossible to pass over in silence. While quarrying building stones on
the shore not far from the monastery he was helplessly paralysed, and
after being carried to the saint by his fellow-workman immediately
returned to his work in perfect health. I ought to explain that the
shore of Palestine and Egypt naturally consists of soft sand and gravel
which gradually becomes consolidated and hardens into rock; and thus
though to the eye it remains the same it is no longer the same to the
touch.
20. Another story relates to Italicus, a citizen of the same town. He
was a Christian and kept horses for the circus to contend against those
of the Duumvir of Gaza who was a votary of the idol god Marnas. This
custom at least in Roman cities was as old as the days of Romulus, and
was instituted in commemoration of the successful seizure of the Sabine
women. The chariots raced seven times round the circus in honour of
Consus in his character of the God of Counsel. [4025] Victory lay with
the team which tired out the horses opposed to them. Now the rival of
Italicus had in his pay a magician to incite his horses by certain
demoniacal incantations, and keep back those of his opponent. Italicus
therefore came to the blessed Hilarion and besought his aid not so much
for the injury of his adversary as for protection for himself. It
seemed absurd for the venerable old man to waste prayers on trifles of
this sort. He therefore smiled and said, "Why do you not rather give
the price of the horses to the poor for the salvation of your soul?"
His visitor replied that his office was a public duty, and that he
acted not so much from choice as from compulsion, that no Christian man
could employ magic, but would rather seek aid from a servant of Christ,
especially against the people of Gaza who were enemies of God, and who
would exult over the Church of Christ more than over him. At the
request therefore of the brethren who were present he ordered an
earthenware cup out of which he was wont to drink to be filled with
water and given to Italicus. The latter took it and sprinkled it over
his stable and horses, his charioteers and his chariot, and the
barriers of the course. The crowd was in a marvellous state of
excitement, for the enemy in derision had published the news of what
was going to be done, and the backers of Italicus were in high spirits
at the victory which they promised themselves. The signal is given; the
one team flies towards the goal, the other sticks fast: the wheels are
glowing hot beneath the chariot of the one, while the other scarce
catches a glimpse of their opponents' backs as they flit past. The
shouts of the crowd swell to a roar, and the heathens themselves with
one voice declare Marnas is conquered by Christ. After this the
opponents in their rage demanded that Hilarion as a Christian magician
should be dragged to execution. This decisive victory and several
others which followed in successive games of the circus caused many to
turn to the faith.
21. There was a youth in the neighbourhood of the same market-town of
Gaza who was desperately in love with one of God's virgins. After he
had tried again and again those touches, jests, nods, and whispers
which so commonly lead to the destruction of virginity, but had made no
progress by these means, he went to a magician at Memphis to whom he
proposed to make known his wretched state, and then, fortified with his
arts, to return to his assault upon the virgin. Accordingly after a
year's instruction by the priest of Æsculapius, who does not heal souls
but destroys them, he came full of the lust which he had previously
allowed his mind to entertain, and buried beneath the threshold of the
girl's house certain magical formulæ and revolting figures engraven on
a plate of Cyprian brass. Thereupon the maid began to show signs of
insanity, to throw away the covering of her head, tear her hair, gnash
her teeth, and loudly call the youth by name. Her intense affection had
become a frenzy. Her parents therefore brought her to the monastery and
delivered her to the aged saint. No sooner was this done than the devil
began to howl and confess. "I was compelled, I was carried off against
my will. How happy I was when I used to beguile the men of Memphis in
their dreams! What crosses, what torture I suffer! You force me to go
out, and I am kept bound under the threshold. I cannot go out unless
the young man who keeps me there lets me go." The old man answered,
"Your strength must be great indeed, if a bit of thread and a plate can
keep you bound. Tell me, how is it that you dared to enter into this
maid who belongs to God?" "That I might preserve her as a virgin," said
he. "You preserve her, betrayer of chastity! Why did you not rather
enter into him who sent you?" "For what purpose," he answers, "should I
enter into one who was in alliance with a comrade of my own, the demon
of love?" But the saint would not command search to be made for either
the young man or the charms till the maiden had undergone a process of
purgation, for fear that it might be thought that the demon had been
released by means of incantations, or that he himself had attached
credit to what he said. He declared that demons are deceitful and well
versed in dissimulation, and sharply rebuked the virgin when she had
recovered her health for having by her conduct given an opportunity for
the demon to enter.
22. It was not only in Palestine and the neighbouring cities of Egypt
or Syria that he was in high repute, but his fame had reached distant
provinces. An officer [4026] of the Emperor Constantius whose golden
hair and personal beauty revealed his country (it lay between the
Saxons and the Alemanni, was of no great extent but powerful, and is
known to historians as Germany, but is now called France), had long,
that is to say from infancy, been pursued by a devil, who forced him in
the night to howl, groan, and gnash his teeth. He therefore secretly
asked the Emperor for a post-warrant, plainly telling him why he wanted
it, and having also obtained letters to the legate at Palestine came
with great pomp and a large retinue to Gaza. On his inquiring of the
local senators where Hilarion the monk dwelt, the people of Gaza were
much alarmed, and supposing that he had been sent by the Emperor,
brought him to the monastery, that they might show respect to one so
highly accredited, and that, if any guilt had been incurred by them by
injuries previously done by them to Hilarion it might be obliterated by
their present dutifulness. The old man at the time was taking a walk on
the soft sands and was humming some passage or other from the psalms.
Seeing so great a company approaching he stopped, and having returned
the salutes of all while he raised his hand and gave them his blessing,
after an hour's interval he bade the rest withdraw, but would have his
visitor together with servants and officers remain: for by the man's
eyes and countenance he knew the cause of his coming. Immediately on
being questioned by the servant of God the man sprang up on tiptoe, so
as scarcely to touch the ground with his feet, and with a wild roar
replied in Syriac in which language he had been interrogated. Pure
Syriac was heard flowing from the lips of a barbarian who knew only
French and Latin, and that without the absence of a sibilant, or an
aspirate, or an idiom of the speech of Palestine. The demon then
confessed by what means he had entered into him. Further, that his
interpreters who knew only Greek and Latin might understand, Hilarion
questioned him also in Greek, and when he gave the same answer in the
same words and alleged in excuse many occasions on which spells had
been laid upon him, and how he was bound to yield to magic arts, "I
care not," said the saint, "how you came to enter, but I command you in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to come out." The man, as soon as he
was healed, with a rough simplicity offered him ten pounds of gold. But
the saint took from him only bread, and told him that they who were
nourished on such food regarded gold as mire.
23. It is not enough to speak of men; brute animals were also daily
brought to him in a state of madness, and among them a Bactrian camel
of enormous size amid the shouts of thirty men or more who held him
tight with stout ropes. He had already injured many. His eyes were
bloodshot, his mouth filled with foam, his rolling tongue swollen, and
above every other source of terror was his loud and hideous roar. Well,
the old man ordered him to be let go. At once those who brought him as
well as the attendants of the saint fled away without exception. The
saint went by himself to meet him, and addressing him in Syriac said,
"You do not alarm me, devil, huge though your present body is. Whether
in a fox or a camel you are just the same." Meanwhile he stood with
outstretched hand. The brute raging and looking as if he would devour
Hilarion came up to him, but immediately fell down, laid its head on
the ground, and to the amazement of all present showed suddenly no less
tameness than it had exhibited ferocity before. But the old man
declared to them how the devil, for men's sake, seizes even beasts of
burden; that he is inflamed by such intense hatred for men that he
desires to destroy not only them but what belongs to them. As an
illustration of this he added the fact that before he was permitted to
try the saintly Job, he made an end of all his substance. Nor ought it
to disturb anyone that [4027] by the Lord's command two thousand swine
were slain by the agency of demons, since those who witnessed the
miracle could not have believed that so great a multitude of demons had
gone out of the man unless an equally vast number of swine had rushed
to ruin, showing that it was a legion that impelled them.
24. Time would fail me if I wished to relate all the miracles which
were wrought by him. For to such a pitch of glory was he raised by the
Lord that the blessed Antony among the rest hearing of his life wrote
to him and gladly received his letters. And if ever the sick from Syria
came to him he would say to them, "Why have you taken the trouble to
come so far, when you have there my son Hilarion?" Following his
example, however, innumerable monasteries sprang up throughout the
whole of Palestine, and all the monks flocked to him. When he saw this
he praised the Lord for His grace, and exhorted them individually to
the profit of their souls, telling them that the fashion of this world
passes away, and that the true life is that which is purchased by
suffering in the present.
25. Wishing to set the monks an example of humility and of zeal he was
accustomed on fixed days before the vintage to visit their cells. When
the brethren knew this they would all come together to meet him, and in
company with their distinguished leader go the round of the
monasteries, taking with them provisions, because sometimes as many as
two thousand men were assembled. But, as time went on, all the
settlements round gladly gave food to the neighbouring monks for the
entertainment of the saints. Moreover, the care he took to prevent any
brother however humble or poor being passed over is evidenced by the
journey which he once took into the desert of Cades to visit one of his
disciples. With a great company of monks he reached Elusa, as it
happened on the day when the annual festival had brought all the people
together to the temple of Venus. This, goddess is worshipped on account
of Lucifer to whom the Saracen nation is devoted. The very town too is
to a great extent semi-barbarous, owing to its situation. When
therefore it was heard that Saint Hilarion was passing through (he had
frequently healed many Saracens possessed by demons), they went to meet
him in crowds with their wives and children, bending their heads and
crying in the Syriac tongue Barech, that is, Bless. He received them
with courtesy and humility, and prayed that they might worship God
rather than stones; at the same time, weeping copiously, he looked up
to heaven and promised that if they would believe in Christ he would
visit them often. By the marvellous grace of God they did not suffer
him to depart before he had drawn the outline of a church, and their
priest with his garland upon his head had been signed with the sign of
Christ.
26. Another year, again, when he was setting out to visit the
monasteries and was drawing up a list of those with whom he must stay
and whom he must see in passing, the monks knowing that one of their
number was a niggard, and being at the same time desirous to cure his
complaint, asked the saint to stay with him. He replied, "Do you wish
me to inflict injury on you and annoyance on the brother?" The
niggardly brother on hearing of this was ashamed, and with the
strenuous support of all his brethren, at length obtained from the
saint a reluctant promise to put his monastery on the roll of his
resting places. Ten days after they came to him and found the keepers
already on guard in the vineyard through which their course lay, to
keep off all comers with stones and clods and slings. In the morning
they all departed without having eaten a grape, while the old man
smiled and pretended not to know what had happened.
27. Once when they were being entertained by another monk whose name
was Sabus (we must not of course give the name of the niggard, we may
tell that of this generous man), because it was the Lord's day, they
were all invited by him into the vineyard so that before the hour for
food came they might relieve the toil of the journey by a repast of
grapes. Said the saint, "Cursed be he who looks for the refreshment of
the body before that of the soul. Let us pray, let us sing, let us do
our duty to God, and then we will hasten to the vineyard." When the
service was over, he stood on an eminence and blessed the vineyard and
let his own sheep go to their pasture. Now those who partook were not
less than three thousand. And whereas the whole vineyard had been
estimated at a hundred flagons, within thirty days he made it worth
three hundred. The niggardly brother gathered much less than usual, and
he was grieved to find that even what he had turned to vinegar. The old
man had predicted this to many brethren before it happened. He
particularly abhorred such monks as were led by their lack of faith to
hoard for the future, and were careful about expense, or raiment, or
some other of those things which pass away with the world.
28. Lastly he would not even look at one of the brethren who lived
about five miles off because he ascertained that he very jealously
guarded his bit of ground, and had a little money. The offender wishing
to be reconciled to the old man often came to the brethren, and in
particular to Hesychius who was specially dear to Hilarion. One day
accordingly he brought a bundle of green chick-pea just as it had been
gathered. Hesychius placed it on the table against the evening,
whereupon the old man cried out that he could not bear the stench, and
asked where it came from. Hesychius replied that a certain brother had
sent the brethren the first fruits of his ground. "Don't you notice,"
said he, "the horrid stench, and detect the foul odour of avarice in
the peas? Send it to the cattle, send to the brute-beasts and see
whether they can eat it." No sooner was it in obedience to his command
laid in the manger than the cattle in the wildest alarm and bellowing
loudly broke their fastenings and fled in different directions. For the
old man was enabled by grace to tell from the odour of bodies and
garments, and the things which any one had touched, by what demon or
with what vice the individual was distressed.
29. His sixty-third year found the old man at the head of a grand
monastery and a multitude of resident brethren. There were such crowds
of persons constantly bringing those who suffered from various kinds of
sickness or were possessed of unclean spirits, that the whole circuit
of the wilderness was full of all sorts of people. And as the saint saw
all this he wept daily and called to mind with incredible regret his
former mode of life. When one of the brethren asked him why he was so
dejected he replied, "I have returned again to the world and have
received my reward in my lifetime. The people of Palestine and the
adjoining province think me of some importance, and under pretence of a
monastery for the well-ordering of the brethren I have all the
apparatus of a paltry life about me." The brethren, however, kept watch
over him and in particular Hesychius, who had a marvellously devoted
affection and veneration for the old man. After he had spent two years
in these lamentations Aristæneté the lady of whom we made mention
before, as being then the wife of a prefect though without any of a
prefect's ostentation, came to him intending to pay a visit to Antony
also. He said to her, "I should like to go myself too if I were not
kept a prisoner in this monastery, and if my going could be fruitful.
For it is now two days since mankind was bereaved of him who was so
truly a father to them all." She believed his word and stayed where she
was: and after a few days the news came that Antony had fallen asleep.
30. Some may wonder at the miracles he worked, or his incredible
fasting, knowledge, and humility. Nothing so astonishes me as his power
to tread under foot honour and glory. Bishops, presbyters, crowds of
clergymen and monks, of Christian matrons even (a great temptation),
and a rabble from all quarters in town and country were congregating
about him, and even judges and others holding high positions, that they
might receive at his hands the bread or oil which he had blessed. But
he thought of nothing but solitude, so much so that one day he
determined to be gone, and having procured an ass (he was almost
exhausted with fasting and could scarcely walk) endeavoured to steal
away. The news spread far and wide, and, just as if a public mourning
for the desolation of Palestine were decreed, ten thousand people of
various ages and both sexes came together to prevent his departure. He
was unmoved by entreaties, and striking the sand with his stick kept
saying: "I will not make my Lord a deceiver; I cannot look upon
churches overthrown, Christ's altars trodden down, the blood of my sons
poured out." All who were present began to understand that some secret
had been revealed to him which he was unwilling to confess, but they
none the less kept guard over him that he might not go. He therefore
determined, and publicly called all to witness, that he would take
neither food nor drink unless he were released. Only after seven days
was he relieved from his fasting; when having bidden farewell to
numerous friends, he came to Betilium attended by a countless
multitude. There he prevailed upon the crowd to return and chose as his
companions forty monks who had resources for the journey and were
capable of travelling during fasting-time, that is, after sunset. He
then visited the brethren who were in the neighbouring desert and
sojourning at a place called Lychnos, and after three days came to the
castle of Theubatus to see Dracontius, bishop and confessor, who was in
exile there. The bishop was beyond measure cheered by the presence of
so distinguished a man. At the end of another three days he set out for
Babylon and arrived there after a hard journey. Then he visited Philo
the bishop, who was also a confessor; for the Emperor Constantius who
favoured the Arian heresy had transported both of them to those parts.
Departing thence he came in three days to the town Aphroditon. There he
met with a deacon Baisanes who kept dromedaries which were hired, on
account of the scarcity of water in the desert, to carry travellers who
wished to visit Antony. He then made known to the brethren that the
anniversary of the blessed Antony's decease was at hand, and that he
must spend a whole night in vigil in the very place where the saint had
died. So then after three days journey through the waste and terrible
desert they at length came to a very high mountain, and there found two
monks, Isaac and Pelusianus, the former of whom had been one of
Antony's attendants. [4028]
31. The occasion seems a fitting one, since we are on the spot itself,
to describe the abode of this great man. There is a high and rocky
mountain extending for about a mile, with gushing springs amongst its
spurs, the waters of which are partly absorbed by the sand, partly flow
towards the plain and gradually form a stream shaded on either side by
countless palms which lend much pleasantness and charm to the place.
Here the old man might be seen pacing to and fro with the disciples of
blessed Antony. Here, so they said, Antony himself used to sing, pray,
work, and rest when weary. Those vines and shrubs were planted by his
own hand: that garden bed was his own design. This pool for watering
the garden was made by him after much toil. That hoe was handled by him
for many years. Hilarion would lie upon the saint's bed and as though
it were still warm would affectionately kiss it. The cell was square,
its sides measuring no more than the length of a sleeping man. Moreover
on the lofty mountaintop, the ascent of which was by a zig-zag path
very difficult, were to be seen two cells of the same dimensions, in
which he stayed when he escaped from the crowds of visitors or the
company of his disciples. These were cut out of the live rock and were
only furnished with doors. When they came to the garden, "You see,"
said Isaac, "this garden with its shrubs and green vegetables; about
three years ago it was ravaged by a troop of wild asses. One of their
leaders was hidden by Antony to stand still while he thrashed the
animal's sides with a stick and wanted to know why they devoured what
they had not sown. And ever afterwards, excepting the water which they
were accustomed to come and drink, they never touched anything, not a
bush or a vegetable." The old man further asked to be shown his burial
place, and they thereupon took him aside; but whether they showed him
the tomb or not is unknown. It is related that the motive for secrecy
was compliance with Antony's orders and to prevent Pergamius, a very
wealthy man of the district, from removing the saint's body to his
house and erecting a shrine to his memory.
32. Having returned to Aphroditon and keeping with him only two of the
brethren, he stayed in the neighbouring desert, and practised such
rigid abstinence and silence that he felt that then for the first time
he had begun to serve Christ. Three years had now elapsed since the
heavens had been closed and the land had suffered from drought, and it
was commonly said that even the elements were lamenting the death of
Antony. Hilarion did not remain unknown to the inhabitants of that
place any more than to others, but men and women with ghastly faces and
wasted by hunger earnestly entreated the servant of Christ, as being
the blessed Antony's successor, to give them rain. Hilarion when he saw
them was strangely affected with compassion and, raising his eyes to
heaven and lifting up both his hands, he at once obtained their
petition. But, strange to say, that parched and sandy district, after
the rain had fallen, unexpectedly produced such vast numbers of
serpents and poisonous animals that many who were bitten would have
died at once if they had not run to Hilarion. He therefore blessed some
oil with which all the husbandmen and shepherds touched their wounds,
and found an infallible cure.
33. Seeing that even there surprising respect was paid to him, he went
to Alexandria, intending to cross from thence to the farther oasis of
the desert. And because he had never stayed in cities since he entered
on the monk's life, he turned aside to some brethren at Bruchium, not
far from Alexandria, whom he knew, and who welcomed the old man with
the greatest pleasure. It was now night when all at once they heard his
disciples saddling the ass and making ready for the journey. They
therefore threw themselves at his feet and besought him not to leave
them; they fell prostrate before the door, and declared they would
rather die than lose such a guest. He answered: "My reason for
hastening away is that I may not give you trouble. You will no doubt
afterwards discover that I have not suddenly left without good cause."
Next day the authorities of Gaza with the lictors of the prefect having
heard of his arrival on the previous day, entered the monastery, and
when they failed to find him anywhere they began to say to one another:
"What we heard is true. He is a magician and knows the future." The
fact was that the city of Gaza on Julian's accession to the throne,
after the departure of Hilarion from Palestine and the destruction of
his monastery, had presented a petition to the Emperor requesting that
both Hilarion and Hesychius might be put to death, and a proclamation
had been published everywhere that search should be made for them.
34. Having then left Bruchium, he entered the oasis through the
trackless desert, and there abode for a year, more or less. But,
inasmuch as his fame had travelled thither also, he felt that he could
not be hidden in the East, where he was known to many by report and by
sight, and began to think of taking ship for some solitary island, so
that having been exposed to public view by the land, he might at least
find concealment in the sea. Just about that time Hadrian, his
disciple, arrived from Palestine with information that Julian was slain
and that a Christian emperor [4029] had commenced his reign; he ought
therefore, it was said, to return to the relics of his monastery. But
he, when he heard this, solemnly refused to return; and hiring a camel
crossed the desert waste and reached Paretonium, a city on the coast of
Libya. There the ill-starred Hadrian wishing to return to Palestine and
unwilling to part with the renown so long attaching to his master's
name, heaped reproaches upon him, and at last having packed up the
presents which he had brought him from the brethren, set out without
the knowledge of Hilarion. As I shall have no further opportunity of
referring to this man, I would only record, for the terror of those who
despise their masters, that after a little while he was attacked by the
king's-evil [4030] and turned to a mass of corruption.
35. The old man accompanied by Gazanus went on board a ship which was
sailing to Sicily. Half way across the Adriatic he was preparing to pay
his fare by selling a copy of the Gospels which he had written with his
own hand in his youth, when the son of the master of the ship seized by
a demon began to cry out and say: "Hilarion, servant of God, why is it
that through you we cannot be safe even on the sea? Spare me a little
until I reach land. Let me not be cast out here and thrown into the
deep." The saint replied: "If my God permit you to remain, remain; but
if He casts you out, why bring odium upon me a sinner and a beggar?"
This he said that the sailors and merchants on board might not betray
him on reaching shore. Not long after, the boy was cleansed, his father
and the rest who were present having given their word that they would
not reveal the name of the saint to any one.
36. On approaching Pachynus, a promontory of Sicily, he offered the
master the Gospel for the passage of himself and Gazanus. The man was
unwilling to take it, all the more because he saw that excepting that
volume and the clothes they wore they had nothing, and at last he swore
he would not take it. But the aged saint, ardent and confident in the
consciousness of his poverty, rejoiced exceedingly that he had no
worldly possessions and was accounted a beggar by the people of the
place.
37. Once more, on thinking the matter over and fearing that merchants
coming from the East might make him known, he fled to the interior,
some twenty miles from the sea, and there on an abandoned piece of
ground, every day tied up a bundle of firewood which he laid upon the
back of his disciple, and sold at some neighbouring mansion. They thus
supported themselves and were able to purchase a morsel of bread for
any chance visitors. But that came exactly to pass which is written:
[4031] "a city set on a hill cannot be hid." It happened that one of
the shields-men [4032] who was vexed by a demon was in the basilica of
the blessed Peter at Rome, when the unclean spirit within him cried
out, "A few days ago Christ's servant Hilarion entered Sicily and no
one knew him, and he thinks he is hidden. I will go and betray him."
Immediately he embarked with his attendants in a ship lying in harbour,
sailed to Pachynus and, led by the demon to the old man's hut, there
prostrated himself and was cured on the spot. This, his first miracle
in Sicily, brought the sick to him in countless numbers (but it brought
also a multitude of religious persons); insomuch that one of the
leading men who was swollen with the dropsy was cured the same day that
he came. He afterwards offered the saint gifts without end, but the
saint replied to him in the words of the Saviour to his disciples:
[4033] "Freely ye received, freely give."
38. While this was going on in Sicily Hesychius his disciple was
searching the world over for the old man, traversing the coast,
penetrating deserts, clinging all the while to the belief that wherever
he was he could not long be hidden. At the end of three years he heard
at Methona from a certain Jew, who dealt in old-clothes, that a
Christian prophet had appeared in Sicily, and was working such miracles
and signs, one might think him one of the ancient saints. So he asked
about his dress, gait, and speech, and in particular his age, but could
learn nothing. His informant merely declared that he had heard of the
man by report. He therefore crossed the Adriatic and after a prosperous
voyage came to Pachynus, where he took up his abode in a cottage on the
shore of the bay, and, on inquiring for tidings of the old man,
discovered by the tale which every one told him where he was, and what
he was doing. Nothing about him surprised them all so much as the fact
that after such great signs and wonders he had not accepted even a
crust of bread from any one in the district. And, to cut my story
short, the holy man Hesychius fell down at his master's knees and
bedewed his feet with tears; at length he was gently raised by him, and
when two or three days had been spent in talking over matters, he
learned from Gazanus that Hilarion no longer felt himself able to live
in those parts, but wanted to go to certain barbarous races where his
name and fame were unknown.
39. He therefore brought him to Epidaurus, [4034] a town in Dalmatia,
where he stayed for a few days in the country near, but could not be
hid. An enormous serpent, of the sort which the people of those parts
call boas [4035] because they are so large that they often swallow
oxen, was ravaging the whole province far and wide, and was devouring
not only flocks and herds, but husbandmen and shepherds who were drawn
in by the force of its breathing. He ordered a pyre to be prepared for
it, then sent up a prayer to Christ, called forth the reptile, bade it
climb the pile of wood, and then applied the fire. And so before all
the people he burnt the savage beast to ashes. But now he began
anxiously to ask what he was to do, whither to betake himself. Once
more he prepared for flight, and in thought ranged through solitary
lands, grieving that his miracles could speak of him though his tongue
was silent.
40. At that time there was an earthquake over the whole world,
following on the death of Julian, which caused the sea to burst its
bounds, and left ships hanging on the edge of mountain steeps. It
seemed as though God were threatening a second deluge, or all things
were returning to original chaos. When the people of Epidaurus saw
this, I mean the roaring waves and heaving waters and the swirling
billows mountain-high dashing on the shore, fearing that what they saw
had happened elsewhere might befall them and their town be utterly
destroyed, they made their way to the old man, and as if preparing for
a battle placed him on the shore. After making the sign of the cross
three times on the sand, he faced the sea, stretched out his hands, and
no one would believe to what a height the swelling sea stood like a
wall before him. It roared for a long time as if indignant at the
barrier, then little by little sank to its level. Epidaurus and all the
region roundabout tell the story to this day, and mothers teach their
children to hand down the remembrance of it to posterity. Verily, what
was said to the Apostles, [4036] "If ye have faith, ye shall say to
this mountain, Remove into the sea, and it shall be done," may be even
literally fulfilled, provided one has such faith as the Lord commanded
the Apostles to have. For what difference does it make whether a
mountain descends into the sea, or huge mountains of waters everywhere
else fluid suddenly become hard as rock at the old man's feet?
41. The whole country marvelled and the fame of the great miracle was
in everyone's mouth, even at Salonæ. [4037] When the old man knew this
was the case he escaped secretly by night in a small cutter, and
finding a merchant ship after two days came to Cyprus. Between [4038]
Malea and [4039] Cythera, the pirates, who had left on the shore that
part of their fleet which is worked by poles instead of sails, bore
down on them with two light vessels of considerable size; and besides
this they were buffeted by the waves on every side. All the rowers
began to be alarmed, to weep, to leave their places, to get out their
poles, and, as though one message was not enough, again and again told
the old man that pirates were at hand. Looking at them in the distance
he gently smiled, then turned to his disciples and said, [4040] "O ye
of little faith, wherefore do ye doubt? Are these more than the army of
Pharaoh? Yet they were all drowned by the will of God." Thus he spake,
but none the less the enemy with foaming prows kept drawing nearer and
were now only a stone's throw distant. He stood upon the prow of the
vessel facing them with out-stretched hand, and said, "Thus far and no
farther." Marvellous to relate, the boats at once bounded back, and
though urged forward by the oars fell farther and farther astern. The
pirates were astonished to find themselves going back, and laboured
with all their strength to reach the vessel, but were carried to the
shore faster by far than they came.
42. I pass by the rest for fear I should seem in my history to be
publishing a volume of miracles. I will only say this, that when
sailing with a fair wind among the Cyclades he heard the voices of
unclean spirits shouting in all directions from towns and villages, and
running in crowds to the shore. Having then entered Paphos, the city of
Cyprus renowned in the songs of the poets, the ruins of whose temples
after frequent earthquakes are the only evidences at the present day of
its former grandeur, he began to live in obscurity about two miles from
the city, and rejoiced in having a few days rest. But not quite twenty
days passed before throughout the whole island whoever had unclean
spirits began to cry out that Hilarion Christ's servant had come, and
that they must go to him with all speed. Salamis, Curium, Lapetha, and
the other cities joined in the cry, while many declared that they knew
Hilarion and that he was indeed the servant of Christ, but where he was
they could not tell. So within a trifle more than thirty days, about
two hundred people, both men and women, came together to him. When he
saw them he lamented that they would not suffer him to be quiet, and
thirsting in a kind of manner to avenge himself, he lashed them with
such urgency of prayer that some immediately, others after two or three
days, all within a week, were cured.
43. Here he stayed two years, always thinking of flight, and in the
meantime sent Hesychius, who was to return in the spring, to Palestine
to salute the brethren and visit the ashes of his monastery. When the
latter returned he found Hilarion longing to sail again to Egypt, that
is to the locality called [4041] Bucolia; but he persuaded him that,
since there were no Christians there, but only a fierce and barbarous
people, he should rather go to a spot in Cyprus itself which was higher
up and more retired. After long and diligent search he found such a
place twelve miles from the sea far off among the recesses of rugged
mountains, the ascent to which could hardly be accomplished by creeping
on hands and knees. Thither he conducted him. The old man entered and
gazed around. It was indeed a lonely and terrible place; for though
surrounded by trees on every side, with water streaming from the brow
of the hill, a delightful bit of garden, and fruit-trees in abundance
(of which, however, he never ate), yet it had close by the ruins of an
ancient temple from which, as he himself was wont to relate and his
disciples testify, the voices of such countless demons re-echoed night
and day, that you might have thought there was an army of them. He was
highly pleased at the idea of having his opponents in the
neighbourhood, and abode there five years, cheered in these his last
days by the frequent visits of Hesychius, for owing to the steep and
rugged ascent, and the numerous ghosts (so the story ran), nobody or
scarcely anybody either could or dared to go up to him. One day,
however, as he was leaving his garden, he saw a man completely
paralysed lying in front of the gates. He asked Hesychius who he was,
or how he had been brought. Hesychius replied that he was the agent at
the country-house to which the garden belonged in which they were
located. Weeping much and stretching out his hand to the prostrate man
he said, "I bid you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ arise and
walk." The words were still on the lips of the speaker, when, with
miraculous speed, the limbs were strengthened and the man arose and
stood firm. Once this was noised abroad the need of many overcame even
the pathless journey and the dangers of the place. The occupants of all
the houses round about had nothing so much in their thoughts as to
prevent the possibility of his escape, a rumour having spread
concerning him to the effect that he could not stay long in the same
place. This habit of his was not due to levity or childishness, but to
the fact that he shunned the worry of publicity and praise, and always
longed for silence and a life of obscurity.
44. In his eightieth year, during the absence of Hesychius, he wrote by
way of a will a short letter with his own hand, and left him all his
riches (that is to say, a copy of the gospels, and his sack-cloth
tunic, cowl and cloak), for his servant had died a few days before.
Many devout men therefore came to the invalid from Paphos, and
specially because they had heard of his saying that he must soon
migrate to the Lord and must be liberated from the bonds of the body.
There came also Constantia a holy woman whose son-in-law and daughter
he had anointed with oil and saved from death. He earnestly entreated
them all not to let him be kept even a moment of time after death, but
to bury him immediately in the same garden, just as he was, clad in his
goat-hair tunic, cowl, and his peasant's cloak.
45. His body was now all but cold, and nought was left of life but
reason. Yet with eyes wide open he kept repeating, "Go forth, what do
you fear? Go forth, my soul, why do you hesitate? You have served
Christ nearly seventy years, and do you fear death?" Thus saying he
breathed his last. He was immediately buried before the city heard of
his death.
46. When the holy man Hesychius heard of his decease, he went to Cyprus
and, to lull the suspicions of the natives who were keeping strict
guard, pretended that he wished to live in the same garden, and then in
the course of about ten months, though at great peril to his life,
stole the saint's body. He carried it to Majuma; and there all the
monks and crowds of towns-folk going in procession laid it to rest in
the ancient monastery. His tunic, cowl and cloak, were uninjured; the
whole body as perfect as if alive, and so fragrant with sweet odours
that one might suppose it to have been embalmed.
47. In bringing my book to an end I think I ought not to omit to
mention the devotion of the holy woman Constantia who, when a message
was brought her that Hilarion's body was in Palestine, immediately
died, proving even by death the sincerity of her love for the servant
of God. For she was accustomed to spend whole nights in vigil at his
tomb, and to converse with him as if he were present in order to
stimulate her prayers. Even at the present day one may see a strange
dispute between the people of Palestine and the Cypriotes, the one
contending that they have the body, the other the spirit of Hilarion.
And yet in both places great miracles are wrought daily, but to a
greater extent in the garden of Cyprus, perhaps because that spot was
dearest to him.
__________________________________________________________________
[4017] See life of Paulus above.
[4018] Matt. xi. 18.
[4019] Luke xiv. 33.
[4020] Isa. xiv. 14.
[4021] 2 Thess. iii. 10.
[4022] Exod. xv. 1.
[4023] Ps. xx. 7.
[4024] Luke v. 31.
[4025] He was also the god of agricultural fertility. The festival of
the Consualia, supposed to have been instituted by Romulus, was on
August 21.
[4026] Or secretary--Candidatus, a quæstor appointed by the Emperor to
read his rescripts, etc.
[4027] Matt. viii. and Mark v.
[4028] Interpres. Probably one who spoke for him to the people, as
Elijah had Elisha as his attendant.
[4029] Jovian, a.d., 363-4.
[4030] Morbo regio. The dictionaries give "jaundice" as the meaning,
but it is universally used in modern times for scrofula. Here it seems
to mean leprosy.
[4031] Matt. v. 14.
[4032] Scutarius, one of a corps of guards, whose prominent weapons
were shields.
[4033] Matt. x. 8.
[4034] More properly in Argolis. It was the native town of Æsculapius,
who was worshipped under the form of a serpent.
[4035] Boas because they can swallow oxen (boves).
[4036] Matt. xvii. 20 sq.
[4037] In Dalmatia, three miles from Diocletian's great palace
(Spalatro).
[4038] The southern promontory of Greece.
[4039] Now Cerigo.
[4040] Matt. xiv. 32.
[4041] Probably the place which gave its name to one of the mouths of
the Nile (Bucolicum).
__________________________________________________________________
The Life of Malchus, the Captive Monk.
------------------------
The life of Malchus was written at Bethlehem, a.d., 391. Its origin and
purpose are sufficiently described in chapters 1 and 2.
1. They who have to fight a naval battle prepare for it in harbours and
calm waters by adjusting the helm, plying the oars, and making ready
the hooks and grappling irons. They draw up the soldiers on the decks
and accustom them to stand steady with poised foot and on slippery
ground; so that they may not shrink from all this when the real
encounter comes, because they have had experience of it in the sham
fight. And so it is in my case. I have long held my peace, because
silence was imposed on me by one to whom I give pain when I speak of
him. But now, in preparing to write history on a wider scale I desire
to practise myself by means of this little work and as it were to wipe
the rust from my tongue. For I have purposed (if God grant me life, and
if my censurers will at length cease to persecute me, now that I am a
fugitive and shut up in a monastery) to write a history of the church
of Christ [4042] from the advent of our Saviour up to our own age, that
is from the apostles to the dregs of time in which we live, and to show
by what means and through what agents it received its birth, and how,
as it gained strength, it grew by persecution and was crowned with
martyrdom; and then, after reaching the Christian Emperors, how it
increased in influence and in wealth but decreased in Christian
virtues. But of this elsewhere. Now to the matter in hand.
2. Maronia is a little hamlet some thirty miles to the east of Antioch
in Syria. After having many owners or landlords, [4043] at the time
when I was staying as a young man in Syria [4044] it came into the
possession of my intimate friend, the Bishop Evagrius, [4045] whose
name I now give in order to show the source of my information. Well,
there was at the place at that time an old man by name Malchus, which
we might render "king," a Syrian by race and speech, in fact a genuine
son of the soil. His companion was an old woman very decrepit who
seemed to be at death's door, both of them so zealously pious and such
constant frequenters of the Church, they might have been taken for
Zacharias and Elizabeth in the Gospel but for the fact that there was
no John to be seen. With some curiosity I asked the neighbours what was
the link between them; was it marriage, or kindred, or the bond of the
Spirit? All with one accord replied that they were holy people, well
pleasing to God, and gave me a strange account of them. Longing to know
more I began to question the man with much eagerness about the truth of
what I heard, and learnt as follows.
3. My son, said he, I used to farm a bit of ground at Nisibis [4046]
and was an only son. My parents regarding me as the heir and the only
survivor of their race, wished to force me into marriage, but I said I
would rather be a monk. How my father threatened and my mother coaxed
me to betray my chastity requires no other proof than the fact that I
fled from home and parents. I could not go to the East because Persia
was close by and the frontiers were guarded by the soldiers of Rome; I
therefore turned my steps to the West, taking with me some little
provision for the journey, but barely sufficient to ward off
destitution. To be brief, I came at last to the desert of Chalcis
[4047] which is situate between Immæ and Beroa farther south. There,
finding some monks, I placed myself under their direction, earning my
livelihood by the labour of my hands, and curbing the wantonness of the
flesh by fasting. After many years the desire came over me to return to
my country, and stay with my mother and cheer her widowhood while she
lived (for my father, as I had already heard, was dead), and then to
sell the little property and give part to the poor, settle part on the
monasteries and (I blush to confess my faithlessness) keep some to
spend in comforts for myself. My abbot began to cry out that it was a
temptation of the devil, and that under fair pretexts some snare of the
old enemy lay hid. It was, he declared, a case of the dog returning to
his vomit. Many monks, he said, had been deceived by such suggestions,
for the devil never showed himself openly. He set before me many
examples from the Scriptures, and told me that even Adam and Eve in the
beginning had been overthrown by him through the hope of becoming gods.
When he failed to convince me he fell upon his knees and besought me
not to forsake him, nor ruin myself by looking back after putting my
hand to the plough. Unhappily for myself I had the misfortune to
conquer my adviser. I thought he was seeking not my salvation but his
own comfort. So he followed me from the monastery as if he had been
going to a funeral, and at last bade me farewell, saying, "I see that
you bear the brand of a son of Satan. I do not ask your reasons nor
take your excuses. The sheep which forsakes its fellows is at once
exposed to the jaws of the wolf."
4. On the road from Beroa to Edessa [4048] adjoining the high-way is a
waste over which the Saracens roam to and fro without having any fixed
abode. Through fear of them travellers in those parts assemble in
numbers, so that by mutual assistance they may escape impending danger.
There were in my company men, women, old men, youths, children,
altogether about seventy persons. All of a sudden the Ishmaelites on
horses and camels made an assault upon us, with their flowing hair
bound with fillets, their bodies half-naked, with their broad military
boots, their cloaks streaming behind them, and their quivers slung upon
the shoulders. They carried their bows unstrung and brandished their
long spears; for they had come not to fight, but to plunder. We were
seized, dispersed, and carried in different directions. I, meanwhile,
repenting too late of the step I had taken, and far indeed from gaining
possession of my inheritance, was assigned, along with another poor
sufferer, a woman, to the service of one and the same owner. We were
led, or rather carried, high upon the camel's back through a desert
waste, every moment expecting destruction, and suspended, I may say,
rather than seated. Flesh half raw was our food, camel's milk our
drink.
5. At length, after crossing a great river we came to the interior of
the desert, where, being commanded after the custom of the people to
pay reverence to the mistress and her children, we bowed our heads.
Here, as if I were a prisoner, I changed my dress, that is, learnt to
go naked, the heat being so excessive as to allow of no clothing beyond
a covering for the loins. Some sheep were given to me to tend, and,
comparatively speaking, I found this occupation a comfort, for I seldom
saw my masters or fellow slaves. My fate seemed to be like that of
Jacob in sacred history, and reminded me also of Moses; both of whom
were once shepherds in the desert. I fed on fresh cheese and milk,
prayed continually, and sang psalms which I had learnt in the
monastery. I was delighted with my captivity, and thanked God because I
had found in the desert the monk's estate which I was on the point of
losing in my country.
6. But no condition can ever shut out the Devil. How manifold past
expression are his snares! Hid though I was, his malice found me out.
My master seeing his flock increasing and finding no dishonesty in me
(I knew that the Apostle has given command that masters should be as
faithfully served as God Himself), and wishing to reward me in order to
secure my greater fidelity, gave me the woman who was once my fellow
servant in captivity. On my refusing and saying I was a Christian, and
that it was not lawful for me to take a woman to wife so long as her
husband was alive (her husband had been captured with us, but carried
off by another master), my owner was relentless in his rage, drew his
sword and began to make at me. If I had not without delay stretched out
my hand and taken possession of the woman, he would have slain me on
the spot. Well; by this time a darker night than usual had set in and,
for me, all too soon. I led my bride into an old cave; sorrow was
bride's-maid; we shrank from each other but did not confess it. Then I
really felt my captivity; I threw myself down on the ground, and began
to lament the monastic state which I had lost, and said: "Wretched man
that I am! have I been preserved for this? has my wickedness brought me
to this, that in my gray hairs I must lose my virgin state and become a
married man? What is the good of having despised parents, country,
property, for the Lord's sake, if I do the thing I wished to avoid
doing when I despised them? And yet it may be perhaps the case that I
am in this condition because I longed for home. What are we to do, my
soul? are we to perish, or conquer? Are we to wait for the hand of the
Lord, or pierce ourselves with our own sword? Turn your weapon against
yourself; I must fear your death, my soul, more than the death of the
body. Chastity preserved has its own martyrdom. Let the witness for
Christ lie unburied in the desert; I will be at once the persecutor and
the martyr." Thus speaking I drew my sword which glittered even in the
dark, and turning its point towards me said: "Farewell, unhappy woman:
receive me as a martyr not as a husband." She threw herself at my feet
and exclaimed: "I pray you by Jesus Christ, and adjure you by this hour
of trial, do not shed your blood and bring its guilt upon me. If you
choose to die, first turn your sword against me. Let us rather be
united upon these terms. Supposing my husband should return to me, I
would preserve the chastity which I have learnt in captivity; I would
even die rather than lose it. Why should you die to prevent a union
with me? I would die if you desired it. Take me then as the partner of
your chastity; and love me more in this union of the spirit than you
could in that of the body only. Let our master believe that you are my
husband. Christ knows you are my brother. We shall easily convince them
we are married when they see us so loving." I confess, I was astonished
and, much as I had before admired the virtue of the woman, I now loved
her as a wife still more. Yet I never gazed upon her naked person; I
never touched her flesh, for I was afraid of losing in peace what I had
preserved in the conflict. In this strange wedlock many days passed
away. Marriage had made us more pleasing to our masters, and there was
no suspicion of our flight; sometimes I was absent for even a whole
month like a trusty shepherd traversing the wilderness.
7. After a long time as I sat one day by myself in the desert with
nothing in sight save earth and sky, I began quickly to turn things
over in my thoughts, and amongst others called to mind my friends the
monks, and specially the look of the father who had instructed me, kept
me, and lost me. While I was thus musing I saw a crowd of ants swarming
over a narrow path. The loads they carried were clearly larger than
their own bodies. Some with their forceps were dragging along the seeds
of herbs: others were excavating the earth from pits and banking it up
to keep out the water. One party, in view of approaching winter, and
wishing to prevent their store from being converted into grass through
the dampness of the ground, were cutting off the tips of the grains
they had carried in; another with solemn lamentation were removing the
dead. And, what is stranger still in such a host, those coming out did
not hinder those going in; nay rather, if they saw one fall beneath his
burden they would put their shoulders to the load and give him
assistance. In short that day afforded me a delightful entertainment.
So, remembering how Solomon sends us to the shrewdness of the ant and
quickens our sluggish faculties by setting before us such an example, I
began to tire of captivity, and to regret the monk's cell, and long to
imitate those ants and their doings, where toil is for the community,
and, since nothing belongs to any one, all things belong to all.
8. When I returned to my chamber, my wife met me. My looks betrayed the
sadness of my heart. She asked why I was so dispirited. I told her the
reasons, and exhorted her to escape. She did not reject the idea. I
begged her to be silent on the matter. She pledged her word. We
constantly spoke to one another in whispers; and we floated in suspense
betwixt hope and fear. I had in the flock two very fine he-goats: these
I killed, made their skins into bottles, and from their flesh prepared
food for the way. Then in the early evening when our masters thought we
had retired to rest we began our journey, taking with us the bottles
and part of the flesh. When we reached the river which was about ten
miles off, having inflated the skins and got astride upon them, we
intrusted ourselves to the water, slowly propelling ourselves with our
feet, that we might be carried down by the stream to a point on the
opposite bank much below that at which we embarked, and that thus the
pursuers might lose the track. But meanwhile the flesh became sodden
and partly lost, and we could not depend on it for more than three
days' sustenance. We drank till we could drink no more by way of
preparing for the thirst we expected to endure, then hastened away,
constantly looking behind us, and advanced more by night than day, on
account both of the ambushes of the roaming Saracens, and of the
excessive heat of the sun. I grow terrified even as I relate what
happened; and, although my mind is perfectly at rest, yet my frame
shudders from head to foot.
9. Three days after we saw in the dim distance two men riding on camels
approaching with all speed. At once foreboding ill I began to think my
master purposed putting us to death, and our sun seemed to grow dark
again. In the midst of our fear, and just as we realized that our
footsteps on the sand had betrayed us, we found on our right hand a
cave which extended far underground. Well, we entered the cave: but we
were afraid of venomous beasts such as vipers, basilisks, scorpions,
and other creatures of the kind, which often resort to such shady
places so as to avoid the heat of the sun. We therefore barely went
inside, and took shelter in a pit on the left, not venturing a step
farther, lest in fleeing from death we should run into death. We
thought thus within ourselves: If the Lord helps us in our misery we
have found safety: if He rejects us for our sins, we have found our
grave. What do you suppose were our feelings? What was our terror, when
in front of the cave, close by, there stood our master and
fellow-servant, brought by the evidence of our footsteps to our hiding
place? How much worse is death expected than death inflicted! Again my
tongue stammers with distress and fear; it seems as if I heard my
master's voice, and I hardly dare mutter a word. He sent his servant to
drag us from the cavern while he himself held the camels and, sword in
hand, waited for us to come. Meanwhile the servant entered about three
or four cubits, and we in our hiding place saw his back though he could
not see us, for the nature of the eye is such that those who go into
the shade out of the sunshine can see nothing. His voice echoed through
the cave: "Come out, you felons; come out and die; why do you stay? Why
do you delay? Come out, your master is calling and patiently waiting
for you." He was still speaking when lo! through the gloom we saw a
lioness seize the man, strangle him, and drag him, covered with blood,
farther in. Good Jesus! how great was our terror now, how intense our
joy! We beheld, though our master knew not of it, our enemy perish. He,
when he saw that he was long in returning, supposed that the fugitives
being two to one were offering resistance. Impatient in his rage, and
sword still in hand, he came to the cavern, and shouted like a madman
as he chided the slowness of his slave, but was seized upon by the wild
beast before he reached our hiding place. Who ever would believe that
before our eyes a brute would fight for us?
One cause of fear was removed, but there was the prospect of a similar
death for ourselves, though the rage of the lion was not so bad to bear
as the anger of the man. Our hearts failed for fear: without venturing
to stir a step we awaited the issue, having no wall of defence in the
midst of so great dangers save the consciousness of our chastity; when,
early in the morning, the lioness, afraid of some snare and aware that
she had been seen took up her cub in her teeth and carried it away,
leaving us in possession of our retreat. Our confidence was not
restored all at once. We did not rush out, but waited for a long time;
for as often as we thought of coming out we pictured to ourselves the
horror of falling in with her.
10. At last we got rid of our fright; and when that day was spent, we
sallied forth towards evening, and saw the camels, on account of their
great speed called dromedaries, quietly chewing the cud. We mounted,
and with the strength gained from the new supply of grain, after ten
days travelling through the desert arrived at the Roman camp. After
being presented to the tribune we told all, and from thence were sent
to Sabianus, who commanded in Mesopotamia, where we sold our camels. My
dear old abbot was now sleeping in the Lord; I betook myself therefore
to this place, and returned to the monastic life, while I entrusted my
companion here to the care of the virgins; for though I loved her as a
sister, I did not commit myself to her as if she were my sister.
Malchus was an old man, I a youth, when he told me these things. I who
have related them to you am now old, and I have set them forth as a
history of chastity for the chaste. Virgins, I exhort you, guard your
chastity. Tell the story to them that come after, that they may realize
that in the midst of swords, and wild beasts of the desert, virtue is
never a captive, and that he who is devoted to the service of Christ
may die, but cannot be conquered.
__________________________________________________________________
[4042] This purpose was never carried into effect. These Lives of the
Monks may be regarded as a contribution towards it, and also the book
De Viris Illustribus (translated in Vol. iii. of this series) which was
written in the following year, 392.
[4043] Patronos. Properly defenders or advocates, but passing into the
sense of proprietor, as in the Italian padrone.
[4044] In the year 374.
[4045] See Letters i. 15, iii. 3.
[4046] A populous city in Mesopotamia.
[4047] The desert in which Jerome spent the years 375-80. See Letters
ii., v., xiv., xvii.
[4048] A city of Mesopotamia, formerly the capital of Abgarus' kingdom:
at this time a great centre of Syrian Christianity.
__________________________________________________________________
The Dialogue Against the Luciferians.
------------------------
Introduction.
This Dialogue was written about 379, seven years after the death of
Lucifer, and very soon after Jerome's return from his hermit life in
the desert of Chalcis. Though he received ordination from Paulinus, who
had been consecrated by Lucifer, he had no sympathy with Lucifer's
narrower views, as he shows plainly in this Dialogue. Lucifer, who was
bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia, first came into prominent notice about
a.d. 354, when great efforts were being made to procure a condemnation
of S. Athanasius by the Western bishops. He energetically took up the
cause of the saint, and at his own request was sent by Liberius, bishop
of Rome, in company with the priest Pancratius and the deacon Hilarius,
on a mission to the Emperor Constantius. The emperor granted a Council,
which met at Milan in a.d. 354. Lucifer distinguished himself by
resisting a proposition to condemn Athanasius, and did not hesitate to
oppose the emperor with much violence. In consequence of this he was
sent into exile from a.d. 355 to a.d. 361, the greater portion of which
time was spent at Eleutheropolis in Palestine, though he afterwards
removed to the Thebaid. It was at this time that his polemical writings
appeared, the tone and temper of which is indicated by the mere titles
De Regibus Apostaticis (of Apostate Kings), De non Conveniendo cum
Hæreticis, etc. (of not holding communion with heretics). On the death
of Constantius in 361, Julian permitted the exiled bishops to return;
but Lucifer instead of going to Alexandria where a Council was to be
held under the presidency of Athanasius for the healing of a schism in
the Catholic party at Antioch (some of which held to Meletius, while
others followed Eustathius), preferred to go straight to Antioch. There
he ordained Paulinus, the leader of the latter section, as bishop of
the Church. Eusebius of Vercellæ soon arrived with the synodal letters
of the Council of Alexandria, but, finding himself thus anticipated,
and shrinking from a collision with his friend, he retired immediately.
Lucifer stayed, and "declared that he would not hold communion with
Eusebius or any who adopted the moderate policy of the Alexandrian
Council. By this Council it had been determined that actual Arians, if
they renounced their heresy, should be pardoned, but not invested with
ecclesiastical functions; and that those bishops who had merely
consented to Arianism should remain undisturbed. It was this latter
concession which offended Lucifer, and he became henceforth the
champion of the principle that no one who had yielded to any compromise
whatever with Arianism should be allowed to hold an ecclesiastical
office." He was thus brought into antagonism with Athanasius himself,
who, it has been seen, presided at Alexandria. Eventually he returned
to his see in Sardinia where, according to Jerome's Chronicle, he died
in 371. Luciferianism became extinct in the beginning of the following
century, if not earlier. It hardly appears to have been formed into a
separate organization, though an appeal was made to the emperor by some
Luciferian presbyters about the year 384, and both Ambrose and
Augustine speak of him as having fallen into the schism.
The argument of the Dialogue may be thus stated. It has been pointed
out above that Lucifer of Cagliari, who had been banished from his see
in the reign of Constantius because of his adherence to the cause of
Athanasius, had, on the announcement of toleration at the accession of
Julian (361), gone to Antioch and consecrated Paulinus a bishop. There
were then three bishops of Antioch, Dorotheus the Arian (who had
succeeded Euzoius in 376), Meletius who, though an Athanasian in
opinion, had been consecrated by Arians or Semi-Arians, and Paulinus;
besides Vitalis, bishop of a congregation of Apollinarians. Lucifer, in
the earnestness of his anti-Arian opinion, refused to acknowledge as
bishops those who had come over from Arianism, though he accepted the
laymen who had been baptized by Arian bishops. This opinion led to the
Luciferian schism, and forms the subject of the Dialogue.
The point urged by Orthodoxus throughout is that, since the Luciferian
accepts as valid the baptism conferred by Arian bishops, it is
inconsistent in him not to acknowledge the bishops who have repented of
their Arian opinions. The Luciferian at first (2) in his eagerness,
declares the Arians to be no better than heathen; but he sees that he
has gone too far, and retracts this opinion. Still it is one thing, he
says, (3) to admit a penitent neophyte, another to admit a man to be
bishop and celebrate the Eucharist. We do not wish, he says (4) to
preclude individuals who have fallen from repentance. And we, replies
Orthodoxus, by admitting the bishops save not them only but their
flocks also. "The salt," says the Luciferian (5), "which has lost its
savour cannot be salted," and, "What communion has Christ with Belial?"
But this, it is answered (6), would prove that Arians could not confer
baptism at all. Yes, says the objector, they are like John the Baptist,
whose baptism needed to be followed by that of Christ. But, it is
replied, the bishop gives Christ's baptism and confers the Holy Spirit.
The confirmation which follows (9) is rather a custom of the churches
than the necessary means of grace.
The argument is felt to be approaching to a philosophical logomachy
(10, 11), but it is resumed by the Luciferian. There is a real
difference, he says (12), between the man who in his simplicity accepts
baptism from an Arian bishop, and the bishop himself who understands
the heresy. Yet both, it is replied (13), when they are penitent,
should be received.
At this point (14) the Luciferian yields. But he wishes to be assured
that what Orthodoxus recommends has been really the practice of the
Church. This leads to a valuable chapter of Church history. Orthodoxus
recalls the victories of the Church, which the Luciferians speak of as
corrupt (15). The shame is that, though they have the true creed, they
have too little faith. He then describes (17, 18) how the orthodox
bishops were beguiled into accepting the creed of Ariminum, but
afterwards saw their error (19). "The world groaned to find itself
Arian." They did all that was possible to set things right. Why should
they not be received, as all but the authors of heresy had been
received at Nicæa? (20) Lucifer who was a good shepherd, and Hilary the
Deacon, in separating their own small body into a sect have left the
rest a prey to the wolf (20, 21). The wheat and tares must grow
together (22). This has been the principle of the Church (23), as shown
by Scripture (24) and Apostolic custom, and even Cyprian, when he
wished penitent heretics to be re-baptized (25), could not prevail.
Even Hilary by receiving baptism from the Church which always has
re-admitted heretics in repentance (26, 27) acknowledges this
principle. In that Church and its divisions and practice it is our duty
to abide.
1. It happened not long ago that a follower of Lucifer had a dispute
with a son of the Church. His loquacity was odious and the language he
employed most abusive. For he declared that the world belonged to the
devil, and, as is commonly said by them at the present day, that the
Church was turned into a brothel. His opponent on the other hand, with
reason indeed, but without due regard to time and place, urged that
Christ did not die in vain, and that it was for something more than a
Sardinian cloak of skins [4049] that the Son of God came down from
heaven. To be brief, the dispute was not settled when night interrupted
the debate, and the lighting of the street-lamps gave the signal for
the assembly to disperse. The combatants therefore withdrew, almost
spitting in each other's faces, an arrangement having been previously
made by the audience for a meeting in a quiet porch at daybreak.
Thither, accordingly, they all came, and it was resolved that the words
of both speakers should be taken down by reporters.
2. When all were seated, Helladius the Luciferian said, I want an
answer first to my question. Are the Arians Christians or not?
Orthodoxus. I answer with another question, Are all heretics
Christians?
L. If you call a man a heretic you deny that he is a Christian.
O. No heretics, then, are Christians.
L. I told you so before.
O. If they are not Christ's, they belong to the devil.
L. No one doubts that.
O. But if they belong to the devil, it makes no difference whether they
are heretics or heathen.
L. I do not dispute the point.
O. We are then agreed that we must speak of a heretic as we would of a
heathen.
L. Just so.
O. Now it is decided that heretics are heathen, put any question you
please.
L. What I wanted to elicit by my question has been expressly stated,
namely, that heretics are not Christians. Now comes the inference. If
the Arians are heretics, and all heretics are heathen, the Arians are
heathen too. But if the Arians are heathen and it is beyond dispute
that the church has no communion with the Arians, that is with the
heathen, it is clear that your church which welcomes bishops from the
Arians, that is from the heathen, receives priests of the Capitol
[4050] rather than bishops, and accordingly it ought more correctly to
be called the synagogue of Anti-Christ than the Church of Christ.
O. Lo! what the prophet said is fulfilled: [4051] "They have digged a
pit before me, they have fallen into the midst thereof themselves."
L. How so?
O. If the Arians are, as you say, heathen, and the assemblies of the
Arians are the devil's camp, how is it that you receive a person who
has been baptized in the devil's camp?
L. I do receive him, but as a penitent.
O. The fact is you don't know what you are saying. Does any one receive
a penitent heathen?
L. In my simplicity I replied when we began that all heretics are
heathen. But the question was a captious one, and you shall have the
full credit of victory in the first point. I will now proceed to the
second and maintain that a layman coming from the Arians ought to be
received if penitent, but not a cleric.
O. And yet, if you concede me the first point, the second is mine too.
L. Show me how it comes to be yours.
O. Don't you know that the clergy and laity have only one Christ, and
that there is not one God of converts and another of bishops? Why then
should not he who receives laymen receive clerics also?
L. There is a difference between shedding tears for sin, and handling
the body of Christ; there is a difference between lying prostrate at
the feet of the brethren, and from the high altar administering the
Eucharist to the people. It is one thing to lament over the past,
another to abandon sin and live the glorified life in the Church. You
who yesterday impiously declared the Son of God to be a creature, you
who every day, worse than a Jew, were wont to cast the stones of
blasphemy at Christ, you whose hands are full of blood, whose pen was a
soldier's spear, do you, the convert of a single hour, come into the
Church as an adulterer might come to a virgin? If you repent of your
sin, abandon your priestly functions: if you are shameless in your sin,
remain what you were.
O. You are quite a rhetorician, and fly from the thicket of controversy
to the open fields of declamation. But, I entreat you, refrain from
common-places, and return to the ground and the lines marked out;
afterwards, if you like, we will take a wider range.
L. There is no declamation in the case; my indignation is more than I
can bear. Make what statements you please, argue as you please, you
will never convince me that a penitent bishop should be treated like a
penitent layman.
O. Since you put the whole thing in a nutshell and obstinately cling to
your position, that the case of the bishop is different from that of
the layman, I will do what you wish, and I shall not be sorry to avail
myself of the opportunity you offer and come to close quarters. Explain
why you receive a layman coming from the Arians, but do not receive a
bishop.
L. I receive a layman who confesses that he has erred; and the Lord
willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should repent.
O. Receive then also a bishop who, as well as the layman, confesses
that he has erred, and it still holds good that the Lord willeth not
the death of a sinner, but rather that he should repent.
L. If he confesses his error why does he continue a bishop? Let him lay
aside his [4052] episcopal functions, and I grant pardon to the
penitent.
O. I will answer you in your own words. If a layman confesses his
error, how is it he continues a layman? Let him lay aside his
lay-priesthood, that is, his baptism, and I grant pardon to the
penitent. For it is written [4053] "He made us to be a kingdom, to be
priests unto his God and Father." And again, [4054] "A holy nation, a
royal priesthood, an elect race." Everything which is forbidden to a
Christian, is forbidden to both bishop and layman. He who does penance
condemns his former life. If a penitent bishop may not continue what he
was, neither may a penitent layman remain in that state on account of
which he confesses himself a penitent.
L. We receive the laity, because no one will be induced to change, if
he knows he must be baptized again. And then, if they are rejected, we
become the cause of their destruction.
O. By receiving a layman you save a single soul: and I in receiving a
bishop unite to the Church, I will not say the people of one city, but
the whole [4055] province of which he is the head; if I drive him away,
he will drag down many with him to ruin. Wherefore I beseech you to
apply the same reason which you think you have for receiving the few to
the salvation of the whole world. But if you are not satisfied with
this, if you are so hard, or rather so unreasonably unmerciful as to
think him who gave baptism an enemy of Christ, though you account him
who received it a son, we do not so contradict ourselves: we either
receive a bishop as well as the people which is constituted as a
Christian people by him, or if we do not receive a bishop, we know that
we must also reject his people.
5. L. Pray, have you not read what is said concerning the bishops,
[4056] "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its
savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for
nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of man." And then
there is the fact that the priest [4057] intercedes with God for the
sinful people, while there is no one to entreat for the priest. Now
these two passages of Scripture tend to the same conclusion. For as
salt seasons all food and nothing is so pleasant as to please the
palate without it: so the bishop is the seasoning of the whole world
and of his own Church, and if he lose his savour through the denial of
truth, or through heresy, or lust, or, to comprehend all in one word,
through sin of any kind, by what other can he be seasoned, when he was
the seasoning of all? The priest, we know, offers his oblation for the
layman, lays his hand upon him when submissive, invokes the return of
the Holy Spirit, and thus, after inviting the prayers of the people,
reconciles to the altar him who had been delivered to Satan for the
destruction of the flesh that the spirit might he saved; nor does he
restore one member to health until all the members have wept together
with him. For a father easily pardons his son, when the mother entreats
for her offspring. If then it is by the priestly order that a penitent
layman is restored to the Church, and pardon follows where sorrow has
gone before, it is clear that a priest who has been removed from his
order cannot be restored to the place he has forfeited, because either
he will be a penitent and then he cannot be a priest, or if he
continues to hold office he cannot be brought back to the Church by
penitential discipline. Will you dare to spoil the savour of the Church
with the salt which has lost its savour? Will you replace at the altar
the man who having been cast out ought to lie in the mire and be
trodden under foot by all men? What then will become of the Apostle's
command, [4058] "The bishop must be blameless as God's steward"? And
again, [4059] "But let a man prove himself, and so let him come." What
becomes of our Lord's intimation, [4060] "Neither cast your pearls
before the swine"? But if you understand the words as a general
admonition, how much more must care be exercised in the case of priests
when so much precaution is taken where the laity are concerned? [4061]
"Depart, I pray you," says the Lord by Moses, "from the tents of these
wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all
their sins." And again in the Minor Prophets, [4062] "Their sacrifices
shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall
be polluted." And in the Gospel the Lord says, [4063] "The lamp of the
body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall
be full of light." For when the bishop preaches the true faith the
darkness is scattered from the hearts of all. And he gives the reason,
[4064] "Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but
on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house." That is,
God's motive for lighting the fire of His knowledge in the bishop is
that he may not shine for himself only, but for the common benefit. And
in the next sentence [4065] "If," says he, "thine eye be evil, thy
whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in
thee be darkness, how great is the darkness!" And rightly; for since
the bishop is appointed in the Church that he may restrain the people
from error, how great will the error of the people be when he himself
who teaches errs. How can he remit sins, who is himself a sinner? How
can an impious man make a man holy? How shall the light enter into me,
when my eye is blind? O misery! Antichrist's disciple governs the
Church of Christ. And what are we to think of the words, [4066] "No man
can serve two masters"? And that too [4067] "What communion hath light
and darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?" In the old
testament we read, [4068] "No man that hath a blemish shall come nigh
to offer the offerings of the Lord." And again, [4069] "Let the priests
who come nigh to the Lord their God be clean, lest haply the Lord
forsake them." And in the same place, [4070] "And when they draw nigh
to minister in holy things, let them not bring sin upon themselves,
lest they die." And there are many other passages which it would be an
endless task to detail, and which I omit for the sake of brevity. For
it is not the number of proofs that avails, but their weight. And all
this proves that you with a little leaven have corrupted the whole lump
of the Church, and receive the Eucharist to-day from the hand of one
whom yesterday you loathed like an idol.
6. O. Your memory has served you, and you have certainly given us at
great length many quotations from the sacred books: but after going all
round the wood, you are caught in my hunting-nets. Let the case be as
you would have it, that an Arian bishop is the enemy of Christ, let him
be the salt that has lost its savour, let him be a lamp without flame,
let him be an eye without a pupil: no doubt your argument will take you
thus far--that he cannot salt another who himself has no salt: a blind
man cannot enlighten others, nor set them on fire when his own light
has gone out. But why, when you swallow food which he has seasoned, do
you reproach the seasoned with being saltless? Your Church is bright
with his flame, and do you accuse his lamp of being extinguished? He
gives you eyes, and are you blind? Wherefore, I pray you, either give
him the power of sacrificing since you approve his baptism, or reject
his baptism if you do not think him a priest. For it is impossible that
he who is holy in baptism should be a sinner at the altar.
L. But when I receive a lay penitent, it is with laying on of hands,
and invocation of the Holy Spirit, for I know that the Holy Spirit
cannot be given by heretics.
O. All the paths of your propositions lead to the same meeting-point,
and it is with you as with the frightened deer--while you fly from the
feathers fluttering in the wind, you become entangled in the strongest
of nets. For seeing that a man, baptized in the name of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Ghost, becomes a temple of the Lord, and that
while the old abode is destroyed a new shrine is built for the Trinity,
how can you say that sins can be remitted among the Arians without the
coming of the Holy Ghost? How is a soul purged from its former stains
which has not the Holy Ghost? For it is not mere water which washes the
soul, but it is itself first purified by the Spirit that it may be able
to spiritually wash the souls of men. [4071] "The Spirit of the Lord,"
says Moses, "moved upon the face of the waters," from which it appears
that there is no baptism without the Holy Ghost. Bethesda, the pool in
Judea, could not cure the limbs of those who suffered from bodily
weakness without the advent of an angel, [4072] and do you venture to
bring me a soul washed with simple water, as though it had just come
from the bath? Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, of whom it is less
correct to say that He was cleansed by washing than that by the washing
of Himself He cleansed all waters, no sooner raised His head from the
stream than He received the Holy Ghost. Not that He ever was without
the Holy Ghost, inasmuch as He was born in the flesh through the Holy
Ghost; but in order to prove that to be the true baptism by which the
Holy Ghost comes. So then if an Arian cannot give the Holy Spirit, he
cannot even baptize, because there is no baptism of the Church without
the Holy Spirit. And you, when you receive a person baptized by an
Arian and afterwards invoke the Holy Ghost, ought either to baptize
him, because without the Holy Ghost he could not be baptized, or, if he
was baptized in the Spirit, you must not invoke the Holy Ghost for your
convert who received Him at the time of baptism.
7. L. Pray tell me, have you not read [4073] in the Acts of the
Apostles that those who had already been baptized by John, on their
saying in reply to the Apostle's question that they had not even heard
what the Holy Ghost was, afterwards obtained the Holy Ghost? Whence it
is clear that it is possible to be baptized, and yet not to have the
Holy Ghost.
O. I do not think that those who form our audience are so ignorant of
the sacred books that many words are needed to settle this little
question. But before I say anything in support of my assertion, listen
while I point out what confusion, upon your view, is introduced into
Scripture. What do we mean by saying that John in his baptism could not
give the Holy Spirit to others, yet gave him to Christ? And who is that
John? [4074] "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." He who used to say,
[4075] "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the
world": I say too little, he who from his mother's womb cried out,
[4076] "And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come
unto me," did he not give the Holy Ghost? And did [4077] Ananias give
him to Paul? It perhaps looks like boldness in me to prefer him to all
other men. Hear then the words of our Lord, [4078] "Among them that are
born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist."
For no prophet had the good fortune both to announce the coming of
Christ, and to point Him out with the finger. And what necessity is
there for me to dwell upon the praises of so illustrious a man when God
the Father even calls him an angel? [4079] "Behold, I send my messenger
(angel) before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee." He
must have been an angel who after lodging in his mother's womb at once
began to frequent the desert wilds, and while still an infant played
with serpents; who, when his eyes had once gazed on Christ thought
nothing else worth looking at; who exercised his voice, worthy of a
messenger of God, in the words of the Lord, which are sweeter than
honey and the honey-comb. And, to delay my question no further, thus it
behooved [4080] the Forerunner of the Lord to grow up. Now is it
possible that a man of such character and renown did not give the Holy
Ghost, while Cornelius the centurion received Him before baptism? Tell
me, pray, why could he not give Him? You don't know? Then listen to the
teaching of Scripture: the baptism of John did not so much consist in
the forgiveness of sins as in being a baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins, that is, for a future remission, which was to follow
through the sanctification of Christ. For it is written, [4081] "John
came, who baptized in the wilderness, and preached the baptism of
repentance unto remission of sins." And soon after, [4082] "And they
were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins." For
as he himself preceded Christ as His forerunner, so also his baptism
was the prelude to the Lord's baptism. [4083] "He that is of the
earth," he said, "speaketh of the earth; he that cometh from heaven is
above all." And again, [4084] "I indeed baptize you with water, he
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." But if John, as he himself
confessed, did not baptize with the Spirit, it follows that he did not
forgive sins either, for no man has his sins remitted without the Holy
Ghost. Or if you contentiously argue that, because the baptism of John
was from heaven, therefore sins were forgiven by it, show me what more
there is for us to get in Christ's baptism. Because it forgives sins,
it releases from Gehenna. Because it releases from Gehenna, it is
perfect. But no baptism can be called perfect except that which depends
on the cross and resurrection of Christ. Thus, although John himself
said, [4085] "He must increase, but I must decrease," in your perverse
scrupulosity you give more than is due to the baptism of the servant,
and destroy that of the master to which you leave no more than to the
other. What is the drift of your assertion? Just this--it does not
strike you as strange that those who had been baptized by John, should
afterwards by the laying on of hands receive the Holy Ghost, although
it is evident that they did not obtain even remission of sins apart
from the faith which was to follow. But you who receive a person
baptized by the Arians and allow him to have perfect baptism, after
that admission do you invoke the Holy Ghost as if this were still some
slight defect, whereas there is no baptism of Christ without the Holy
Ghost? But I have wandered too far, and when I might have met my
opponent face to face and repelled his attack, I have only thrown a few
light darts from a distance. The baptism of John was so far imperfect
that it is plain they who had been baptized by him were afterwards
baptized with the baptism of Christ. For thus the history relates,
[4086] "And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul
having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found
certain disciples: and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Ghost
when ye believed? And they said unto him, Nay, we did not so much as
hear whether the Holy Ghost was given. And he said, Into what then were
ye baptized? And they said, Into John's baptism. And Paul said, John
baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that
they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on
Jesus. And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of
the Lord Jesus: And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, immediately
the Holy Ghost fell on them." If then they were baptized with the true
and lawful baptism of the Church, and thus received the Holy Ghost: do
you follow the apostles and baptize those who have not had Christian
baptism, and you will be able to invoke the Holy Ghost.
8. L. Thirsty men in their dreams eagerly gulp down the water of the
stream, and the more they drink the thirstier they are. In the same way
you appear to me to have searched everywhere for arguments against the
point I raised, and yet to be as far as ever from being satisfied.
Don't you know that the laying on of hands after baptism and then the
invocation of the Holy Spirit is a custom of the Churches? Do you
demand Scripture proof? You may find it in the Acts of the Apostles.
And even if it did not rest on the authority of Scripture the consensus
of the whole world in this respect would have the force of a command.
For many other observances of the Churches, which are due to tradition,
have acquired the authority of the written law, as for instance [4087]
the practice of dipping the head three times in the laver, and then,
after leaving the water, of [4088] tasting mingled milk and honey in
representation of infancy; [4089] and, again, the practices of standing
up in worship on the Lord's day, and ceasing from fasting every
Pentecost; and there are many other unwritten practices which have won
their place through reason and custom. So you see we follow the
practice of the Church, although it may be clear that a person was
baptized before the Spirit was invoked.
9. O. I do not deny that it is the practice of the Churches in the case
of those who living far from the greater towns have been baptized by
presbyters and deacons, for the bishop to visit them, and by the laying
on of hands to invoke the Holy Ghost upon them. But how shall I
describe your habit of applying the laws of the Church to heretics, and
of exposing the virgin entrusted to you in the brothels of harlots? If
a bishop lays his hands on men he lays them on those who have been
baptized in the right faith, and who have believed that the Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, are three persons, but one essence. But an Arian
has no faith but this (close your ears, my hearers, that you may not be
defiled by words so grossly impious), that the Father alone is very
God, and that Jesus Christ our Saviour is a [4090] creature, and [4091]
the Holy Ghost the Servant of both. How can he then receive the Holy
Ghost from the Church, who has not yet obtained remission of sins? For
the Holy Ghost must have a clean abode: nor will He become a dweller in
that temple which has not for its chief priest the true faith. But if
you now ask how it is that a person baptized in the Church does not
receive the Holy Ghost, Whom we declare to be given in true baptism,
except by the hands of the bishop, let me tell you that our authority
for the rule is the fact that after our Lord's ascension the Holy Ghost
descended upon the Apostles. And in many places we find it the
practice, more by way of honouring the [4092] episcopate than from any
compulsory law. Otherwise, if the Holy Ghost descends only at the
bishop's prayer, they are greatly to be pitied who in isolated houses,
or in forts, or retired places, after being baptized by the presbyters
and deacons have fallen asleep before the bishop's visitation. The
well-being of a Church depends upon the dignity of its chief-priest,
and unless some extraordinary and unique functions be assigned to him,
we shall have as many schisms in the Churches as there are priests.
Hence it is that without ordination and the bishop's license neither
presbyter nor deacon has the power to baptize. And yet, if necessity so
be, we know that even laymen may, and frequently do, baptize. For as a
man receives, so too he can give; for it will hardly be said that we
must believe that the eunuch whom Philip [4093] baptized lacked the
Holy Spirit. The Scripture thus speaks concerning him, "And they both
went down into the water; and Philip baptized him." And on leaving the
water, "The Holy Spirit fell upon the eunuch." You may perhaps think
that we ought to set against this the passage in which we read, "Now
when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had
received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when
they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy
Ghost: for as yet he was fallen upon none of them." But why this was,
the context tells us,--"Only they had been baptized into the name of
the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received
the Holy Ghost." And if you here say that you do the same, because the
heretics have not baptized into the Holy Spirit, I must remind you that
Philip was not separated from the Apostles, but belonged to the same
Church and preached the same Lord Jesus Christ: that he was without
question a deacon of those who afterwards laid their hands on his
converts. But when you say that the Arians have not a Church, but a
synagogue, and that their clergy do not worship God but creatures and
idols, how can you maintain that you ought to act upon the same
principle in cases so totally different?
L. You repel my attack in front with vigour and firmness: but you are
smitten in the rear and leave your back exposed to the darts. Let us
even grant that the Arians have no baptism, and therefore that the Holy
Ghost cannot be given by them, because they themselves have not yet
received remission of sins; this altogether makes for victory on my
side, and all your argumentative wrestling is but laborious toil to
give me the conqueror's palm. An Arian has no baptism; how is it then
that he has the episcopate? There is not even a layman among them, how
can there be a bishop? I may not receive a beggar, do you receive a
king? You surrender your camp to the enemy, and are we to reject one of
their deserters?
11. O. If you remember what has been said you would know that you have
been already answered; but in yielding to the love of contradiction you
have wandered from the subject, like those persons who are talkative
rather than eloquent, and who, when they cannot argue, still continue
to wrangle. On the present occasion it is not my aim to either accuse
or defend the Arians, but rather to get safely past the turning-post of
the race, and to maintain that we receive a bishop for the same reason
that you receive a layman. If you grant forgiveness to the erring, I
too pardon the penitent. If he that baptizes a person into our belief
has had no injurious effect upon the person baptized, it follows that
he who consecrates a bishop in the same faith causes no defilement to
the person consecrated. Heresy is subtle, and therefore the
simple-minded are easily deceived. To be deceived is the common lot of
both layman and bishop. But you say, a bishop could not have been
mistaken. The truth is, men are elected to the episcopate who come from
the bosom of Plato and Aristophanes. How many can you find among them
who are not fully instructed in these writers? Indeed all, whoever they
may be, that are ordained at the present day from among the literate
class make it their study not how to seek out the marrow of Scripture,
but how to tickle the ears of the people with the flowers of rhetoric.
We must further add that the Arian heresy goes hand in hand with the
wisdom of the world, and [4094] borrows its streams of argument from
the fountains of Aristotle. And so we will act like children when they
try to outdo one another--whatever you say I will say: what you assert,
I will assert: whatever you deny, I will deny. We allow that an Arian
may baptize; then he must be a bishop. [4095] If we agree that Arian
baptism is invalid, you must reject the layman, and I must not accept
the bishop. I will follow you wherever you go; we shall either stick in
the mud together, or shall get out together.
12. L. We pardon a layman because, when he was baptized, he had a
sincere impression that he was joining the Church. He believed and was
baptized in accordance with his faith.
O. That is something new for a man to be made a Christian by one who is
not a Christian. When he joined the Arians into what faith was he
baptized? Of course into that which the Arians held. If on the other
hand we are to suppose that his own faith was correct, but that he was
knowingly baptized by heretics, he does not deserve the indulgence we
grant to the erring. But it is quite absurd to imagine that, going as a
pupil to the master, he understands his art before he has been taught.
Can you suppose that a man who has just turned from worshipping idols
knows Christ better than his teacher does? If you say, he sincerely
believed in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and therefore
obtained baptism, what, let me ask, is the meaning of being sincerely
ignorant of what one believes? He sincerely believed. What did he
believe? Surely when he heard the three names, he believed in three
Gods, and was an idolater; or by the three titles he was led to believe
in a God with three names, and so fell into the [4096] Sabellian
heresy. Or he was perhaps trained by the Arians to believe that there
is one true God, the Father, but that the Son and the Holy Spirit are
creatures. What else he may have believed, I know not: for we can
hardly think that a man brought up in the Capitol would have learnt the
doctrine of the co-essential Trinity. He would have known in that case
that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not divided in nature, but in
person. He would have known also that the name of Son was implied in
that of Father and the name of Father in that of Son. It is ridiculous
to assert that any one can dispute concerning the faith before he
believes it; that he understands a mystery before he has been
initiated; that the baptizer and the baptized hold different views
respecting God. Besides, it is the custom at baptism to ask, after the
confession of faith in the Trinity, do you believe in Holy Church? Do
you believe in the remission of sins? What Church do you say he
believed in? The Church of the Arians? But they have no Church. In
ours? But the man was not baptized into it: he could not believe in
that whereof he was ignorant.
L. I see that you can prattle cleverly about each point that I raise;
and when we let fly a dart you elude it by a harangue which serves you
for a shield; I will therefore hurl a single spear which will be strong
enough to pierce your defences and the hail-storm of your words. I
won't allow strength any longer to be overcome by artifice. Even a
layman baptized without the Church, if he be baptized according to the
faith, is received only as a penitent: but a bishop either does no
penance and remains a bishop, or, if he does penance he ceases to be a
bishop. Wherefore we do right both in welcoming the penitent layman,
and in rejecting the bishop, if he wishes to continue in his office.
O. An arrow which is discharged from the tight-drawn bow is not easy to
avoid, for it reaches him at whom it was aimed before the shield can be
raised to stop it. On the other hand your propositions are pointless
and therefore cannot pierce an opponent. The spear then which you have
hurled with all your might and about which you speak such threatening
words, I turn aside, as the saying is, with my little finger. The point
in dispute is not merely whether a bishop is incapable of penitence and
a layman capable, but whether a heretic has received valid baptism. If
he has not (and this follows from your position), how can he be a
penitent, before he is a Christian? Show me that a layman coming from
the Arians has valid baptism, and then I will not deny him penitence.
But if he is not a Christian, if he had no priest to make him a
Christian, how can he do penance when he is not yet a believer?
14. L. I beseech you lay aside the methods of the philosophers and let
us talk with Christian simplicity; that is, if you are willing to
follow not the logicians, but the Galilean fishermen. Does it seem
right to you that an Arian should be a bishop?
O. You prove him a bishop because you receive those he has baptized.
And it is here that you are to blame:--Why are there walls of
separation between us when we are at one in faith and in receiving
Arians?
L. I asked you before not to talk like a philosopher, but like a
Christian.
O. Do you wish to learn, or to argue?
L. Of course I argue because I want to know the reason for what you do.
O. If you argue, you have already had an answer. I receive an Arian
bishop for the same reason that you receive a person who is only
baptized. If you wish to learn, come over to my side: for an opponent
must be overcome, it is only a disciple who can be taught.
L. Before I can be a disciple, I must hear one preach whom I feel to be
my master.
O. You are not dealing quite fairly: you wish me to be your teacher on
the terms that you may treat me as an opponent whenever you please. I
will teach you therefore in the same spirit. We agree in faith, we
agree in receiving heretics, let us also be at one in our terms of
communion.
L. That is not teaching, but arguing.
O. As you ask for peace with a shield in your hand, I also must carry
my olive branch with a sword grafted in it.
L. I drop my hands in token of submission. You are conqueror. But in
laying down my arms, I ask the meaning of the oath you force me to
take.
O. Certainly, but first I congratulate you, and thank Christ my God for
your good dispositions which have made you turn from the unsavoury
teaching of the [4097] Sardinians to that which the whole world
approves as true; and no longer say as some do, [4098] "Help, Lord; for
the godly man teaseth." By their impious words they make of none effect
the cross of Christ, subject the Son of God to the devil, and would
have us now understand the Lord's lamentation over sinners to apply to
all men, [4099] "What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to
the pit?" But God forbid that our Lord should have died in vain. [4100]
The strong man is bound, and his goods are spoiled. What the Father
says is fulfilled, [4101] "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations
for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy
possession." [4102] "Then the channels of water appeared, and the
foundations of the world were laid bare." [4103] "In them hath he set a
tabernacle for the sun, and there is nothing hid from the heat
thereof." The Psalmist fully possessed by God sings, [4104] "The swords
of the enemy are come to an end, and the cities which thou hast
overthrown."
15. And what is the position, I should like to know, of those
excessively scrupulous, or rather excessively profane persons, who
assert that there are more synagogues than Churches? How is it that the
devil's kingdoms have been destroyed, and now at last in the
consummation of the ages, the idols have fallen? If Christ has no
Church, or if he has one only, in Sardinia, he has grown very poor. And
if Satan owns Britain, Gaul, the East, the races of India, barbarous
nations, and the whole world at the same time, how is it that the
trophies of the cross have been collected in a mere corner of the
earth? Christ's powerful opponent, forsooth, gave over to him the
[4105] serpent of Spain: he disdained to own a poor province and its
half-starved inhabitants. If they flatter themselves that they have on
their side that verse of the gospel, [4106] "Howbeit when the Son of
man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" let me remind them that
the faith in question is that of which the Lord himself said, [4107]
"Thy faith hath made thee whole." And elsewhere, of the centurion,
[4108] "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." And again,
to the Apostles, [4109] "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" In
another place also, [4110] "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard
seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place,
and it shall remove." For neither the centurion nor that poor woman who
for twelve years was wasting away with a bloody flux, had believed in
the mysteries of the Trinity, for these were revealed to the Apostles
after the resurrection of Christ; so that the faith of such as believe
in the mystery of the Trinity might have its due preeminence: but it
was her singleness of mind and her devotion to her God that met with
our Lord's approval: [4111] "For she said within herself, If I do but
touch his garment, I shall be made whole." This is the faith which our
Lord said was seldom found. This is the faith which even in the case of
those who believe aright is hard to find in perfection. [4112]
"According to your faith, be it done unto you," says God. I do not,
indeed, like the sound of those words. For if it be done unto me
according to my faith, I shall perish. And yet I certainly believe in
God the Father, I believe in God the Son, and I believe in God the Holy
Ghost. I believe in one God; nevertheless, I would not have it done
unto me according to my faith. For the enemy often comes, and sows
tares in the Lord's harvest. I do not mean to imply that anything is
greater than the purity of heart which believes that mystery; but
undoubted faith towards God it is hard indeed to find. To make my
meaning plain, let us suppose a case:--I stand to pray; I could not
pray, if I did not believe; but if I really believed, I should cleanse
that heart of mine with which God is seen, I should beat my hands upon
my breast, the tears would stream down my cheeks, my body would
shudder, my face grow pale, I should lie at my Lord's feet, weep over
them, and wipe them with my hair, I should cling to the cross and not
let go my hold until I obtained mercy. But, as it is, frequently in my
prayers I am either walking in the arcades, or calculating my interest,
or am carried away by base thoughts, so as to be occupied with things
the mere mention of which makes me blush. Where is our faith? Are we to
suppose that it was thus that Jonah prayed? or the three youths? or
Daniel in the lion's den? or the robber on the cross? I have given
these illustrations that you may understand my meaning. But let every
one commune with his own heart, and he will find throughout the whole
of life how rare a thing it is to find a soul so faithful that it does
nothing through the love of glory, nothing on account of the petty
gossip of men. For he who fasts does not as an immediate consequence
fast unto God, nor he who holds out his hand to a poor man, lend to the
Lord. Vice is next-door neighbour to virtue. It is hard to rest content
with God alone for judge.
16. L. I was reserving that passage until last, and you have
anticipated my question about it. Almost all our party, or rather not
mine any more, use it as a sort of controversial battering ram: as such
I am exceedingly glad to see it broken to pieces and pulverized. But
will you be so good as to fully explain to me, not in the character of
an opponent but of a disciple, why it is that the Church receives those
who come from the Arians? The truth is I am unable to answer you a
word, but I do not yet give a hearty assent to what you say.
17. O. When Constantius was on the throne and Eusebius and Hypatius
were Consuls, there was composed, under the pretext of unity and faith,
[4113] an unfaithful creed, as it is now acknowledged to have been. For
at that time, nothing seemed so characteristic of piety, nothing so
befitting a servant of God, as to follow after unity, and to shun
separation from communion with the rest of the world. And all the more
because the current profession of faith no longer exhibited on the face
of it anything profane. "We believe," said they, "in one true God, the
Father Almighty. This we also confess: We believe in the only begotten
Son of God, who, before all worlds, and before all their origins,
[4114] was born of God. The only-begotten Son, moreover, we believe to
be born alone of the Father alone, God of God, like to his Father who
begot Him, according to the Scriptures; whose birth no one knows, but
the Father alone who begot Him." Do we find any such words inserted
here as [4115] "There was a time, when he was not?" Or, "The Son of God
is a creature though not made of things which exist." No. This is
surely the perfection of faith to say we believe Him to be God of God.
Moreover, they called Him the only begotten, "born alone of the
Father." What is the meaning of born? Surely, not made. His birth
removed all suspicion of His being a creature. They added further, "Who
came down from heaven, was conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the
Virgin Mary, crucified by Pontius Pilate, rose again the third day from
the dead, ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of the
Father, who will come to judge the quick and the dead." There was the
ring of piety in the words, and no one thought that poison was mingled
with the honey of such a proclamation.
18. As regards the term [4116] Usia, it was not rejected without a show
of reason for so doing. [4117] "Because it is not found in the
Scriptures," they said, "and its novelty is a stumbling-block to many,
we have thought it best to dispense with it." The bishops were not
anxious about the name, so long as that which it implied was secured.
Lastly, at the very time when rumour was rife that there had been some
insincerity in the statement of the faith, Valens, bishop of Mursa, who
had drawn it up, in the presence of Taurus the pretorian prefect who
attended the Synod by imperial command, declared that he was not an
Arian, and that he utterly abhorred their blasphemies. However, the
thing had been done in secret, and it had not extinguished the general
feeling. So on another day, when crowds of bishops and laymen came
together in the Church at Ariminum, Muzonius, bishop of the province of
Byzacena, to whom by reason of seniority the first rank was assigned by
all, spoke as follows: "One of our number has been authorized to read
to you, reverend fathers, what reports are being spread and have
reached us, so that the evil opinions which ought to grate upon our
ears and be banished from our hearts may be condemned with one voice by
us all." The whole body of bishops replied, Agreed. And so when
Claudius, bishop of the province of Picenum, at the request of all
present, began to read the blasphemies attributed to Valens, Valens
denied they were his and cried aloud, "If anyone denies Christ our
Lord, the Son of God, begotten of the Father before the worlds, let him
be anathema." There was a general chorus of approval, "Let him be
anathema." [4118] "If anyone denies that the Son is like the Father
according to the Scriptures, let him be anathema." All replied, "Let
him be anathema." "If anyone does not say that the Son of God is
co-eternal with the Father, let him be anathema." There was again a
chorus of approval, "Let him be anathema." "If anyone says that the Son
of God is a creature, like other creatures, let him be anathema." The
answer was the same, "Let him be anathema." "If anyone says that the
Son was of no existing things, yet not of God the Father, let him be
anathema." All shouted together, "Let him be anathema." "If anyone
says, There was a time when the Son was not, let him be anathema." At
this point all the bishops and the whole Church together received the
words of Valens with clapping of hands and stamping of feet. And if
anyone thinks we have invented the story let him examine the public
records. At all events the muniment-boxes of the Churches are full of
it, and the circumstance is fresh in men's memory. Some of those who
took part in the Synod are still alive, and the Arians themselves (a
fact which may put the truth beyond dispute) do not deny the accuracy
of our account. When, therefore, all extolled Valens to the sky and
penitently condemned themselves for having suspected him, the same
Claudius who before had begun to read, said "There are still a few
points which have escaped the notice of my lord and brother Valens; if
it seem good to you, let us, in order to remove all scruples, pass a
general vote of censure upon them. If anyone says that the Son of God
was indeed before all worlds but was by no means before all time, so
that he puts some thing before Him, let him be anathema." And many
other things which had a suspicious look were condemned by Valens when
Claudius recited them. If anyone wishes to learn more about them he
will find the account in the acts of the Synod of Ariminum, the source
from which I have myself drawn them.
19. After these proceedings the Council was dissolved. All returned in
gladness to their own provinces. For the Emperor and all good men had
one and the same aim, that the East and West should be knit together by
the bond of fellowship. But wickedness does not long lie hid, and the
sore that is healed superficially before the bad humour has been worked
off breaks out again. Valens and [4119] Ursacius and others associated
with them in their wickedness, eminent Christian bishops of course,
began to wave their palms, and to say they had not denied that He was a
creature, but that He was like other creatures. At that moment the term
Usia was abolished: the Nicene Faith stood condemned by acclamation.
The whole world groaned, and was astonished to find itself Arian. Some,
therefore, remained in their own communion, others began to send
letters to those Confessors who as adherents of Athanasius were in
exile; several despairingly bewailed the better relations into which
they had entered. But a few, true to human nature, defended their
mistake as an exhibition of wisdom. The ship of the Apostles was in
peril, she was driven by the wind, her sides beaten with the waves: no
hope was now left. But the Lord awoke and bade the tempest cease; the
[4120] beast died, and there was a calm once again. To speak more
plainly, all the bishops who had been banished from their sees, by the
clemency of the new [4121] emperor returned to their Churches. Then
Egypt welcomed the [4122] triumphant Athanasius; then [4123] Hilary
returned from the battle to the embrace of the Church of Gaul; then
[4124] Eusebius returned and Italy laid aside her mourning weeds. The
bishops who had been caught in the snare at Ariminum and had
unwittingly come to be reported of as heretics, began to assemble,
while they called the Body of our Lord and all that is holy in the
Church to witness that they had not a suspicion of anything faulty in
their own faith. We thought, said they, the words were to be taken in
their natural meaning, and we had no suspicion that in the Church of
God, the very home of simplicity and sincerity in the confession of
truth, one thing could be kept secret in the heart, another uttered by
the lips. We thought too well of bad men and were deceived. We did not
suppose that the bishops of Christ were fighting against Christ. There
was much besides which they said with tears, but I pass it over for
brevity's sake. They were ready to condemn their [4125] former
subscription as well as all the blasphemies of the Arians. Here I ask
our excessively scrupulous friends what they think ought to have been
done with those who made this Confession? Deprive the old bishops, they
will say, and ordain new ones. The plan was tried. But how many whose
conscience does not condemn them will allow themselves to be deprived.
Particularly when all the people who loved their bishops flocked
together, ready to stone and slay those who attempted to deprive them.
The bishops should, it may be said, have kept to themselves within
their own communion. That is to say, with senseless cruelty they would
have surrendered the whole world to the devil. Why condemn those who
were not Arians? Why rend the Church when it was continuing in the
harmony of the faith? Lastly, were they by obstinacy to make Arians of
orthodox believers? We know that at the Council of Nicæa, which was
assembled on account of the Arian perfidy, eight Arian bishops were
welcomed, and there is not a bishop in the world at the present day
whose ordination is not dependent on that Council. This being so, how
could they act in opposition to it, when their loyalty to it had cost
them the pain of exile?
20. L. Were Arians really then received after all? Pray tell me who
they were.
O. [4126] Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, [4127] Theognis, bishop of
Nicæa, Saras, at the time presbyter of Libya, [4128] Eusebius, bishop
of Cæsarea in Palestine, and others whom it would be tedious to
enumerate; Arius also, the presbyter, the original source of all the
trouble; Euzoius the deacon, [4129] who succeeded Eudoxius as bishop of
Antioch, and Achillas, the reader. These three who were clerics of the
Church of Alexandria were the originators of the heresy.
L. Suppose a person were to deny that they were welcomed back, how is
he to be refuted?
O. There are men still living who took part in that Council. And if
that is not enough, because owing to the time that has elapsed they are
but few, and it is impossible for witnesses to be everywhere, if we
read the acts and names of the bishops of the Council of Nicæa, we find
that those who we saw just now were welcomed back, did subscribe the
homoousion along with the rest.
L. Will you point out how, after the Council of Nicæa, they relapsed
into their unfaithfulness?
O. A good suggestion, for unbelievers are in the habit of shutting
their eyes and denying that things which they dislike ever happened.
But how could they afterwards do anything but relapse, when it was
owing to them that the Council was convened, and their letters and
impious treatises which were published before the Council, remain even
to the present day? Seeing, therefore, that at that time three hundred
bishops or more welcomed a few men whom they might have rejected
without injury to the Church, I am surprised that certain persons, who
are certainly upholders of the faith of Nicæa, are so harsh as to think
that [4130] three Confessors returning from exile were not bound in the
interests of the world's salvation to do what so many illustrious men
did of their own accord. But, to go back to our starting point, on the
return of the Confessors it was determined, in a synod afterwards
[4131] held at Alexandria, that, the authors of the heresy excepted
(who could not be excused on the ground of error), penitents should be
admitted to communion with the Church: not that they who had been
heretics could be bishops, but because it was clear that those who were
received had not been heretics. The West assented to this decision, and
it was through this conclusion, which the necessities of the times
demanded, that the world was snatched from the jaws of Satan. I have
reached a very difficult subject, where I am compelled against my
wishes and my purpose, to think somewhat otherwise of that saintly man
Lucifer than his merits demand, and my own courtesy requires. But what
am I to do? Truth opens my mouth and urges my reluctant tongue to utter
the thoughts of my heart. At such a crisis of the Church, when the
wolves were wildly raging, he separated off a few sheep and abandoned
the remnant of the flock. He himself was a good shepherd, but he was
leaving a vast spoil to the beasts of prey. I take no notice of reports
originating with certain evil speakers, though maintained by them to be
authenticated facts; such as that he acted thus through the love of
glory, and the desire of handing down his name to posterity; or again
that he was influenced by the grudge he bore against Eusebius on
account of the [4132] quarrel at Antioch. I believe none of these
reports in the case of such a man; and this I will constantly affirm
even now--that the difference between us and him is one of words, not
of things, if he really does receive those who have been baptized by
the Arians.
21. L. The account I used before to hear given of these things was
widely different, and, as I now think, better calculated to promote
error than hope. But I thank Christ my God for pouring into my heart
the light of truth, that I might no longer profanely call the Church,
which is His Virgin, the harlot of the devil. There is one other point
I should like you to explain. What are we to say about [4133] Hilary
who does not receive even those who have been baptized by the Arians?
O. Since Hilary when he left the Church was only a deacon, and since
the Church is to him, though to him alone, a mere worldly multitude, he
can neither duly celebrate the Eucharist, for he has no bishops or
priests, nor can he give baptism without the Eucharist. And since the
man is now dead, inasmuch as he was a deacon and could ordain no one to
follow him, his sect died with him. For there is no such thing as a
Church without bishops. But passing over a few very insignificant
persons who are in their own esteem both laymen and bishops, let me
point out to you what views we should hold respecting the Church at
large.
L. You have settled a great question in three words, as the saying is,
and indeed while you speak, I feel that I am on your side. But when you
stop, some old misgivings arise as to why we receive those who have
been baptized by heretics.
O. That is just what I had in mind when I said I would point out what
views we ought to hold concerning the Church at large. For many are
exercised by the misgivings you speak of. I shall perhaps be tedious in
my explanation, but it is worth while if the truth gains.
22. Noah's ark was a type of the Church, as the Apostle Peter says--
[4134] "In Noah's ark few, that is, eight souls, were saved through
water: which also after a true likeness doth now save us, even
baptism." As in the ark there were all kinds of animals, so also in the
Church there are men of all races and characters. As in the one there
was the leopard with the kids, the wolf with the lambs, so in the other
there are found the righteous and sinners, that is, [4135] vessels of
gold and silver with those of wood and of earth. The ark had its rooms:
the Church has many mansions. Eight souls were saved in Noah's ark. And
[4136] Ecclesiastes bids us "give a portion to seven yea, even unto
eight," that is to believe both Testaments. This is why some psalms
bear the inscription [4137] for the octave, and why the one hundred and
nineteenth psalm is divided into portions of eight verses each
beginning with its own letter for the instruction of the righteous. The
beatitudes which our Lord spoke to his disciples on the mountain,
thereby delineating the Church, are eight. And Ezekiel for the building
of the temple employs the number eight. And you will find many other
things expressed in the same way in the Scriptures. The raven also is
sent forth from the ark but does not return, and afterwards the dove
announces peace to the earth. So also in the Church's baptism, that
most unclean bird the devil is expelled, and the dove of the Holy
Spirit announces peace to our earth. The construction of the ark was
such that it began with being thirty cubits broad and gradually
narrowed to one. Similarly the Church, consisting of many grades, ends
in deacons, presbyters, and bishops. The ark was in peril in the flood,
the Church is in peril in the world. When Noah left the ark he planted
a vineyard, drank thereof, and was drunken. Christ also, born in the
flesh, planted the Church and suffered. The elder son made sport of his
father's nakedness, the younger covered it: and the Jews mocked God
crucified, the Gentiles honoured Him. The daylight would fail me if I
were to explain all the mysteries of the ark and compare them with the
Church. Who are the eagles amongst us? Who the doves and lions, who the
stags, who the worms and serpents? So far as our subject requires I
will briefly show you. It is not the sheep only who abide in the
Church, nor do clean birds only fly to and fro there; but amid the
grain other seed is sown, [4138] "amidst the neat corn-fields burrs and
caltrops and barren oats lord it in the land." What is the husbandman
to do? Root up the darnel? In that case the whole harvest is destroyed
along with it. Every day the farmer diligently drives the birds away
with strange noises, or frightens them with scarecrows: here he cracks
a whip, there he spreads out some other object to terrify them.
Nevertheless he suffers from the raids of nimble roes or the wantonness
of the wild asses; here the mice convey the corn to their garners
underground, there the ants crowd thickly in and ravage the corn-field.
Thus the case stands. No one who has land is free from care. [4139]
While the householder slept the enemy sowed tares among the wheat, and
when the servants proposed to go and root them up the master forbade
them, reserving for himself the separation of the chaff and the grain.
[4140] There are vessels of wrath and of mercy which the Apostle speaks
of in the house of God. The day then will come when the storehouses of
the Church shall be opened and the Lord will bring forth the vessels of
wrath; and, as they depart, the saints will say, [4141] "They went out
from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us." No one can take to himself the
prerogative of Christ, no one before the day of judgment can pass
judgment upon men. If the Church is already cleansed, what shall we
reserve for the Lord? [4142] "There is a way which seemeth right unto a
man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." When our judgment is
so prone to error, upon whose opinion can we rely?
23. Cyprian of blessed memory tried to avoid broken cisterns and not to
drink of strange waters: and therefore, rejecting heretical baptism, he
summoned his [4143] African synod in opposition to Stephen, [4144] who
was the blessed Peter's twenty-second successor in the see of Rome.
They met to discuss this matter; but the attempt failed. At last those
very bishops who had together with him determined that heretics must be
re-baptized, reverted to the old custom and published a fresh decree.
Do you ask what course we must pursue? What we do our forefathers
handed down to us as their forefathers to them. But why speak of later
times? When the blood of Christ was but lately shed and the apostles
were still in Judæa, the Lord's body was asserted to be a phantom; the
Galatians had been led away to the observance of the law, and the
Apostle was a second time in travail with them; the Corinthians did not
believe the resurrection of the flesh, and he endeavoured by many
arguments to bring them back to the right path. Then came [4145] Simon
Magus and his disciple Menander. They asserted themselves to be [4146]
powers of God. Then [4147] Basilides invented the most high god Abraxas
and the three hundred and sixty-five manifestations of him. Then [4148]
Nicolas, one of the seven Deacons, and one whose lechery knew no rest
by night or day, indulged in his filthy dreams. I say nothing of the
Jewish heretics who before the coming of Christ destroyed the law
delivered to them: of [4149] Dositheus, the leader of the Samaritans
who rejected the prophets: of the Sadducees who sprang from his root
and denied even the resurrection of the flesh: of the Pharisees who
separated themselves from the Jews [4150] on account of certain
superfluous observances, and took their name from the fact of their
dissent: of the Herodians who accepted Herod as the Christ. I come to
those heretics who have mangled the Gospels, [4151] Saturninus, and the
[4152] Ophites, [4153] the Cainites and [4154] Sethites, and [4155]
Carpocrates, and [4156] Cerinthus, and his successor [4157] Ebion, and
the other pests, the most of which broke out while the apostle John was
still alive, and yet we do not read that any of these men were
re-baptized.
24. As we have made mention of that distinguished saint, let us show
also from his Apocalypse that repentance unaccompanied by baptism ought
to be allowed valid in the case of heretics. It is imputed (Rev. ii. 4)
to the angel of Ephesus that he has forsaken his first love. In the
angel of the Church of Pergamum the eating of idol-sacrifices is
censured (Rev. ii. 14), and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans (ib. 15).
Likewise the angel of Thyatira is rebuked (ib. 20) on account of
Jezebel the prophetess, and the idol meats, and fornication. And yet
the Lord encourages all these to repent, and adds a threat, moreover,
of future punishment if they do not turn. Now he would not urge them to
repent unless he intended to grant pardon to the penitents. Is there
any indication of his having said, Let them be re-baptized who have
been baptized in the faith of the Nicolaitans? or let hands be laid
upon those of the people of Pergamum who at that time believed, having
held the doctrine of Balaam? Nay, rather, "Repent therefore," [4158] he
says, "or else I come to thee quickly, and I will make war against them
with the sword of my mouth."
25. If, however, those men who were ordained by Hilary, and who have
lately become sheep without a shepherd, are disposed to allege
Scripture in support of what the blessed Cyprian [4159] left in his
letters advocating the re-baptization of heretics, I beg them to
remember that he did not anathematize those who refused to follow him.
At all events, he remained in communion with such as opposed his views.
He was content with exhorting them, on account of [4160] Novatus and
the numerous other heretics then springing up, to receive no one who
did not condemn his previous error. In fact, he thus concludes the
discussion of the subject with Stephen, the Roman Pontiff: "These
things, dearest brother, I have brought to your knowledge on account of
our mutual respect and love unfeigned, believing, as I do, that from
the sincerity of your piety and your faith you will approve such things
as are alike consonant with piety and true in themselves. But I know
that some persons are unwilling to abandon views which they have once
entertained, and are averse to a change of purpose; they would rather,
without breaking the bond of peace and concord between colleagues,
adhere to their own plans, when once they have been adopted. This is a
matter in which we do not force anyone, or lay down a law for anyone;
let each follow his own free choice in the administration of the
Church: let each be ruler in his own sphere since he must give account
of his action to the Lord." In the letter also to Jubaianus on the
re-baptization of heretics, towards the end, he says this: "I have
written these few remarks, my dearest brother, to the best of my poor
ability, without dictating to anyone, or prejudicing the case of
anyone: I would not hinder a single bishop from doing what he thinks
right with the full exercise of his own judgment. So far as is
possible, we avoid disputes with colleagues and fellow-bishops about
the heretics, and maintain with them a divine harmony and the Lord's
peace, particularly since the Apostle says: [4161] But if any man seem
to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of
God.' With patience and gentleness we preserve charity at heart, the
honour of our order, the bond of faith, the harmony of the episcopate."
26. There is another argument which I shall adduce, and against that
not even Hilary, [4162] the modern Deucalion, will venture to mutter a
syllable. If heretics are not baptized and must be re-baptized because
they were not in the Church, Hilary himself also is not a Christian.
For he was baptized in that Church which always allowed heretical
baptism. Before the Synod of Ariminum was held, before Lucifer went
into exile, Hilary when a deacon of the Roman Church welcomed those who
came over from the heretics on account of the baptism which they had
previously received. It can hardly be that Arians are the only
heretics, and that we are to accept all but those whom they have
baptized. You were a deacon, Hilary (the Church may say), and received
those whom the Manichæans had baptized. You were a deacon, and
acknowledged Ebion's baptism. All at once after Arius arose you began
to be quite out of conceit with yourself. You and your household
separated from us, and opened a new laver of your own. If some angel or
apostle has re-baptized you, I will not disparage your procedure. But
since you who raise your sword against me are the son of my womb, and
nourished on the milk of my breasts, return to me what I gave you, and
be, if you can, a Christian in some other way. Suppose I am a harlot,
still I am your mother. You say, I do not keep the marriage bed
undefiled: still what I am now I was when you were conceived. If I
commit adultery with Arius, I did the same before with Praxias, with
Ebion, with Cerinthus, and Novatus. You think much of them and welcome
them, adulterers as they are, to your mother's home. I don't know why
one adulterer more than others should offend you.
27. But if anyone thinks it open to question whether heretics were
always welcomed by our ancestors, let him read the letters of the
blessed Cyprian in which he applies the lash to Stephen, bishop of
Rome, and his errors which had grown inveterate by usage. [4163] Let
him also read the pamphlets of Hilary on the re-baptization of heretics
which he published against us, and he will there find Hilary himself
confessing that [4164] Julius, Marcus, Sylvester, and the other bishops
of old alike welcomed all heretics to repentance; and, further, to shew
that he could not justly claim possession of the true custom; the
Council of Nicæa also, to which we referred not long ago, welcomed all
heretics with the exception of [4165] the disciples of Paul of
Samosata. And, what is more, it allows a Novatian bishop on conversion
to have the rank of presbyter, [4166] a decision which condemns both
Lucifer and Hilary, since the same person who is ordained is also
baptized.
28. I might spend the day in speaking to the same effect, and dry up
all the streams of argument with the single Sun of the Church. But as
we have already had a long discussion and the protracted controversy
has wearied out the attention of our audience, I will tell you my
opinion briefly and without reserve. We ought to remain in that Church
which was founded by the Apostles and continues to this day. If ever
you hear of any that are called Christians taking their name not from
the Lord Jesus Christ, but from some other, for instance, Marcionites,
Valentinians, Men of the mountain or the plain, [4167] you may be sure
that you have there not the Church of Christ, but the synagogue of
Antichrist. For the fact that they took their rise after the foundation
of the Church is proof that they are those whose coming the Apostle
foretold. And let them not flatter themselves if they think they have
Scripture authority for their assertions, since the devil himself
quoted Scripture, and the essence of the Scriptures is not the letter,
but the meaning. Otherwise, if we follow the letter, we too can concoct
a new dogma and assert that such persons as wear shoes and have two
coats must not be received into the Church.
L. You must not suppose that victory rests with you only. We are both
conquerors, and each of us carries off the palm,--you are victorious
over me, and I over my error. May I always when I argue be so fortunate
as to exchange wrong opinions for better ones. I must, however, make a
confession, because I best know the character of my party, and own that
they are more easily conquered than convinced.
__________________________________________________________________
[4049] The Sardinian cloak of skins is contrasted by Cicero (pro
Scauro) with the Royal purple:--Quem purpura regalis non commovit, eum
Sardorum mastruca mutavit. Jerome's meaning is that Christ came not to
win the lowest place on earth, but the highest. The fact that Lucifer
was Bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia gives point to the saying.
[4050] That is, of Jupiter, whose temple was in the Capitol.
[4051] Ps. lvii. 6.
[4052] Sacerdotium.
[4053] Apoc. i. 6.
[4054] 1 Pet. ii. 9.
[4055] That is diocese. The word diocese was in early times the larger
expression, and contained many provinces. See Canon II of
Constantinople, Bright's edition, and note.
[4056] Matt. v. 13.
[4057] Lev. ix. 7.
[4058] Tit. i. 7.
[4059] 1 Cor. xi. 28.
[4060] Matt. vii. 6.
[4061] Numb. xvi. 26.
[4062] Hos. ix. 4.
[4063] Matt. vii. 22.
[4064] Matt. v. 15.
[4065] Matt. vi. 23-24.
[4066] Matt. vi. 23-24.
[4067] 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.
[4068] Levit. xxi. 17.
[4069] Quoted apparently from memory as giving the general sense of
passages in Lev. xxi, xxii.
[4070] Quoted apparently from memory as giving the general sense of
passages in Lev. xxi, xxii.
[4071] Gen. i. 2.
[4072] John v. 2 sq.
[4073] xix. 2.
[4074] Is. xi. 3; Matt. iii. 3.
[4075] John i. 29.
[4076] Luke i. 43.
[4077] Acts ix. 17.
[4078] Matt. xi. 11.
[4079] Matt. xi. 10.
[4080] We venture to read decebat' instead of dicebat.' Otherwise, we
may render Thus (the Scripture) said that,' etc.
[4081] Mark i. 4.
[4082] Mark i. 5.
[4083] John iii. 31.
[4084] Matt. iii. 11.
[4085] John iii. 30.
[4086] Acts xix. 1, sqq.
[4087] Triple immersion, that is, thrice dipping the head while
standing in the water, was the all but universal rule of the Church in
early times. There is proof of its existence in Africa, Palestine,
Egypt, at Antioch and Constantinople, in Cappadocia and Rome. See
Basil, On the H. Sp. § 66, and Apostolical Canons. Gregory the Great
ruled that either form was allowable, the one symbolizing the Unity of
the Godhead, the other the Trinity of Persons.
[4088] This ceremony together with the kiss of peace and white robes
probably dated from very early times. In the fourth century some new
ceremonies were introduced, such as the use of lights and salt, the
unction with oil before baptism in addition to that with chrism which
continued to be administered after baptism.
[4089] At Holy Communion the first prayer of the faithful was said by
all kneeling. During the rest of the liturgy all stood. At other times
of service the rule was for all to kneel in prayer except on Sundays
and between Easter and Whitsuntide.
[4090] The Arians said He was the creature (made out of nothing)
through whom the Father gave being to all other creatures.
[4091] The Macedonians, who became nearly co-extensive with the
Semi-Arians about 360, held that the Spirit not being very' God must be
a creature and therefore a Servant of God.
[4092] Sacerdotium--often used by Jerome in a special sense for the
Episcopate. He says of Pammachius and of himself (Letter xlv., 3) that
many people thought them digni sacerdotio, meaning the Bishopric of
Rome.
[4093] Acts viii. 26 sq.
[4094] "The philosophical relations of Arianism have been differently
stated. Baur, Newman (The Arians, p. 17), and others, bring it into
connection with Aristotle, and Athanasianism with Plato; Petavius,
Ritter, and Voigt, on the contrary, derive the Arian idea of God from
Platonism and Neo-Platonism. The empirical, rational, logical tendency
of Arianism is certainly more Aristotelian than Platonic, and so far
Baur and Newman are right; but all depends on making either revelation
and faith, or philosophy and reason, the starting point and ruling
power of theology." Doctor Schaff in Dict. of Chris. Biog.
[4095] Baptism was at this time, as a rule, administered by the bishop
alone.
[4096] This was, approximately, the Patripassian form of the heresy,
according to which the person of the Father who is one with the Son,
was incarnate in Christ, and the Father might then be said to have died
upon the cross. The personality of the Holy Ghost appears to have been
denied. With varying shades of opinion and modes of expression the
doctrine was expounded by Praxeas (circ. a.d. 200), Noetius (a.d. 220),
Sabellius (a.d. 225), Beryllus and Paul of Samosata (circ. a.d. 250).
[4097] That is the followers of Lucifer, whose see was in Sardinia.
[4098] Ps. xii. 1. The Luciferians believed that few or none outside
their own sect could be saved.
[4099] Ps. xxx. 9.
[4100] Mark iii. 27.
[4101] Ps. ii. 8.
[4102] Ps. xviii. 15.
[4103] Lit. In the sun hath he placed his tabernacle, and there is none
who can hide himself from the heat thereof. Ps. xix. 6.
[4104] Ps. ix. 6. Sept. Vulg. Syr.
[4105] The allusion is doubtful. It probably refers to some province of
Spain (perhaps that of the Ibera or Ebro), in which the views of
Lucifer prevailed and which his followers considered almost the sole
land of the faithful. The expression, however, is used in a more
general sense by Jerome, Letter VI.
[4106] Luke xviii. 8.
[4107] Matt. ix. 22.
[4108] Matt. viii. 10.
[4109] Matt. viii. 26.
[4110] Matt. xvii. 20.
[4111] Matt. ix. 21.
[4112] Matt. ix. 29.
[4113] For an account of the "Dated Creed" here referred to, and of the
Councils of Seleucia and Ariminum, a.d. 359, see Bright's History of
the Church, a.d. 313-451, fourth edition, pp. 93-100.
[4114] Principium, the equivalent of the Greek 'Arche, which means
beginning, or principle, or power.
[4115] These two propositions constituted the essence of the teaching
of Arius.
[4116] Usia (ousia) is defined by Cyril of Alexandria as that which has
existence in itself, independent of everything else to constitute it. A
discussion of both it and its companion term hypostasis may be found in
Newman's Arians, Appendix p. 432. Around ousia, or some compound of the
word, the great Arian controversy always raged. In asserting that the
son was homoousios with the Father, i.e., consubstantial or
co-essential, the Church affirmed the Godhead of the Son. But the
formula experienced varying fortunes. It was disowned as savouring of
heterodoxy by the Council of Antioch (264-269) which was held to decide
upon the views of Paulus: was imposed at Nicæa (325): considered
inexpedient by the great body of the episcopate in the next generation:
was most cautiously put forward by Athanasius himself (see Stanley's
Hist. of Eastern Church, 1883, p. 240): does not occur in the
catecheses of S. Cyril of Jerusalem (347): was momentarily abandoned by
400 bishops at Ariminum who were "tricked and worried" into the act.
"They had not," says Newman, "yet got it deeply fixed in their minds as
a sort of first principle, that to abandon the formula was to betray
the faith."
[4117] The distinguishing principle of the doctrine of Acacius was
adherence to Scriptural phraseology. See Bright's Hist., p. 69.
[4118] The teaching of Ætius and Eunomius, the Anomoeans, who were the
extremists of the Arians. See Robertson's Hist. of Chris. Ch., fourth
edition, pp. 236-237, etc. The other tenets anathematized are Arian or
Semi-Arian.
[4119] Bishop of Singedunum (Belgrade). "He and Valens, bishop of Mursa
(in Pannonia) appear at every Synod and Council from 330 till about
370, as leaders of the Arian party, both in the East and West...They
are described by Athanasius as the disciples of Arius." Dict. of Chris.
Biog.
[4120] Constantius.
[4121] Julian.
[4122] In August 362, "All Egypt seemed to assemble in the city
(Alexandria), which blazed with lights and rang with acclamations; the
air was fragrant with incense burnt in token of joy; men formed a choir
to precede the Archbishop; to hear his voice, to catch a glimpse of his
face, even to see his shadow, was deemed happiness." Bright, p. 115.
[4123] Bishop of Poictiers (a.d. 350). Died a.d. 368.
[4124] Bishop of Vercellae in N. Italy. Died about a.d. 370. Both he
and Hilary had been sent into exile by Constantius for their opposition
to Arianism.
[4125] That is, the creed of Ariminum.
[4126] Said to have been the "most prominent and most distinguished man
of the entire movement." Athanasius suggested that he was the teacher
rather than the disciple of Arius. He died a.d. 342.
[4127] Regarded as one of the chief opponents of Athanasius. He and
others it is said saved themselves from exile by secretly substituting
omoiousios for homoousios in the sentence of the Council.
[4128] Born probably, about a.d. 260. He was made bishop of Cæsarea
about 313 and lived to be eighty. At the time of the Council he was the
most learned man and most famous living writer. He had great influence
with Constantine, and was among the most moderate Arians.
[4129] Eudoxius was deposed from the bishopric of Antioch by the
Council of Seleucia, a.d. 359; but the immediate predecessor of Euzoius
was Meletius, deposed a.d. 361. Baronius describes him as the worst of
all the Arians. Euzoius had been the companion and intimate friend of
Arius from an early age. Athanasius (Hist. Arian. p. 858) calls him the
"Canaanite."
[4130] Saints Athanasius, Hilary of Poictiers, and Eusebius of
Vercellae.
[4131] a.d. 328, when Athanasius was consecrated bishop.
[4132] See introduction.
[4133] This Hilary was a deacon of Rome, sent by Liberius the bishop
with Lucifer and Pancratius to the Emperor Constantius. He joined the
Luciferians, and wrote in their interest on the re-baptism of heretics.
He appears, however, to have been reconciled before his death.
[4134] 1 Pet. iii. 20.
[4135] 2 Tim. ii. 20.
[4136] Ecc. xi. 2.
[4137] Vulg. for l ssygyt Psa. vi. xii. and 1 Chron. xv. 21. The
meaning is probably "in a lower octave," or, "in the bass." According
to others, an air, or key in which the psalm was to be sung, or a
musical instrument with eight strings.
[4138] Virg, Georg. i. 154.
[4139] S. Matt. xiii. 24 sq.
[4140] Rom. ix. 22, 23; 2 Tim. ii. 20, 21.
[4141] 1 John ii. 19.
[4142] Prov. xiv. 12.
[4143] Stephen was willing to admit all heretical baptism, even that by
Marcionites and Ophites; Cyprian would admit none. The Council was held
at Carthage a.d. 255, and was followed by two in the next year.
[4144] Bishop of Rome from May 12, a.d. 254, to Aug. 2, a.d. 257. See
note on ch. 25.
[4145] The words of 1 John iv. 3 would appear to support Jerome's
remark.
[4146] Acts viii. 10. In the Clementine Homilies and Recognitions Simon
is the constant opponent of St. Peter.
[4147] Commonly regarded as the chief among the Egyptian Gnostics. The
Basilidian system is described by Irenaeus (101f).
[4148] Acts vi. 5, Rev. ii. 6, 15. As to how far Jerome's estimate of
the character of Nicolas is correct, the article Nicolas in Smith's
Dict. of Bible may be consulted.
[4149] Jerome here reproduces almost exactly the remark of
Pseudo-Tertullian. The Dositheans were probably a Jewish or Samaritan
ascetic sect, something akin to the Essenes.
[4150] The name Pharisee implies separation, but in the sense of
dedication to God.
[4151] Of Antioch. One of the earliest of the Gnostics (second
century).
[4152] The Ophites, whose name is derived from ophis, a serpent, were a
sect which lasted from the second century to the sixth. Some of them
believed that the serpent of Gen. iii. was either the Divine Wisdom, or
the Christ himself, come to enlighten mankind. Their errors may in
great measure, like those of the Cainites, be traced to the belief,
common to all systems of Gnosticism, that the Creator of the world, who
was the God of the Jews, was not the same as the Supreme Being, but was
in antagonism to Him. They supposed that the Scriptures were written in
the interest of the Demiurge or Creator, and that a false colouring
being given to the story, the real worthies were those who are
reprobated in the sacred writings.
[4153] The Cainites regarded as saints, Cain, Korah, Dathan, the
Sodomites, and even the traitor Judas.
[4154] The Sethites are said to have looked upon Seth as the same
person as Christ.
[4155] Carpocrates, another Gnostic, held that our Lord was the son of
Joseph and Mary, and was distinguished from other men by nothing except
moral superiority. He also taught the indifference of actions in
themselves, and maintained that they take their quality from opinion or
from legislation; he advocated community of goods and of wives, basing
his views on the doctrine of natural rights. See Mosheim, Cent. ii.
[4156] Cerinthus was a native of Judæa, and after having studied at
Alexandria established himself as a teacher in his own country. He
afterwards removed to Ephesus, and there became prominent. He held that
Jesus and the Christ were not the same person; Jesus was, he said, a
real man, the son of Joseph and Mary; the Christ was an emanation which
descended upon Jesus at his baptism to reveal the Most High, but which
forsook him before the Passion. S. John in his Gospel and Epistles
combats this error. See Westcott's Introduction to 1 John, p. xxxiv.
(second ed.) etc. Cerinthus is said to have been the heretic with whom
S. John refused to be under the same roof at the bath. To him as author
is also referred the doctrine of the Millennium.
[4157] The Ebionites were mere humanitarians. Whether Ebion ever
existed, or whether the sect took its name from the beggarliness of
their doctrine, or their vow of poverty, or the poorness of spirit
which they professed, is disputed.
[4158] Rev. ii. 16.
[4159] Cyprian's opinion as stated in his reply to the Numidian and
Mauritanian bishops (Ep. 71) was that converts must be baptized, unless
they had received the regular baptism of the Church before falling into
heresy or schism, in which case imposition of hands would suffice. The
question was afterwards decided against Cyprian's views by the Council
of Arles (a.d. 314), which ordered that if the baptism had been
administered in the name of the Trinity, converts should be admitted to
the Church by imposition of hands.
[4160] For Novatus and an account of the dispute between Cyprian and
Stephen, see Robertson's "Hist. of Christian Church," fourth ed., vol.
i. pp. 120-127.
[4161] 1 Cor. xi. 16.
[4162] As Deucalion was left alone after the flood, so, Jerome implies,
Hilary imagined himself the sole survivor after the flood of Arianism.
[4163] The advocates on each side could plead immemorial local usage.
If imposition of hands was the rule at Rome, synods held at Iconium and
at Synnada had established the rule of re-baptism nearly throughout
Asia Minor. In Africa the same practice had been sanctioned early in
the third century, but it seems to have fallen into disuse long before
Cyprian's time.
[4164] Bishops of Rome--Julius 337-352; Mark Jan. 18-Oct. 7, 336;
Sylvester 314-335.
[4165] Canon 19.
[4166] Canon 8. The bishop might give him the nominal honour of a
bishop.
[4167] By the "men of the mountain or the plain," Jerome appears to
contemptuously designate the Circumcellions who were an extreme section
of the Donatists. They roamed about the country in bands of both sexes,
and struck terror into the peaceable inhabitants. They were guilty of
the grossest excesses, and no Catholic was safe except in the towns.
Robertson's "Hist. of the Church," vol. i. fourth ed. pp. 200, 419, and
the original authorities there referred to.
__________________________________________________________________
The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary.
------------------------
Against Helvidius.
This tract appeared about a.d. 383. The question which gave occasion to
it was whether the Mother of our Lord remained a Virgin after His
birth. Helvidius maintained that the mention in the Gospels of the
"sisters" and "brethren" of our Lord was proof that the Blessed Virgin
had subsequent issue, and he supported his opinion by the writings of
Tertullian and Victorinus. The outcome of his views was that virginity
was ranked below matrimony. Jerome vigorously takes the other side, and
tries to prove that the "sisters" and "brethren" spoken of, were either
children of Joseph by a former marriage, or first cousins, children of
the sister of the Virgin. A detailed account of the controversy will be
found in Farrar's "Early Days of Christianity," pp. 124 sq. When Jerome
wrote this treatise both he and Helvidius were at Rome, and Damasus was
Pope. The only contemporary notice preserved of Helvidius is that by
Jerome in the following pages.
Jerome maintains against Helvidius three propositions:--
1st. That Joseph was only putatively, not really, the husband of Mary.
2d. That the "brethren" of the Lord were his cousins, not his own
brethren.
3d. That virginity is better than the married state.
1. The first of these occupies ch. 3-8. It turns upon the record in
Matt. i. 18-25, and especially on the words, "Before they came
together" (c. 4), "knew her not till, &c." (5-8).
2. The second (c. 9-17) turns upon the words "first-born son" (9, 10),
which, Jerome argues, are applicable not only to the eldest of several,
but also to an only son: and the mention of brothers and sisters, whom
Jerome asserts to have been children of Mary the wife of Cleophas or
Clopas (11-16); he appeals to many Church writers in support of this
view (17).
3. In support of his preference of virginity to marriage, Jerome argues
that not only Mary but Joseph also remained in the virgin state (19);
that, though marriage may sometimes be a holy estate, it presents great
hindrances to prayer (20), and the teaching of Scripture is that the
states of virginity and continency are more accordant with God's will
than that of marriage (21, 22).
1. I was requested by certain of the brethren not long ago to reply to
a pamphlet written by one Helvidius. I have deferred doing so, not
because it is a difficult matter to maintain the truth and refute an
ignorant boor who has scarce known the first glimmer of learning, but
because I was afraid my reply might make him appear worth defeating.
There was the further consideration that a turbulent fellow, the only
individual in the world who thinks himself both priest and layman, one
who, [4168] as has been said, thinks that eloquence consists in
loquacity and considers speaking ill of anyone to be the witness of a
good conscience, would begin to blaspheme worse than ever if
opportunity of discussion were afforded him. He would stand as it were
on a pedestal, and would publish his views far and wide. There was
reason also to fear that when truth failed him he would assail his
opponents with the weapon of abuse. But all these motives for silence,
though just, have more justly ceased to influence me, because of the
scandal caused to the brethren who were disgusted at his ravings. The
axe of the Gospel must therefore be now laid to the root of the barren
tree, and both it and its fruitless foliage cast into the fire, so that
Helvidius who has never learnt to speak, may at length learn to hold
his tongue.
2. I must call upon the Holy Spirit to express His meaning by my mouth
and defend the virginity of the Blessed Mary. I must call upon the Lord
Jesus to guard the sacred lodging of the womb in which He abode for ten
months from all suspicion of sexual intercourse. And I must also
entreat God the Father to show that the mother of His Son, who was a
mother before she was a bride, continued a Virgin after her son was
born. We have no desire to career over the fields of eloquence, we do
not resort to the snares of the logicians or the thickets of Aristotle.
We shall adduce the actual words of Scripture. Let him be refuted by
the same proofs which he employed against us, so that he may see that
it was possible for him to read what is written, and yet to be unable
to discern the established conclusion of a sound faith.
3. His first statement was: "Matthew says, [4169] Now the birth of
Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed
to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not
willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away
privately. But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the
Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David,
fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Ghost." Notice, he says, that the word used is
betrothed, not intrusted as you say, and of course the only reason why
she was betrothed was that she might one day be married. And the
Evangelist would not have said before they came together if they were
not to come together, for no one would use the phrase before he dined
of a man who was not going to dine. Then, again, the angel calls her
wife and speaks of her as united to Joseph. We are next invited to
listen to the declaration of Scripture: [4170] "And Joseph arose from
his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took
unto him his wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth her
son."
4. Let us take the points one by one, and follow the tracks of this
impiety that we may show that he has contradicted himself. He admits
that she was betrothed, and in the next breath will have her to be a
man's wife whom he has admitted to be his betrothed. Again, he calls
her wife, and then says the only reason why she was betrothed was that
she might one day be married. And, for fear we might not think that
enough, "the word used," he says, "is betrothed and not intrusted, that
is to say, not yet a wife, not yet united by the bond of wedlock." But
when he continues, "the Evangelist would never have applied the words,
before they came together to persons who were not to come together, any
more than one says, before he dined, when the man is not going to
dine," I know not whether to grieve or laugh. Shall I convict him of
ignorance, or accuse him of rashness? Just as if, supposing a person to
say, "Before dining in harbour I sailed to Africa," his words could not
hold good unless he were compelled some day to dine in harbour. If I
choose to say, "the apostle Paul before he went to Spain was put in
fetters at Rome," or (as I certainly might) "Helvidius, before he
repented, was cut off by death," must Paul on being released at once go
to Spain, or must Helvidius repent after death, although the Scripture
says [4171] "In sheol who shall give thee thanks?" Must we not rather
understand that the preposition before, although it frequently denotes
order in time, yet sometimes refers only to order in thought? So that
there is no necessity, if sufficient cause intervened to prevent it,
for our thoughts to be realized. When, then, the Evangelist says before
they came together, he indicates the time immediately preceding
marriage, and shows that matters were so far advanced that she who had
been betrothed was on the point of becoming a wife. As though he said,
before they kissed and embraced, before the consummation of marriage,
she was found to be with child. And she was found to be so by none
other than Joseph, who watched the swelling womb of his betrothed with
the anxious glances, and, at this time, almost the privilege, of a
husband. Yet it does not follow, as the previous examples showed, that
he had intercourse with Mary after her delivery, when his desires had
been quenched by the fact that she had already conceived. And although
we find it said to Joseph in a dream, "Fear not to take Mary thy wife";
and again, "Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the
Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife," no one ought to be
disturbed by this, as though, inasmuch as she is called wife, she
ceases to be betrothed, for we know it is usual in Scripture to give
the title to those who are betrothed. The following evidence from
Deuteronomy establishes the point. [4172] "If the man," says the
writer, "find the damsel that is betrothed in the field, and the man
force her, and lie with her, he shall surely die, because he hath
humbled his neighbour's wife." And in another place, [4173] "If there
be a damsel that is a virgin betrothed unto an husband, and a man find
her in the city, and lie with her; then ye shall bring them both out
unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that
they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the
man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put
away the evil from the midst of thee." Elsewhere also, [4174] "And what
man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let
him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and
another man take her." But if anyone feels a doubt as to why the Virgin
conceived after she was betrothed rather than when she had no one
betrothed to her, or, to use the Scripture phrase, no husband, let me
explain that there were three reasons. First, that by the genealogy of
Joseph, whose kinswoman Mary was, Mary's origin might also be shown.
Secondly, that she might not in accordance with the law of Moses be
stoned as an adulteress. Thirdly, that in her flight to Egypt she might
have some solace, though it was that of a guardian rather than a
husband. For who at that time would have believed the Virgin's word
that she had conceived of the Holy Ghost, and that the angel Gabriel
had come and announced the purpose of God? and would not all have given
their opinion against her as an adulteress, like Susanna? for at the
present day, now that the whole world has embraced the faith, the Jews
argue that when Isaiah says, [4175] "Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son," the Hebrew word denotes a young woman, not a virgin,
that is to say, the word is Almah, not Bethulah, a position which,
farther on, we shall dispute more in detail. Lastly, excepting Joseph,
and Elizabeth, and Mary herself, and some few others who, we may
suppose, heard the truth from them, all considered Jesus to be the son
of Joseph. And so far was this the case that even the Evangelists,
expressing the prevailing opinion, which is the correct rule for a
historian, call him the father of the Saviour, as, for instance, [4176]
"And he (that is, Simeon) came in the Spirit into the temple: and when
the parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might do concerning
him after the custom of the law;" and elsewhere, [4177] "And his
parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the passover." And
afterwards, [4178] "And when they had fulfilled the days, as they were
returning, the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and his parents
knew not of it." Observe also what Mary herself, who had replied to
Gabriel with the words, [4179] "How shall this be, seeing I know not a
man?" says concerning Joseph, [4180] "Son, why hast thou thus dealt
with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing." We have not
here, as many maintain, the utterance of Jews or of mockers. The
Evangelists call Joseph father: Mary confesses he was father. Not (as I
said before) that Joseph was really the father of the Saviour: but
that, to preserve the reputation of Mary, he was regarded by all as his
father, although, before he heard the admonition of the angel, [4181]
"Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:
for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost," he had
thoughts of putting her away privily; which shows that he well knew
that the child conceived was not his. But we have said enough, more
with the aim of imparting instruction than of answering an opponent, to
show why Joseph is called the father of our Lord, and why Mary is
called Joseph's wife. This also at once answers the question why
certain persons are called his brethren.
5. This, however, is a point which will find its proper place further
on. We must now hasten to other matters. The passage for discussion now
is, "And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him, and took unto him his wife and knew her not till she had
brought forth a son, and he called his name Jesus." Here, first of all,
it is quite needless for our opponent to show so elaborately that the
word know has reference to coition, rather than to intellectual
apprehension: as though anyone denied it, or any person in his senses
could ever imagine the folly which Helvidius takes pains to refute.
Then he would teach us that the adverb till implies a fixed and
definite time, and when that is fulfilled, he says the event takes
place which previously did not take place, as in the case before us,
"and knew her not till she had brought forth a son." It is clear, says
he, that she was known after she brought forth, and that that knowledge
was only delayed by her engendering a son. To defend his position he
piles up text upon text, waves his sword like a blind-folded gladiator,
rattles his noisy tongue, and ends with wounding no one but himself.
6. Our reply is briefly this,--the words knew and till in the language
of Holy Scripture are capable of a double meaning. As to the former, he
himself gave us a dissertation to show that it must be referred to
sexual intercourse, and no one doubts that it is often used of the
knowledge of the understanding, as, for instance, "the boy Jesus
tarried behind in Jerusalem, and his parents knew it not." Now we have
to prove that just as in the one case he has followed the usage of
Scripture, so with regard to the word till he is utterly refuted by the
authority of the same Scripture, which often denotes by its use a fixed
time (he himself told us so), frequently time without limitation, as
when God by the mouth of the prophet says to certain persons, [4182]
"Even to old age I am he." Will He cease to be God when they have grown
old? And the Saviour in the Gospel tells the Apostles, [4183] "Lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Will the Lord then
after the end of the world has come forsake His disciples, and at the
very time when seated on twelve thrones they are to judge the twelve
tribes of Israel will they be bereft of the company of their Lord?
Again Paul the Apostle writing to the Corinthians [4184] says, "Christ
the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming. Then
cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God,
even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule, and all
authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies
under his feet." Granted that the passage relates to our Lord's human
nature, we do not deny that the words are spoken of Him who endured the
cross and is commanded to sit afterwards on the right hand. What does
he mean then by saying, "for he must reign, till he hath put all
enemies under his feet"? Is the Lord to reign only until His enemies
begin to be under His feet, and once they are under His feet will He
cease to reign? Of course His reign will then commence in its fulness
when His enemies begin to be under His feet. David also in the fourth
Song of Ascents [4185] speaks thus, "Behold, as the eyes of servants
look unto the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maiden unto the
hand of her mistress, so our eyes look unto the Lord our God, until he
have mercy upon us." Will the prophet, then, look unto the Lord until
he obtain mercy, and when mercy is obtained will he turn his eyes down
to the ground? although elsewhere he says, [4186] "Mine eyes fail for
thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness." I could
accumulate countless instances of this usage, and cover the verbosity
of our assailant with a cloud of proofs; I shall, however, add only a
few, and leave the reader to discover like ones for himself.
7. The word of God says in Genesis, [4187] "And they gave unto Jacob
all the strange gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were
in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem,
and lost them until this day." Likewise at the end of Deuteronomy,
[4188] "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of
Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in the
valley, in the land of Moab over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth
of his sepulchre unto this day." We must certainly understand by this
day the time of the composition of the history, whether you prefer the
view that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch or that Ezra re-edited
it. In either case I make no objection. The question now is whether the
words unto this day are to be referred to the time of publishing or
writing the books, and if so it is for him to show, now that so many
years have rolled away since that day, that either the idols hidden
beneath the oak have been found, or the grave of Moses discovered; for
he obstinately maintains that what does not happen so long as the point
of time indicated by until and unto has not been attained, begins to be
when that point has been reached. He would do well to pay heed to the
idiom of Holy Scripture, and understand with us, (it was here he stuck
in the mud) that some things which might seem ambiguous if not
expressed are plainly intimated, while others are left to the exercise
of our intellect. For if, while the event was still fresh in memory and
men were living who had seen Moses, it was possible for his grave to be
unknown, much more may this be the case after the lapse of so many
ages. And in the same way must we interpret what we are told concerning
Joseph. The Evangelist pointed out a circumstance which might have
given rise to some scandal, namely, that Mary was not known by her
husband until she was delivered, and he did so that we might be the
more certain that she from whom Joseph refrained while there was room
to doubt the import of the vision was not known after her delivery.
8. In short, what I want to know is why Joseph refrained until the day
of her delivery? Helvidius will of course reply, because he heard the
angel say, [4189] "that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Ghost." And in turn we rejoin that he had certainly heard him say,
[4190] "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy
wife." The reason why he was forbidden to forsake his wife was that he
might not think her an adulteress. Is it true then, that he was ordered
not to have intercourse with his wife? Is it not plain that the warning
was given him that he might not be separated from her? And could the
just man dare, he says, to think of approaching her, when he heard that
the Son of God was in her womb? Excellent! We are to believe then that
the same man who gave so much credit to a dream that he did not dare to
touch his wife, yet afterwards, when he had learnt from the shepherds
that the angel of the Lord had come from heaven and said to them,
[4191] "Be not afraid: for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy
which shall be to all people, for there is born to you this day in the
city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord;" and when the
heavenly host had joined with him in the chorus [4192] "Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace among men of good will;" and when he
had seen just Simeon embrace the infant and exclaim, [4193] "Now
lettest thou thy servant depart, O Lord, according to thy word in
peace: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation;" and when he had seen
Anna the prophetess, the Magi, the Star, Herod, the angels; Helvidius,
I say, would have us believe that Joseph, though well acquainted with
such surprising wonders, dared to touch the temple of God, the abode of
the Holy Ghost, the mother of his Lord? Mary at all events "kept all
these sayings in her heart." You cannot for shame say Joseph did not
know of them, for Luke tells us, [4194] "His father and mother were
marvelling at the things which were spoken concerning Him." And yet you
with marvellous effrontery contend that the reading of the Greek
manuscripts is corrupt, although it is that which nearly all the Greek
writers have left us in their books, and not only so, but several of
the Latin writers have taken the words the same way. Nor need we now
consider the variations in the copies, since the whole record both of
the Old and New Testament has since that time been [4195] translated
into Latin, and we must believe that the water of the fountain flows
purer than that of the stream.
9. Helvidius will answer, "What you say, is in my opinion mere
trifling. Your arguments are so much waste of time, and the discussion
shows more subtlety than truth. Why could not Scripture say, as it said
of Thamar and Judah, [4196] And he took his wife, and knew her again no
more'? Could not Matthew find words to express his meaning? He knew her
not,' he says, until she brought forth a son.' He did then, after her
delivery, know her, whom he had refrained from knowing until she was
delivered."
10. If you are so contentious, your own thoughts shall now prove your
master. You must not allow any time to intervene between delivery and
intercourse. You must not say, [4197] "If a woman conceive seed and
bear a man child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days
of the separation of her sickness shall she be unclean. And in the
eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. And she
shall continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days. She
shall touch no hallowed thing," and so forth. On your showing, Joseph
must at once approach, her, and be subject to Jeremiah's [4198]
reproof, "They were as mad horses in respect of women: every one
neighed after his neighbour's wife." Otherwise, how can the words stand
good, "he knew her not, till she had brought forth a son," if he waits
after the time of another purifying has expired, if his lust must brook
another long delay of forty days? The mother must go unpurged from her
child-bed taint, and the wailing infant be attended to by the midwives,
while the husband clasps his exhausted wife. Thus forsooth must their
married life begin so that the Evangelist may not be convicted of
falsehood. But God forbid that we should think thus of the Saviour's
mother and of a just man. No midwife assisted at His birth; no women's
officiousness intervened. With her own hands she wrapped Him in the
swaddling clothes, herself both mother and midwife, [4199] "and laid
Him," we are told, "in a manger, because there was no room for them in
the inn"; a statement which, on the one hand, refutes the ravings of
the apocryphal accounts, for Mary herself wrapped Him in the swaddling
clothes, and on the other makes the voluptuous notion of Helvidius
impossible, since there was no place suitable for married intercourse
in the inn.
11. An ample reply has now been given to what he advanced respecting
the words before they came together, and he knew her not till she had
brought forth a son. I must now proceed, if my reply is to follow the
order of his argument, to the third point. He will have it that Mary
bore other sons, and he quotes the passage, [4200] "And Joseph also
went up to the city of David to enroll himself with Mary, who was
betrothed to him, being great with child. And it came to pass, while
they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered,
and she brought forth her first-born son." From this he endeavours to
show that the term first-born is inapplicable except to a person who
has brothers, just as he is called only begotten who is the only son of
his parents.
12. Our position is this: Every only begotten son is a first-born son,
but not every first-born is an only begotten. By first-born we
understand not only one who is succeeded by others, but one who has had
no predecessor. [4201] "Everything," says the Lord to Aaron, "that
openeth the womb of all flesh which they offer unto the Lord, both of
man and beast, shall be thine: nevertheless the first born of man shalt
thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou
redeem." The word of God defines first-born as everything that openeth
the womb. Otherwise, if the title belongs to such only as have younger
brothers, the priests cannot claim the firstlings until their
successors have been begotten, lest, perchance, in case there were no
subsequent delivery it should prove to be the first-born but not merely
the only begotten. [4202] "And those that are to be redeemed of them
from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation for
the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary (the same
is twenty gerahs). But the firstling of an ox, or the firstling of a
sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are
holy." The word of God compels me to dedicate to God everything that
openeth the womb if it be the firstling of clean beasts: if of unclean
beasts, I must redeem it, and give the value to the priest. I might
reply and say, Why do you tie me down to the short space of a month?
Why do you speak of the first-born, when I cannot tell whether there
are brothers to follow? Wait until the second is born. I owe nothing to
the priest, unless the birth of a second should make the one I
previously had the first-born. Will not the very points of the letters
cry out against me and convict me of my folly, and declare that
first-born is a title of him who opens the womb, and is not to be
restricted to him who has brothers? And, then, to take the case of
John: we are agreed that he was an only begotten son: I want to know if
he was not also a first-born son, and whether he was not absolutely
amenable to the law. There can be no doubt in the matter. At all events
Scripture thus speaks of the Saviour, [4203] "And when the days of her
purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought
him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord (as it is written in
the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall be called
holy to the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is
said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves, or two young
pigeons." If this law relates only to the first-born, and there can be
no first-born unless there are successors, no one ought to be bound by
the law of the first-born who cannot tell whether there will be
successors. But inasmuch as he who has no younger brothers is bound by
the law of the first-born, we gather that he is called the first-born
who opens the womb and who has been preceded by none, not he whose
birth is followed by that of a younger brother. Moses writes in Exodus,
[4204] "And it came to pass at midnight, that the Lord smote all the
first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that
sat on his throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in the
dungeon: And all the first-born of cattle." Tell me, were they who then
perished by the destroyer, only your first-born, or, something more,
did they include the only begotten? If only they who have brothers are
called first-born, the only begotten were saved from death. And if it
be the fact that the only begotten were slain, it was contrary to the
sentence pronounced, for the only begotten to die as well as the
first-born. You must either release the only begotten from the penalty,
and in that case you become ridiculous: or, if you allow that they were
slain, we gain our point, though we have not to thank you for it, that
only begotten sons also are called first-born.
13. The last proposition of Helvidius was this, and it is what he
wished to show when he treated of the first-born, that brethren of the
Lord are mentioned in the Gospels. For example, [4205] "Behold, his
mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him." And
elsewhere, [4206] "After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his
mother, and his brethren." And again, [4207] "His brethren therefore
said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judæa, that thy disciples also
may behold the works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in
secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these
things, manifest thyself to the world." And John adds, [4208] "For even
his brethren did not believe on him." Mark also and Matthew, [4209]
"And coming into his own country he taught them in their synagogues,
insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this
wisdom, and mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his
mother called Mary? and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and
Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?" Luke also in the
Acts of the Apostles relates, [4210] "These all with one accord
continued stedfastly in prayer, with the women and Mary the mother of
Jesus, and with his brethren." Paul the Apostle also is at one with
them, and witnesses to their historical accuracy, [4211] "And I went up
by revelation, but other of the apostles saw I none, save Peter and
James the Lord's brother." And again in another place, [4212] "Have we
no right to eat and drink? Have we no right to lead about wives even as
the rest of the Apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?"
And for fear any one should not allow the evidence of the Jews, since
it was they from whose mouth we hear the name of His brothers, but
should maintain that His countrymen were deceived by the same error in
respect of the brothers into which they fell in their belief about the
father, Helvidius utters a sharp note of warning and cries, "The same
names are repeated by the Evangelists in another place, and the same
persons are there brethren of the Lord and sons of Mary." Matthew says,
[4213] "And many women were there (doubtless at the Lord's cross)
beholding from afar, which had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering
unto him: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James
and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee." Mark also, [4214]
"And there were also women beholding from afar, among whom were both
Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and
Salome"; and in the same place shortly after, "And many other women
which came up with him unto Jerusalem." Luke too, [4215] "Now there
were Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and the
other women with them."
14. My reason for repeating the same thing again and again is to
prevent him from raising a false issue and crying out that I have
withheld such passages as make for him, and that his view has been torn
to shreds not by evidence of Scripture, but by evasive arguments.
Observe, he says, James and Joses are sons of Mary, and the same
persons who were called brethren by the Jews. Observe, Mary is the
mother of James the less and of Joses. And James is called the less to
distinguish him from James the greater, who was the son of Zebedee, as
Mark elsewhere states, [4216] "And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother
of Joses beheld where he was laid. And when the sabbath was past, they
bought spices, that they might come and anoint him." And, as might be
expected, he says: "What a poor and impious view we take of Mary, if we
hold that when other women were concerned about the burial of Jesus,
she His mother was absent; or if we invent some kind of a second Mary;
and all the more because the Gospel of S. John testifies that she was
there present, when the Lord upon the cross commended her, as His
mother and now a widow, to the care of John. Or must we suppose that
the Evangelists were so far mistaken and so far mislead us as to call
Mary the mother of those who were known to the Jews as brethren of
Jesus?"
15. What darkness, what raging madness rushing to its own destruction!
You say that the mother of the Lord was present at the cross, you say
that she was entrusted to the disciple John on account of her widowhood
and solitary condition: as if upon your own showing, she had not four
sons, and numerous daughters, with whose solace she might comfort
herself? You also apply to her the name of widow which is not found in
Scripture. And although you quote all instances in the Gospels, the
words of John alone displease you. You say in passing that she was
present at the cross, that you may not appear to have omitted it on
purpose, and yet not a word about the women who were with her. I could
pardon you if you were ignorant, but I see you have a reason for your
silence. Let me point out then what John says, [4217] "But there were
standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene." No one doubts that there
were two apostles called by the name James, James the son of Zebedee,
and James the son of Alphæus. Do you intend the comparatively unknown
James the less, who is called in Scripture the son of Mary, not however
of Mary the mother of our Lord, to be an apostle, or not? If he is an
apostle, he must be the son of Alphæus and a believer in Jesus, "For
neither did his brethren believe in him." If he is not an apostle, but
a third James (who he can be I cannot tell), how can he be regarded as
the Lord's brother, and how, being a third, can he be called less to
distinguish him from greater, when greater and less are used to denote
the relations existing, not between three, but between two? Notice,
moreover, that the Lord's brother is an apostle, since Paul says,
[4218] "Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas,
and tarried with him fifteen days. But other of the Apostles saw I
none, save James the Lord's brother." And in the same Epistle, [4219]
"And when they perceived the grace that was given unto me, James and
Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars," etc. And that you may
not suppose this James to be the son of Zebedee, you have only to read
the Acts of the Apostles, and you will find that the latter had already
been slain by Herod. The only conclusion is that the Mary who is
described as the mother of James the less was the wife of Alphæus and
sister of Mary the Lord's mother, the one who is called by John the
Evangelist "Mary of Clopas," whether after her father, or kindred, or
for some other reason. But if you think they are two persons because
elsewhere we read, "Mary the mother of James the less," and here, "Mary
of Clopas," you have still to learn that it is customary in Scripture
for the same individual to bear different names. Raguel, Moses'
father-in-law, is also called Jethro. Gedeon, [4220] without any
apparent reason for the change, all at once becomes Jerubbaal. Ozias,
king of Judah, has an alternative, Azarias. Mount Tabor is called
Itabyrium. Again Hermon is called by the Phenicians Sanior, and by the
Amorites Sanir. The same tract of country is known by three names,
[4221] Negebh, Teman, and Darom in Ezekiel. Peter is also called Simon
and Cephas. Judas the zealot in another Gospel is called Thaddaeus. And
there are numerous other examples which the reader will be able to
collect for himself from every part of Scripture.
16. Now here we have the explanation of what I am endeavouring to show,
how it is that the sons of Mary, the sister of our Lord's mother, who
though not formerly believers afterwards did believe, can be called
brethren of the Lord. Possibly the case might be that one of the
brethren believed immediately while the others did not believe until
long after, and that one Mary was the mother of James and Joses,
namely, "Mary of Clopas," who is the same as the wife of Alphæus, the
other, the mother of James the less. In any case, if she (the latter)
had been the Lord's mother S. John would have allowed her the title, as
everywhere else, and would not by calling her the mother of other sons
have given a wrong impression. But at this stage I do not wish to argue
for or against the supposition that Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary
the mother of James and Joses were different women, provided it is
clearly understood that Mary the mother of James and Joses was not the
same person as the Lord's mother. How then, says Helvidius, do you make
out that they were called the Lord's brethren who were not his
brethren? I will show how that is. In Holy Scripture there are four
kinds of brethren--by nature, race, kindred, love. Instances of
brethren by nature are Esau and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs, Andrew
and Peter, James and John. As to race, all Jews are called brethren of
one another, as in Deuteronomy, [4222] "If thy brother, an Hebrew man,
or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then
in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee." And in the
same book, [4223] "Thou shalt in anywise set him king over thee, whom
the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou
set king over thee; thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, which is
not thy brother." And again, [4224] "Thou shalt not see thy brother's
ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt
surely bring them again unto thy brother. And if thy brother be not
nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it home
to thine house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after
it, and thou shalt restore it to him again." And the Apostle Paul says,
[4225] "I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my
brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh: who are
Israelites." Moreover they are called brethren by kindred who are of
one family, that is patria, which corresponds to the Latin paternitas,
because from a single root a numerous progeny proceeds. In Genesis
[4226] we read, "And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I
pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen;
for we are brethren." And again, "So Lot chose him all the plain of
Jordan, and Lot journeyed east: and they separated each from his
brother." Certainly Lot was not Abraham's brother, but the son of
Abraham's brother Aram. For Terah begat Abraham and Nahor and Aram: and
Aram begat Lot. Again we read, [4227] "And Abram was seventy and five
years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife,
and Lot his brother's son." But if you still doubt whether a nephew can
be called a son, let me give you an instance. [4228] "And when Abram
heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men,
born in his house, three hundred and eighteen." And after describing
the night attack and the slaughter, he adds, "And he brought back all
the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot." Let this suffice by
way of proof of my assertion. But for fear you may make some cavilling
objection, and wriggle out of your difficulty like a snake, I must bind
you fast with the bonds of proof to stop your hissing and complaining,
for I know you would like to say you have been overcome not so much by
Scripture truth as by intricate arguments. Jacob, the son of Isaac and
Rebecca, when in fear of his brother's treachery he had gone to
Mesopotamia, drew nigh and rolled away the stone from the mouth of the
well, and watered the flocks of Laban, his mother's brother. [4229]
"And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. And Jacob
told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he was Rebekah's
son." Here is an example of the rule already referred to, by which a
nephew is called a brother. And again, [4230] "Laban said unto Jacob.
Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for
nought? Tell me what shall thy wages be." And so, when, at the end of
twenty years, without the knowledge of his father-in-law and
accompanied by his wives and sons he was returning to his country, on
Laban overtaking him in the mountain of Gilead and failing to find the
idols which Rachel hid among the baggage, Jacob answered and said to
Laban, [4231] "What is my trespass? What is my sin, that thou hast so
hotly pursued after me? Whereas thou hast felt all about my stuff, what
hast thou found of all thy household stuff? Set it here before my
brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us two." Tell me
who are those brothers of Jacob and Laban who were present there? Esau,
Jacob's brother, was certainly not there, and Laban, the son of
Bethuel, had no brothers although he had a sister Rebecca.
17. Innumerable instances of the same kind are to be found in the
sacred books. But, to be brief, I will return to the last of the four
classes of brethren, those, namely, who are brethren by affection, and
these again fall into two divisions, those of the spiritual and those
of the general relationship. I say spiritual because all of us
Christians are called brethren, as in the verse, [4232] "Behold, how
good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."
And in another psalm the Saviour says, [4233] "I will declare thy name
unto my brethren." And elsewhere, [4234] "Go unto my brethren and say
to them." I say also general, because we are all children of one
Father, there is a like bond of brotherhood between us all. [4235]
"Tell these who hate you," says the prophet, "ye are our brethren." And
the Apostle writing to the Corinthians: [4236] "If any man that is
named brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a
reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner: with such a one no, not to
eat." I now ask to which class you consider the Lord's brethren in the
Gospel must be assigned. They are brethren by nature, you say. But
Scripture does not say so; it calls them neither sons of Mary, nor of
Joseph. Shall we say they are brethren by race? But it is absurd to
suppose that a few Jews were called His brethren when all Jews of the
time might upon this principle have borne the title. Were they brethren
by virtue of close intimacy and the union of heart and mind? If that
were so, who were more truly His brethren than the apostles who
received His private instruction and were called by Him His mother and
His brethren? Again, if all men, as such, were His brethren, it would
have been foolish to deliver a special message, "Behold, thy brethren
seek thee," for all men alike were entitled to the name. The only
alternative is to adopt the previous explanation and understand them to
be called brethren in virtue of the bond of kindred, not of love and
sympathy, nor by prerogative of race, nor yet by nature. Just as Lot
was called Abraham's brother, and Jacob Laban's, just as the daughters
of Zelophehad received a lot among their brethren, just as Abraham
himself had to wife Sarah his sister, for he says, [4237] "She is
indeed my sister, on the father's side, not on the mother's," that is
to say, she was the daughter of his brother, not of his sister.
Otherwise, what are we to say of Abraham, a just man, taking to wife
the daughter of his own father? Scripture, in relating the history of
the men of early times, does not outrage our ears by speaking of the
enormity in express terms, but prefers to leave it to be inferred by
the reader: and God afterwards gives to the prohibition the sanction of
the law, and threatens, [4238] "He who takes his sister, born of his
father, or of his mother, and beholds her nakedness, hath commited
abomination, he shall be utterly destroyed. He hath uncovered his
sister's nakedness, he shall bear his sin."
18. There are things which, in your extreme ignorance, you had never
read, and therefore you neglected the whole range of Scripture and
employed your madness in outraging the Virgin, like the man in the
story who being unknown to everybody and finding that he could devise
no good deed by which to gain renown, burned the temple of Diana: and
when no one revealed the sacrilegious act, it is said that he himself
went up and down proclaiming that he was the man who had applied the
fire. The rulers of Ephesus were curious to know what made him do this
thing, whereupon he replied that if he could not have fame for good
deeds, all men should give him credit for bad ones. Grecian history
relates the incident. But you do worse. You have set on fire the temple
of the Lord's body, you have defiled the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit
from which you are determined to make a team of four brethren and a
heap of sisters come forth. In a word, joining in the chorus of the
Jews, you say, [4239] "Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his
mother called Mary? and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and
Judas? and his sisters, are they not all with us? The word all would
not be used if there were not a crowd of them." Pray tell me, who,
before you appeared, was acquainted with this blasphemy? who thought
the theory worth two-pence? You have gained your desire, and are become
notorious by crime. For myself who am your opponent, although we live
in the [4240] same city, I don't know, as the saying is, whether you
are white or black. I pass over faults of diction which abound in every
book you write. I say not a word about your absurd introduction. Good
heavens! I do not ask for eloquence, since, having none yourself, you
applied for a supply of it to your brother Craterius. I do not ask for
grace of style, I look for purity of soul: for with Christians it is
the greatest of solecisms and of vices of style to introduce anything
base either in word or action. I am come to the conclusion of my
argument. I will deal with you as though I had as yet prevailed
nothing; and you will find yourself on the horns of a dilemma. It is
clear that our Lord's brethren bore the name in the same way that
Joseph was called his father: [4241] "I and thy father sought thee
sorrowing." It was His mother who said this, not the Jews. The
Evangelist himself relates that His father and His mother were
marvelling at the things which were spoken concerning Him, and there
are similar passages which we have already quoted in which Joseph and
Mary are called his parents. Seeing that you have been foolish enough
to persuade yourself that the Greek manuscripts are corrupt, you will
perhaps plead the diversity of readings. I therefore come to the Gospel
of John, and there it is plainly written, [4242] "Philip findeth
Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the
law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
You will certainly find this in your manuscript. Now tell me, how is
Jesus the son of Joseph when it is clear that He was begotten of the
Holy Ghost? Was Joseph His true father? Dull as you are, you will not
venture to say that. Was he His reputed father? If so, let the same
rule be applied to them when they are called brethren, that you apply
to Joseph when he is called father.
19. Now that I have cleared the rocks and shoals I must spread sail and
make all speed to reach his epilogue. Feeling himself to be a
smatterer, he there produces Tertullian as a witness and quotes the
words of Victorinus bishop of [4243] Petavium. Of Tertullian I say no
more than that he did not belong to the Church. But as regards
Victorinus, I assert what has already been proved from the Gospel--that
he spoke of the brethren of the Lord not as being sons of Mary, but
brethren in the sense I have explained, that is to say, brethren in
point of kinship not by nature. We are, however, spending our strength
on trifles, and, leaving the fountain of truth, are following the tiny
streams of opinion. Might I not array against you the whole series of
ancient writers? Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenæus, Justin Martyr, and many
other apostolic and eloquent men, who against Ebion, Theodotus of
Byzantium, and Valentinus, held these same views, and wrote volumes
replete with wisdom. If you had ever read what they wrote, you would be
a wiser man. But I think it better to reply briefly to each point than
to linger any longer and extend my book to an undue length.
20. I now direct the attack against the passage in which, wishing to
show your cleverness, you institute a comparison between virginity and
marriage. I could not forbear smiling, and I thought of the proverb,
did you ever see a camel dance? "Are virgins better," you ask, "than
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were married men? Are not infants daily
fashioned by the hands of God in the wombs of their mothers? And if so,
are we bound to blush at the thought of Mary having a husband after she
was delivered? If they find any disgrace in this, they ought not
consistently even to believe that God was born of the Virgin by natural
delivery. For according to them there is more dishonour in a virgin
giving birth to God by the organs of generation, than in a virgin being
joined to her own husband after she has been delivered." Add, if you
like, Helvidius, the other humiliations of nature, the womb for nine
months growing larger, the sickness, the delivery, the blood, the
swaddling-clothes. Picture to yourself the infant in the enveloping
membranes. Introduce into your picture the hard manger, the wailing of
the infant, the circumcision on the eighth day, the time of
purification, so that he may be proved to be unclean. We do not blush,
we are not put to silence. The greater the humiliations He endured for
me, the more I owe Him. And when you have given every detail, you will
be able to produce nothing more shameful than the cross, which we
confess, in which we believe, and by which we triumph over our enemies.
21. But as we do not deny what is written, so we do reject what is not
written. We believe that God was born of the Virgin, because we read
it. That Mary was married after she brought forth, we do not believe,
because we do not read it. Nor do we say this to condemn marriage, for
virginity itself is the fruit of marriage; but because when we are
dealing with saints we must not judge rashly. If we adopt possibility
as the standard of judgment, we might maintain that Joseph had several
wives because Abraham had, and so had Jacob, and that the Lord's
brethren were the issue of those wives, an invention which some hold
with a rashness which springs from audacity not from piety. You say
that Mary did not continue a virgin: I claim still more, that Joseph
himself on account of Mary was a virgin, so that from a virgin wedlock
a virgin son was born. For if as a holy man he does not come under the
imputation of fornication, and it is nowhere written that he had
another wife, but was the guardian of Mary whom he was supposed to have
to wife rather than her husband, the conclusion is that he who was
thought worthy to be called father of the Lord, remained a virgin.
22. And now that I am about to institute a comparison between virginity
and marriage, I beseech my readers not to suppose that in praising
virginity I have in the least disparaged marriage, and separated the
saints of the Old Testament from those of the New, that is to say,
those who had wives and those who altogether refrained from the
embraces of women: I rather think that in accordance with the
difference in time and circumstance one rule applied to the former,
another to us upon whom the ends of the world have come. So long as
that law remained, [4244] "Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the
earth"; and [4245] "Cursed is the barren woman that beareth not seed in
Israel," they all married and were given in marriage, left father and
mother, and became one flesh. But once in tones of thunder the words
were heard, [4246] "The time is shortened, that henceforth those that
have wives may be as though they had none": cleaving to the Lord, we
are made one spirit with Him. And why? [4247] Because "He that is
unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, how he may please the
Lord: but he that is married is careful for the things of the world,
how he may please his wife. And there is a difference also between the
wife and the virgin. She that is unmarried is careful for the things of
the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that
is married is careful for the things of the world, how she may please
her husband." Why do you cavil? Why do you resist? The vessel of
election says this; he tells us that there is a difference between the
wife and the virgin. Observe what the happiness of that state must be
in which even the distinction of sex is lost. The virgin is no longer
called a woman. [4248] "She that is unmarried is careful for the things
of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit." A virgin
is defined as she that is holy in body and in spirit, for it is no good
to have virgin flesh if a woman be married in mind.
"But she that is married is careful for the things of the world, how
she may please her husband." Do you think there is no difference
between one who spends her time in prayer and fasting, and one who
must, at her husband's approach, make up her countenance, walk with
mincing gait, and feign a shew of endearment? The virgin's aim is to
appear less comely; she will wrong herself so as to hide her natural
attractions. The married woman has the paint laid on before her mirror,
and, to the insult of her Maker, strives to acquire something more than
her natural beauty. Then come the prattling of infants, the noisy
household, children watching for her word and waiting for her kiss, the
reckoning up of expenses, the preparation to meet the outlay. On one
side you will see a company of cooks, girded for the onslaught and
attacking the meat: there you may hear the hum of a multitude of
weavers. Meanwhile a message is delivered that the husband and his
friends have arrived. The wife, like a swallow, flies all over the
house. "She has to see to everything. Is the sofa smooth? Is the
pavement swept? Are the flowers in the cups? Is dinner ready?" Tell me,
pray, where amid all this is there room for the thought of God? Are
these happy homes? Where there is the beating of drums, the noise and
clatter of pipe and lute, the clanging of cymbals, can any fear of God
be found? The parasite is snubbed and feels proud of the honour. Enter
next the half-naked victims of the passions, a mark for every lustful
eye. The unhappy wife must either take pleasure in them, and perish, or
be displeased, and provoke her husband. Hence arises discord, the
seed-plot of divorce. Or suppose you find me a house where these things
are unknown, which is a rara avis indeed! yet even there the very
management of the household, the education of the children, the wants
of the husband, the correction of the servants, cannot fail to call
away the mind from the thought of God. [4249] "It had ceased to be with
Sarah after the manner of women": so the Scripture says, and afterwards
Abraham received the command, [4250] "In all that Sarah saith unto
thee, hearken unto her voice." She who is not subject to the anxiety
and pain of child-bearing and having passed the change of life has
ceased to perform the functions of a woman, is freed from the curse of
God: nor is her desire to her husband, but on the contrary her husband
becomes subject to her, and the voice of the Lord commands him, "In all
that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice." Thus they begin to
have time for prayer. For so long as the debt of marriage is paid,
earnest prayer is neglected.
23. I do not deny that holy women are found both among widows and those
who have husbands; but they are such as have ceased to be wives, or
such as, even in the close bond of marriage, imitate virgin chastity.
The Apostle, Christ speaking in him, briefly bore witness to this when
he said, [4251] "She that is unmarried is careful for the things of the
Lord, how she may please the Lord: but she that is married is careful
for the things of the world, how she may please her husband." He leaves
us the free exercise of our reason in the matter. He lays no necessity
upon anyone nor leads anyone into a snare: he only persuades to that
which is proper when he wishes all men to be as himself. He had not, it
is true, a commandment from the Lord respecting virginity, for that
grace surpasses the unassisted power of man, and it would have worn an
air of immodesty to force men to fly in the face of nature, and to say
in other words, I want you to be what the angels are. It is this
angelic purity which secures to virginity its highest reward, and the
Apostle might have seemed to despise a course of life which involves no
guilt. Nevertheless in the immediate context he adds, [4252] "But I
give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be
faithful. I think therefore that this is good by reason of the present
distress, namely, that it is good for a man to be as he is." What is
meant by present distress? [4253] "Woe unto them that are with child
and to them that give suck in those days!" The reason why the wood
grows up is that it may be cut down. The field is sown that it may be
reaped. The world is already full, and the population is too large for
the soil. Every day we are being cut down by war, snatched away by
disease, swallowed up by shipwreck, although we go to law with one
another about the fences of our property. It is only one addition to
the general rule which is made by those who follow the Lamb, and who
have not defiled their garments, for they have continued in their
virgin state. Notice the meaning of defiling. I shall not venture to
explain it, for fear Helvidius may be abusive. I agree with you, when
you say, that some virgins are nothing but tavern women; I say still
more, that even adulteresses may be found among them, and, you will no
doubt be still more surprised to hear, that some of the clergy are
inn-keepers and some monks unchaste. Who does not at once understand
that a tavern woman cannot be a virgin, nor an adulterer a monk, nor a
clergy-man a tavern-keeper? Are we to blame virginity if its
counterfeit is at fault? For my part, to pass over other persons and
come to the virgin, I maintain that she who is engaged in huckstering,
though for anything I know she may be a virgin in body, is no longer
one in spirit.
24. I have become rhetorical, and have disported myself a little like a
platform orator. You compelled me, Helvidius; for, brightly as the
Gospel shines at the present day, you will have it that equal glory
attaches to virginity and to the marriage state. And because I think
that, finding the truth too strong for you, you will turn to
disparaging my life and abusing my character (it is the way of weak
women to talk tittle-tattle in corners when they have been put down by
their masters), I shall anticipate you. I assure you that I shall
regard your railing as a high distinction, since the same lips that
assail me have disparaged Mary, and I, a servant of the Lord, am
favoured with the same barking eloquence as His mother.
__________________________________________________________________
[4168] Ut ait ille. The sentiment, almost in the same words, is found
in Tertullian against Hermogenes, ch. 1.
[4169] i. 18 sq.
[4170] S. Matt. i. 24, 25.
[4171] Ps. vi. 5.
[4172] Deut. xxii. 24, 25.
[4173] Deut. xxii. 23, 24.
[4174] Deut. xx. 7.
[4175] Is. vii. 14. See Cheyne's Isaiah, and critical note.
[4176] S. Luke ii. 27.
[4177] S. Luke ii. 41.
[4178] ib. ii. 43.
[4179] ib. i. 34.
[4180] S. Luke ii. 48.
[4181] S. Matt. i. 20.
[4182] Is. xlvi. 4.
[4183] S. Matt. xxviii. 20.
[4184] 1 Cor. xv. 23 sq.
[4185] Ps. cxxiii. 2. The songs of the up-goings or ascents (ton
anabaOmon Sept., graduum Vulg.), are the fifteen psalms cxx.-cxxxiv.
[4186] Ps. cxix. 123.
[4187] Gen. xxxv. 4, Sept.
[4188] Deut. xxxiv. 5-6.
[4189] S. Matt. i. 20.
[4190] S. Matt. i. 20.
[4191] S. Luke ii. 10 sq.
[4192] S. Luke ii. 14.
[4193] ib. ii. 29.
[4194] S. Luke ii. 33.
[4195] The allusion is to the Old Latin, the Versio Itala. The
quotations which follow stand differently in Jerome's Vulgate, made
subsequently (391-404). The argument is that, since the copies of the
Latin version substantially agree in the present case, it is futile to
suppose variations in the original.
[4196] Gen. xxxviii. 26.
[4197] Lev. xii. 2-3 margin.
[4198] Jer. v. 8.
[4199] S. Luke ii. 7.
[4200] S. Luke ii. 4 sq.
[4201] Numb. xviii. 15.
[4202] Numb. xviii. 16.
[4203] S. Luke ii. 22 sq.
[4204] Exod. xii. 29.
[4205] S. Matt. xii. 46.
[4206] S. John ii. 12.
[4207] S. John vii. 3, 4.
[4208] S. John vii. 5.
[4209] S. Matt. xiii. 54, 55. S. Mark vi. 1-3.
[4210] Acts i. 14.
[4211] Gal. ii. 2; i. 19.
[4212] 1 Cor. ix. 4, 5.
[4213] S. Matt. xxvii. 55, 56. For Joses, Jerome has Joseph.
[4214] S. Mark xv. 40, 41. For Joses, Jerome has Joseph.
[4215] S. Luke xxiv. 10.
[4216] S. Mark xv. 47; xvi. 1.
[4217] S. John xix. 25.
[4218] Gal. i. 18, 19.
[4219] Gal. ii. 9.
[4220] But see Judges vi. 2.
[4221] The Heb. Negebh signifies South, and it is probable that the
land of Teman was a southern portion of the land of Edom. If Darom be
the right reading, it is, apparently, the same as Dedan (Ezek. xxv. 13,
etc.).
[4222] Deut. xv. 12.
[4223] Deut. xvii. 15.
[4224] Deut. xxii. 1.
[4225] Rom. ix. 3, 4.
[4226] Gen. xiii. 8, 11.
[4227] Gen. xii. 4.
[4228] Gen. xiv. 14.
[4229] Gen. xxix. 11.
[4230] Gen. xxix. 15.
[4231] Gen. xxxi. 36, 37.
[4232] Ps. cxxxiii. 1.
[4233] Ps. xxii. 22.
[4234] S. John xx. 17.
[4235] Is. lxvi. 5.
[4236] 1 Cor. v. 11.
[4237] Gen. xx. 11.
[4238] Lev. xviii. 9.
[4239] S. Matt. xiii. 55: S. Mark vi. 3.
[4240] That is, Rome.
[4241] S. Luke i. 18.
[4242] S. John i. 45.
[4243] That is, Pettau in Upper Pannonia. See Jerome, De Vir. Ill. 74.
[4244] Gen. i. 28.
[4245] Probably a mistranslation of Exod. xxiii. 26.
[4246] 1 Cor. vii. 29.
[4247] ib. vii. 32, 33.
[4248] 1 Cor. vii. 34.
[4249] Gen. xviii. 11.
[4250] Gen. xxi. 12.
[4251] 1 Cor. vii. 34.
[4252] 1 Cor. vii. 25.
[4253] Matt. xxiv. 19: S. Mark xiii. 17.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Against Jovinianus.
------------------------
Book I.
Jovinianus, concerning whom we know little more than is to be found in
the two following books, had published at Rome a Latin treatise
containing all, or part of the opinions here controverted, viz. (1)
"That a virgin is no better as such than a wife in the sight of God.
(2) Abstinence is no better than a thankful partaking of food. (3) A
person baptized with the Spirit as well as with water cannot sin. (4)
All sins are equal. (5) There is but one grade of punishment and one of
reward in the future state." In addition to this he held the birth of
our Lord to have been by a "true parturition," and was thus at issue
with the orthodoxy of the time, according to which the infant Jesus
passed through the walls of the womb as His Resurrection body
afterwards did out of the tomb or through the closed doors. Pammachius,
Jerome's friend, brought Jovinian's book under the notice of Siricius,
bishop of Rome, and it was shortly afterwards condemned in synods at
that city and at Milan (about a.d. 390). He subsequently sent
Jovinian's books to Jerome, who answered them in the present treatise
in the year 393. Nothing more is known of Jovinian, but it has been
conjectured from Jerome's remark in the treatise against Vigilantius,
where Jovinian is said to have "amidst pheasants and pork rather
belched out than breathed out his life," and by a kind of
transmigration to have transmitted his opinions into Vigilantius, that
he had died before 409, the date of that work.
The first book is wholly on the first proposition of Jovinianus, that
relating to marriage and virginity. The first three chapters are
introductory. The rest may be divided into three parts:
1 (ch. 4-13). An exposition, in Jerome's sense, of St. Paul's teaching
in 1 Cor. vii.
2 (ch. 14-39). A statement of the teaching which Jerome derives from
the various books of both the Old and the New Testaments.
3. A denunciation of Jovinianus (c. 40), and the praises of virginity
and of single marriages derived from examples in the heathen world.
The treatise gives a remarkable specimen of Jerome's system of
interpreting Scripture, and also of the methods by which asceticism was
introduced into the Church, and marriage brought into disesteem.
1. Very few days have elapsed since the holy brethren of Rome sent to
me the treatises of a certain Jovinian with the request that I would
reply to the follies contained in them, and would crush with
evangelical and apostolic vigour the [4254] Epicurus of Christianity. I
read but could not in the least comprehend them. I began therefore to
give them closer attention, and to thoroughly sift not only words and
sentences, but almost every single syllable; for I wished first to
ascertain his meaning, and then to approve, or refute what he had said.
But the style is so barbarous, and the language so vile and such a heap
of blunders, that I could neither understand what he was talking about,
nor by what arguments he was trying to prove his points. At one moment
he is all bombast, at another he grovels: from time to time he lifts
himself up, and then like a wounded snake finds his own effort too much
for him. Not satisfied with the language of men, he attempts something
loftier.
[4255] "The mountains labour; a poor mouse is born."
[4256] "That he's gone mad ev'n mad Orestes swears."
Moreover he involves everything in such inextricable confusion that the
saying of [4257] Plautus might be applied to him:--"This is what none
but a Sibyl will ever read."
To understand him we must be prophets. We read Apollo's [4258] raving
prophetesses. We remember, too, what [4259] Virgil says of senseless
noise. [4260] Heraclitus, also, surnamed the Obscure, the philosophers
find hard to understand even with their utmost toil. But what are they
compared with our riddle-maker, whose books are much more difficult to
comprehend than to refute? Although (we must confess) the task of
refuting them is no easy one. For how can you overcome a man when you
are quite in the dark as to his meaning? But, not to be tedious to my
reader, the introduction to his second book, of which he has discharged
himself like a sot after a night's debauch, will show the character of
his eloquence, and through what bright flowers of rhetoric he takes his
stately course.
2. "I respond to your invitation, not that I may go through life with a
high reputation, but may live free from idle rumour. I beseech the
ground, the young shoots of our plantations, the plants and trees of
tenderness snatched from the whirlpool of vice, to grant me audience
and the support of many listeners. We know that the Church through
hope, faith, charity, is inaccessible and impregnable. In it no one is
immature: all are apt to learn: none can force a way into it by
violence, or deceive it by craft."
3. What, I ask, is the meaning of these portentous words and of this
grotesque description? Would you not think he was in a feverish dream,
or that he was seized with madness and ought to be put into the strait
jacket which Hippocrates prescribed? However often I read him, even
till my heart sinks within me, I am still in uncertainty of his
meaning. [4261] Everything starts from, everything depends upon,
something else. It is impossible to make out any connection; and,
excepting the proofs from Scripture which he has not dared to exchange
for his own lovely flowers of rhetoric, his words suit all matter
equally well, because they suit no matter at all. This circumstance led
me shrewdly to suspect that his object in proclaiming the excellence of
marriage was only to disparage virginity. For when the less is put upon
a level with the greater, the lower profits by comparison, but the
higher suffers wrong. For ourselves, we do not follow the views of
[4262] Marcion and Manichæus, and disparage marriage; nor, deceived by
the error of [4263] Tatian, the leader of the Encratites, do we think
all intercourse impure; he condemns and rejects not only marriage but
also food which God created for the use of man. We know that in a great
house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood
and earthenware. And that upon the foundation, Christ, which Paul the
master-builder laid, some build gold, silver, precious stones: others,
on the contrary, hay, wood, straw. We are not ignorant of the words,
[4264] "Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled." We
have read God's first command, [4265] "Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth"; but while we honour marriage we prefer virginity
which is the offspring of marriage. Will silver cease to be silver, if
gold is more precious than silver? Or is despite done to tree and corn,
if we prefer the fruit to root and foliage, or the grain to stalk and
ear? Virginity is to marriage what fruit is to the tree, or grain to
the straw. Although the hundred-fold, the sixty-fold, and the
thirty-fold spring from one earth and from one sowing, yet there is a
great difference in respect of number. The thirty-fold has reference to
marriage. The very way the [4266] fingers are combined--see how they
seem to embrace, tenderly kiss, and pledge their troth either to
other--is a picture of husband and wife. The sixty-fold applies to
widows, because they are placed in a position of difficulty and
distress. Hence the upper finger signifies their depression, and the
greater the difficulty in resisting the allurements of pleasure once
experienced, the greater the reward. Moreover (give good heed, my
reader), to denote a hundred, the right hand is used instead of the
left: a circle is made with the same fingers which on the left hand
represented widowhood, and thus the crown of virginity is expressed. In
saying this I have followed my own impatient spirit rather than the
course of the argument. For I had scarcely left harbour, and had barely
hoisted sail, when a swelling tide of words suddenly swept me into the
depths of the discussion. I must stay my course, and take in canvas for
a little while; nor will I indulge my sword, anxious as it is to strike
a blow for virginity. The farther back the catapult is drawn, the
greater the force of the missile. To linger is not to lose, if by
lingering victory is better assured. I will briefly set forth our
adversary's views, and will drag them out from his books like snakes
from the holes where they hide, and will separate the venomous head
from the writhing body. What is baneful shall be discovered, that, when
we have the power, it may be crushed.
He says that "virgins, widows, and married women, who have been once
passed through the laver of Christ, if they are on a par in other
respects, are of equal merit."
He endeavours to show that "they who with full assurance of faith have
been born again in baptism, cannot be overthrown by the devil."
His third point is "that there is no difference between abstinence from
food, and its reception with thanksgiving."
The fourth and last is "that there is one reward in the kingdom of
heaven for all who have kept their baptismal vow."
4. This is the hissing of the old serpent; by counsel such as this the
dragon drove man from Paradise. For he promised that if they would
prefer fulness to fasting they should be immortal, as though it were an
impossibility for them to fall; and while he promises they shall be as
Gods, he drives them from Paradise, with the result that they who,
while naked and unhampered, and as virgins unspotted enjoyed the
fellowship of the Lord were cast down into the vale of tears, and sewed
skins together to clothe themselves withal. But, not to detain the
reader any longer, I will keep to the division given above and taking
his propositions one by one will rely chiefly on the evidence of
Scripture to refute them, for fear he may chatter and complain that he
was overcome by rhetorical skill rather than by force of truth. If I
succeed in this and with the aid of a cloud of witnesses from both
Testaments prove too strong for him, I will then accept his challenge,
and adduce illustrations from secular literature. I will show that even
among philosophers and distinguished statesmen, the virtuous are wont
to be preferred by all to the voluptuous, that is to say men like
[4267] Pythagoras, [4268] Plato and [4269] Aristides, to [4270]
Aristippus, [4271] Epicurus and [4272] Alcibiades. I entreat virgins of
both sexes and all such as are continent, the married also and the
twice married, to assist my efforts with their prayers. Jovinian is the
common enemy. For he who maintains all to be of equal merit, does no
less injury to virginity in comparing it with marriage than he does to
marriage, when he allows it to be lawful, but to the same extent as
second and third marriages. But to digamists and trigamists also he
does wrong, for he places on a level with them whoremongers and the
most licentious persons as soon as they have repented; but perhaps
those who have been married twice or thrice ought not to complain, for
the same whoremonger if penitent is made equal in the kingdom of heaven
even to virgins. I will therefore explain more clearly and in proper
sequence the arguments he employs and the illustrations he adduces
respecting marriage, and will treat them in the order in which he
states them. And I beg the reader not to be disturbed if he is
compelled to read Jovinian's nauseating trash. He will all the more
gladly drink Christ's antidote after the devil's poisonous concoction.
Listen with patience, ye virgins; listen, I pray you, to the voice of
the most voluptuous of preachers; nay rather close your ears, as you
would to the Syren's fabled songs, and pass on. For a little while
endure the wrongs you suffer: think you are crucified with Christ, and
are listening to the blasphemies of the Pharisees.
5. First of all, he says, God declares that [4273] "therefore shall a
man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:
and they shall be one flesh." And lest we should say that this is a
quotation from the Old Testament, he asserts that it has been [4274]
confirmed by the Lord in the Gospel--"What God hath joined together,
let not man put asunder": and he immediately adds, [4275] "Be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the earth." He next repeats the names of
Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah,
and tells us that they all had wives and in accordance with the will of
God begot sons, as though there could be any table of descent or any
history of mankind without wives and children. "There," says he, "is
Enoch, who walked with God and was carried up to heaven. There is Noah,
the only person who, except his wife, and his sons and their wives, was
saved at the deluge, although there must have been many persons not of
marriageable age, and therefore presumably virgins. Again, after the
deluge, when the human race started as it were anew, men and women were
paired together and a fresh blessing was pronounced on procreation,
[4276] "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." Moreover,
free permission was given to eat flesh, [4277] "Every moving thing that
liveth shall be food for you; as the green herb have I given you all."
He then flies off to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of whom the first had
three wives, the second one, the third four, Leah, Rachel, Billah, and
Zilpah, and he declares that Abraham by his faith merited the blessing
which he received in begetting his son. Sarah, typifying the Church,
when it had ceased to be with her after the manner of women, exchanged
the curse of barrenness for the blessing of child-bearing. We are
informed that Rebekah went like a prophet to inquire of the Lord, and
was told, [4278] "Two nations and two peoples are in thy womb," that
Jacob served for his wife, and that when Rachel, thinking it was in the
power of her husband to give her children, said, [4279] "Give me
children, or else I die," he replied, [4280] "Am I in God's stead, who
hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?" so well aware was he
that the fruit of marriage cometh from the Lord and not from the
husband. We next learn that Joseph, a holy man of spotless chastity,
and all the patriarchs, had wives, and that God blessed them all alike
through the lips of Moses. Judah also and Thamar are brought upon the
scene, and he censures Onan, slain by the Lord, because he, grudging to
raise up seed to his brother, marred the marriage rite. He refers to
Moses and the leprosy of Miriam, who, because she chided her brother on
account of his wife, was stricken by the avenging hand of God. He
praises Samson, I may even say extravagantly panegyrizes the uxorious
Nazarite. Deborah also and Barak are mentioned, because, although they
had not the benefit of virginity, they were victorious over the iron
chariots of Sisera and Jabin. He brings forward Jael, the wife of Heber
the Kenite, and extols her for arming herself with the [4281] stake. He
says there was no difference between Jephthah and his virgin daughter,
who was sacrificed to the Lord: nay, of the two, he prefers the faith
of the father to that of the daughter who met death with grief and
tears. He then comes to Samuel, another Nazarite of the Lord, who from
infancy was brought up in the tabernacle and was clad in a linen ephod,
or, as the words are rendered, in linen vestments: he, too, we are
told, begot sons without a stain upon his priestly purity. He places
Boaz and his wife Ruth side by side in his repository, and traces the
descent of Jesse and David from them. He then points out how David
himself, for the price of two hundred foreskins and at the peril of his
life, was bedded with the king's daughter. What shall I say of Solomon,
whom he includes in the list of husbands, and represents as a type of
the Saviour, maintaining that of him it was written, [4282] "Give the
king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son"?
And [4283] "To him shall be given of the gold of Sheba, and men shall
pray for him continually." Then all at once he makes a jump to Elijah
and Elisha, and tells us as a great secret that the spirit of Elijah
rested on Elisha. Why he mentioned this he does not say. It can hardly
be that he thinks Elijah and Elisha, like the rest, were married men.
The next step is to Hezekiah, upon whose praises he dwells, and yet (I
wonder why) forgets to mention that he said, [4284] "Henceforth I will
beget children." He relates that Josiah, a righteous man, in whose time
the book of Deuteronomy was found in the temple, was instructed by
Huldah, wife of Shallum. Daniel also and the three youths are classed
by him with the married. Suddenly he betakes himself to the Gospel, and
adduces Zachariah and Elizabeth, Peter and his father-in-law, and the
rest of the Apostles. His inference is thus expressed: "If they idly
urge in defence of themselves the plea that the world in its early
stage needed to be replenished, let them listen to the words of Paul,
[4285] I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear
children.' And [4286] Marriage is honourable and the bed undefiled.'
And [4287] A wife is bound for so long time as her husband liveth; but
if the husband be dead, she is free to be married to whom she will;
only in the Lord.' And [4288] Adam was not beguiled, but the woman
being beguiled hath fallen into transgression: but she shall be saved
through the child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love and
sanctification with sobriety.' Surely we shall hear no more of the
famous Apostolic utterance, [4289] And they who have wives as though
they had them not.' It can hardly be that you will say the reason why
he wished them to be married was that some widows had already turned
back after Satan: as though virgins never fell and their fall was not
more ruinous. All this makes it clear that in forbidding to marry, and
to eat food which God created for use, you have consciences seared as
with a hot iron, and are followers of the Manichæans." Then comes much
more which it would be unprofitable to discuss. At last he dashes into
rhetoric and apostrophizes virginity thus: "I do you no wrong, Virgin:
you have chosen a life of chastity on account of the present distress:
you determined on the course in order to be holy in body and spirit: be
not proud: you and your married sisters are members of the same
Church."
6. I have perhaps explained his position at too great a length, and
become tedious to my reader; but I thought it best to draw up in full
array against myself all his efforts, and to muster all the forces of
the enemy with their squadrons and generals, lest after an early
victory there should spring up a series of other engagements. I will
not therefore do battle with single foes, nor will I be satisfied with
skirmishes in which I meet small detachments of my opponents. The
battle must be fought with the whole army of the enemy, and the
disorderly rabble, fighting more like brigands than soldiers, must be
repulsed by the skill and method of regular warfare. In the front rank
I will set the Apostle Paul, and, since he is the bravest of generals,
will arm him with his own weapons, that is to say, his own statements.
For the Corinthians asked many questions about this matter, and the
doctor of the Gentiles and master of the Church gave full replies. What
he decreed we may regard as the law of Christ speaking in him. At the
same time, when we begin to refute the several arguments, I trust the
reader will give me his attention even before the Apostle speaks, and
will not, in his eagerness to discuss the most weighty points, neglect
the premises, and rush at once to the conclusion.
7. Among other things the Corinthians asked in their letter whether
after embracing the faith of Christ they ought to be unmarried, and for
the sake of continence put away their wives, and whether believing
virgins were at liberty to marry. And again, supposing that one of two
Gentiles believed on Christ, whether the one that believed should leave
the one that believed not? And in case it were allowable to take wives,
would the Apostle direct that only Christian wives, or Gentiles also,
should be taken? Let us then consider Paul's replies to these
inquiries. [4290] "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote: It is
good for a man not to touch a woman. But, because of fornications, let
each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
Let the husband render unto the wife her due: and likewise also the
wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power over her own body, but
the husband: And likewise also the husband hath not power over his own
body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be by
consent for a season, that ye may give yourselves unto prayer, and may
be together again, that Satan tempt you not because of your
incontinency. But this I say by way of permission not of commandment.
Yet I would that all men were even as I myself. Howbeit each man hath
his own gift from God, one after this manner, and another after that.
But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they
abide even as I. But if they have not continency, let them marry: for
it is better to marry than to burn." Let us turn back to the chief
point of the evidence: "It is good," he says, "for a man not to touch a
woman." If it is good not to touch a woman, it is bad to touch one: for
there is no opposite to goodness but badness. But if it be bad and the
evil is pardoned, the reason for the concession is to prevent worse
evil. But surely a thing which is only allowed because there may be
something worse has only a slight degree of goodness. He would never
have added "let each man have his own wife," unless he had previously
used the words "but, because of fornications." Do away with
fornication, and he will not say "let each man have his own wife." Just
as though one were to lay it down: "It is good to feed on wheaten
bread, and to eat the finest wheat flour," and yet to prevent a person
pressed by hunger from devouring cow-dung, I may allow him to eat
barley. Does it follow that the wheat will not have its peculiar
purity, because such an one prefers barley to excrement? That is
naturally good which does not admit of comparison with what is bad, and
is not eclipsed because something else is preferred. At the same time
we must notice the Apostle's prudence. He did not say, it is good not
to have a wife: but, it is good not to touch a woman: as though there
were danger even in the touch: as though he who touched her, would not
escape from her who "hunteth for the precious life," who causeth the
young man's understanding to fly away. [4291] "Can a man take fire in
his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk upon hot
coals, and his feet not be scorched?" As then he who touches fire is
instantly burned, so by the mere touch the peculiar nature of man and
woman is perceived, and the difference of sex is understood. Heathen
fables relate how [4292] Mithras and [4293] Ericthonius were begotten
of the soil, in stone or earth, by raging lust. Hence it was that our
Joseph, because the Egyptian woman wished to touch him, fled from her
hands, and, as if he had been bitten by a mad dog and feared the
spreading poison, threw away the cloak which she had touched. "But,
because of fornications let each man have his own wife, and let each
woman have her own husband." He did not say, because of fornication let
each man marry a wife: otherwise by this excuse he would have thrown
the reins to lust, and whenever a man's wife died, he would have to
marry another to prevent fornication, but "have his own wife." Let him
he says have and use his own wife, whom he had before he became a
believer, and whom it would have been good not to touch, and, when once
he became a follower of Christ, to know only as a sister, not as a wife
unless fornication should make it excusable to touch her. "The wife
hath not power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also
the husband hath not power over his own body, but the wife." The whole
question here concerns those who are married men. Is it lawful for them
to do what our Lord forbade in the Gospel, and to put away their wives?
Whence it is that the Apostle says, "It is good for a man not to touch
a woman." But inasmuch as he who is once married has no power to
abstain except by mutual consent, and may not reject an unoffending
partner, let the husband render unto the wife her due. He bound himself
voluntarily that he might be under compulsion to render it. "Defraud ye
not one the other, except it be by consent for a season, that ye may
give yourselves unto prayer." What, I pray you, is the quality of that
good thing which hinders prayer? which does not allow the body of
Christ to be received? So long as I do the husband's part, I fail in
continency. The same Apostle in another place commands us to pray
always. If we are to pray always, it follows that we must never be in
the bondage of wedlock, for as often as I render my wife her due, I
cannot pray. The Apostle Peter had experience of the bonds of marriage.
See how he fashions the Church, and what lesson he teaches Christians:
[4294] "Ye husbands in like manner dwell with your wives according to
knowledge, giving honour unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as
being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; to the end that your
prayers be not hindered." Observe that, as S. Paul before, because in
both cases the spirit is the same, so S. Peter now, says that prayers
are hindered by the performance of marriage duty. When he says
"likewise," he challenges the husbands to imitate their wives, because
he has already given them commandment: [4295] "beholding your chaste
conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be the
outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold,
or of putting on apparel: but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in
the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the
sight of God of great price." You see what kind of wedlock he enjoins.
Husbands and wives are to dwell together according to knowledge, so
that they may know what God wishes and desires, and give honour to the
weak vessel, woman. If we abstain from intercourse, we give honour to
our wives: if we do not abstain, it is clear that insult is the
opposite of honour. He also tells the wives to let their husbands "see
their chaste behaviour, and the hidden man of the heart, in the
incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit." Words truly worthy
of an apostle, and of Christ's rock! He lays down the law for husbands
and wives, condemns outward ornament, while he praises continence,
which is the ornament of the inner man, as seen in the incorruptible
apparel of a meek and quiet spirit. In effect he says this: Since your
outer man is corrupt, and you have ceased to possess the blessing of
incorruption characteristic of virgins, at least imitate the
incorruption of the spirit by subsequent abstinence, and what you
cannot show in the body exhibit in the mind. For these are the riches,
and these the ornaments of your union, which Christ seeks.
8. The words which follow, "that ye may give yourselves unto prayer,
and may be together again," might lead one to suppose that the Apostle
was expressing a wish and not making a concession because of the danger
of a greater fall. He therefore at once adds, "lest Satan tempt you for
your incontinency." It is a fine permission which is conveyed in the
words "be together again." What it was that he blushed to call by its
own name, and thought only better than a temptation of Satan and the
effect of incontinence, we take trouble to discuss as if it were
obscure, although he has explained his meaning by saying, "this I say
by way of permission, not by way of command." And do we still hesitate
to speak of marriage as a concession to weakness, not a thing
commanded, as though second and third marriages were not allowed on the
same ground, as though the doors of the Church were not opened by
repentance even to fornicators, and what is more, to the incestuous?
Take the case of the man who outraged his step-mother. Does not the
Apostle, after delivering him, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians,
to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his spirit might be
saved, in the second Epistle take the offender back and strive to
prevent a brother from being swallowed up by overmuch grief. The
Apostle's wish is one thing, his pardon another. If a wish be
expressed, it confers a right; if a thing is only called pardonable, we
are wrong in using it. If you wish to know the Apostle's real mind, you
must take in what follows: "but I would that all men were as I am."
Happy is the man who is like Paul! Fortunate is he who attends to the
Apostle's command, not to his concession. This, says he, I wish, this I
desire that ye be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ, who was a
Virgin born of a Virgin, uncorrupt of her who was uncorrupt. We,
because we are men, cannot imitate our Lord's nativity; but we may at
least imitate His life. The former was the blessed prerogative of
divinity, the latter belongs to our human condition and is part of
human effort. I would that all men were like me, that while they are
like me, they may also become like Christ, to whom I am like. For
[4296] "he that believeth in Christ ought himself also to walk even as
He walked." [4297] "Howbeit each man hath his own gift from God, one
after this manner, and another after that." What I wish, he says, is
clear. But since in the Church there is a diversity of gifts, I
acquiesce in marriage, lest I should seem to condemn nature. At the
same time consider, that the gift of virginity is one, that of
marriage, another. For were the reward the same for the married and for
virgins, he would never after enjoining continence have said: [4298]
"Each man hath his own gift from God, one after this manner, and
another after that." Where there is a distinction in one particular,
there is a diversity also in other points. I grant that even marriage
is a gift of God, but between gift and gift there is great diversity.
In fact the Apostle himself speaking of the same person who had
repented of his incestuous conduct, says: [4299] "so that contrariwise
ye should rather forgive him and comfort him, and to whom ye forgive
anything, I forgive also." And that we might not think a man's gift
contemptible, he added, [4300] "for what I also have forgiven, if I
have forgiven anything, for your sakes have I forgiven it, in the
presence of Christ." There is diversity in the gifts of Christ. Hence
it is that by way of type Joseph has a coat of many colours. And in the
forty-fifth psalm we read, [4301] "at thy right hand doth stand the
queen in a vesture of gold wrought about with divers colours." And the
Apostle Peter says, [4302] "as heirs together of the manifold grace of
God," where the more expressive Greek word poikiles, i.e., varied, is
used.
9. Then come the words [4303] "But I say to the unmarried and to
widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they have
not continency, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to
burn." Having conceded to married persons the enjoyment of wedlock and
pointed out his own wishes, he passes on to the unmarried and to
widows, sets before them his own practice for imitation, and calls them
happy if they so abide. "But if they have not continency, let them
marry," just as he said before "But because of fornications," and "Lest
Satan tempt you, because of your incontinency." And he gives a reason
for saying "If they have not continency, let them marry," viz. "It is
better to marry than to burn." The reason why it is better to marry is
that it is worse to burn. Let burning lust be absent, and he will not
say it is better to marry. The word better always implies a comparison
with something worse, not a thing absolutely good and incapable of
comparison. It is as though he said, it is better to have one eye than
neither, it is better to stand on one foot and to support the rest of
the body with a stick, than to crawl with broken legs. What do you say,
Apostle? I do not believe you when you say "Though I be rude in speech,
yet am I not in knowledge." As humility is the source of the sayings
"For I am not worthy to be called an Apostle," and "To me who am the
least of the Apostles," and "As to one born out of due time," so here
also we have an utterance of humility. You know the meaning of
language, or you would not quote [4304] Epimenides, [4305] Menander,
and [4306] Aratus. When you are discussing continence and virginity you
say, "It is good for a man not to touch a woman." And, "It is good for
them if they abide even as I." And, "I think that this is good by
reason of the present distress." And, "That it is good for a man so to
be." When you come to marriage, you do not say it is good to marry,
because you cannot then add "than to burn;" but you say, "It is better
to marry than to burn." If marriage in itself be good, do not compare
it with fire, but simply say "It is good to marry." I suspect the
goodness of that thing which is forced into the position of being only
the lesser of two evils. What I want is not a smaller evil, but a thing
absolutely good.
10. So far the first section has been explained. Let us now come to
those which follow. [4307] "But unto the married I give charge, yea not
I, but the Lord. That the wife depart not from her husband (but and if
she depart, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her
husband): and that the husband leave not his wife. But to the rest say
I, not the Lord: If any brother hath an unbelieving wife, and she is
content to dwell with him, let him not leave her," and so on to the
words "As God hath called each, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all
the churches." This passage has no bearing on our present controversy.
For he ordains, according to the mind of the Lord, that excepting the
cause of fornication, a wife must not be put away, and that a wife who
has been put away, may not, so long as her husband lives, be married to
another, or at all events that her duty is to be reconciled to her
husband. But in the case of those who are already married at the time
of conversion, that is to say, supposing one of the two were a
believer, he enjoins that the believer shall not put away the
unbeliever. And after stating his reason, viz., that the unbeliever who
is unwilling to leave the believer becomes thereby a candidate for the
faith, he commands, on the other hand, that if the unbeliever reject
the faithful one on account of the faith of Christ, the believer ought
to depart, lest husband or wife be preferred to Christ, in comparison
with Whom we must hold even life itself cheap. Yet at the present day
many women despising the Apostle's command, are joined to heathen
husbands, and prostitute the temples of Christ to idols. They do not
understand that they are part of His body though indeed they are His
ribs. The Apostle is lenient to the union of unbelievers, who having
(believing) husbands, afterwards come to believe in Christ. He does not
extend his indulgence to those women who, although Christians, have
been married to heathen husbands. To these he elsewhere says, [4308]
"Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have
righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a
believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement hath a temple of God
with idols? For we are a temple of the living God." Although I know
that crowds of matrons will be furious against me: although I know that
just as they have shamelessly despised the Lord, so they will rave at
me who am but a flea and the least of Christians: yet I will speak out
what I think. I will say what the Apostle has taught me, that they are
not on the side of righteousness, but of iniquity: not of light, but of
darkness: that they do not belong to Christ, but to Belial: that they
are not temples of the living God, but shrines and idols of the dead.
And, if you wish to see more clearly how utterly unlawful it is for a
Christian woman to marry a Gentile, consider what the same Apostle
says, [4309] "A wife is bound for so long time as her husband liveth:
but if the husband be dead, she is free to be married to whom she will;
only in the Lord," that is, to a Christian. He who allows second and
third marriages in the Lord, forbids first marriages with a Gentile.
Whence Abraham also makes his servant swear upon his thigh, that is, on
Christ, Who was to spring from his seed, that he would not bring an
alien-born as a wife for his son Isaac. And Ezra checked an offence of
this kind against God by making his countrymen put away their wives.
And the prophet Malachi thus speaks, [4310] "Judah hath dealt
treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in
Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he
loveth, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. The Lord will
cut off the man that doeth this, [4311] him that teacheth and him that
learneth, out of the tents of Jacob, and him that offers an offering
unto the Lord of hosts." I have said this that they who compare
marriage with virginity, may at least know that such marriages as these
are on a lower level than digamy and trigamy.
11. In the above discussion the Apostle has taught that the believer
ought not to depart from the unbeliever, but remain in marriage as the
faith found them, and that each man whether married or single should
continue as he was when baptized into Christ; and then he suddenly
introduces the metaphors of circumcision and uncircumcision, of bond
and free, and under those metaphors treats of the married and
unmarried. [4312] "Was any man called being circumcised? let him not
become uncircumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is
nothing: but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let each man abide
in that calling wherein he was called. Wast thou called being a
bondservant? Care not for it: but even if thou canst become free, use
it rather. For he that was called in the Lord being a bondservant, is
the Lord's freedman; likewise he that was called, being free, is
Christ's bondservant. Ye were bought with a price; become not
bondservants of men. Brethren, let each man, wherein he was called,
therein abide with God." Some, I suppose, will find fault with the
Apostle's way of reasoning. I would therefore ask first, What we are to
infer from his suddenly passing in a discussion concerning husbands and
wives to a comparison of Jew and Gentile, bond and free, and then
returning, when this point is settled, to the question about virgins,
and telling us "Concerning virgins I have no commandment from the
Lord"; what has a comparison of Jew and Gentile, bond and free, to do
with wedlock and virginity? In the next place, how are we to understand
the words "Hath any been called in uncircumcision, let him not be
circumcised"? [4313] Can a man who has lost his foreskin restore it
again at his pleasure? Then, in what sense are we to explain "For he
that was called in the Lord, being a bondservant, is the Lord's
freedman: likewise he that was called, being free, is Christ's
bondservant." Fourthly, how is it that he who commanded servants to
obey their masters according to the flesh, now says, "Become not
bondservants of men." Lastly, how are we to connect with slavery, or
with circumcision, his saying "Brethren, let each man, wherein he was
called, therein abide with God," which even contradicts his previous
opinion. We heard him say "Become not bondservants of men." How can we
then possibly abide in that vocation wherein we were called, when many
at the time they became believers had masters according to the flesh,
whose bondservants they are now forbidden to be? Moreover, what has the
argument about our abiding in the vocation wherein we were called, to
do with circumcision? for in another place the same Apostle cries aloud
"Behold I Paul tell you that, if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit
you nothing"? We must conclude, therefore, that a higher meaning should
be given to circumcision and uncircumcision, bond and free, and that
these words must be taken in close connection with what has gone
before. "Was anyone called being circumcised? let him not become
uncircumcised." If, he says, at the time you were called and became a
believer in Christ, if I say, you were called being circumcised from a
wife, that is, unmarried, do not marry a wife, that is, do not become
uncircumcised, lest you lay upon the freedom of circumcision and
chastity the burden of marriage. Again, if anyone was called in
uncircumcision, let him not be circumcised. You had a wife, he says,
when you believed: do not think the faith of Christ a reason for
disagreement, because God called us in peace. [4314] "Circumcision is
nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but the keeping of the
commandments of God." For neither celibacy nor marriage availeth
anything without works, since even faith, which is specially
characteristic of Christians, if it have not works, is said to be dead,
and vestal virgins and Juno's widows might upon these terms be numbered
with the saints. "Let each man in the vocation wherein he was called,
therein abide." Whether he had, or had not, a wife when he believed,
let him remain in that condition in which he was when called.
Accordingly he does not so strongly urge virgins to be married, as
forbid divorce. And as he debars those who have wives from putting them
away, so he cuts off from virgins the power of being married. "Thou
wast called being a slave, heed it not; but even if thou canst become
free, use it rather." Even if you have, he says, a wife, and are bound
to her, and pay her due, and have not power over your own body; or if,
to speak more clearly, you are the bondservant of your wife, be not sad
upon that account, nor sigh for the loss of your virginity. But even if
you can find some causes of discord, do not, for the sake of thoroughly
enjoying the liberty of chastity, seek your own welfare by destroying
another. Keep your wife awhile, and do not go too fast for her lagging
footsteps: wait till she follows. If you are patient, your spouse will
become a sister, "For he that was called in the Lord, being a
bondservant, is the Lord's freedman: likewise, he that was called being
free, is Christ's bondservant." He gives his reasons for not wishing
wives to be forsaken. He therefore says, I command that Gentiles who
believe on Christ do not abandon the married state in which they were
before embracing the faith: for he who had a wife when he became a
believer, is not so strictly devoted to the service of God as virgins
and unmarried persons. But, in a manner, he has more freedom, and the
reins of his bondage are relaxed; and, while he is the bondservant of a
wife, he is, so to speak, the freedman of the Lord. Moreover, he who
when called by the Lord had not a wife and was free from the bondage of
wedlock, he is truly Christ's bondservant. What happiness to be the
bondservant, not of a wife but of Christ, to serve not the flesh, but
the spirit! [4315] "For he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit."
There was some fear that by saying "Wast thou called being a
bondservant? Care not for it: but, even if thou canst become free, use
it rather," he might seem to have flouted continence, and to have given
us up to the slavery of marriage. He therefore makes a remark which
removes all cavil: "Ye were bought with a price, become not servants of
men." We have been redeemed with the most precious blood of Christ: the
Lamb was slain for us, and having been sprinkled with hyssop and the
warm drops of His blood, we have rejected poisonous pleasure. Why do we
at whose baptism Pharaoh died and all his host was drowned, again turn
back in our hearts to Egypt, and after the manna, angels' food, sigh
for the garlic and the onions and the cucumbers, and Pharaoh's meat?
12. Having discussed marriage and continency he at length comes to
virginity and says [4316] "Now concerning virgins I have no commandment
of the Lord: but I give my judgement, as one that hath obtained mercy
of the Lord to be faithful. I think therefore that this is good by
reason of the present distress, namely, that it is good for a man to be
as he is." Here our opponent goes utterly wild with exultation: this is
his strongest battering-ram with which he shakes the wall of virginity.
"See," says he, "the Apostle confesses that as regards virgins he has
no commandment of the Lord, and he who had with authority laid down the
law respecting husbands and wives, does not dare to command what the
Lord has not enjoined. And rightly too. For what is enjoined is
commanded, what is commanded must be done, and that which must be done
implies punishment if it be not done. For it is useless to order a
thing to be done and yet leave the individual free to do it or not do
it. If the Lord had commanded virginity He would have seemed to condemn
marriage, and to do away with the seed-plot of mankind, of which
virginity itself is a growth. If He had cut off the root, how was He to
expect fruit? If the foundations were not first laid, how was He to
build the edifice, and put on the roof to cover all! Excavators toil
hard to remove mountains; the bowels of the earth are pierced in the
search for gold. And, when the tiny particles, first by the blast of
the furnace, then by the hand of the cunning workman have been
fashioned into an ornament, men do not call him blessed who has
separated the gold from the dross, but him who wears the beautiful
gold. Do not marvel then if, placed as we are, amid temptations of the
flesh and incentives to vice, the angelic life be not exacted of us,
but merely recommended. If advice be given, a man is free to proffer
obedience; if there be a command, he is a servant bound to compliance.
"I have no commandment," he says, "of the Lord: but I give my
judgement, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful."
If you have no commandment of the Lord, how dare you give judgement
without orders? The Apostle will reply: Do you wish me to give orders
where the Lord has offered a favour rather than laid down a law? The
great Creator and Fashioner, knowing the weakness of the vessel which
he made, left virginity open to those whom He addressed; and shall I,
the teacher of the Gentiles, who have become all things to all men that
I might gain all, shall I lay upon the necks of weak believers from the
very first the burden of perpetual chastity? Let them [4317] begin with
short periods of release from the marriage bond, and give themselves
unto prayer, that when they have tasted the sweets of chastity they may
desire the perpetual possession of that wherewith they were temporarily
delighted. The Lord, when tempted by the Pharisees, and asked whether
according to the law of Moses it was permitted to put away a wife,
forbade the practice altogether. After weighing His words the disciples
said to Him: [4318] "If the case of the man is so with his wife, it is
not expedient to marry. But He said unto them, all men cannot receive
this saying, but they to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs, which
were so born from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, which
were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, which made themselves
eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive
it, let him receive it." The reason is plain why the Apostle said,
"concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord." Surely; because
the Lord had previously said "All men cannot receive the word, but they
to whom it is given," and "He that is able to receive it, let him
receive it." [4319] The Master of the Christian race offers the reward,
invites candidates to the course, holds in His hand the prize of
virginity, points to the fountain of purity, and cries aloud [4320] "If
any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." "He that is able to
receive it, let him receive it." He does not say, you must drink, you
must run, willing or unwilling: but whoever is willing and able to run
and to drink, he shall conquer, he shall be satisfied. And therefore
Christ loves virgins more than others, because they willingly give what
was not commanded them. And it indicates greater grace to offer what
you are not bound to give, than to render what is exacted of you. The
apostles, contemplating the burden of a wife, exclaimed, "If the case
of the man is so with his wife, it is not expedient to marry." Our Lord
thought well of their view. You rightly think, said He, that it is not
expedient for a man who is hastening to the kingdom of heaven to take a
wife: but it is a hard matter, and all men do not receive the saying,
but they to whom it has been given. Some are eunuchs by nature, others
by the violence of men. Those eunuchs please Me who are such not of
necessity, but of free choice. Willingly do I take them into my bosom
who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake, and
in order to worship Me have renounced the condition of their birth. We
must now explain the words, "Those who have made themselves eunuchs for
the kingdom of heaven's sake." If they who have made themselves eunuchs
have the reward of the kingdom of heaven, it follows that they who have
not made themselves such cannot be placed with those who have. He who
is able, he says, to receive it, let him receive it. It is a mark of
great faith and of great virtue, to be the pure temple of God, to offer
oneself a whole burnt-offering, and, according to the same apostle, to
be holy both in body and in spirit. These are the eunuchs, who thinking
themselves dry trees because of their impotence, hear by the mouth of
[4321] Isaiah that they have a place prepared in heaven for sons and
daughters. Their type is [4322] Ebed-melech the eunuch in Jeremiah, and
the eunuch of Queen Candace in the [4323] Acts of the Apostles, who on
account of the strength of his faith gained the name of a man. These
are they to whom Clement, who was the successor of the Apostle Peter,
and of whom the Apostle Paul makes mention, wrote letters, directing
almost the whole of his discourse to the subject of virgin purity.
After them there is a long series of apostolic men, martyrs, and men
illustrious no less for holiness than for eloquence, with whom we may
very easily become acquainted through their own writings. [4324] "I
think, therefore," he says, "that this is good for the present
distress." What is this distress which, in contempt of the marriage
tie, longs for the liberty of virginity? [4325] "Woe unto them that are
with child and to them that give suck in those days." We have not here
a condemnation of harlots and brothels, of whose damnation there is no
doubt, but of the swelling womb, and wailing infancy, the fruit as well
as the work of marriage. "For it is good for a man so to be." If it is
good for a man so to be, it is bad for a man not so to be. [4326] "Art
thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a
wife? Seek not a wife." Each one of us has his appointed bounds; let me
have what is mine, and keep your own. If thou art bound to a wife, give
her not a bill of divorce. If I am loosed from a wife, I will not seek
a wife. As I do not dissolve marriages once contracted: so you should
not bind what is loosed. And at the same time the meaning of the words
must be taken into account. He who has a wife is regarded as a debtor,
and is said to be uncircumcised, to be the servant of his wife, and
like bad servants to be bound. But he who has no wife, in the first
place owes no man anything, then is circumcised, thirdly is free,
lastly, is loosed.
13. Let us run through the remaining points, for our author is so
voluminous that we cannot linger over every detail. "But and if thou
marry, thou hast not sinned." It is one thing not to sin, another to do
good. "And if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned." Not that virgin who
has once for all dedicated herself to the service of God: for, should
one of these marry, she will have damnation, because she has made of no
account her first faith. But, if our adversary objects that this saying
relates to widows, we reply that it applies with still greater force to
virgins, since marriage is forbidden even to widows whose previous
marriage had been lawful. For virgins who marry after consecration are
rather incestuous than adulterous. And, for fear he should by saying,
"And if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned," again stimulate the
unmarried to be married, he immediately checks himself, and by
introducing another consideration, invalidates his previous concession.
"Yet," says he, "such shall have tribulation in the flesh." Who are
they who shall have tribulation in the flesh? They to whom he had
before indulgently said "But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned;
and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Yet such shall have
tribulation in the flesh." We in our inexperience thought that marriage
had at least the joys of the flesh. But if they who are married have
tribulation even in the flesh, which is imagined to be the sole source
of their pleasure, what else is there to marry for, when in the spirit,
and in the mind, and in the flesh itself there is tribulation. "But I
would spare you." Thus, he says, I allege tribulation as a motive, as
though there were not greater obligations to refrain. "But this I say,
brethren, the time is shortened, that henceforth both those that have
wives may be as though they had none." I am by no means now discussing
virgins, of whose happiness no one entertains a doubt. I am coming to
the married. The time is short, the Lord is at hand. Even though we
lived nine hundred years, as did men of old, yet we ought to think that
short which must one day have an end, and cease to be. But, as things
are, and it is not so much the joy as the tribulation of marriage that
is short, why do we take wives whom we shall soon be compelled to lose?
[4327] "And those that weep, and those that rejoice, and those that
buy, and those that use the world, as though they wept not, as though
they rejoiced not, as though they bought not, as though they did not
use the world: for the fashion of this world passeth away." If the
world, which comprehends all things, passes away, yea if the fashion
and intercourse of the world vanishes like the clouds, amongst the
other works of the world, marriage too will vanish away. For after the
resurrection there will be no wedlock. But if death be the end of
marriage, why do we not voluntarily embrace the inevitable? And why do
we not, encouraged by the hope of the reward, offer to God that which
must be wrung from us against our will. "He that is unmarried is
careful for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord: but he
that is married is careful for the things of the world, how he may
please his wife, and is [4328] divided." Let us look at the difference
between the cares of the virgin, and those of the married man. The
virgin longs to please the Lord, the husband to please his wife, and
that he may please her he is careful for the things of the world, which
will of course pass away with the world. "And he is divided," that is
to say, is distracted with manifold cares and miseries. This is not the
place to describe the difficulties of marriage, and to revel in
rhetorical commonplaces. I think I delivered myself fully as regards
this point in my argument against [4329] Helvidius, and in the book
which I addressed to [4330] Eustochium. At all events [4331]
Tertullian, while still a young man, gave himself full play with this
subject. And my teacher, [4332] Gregory of Nazianzus, discussed
virginity and marriage in some Greek verses. I now briefly beg my
reader to note that in the Latin manuscripts we have the reading "there
is a difference also between the virgin and the wife." The words, it is
true, have a meaning of their own, and have by me, as well as by
others, been so explained as showing the bearing of the passage. Yet
they lack apostolic authority, since the Apostle's words are as we have
translated them--"He is careful for the things of the world, how he may
please his wife, [4333] and he is divided." Having laid down this, he
passes to the virgins and the continent, and says "The woman that is
unmarried and a virgin thinks of the things of the Lord, that she may
be holy in body and in spirit." Not every unmarried woman is also a
virgin. But every virgin is of course unmarried. It may be, that regard
for elegance of expression led him to repeat the same idea by means of
another word and speak of "a woman unmarried and a virgin"; or at least
he may have wished to give to "unmarried" the definite meaning of
"virgin," so that we might not suppose him to include harlots, united
to no one by the fixed bonds of wedlock, among the "unmarried." Of
what, then, does she that is unmarried and a virgin think? "The things
of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit."
Supposing there were nothing else, and that no greater reward followed
virginity, this would be motive enough for her choice, to think of the
things of the Lord. But he immediately points out the contents of her
thought--that she may be holy both in body and spirit. For there are
virgins in the flesh, not in the spirit, whose body is intact, their
soul corrupt. But that virgin is a sacrifice to Christ, whose mind has
not been defiled by thought, nor her flesh by lust. On the other hand,
she who is married thinks of the things of the world, how she may
please her husband. Just as the man who has a wife is anxious for the
things of the world, how he may please his wife, so the married woman
thinks of the things of the world, how she may please her husband. But
we are not of this world, which lieth in wickedness, the fashion of
which passeth away, and concerning which the Lord said to the Apostles,
[4334] "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own." And
lest perchance someone might suppose that he was laying the heavy
burden of chastity on unwilling shoulders, he at once adds his reasons
for persuading to it, and says: [4335] "And this I say for your profit;
not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is seemly, and
that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." The Latin words
do not convey the meaning of the Greek. What words shall we use to
render Pros to euschemon kai euprosedron to Kuri& 251; aperispastos'
The difficulty of translation accounts for the fact that the clause is
completely wanting in Latin manuscripts. Let us, however, use the
passage as we have translated it. The Apostle does not lay a snare upon
us, nor does he compel us to be what we do not wish to be; but he gives
his advice as to what is fair and seemly, he would have us attend upon
the Lord and ever be anxious about that service, and await the Lord's
will, so that like active and well-armed soldiers we may obey orders,
and may do so without distraction, which, according to [4336]
Ecclesiastes, is given to the men of this world that they may be
exercised thereby. But if anyone considers that his virgin, that is,
his flesh, is wanton and boiling with lust, and cannot be bridled, and
he must do one of two things, either take a wife or fall, let him do
what he will, he does not sin if he marry. Let him do, he says, what he
will, not what he ought. He does not sin if he marry a wife; yet, he
does not well if he marry: [4337] "But he that standeth stedfast in his
heart, having no necessity, but hath power as touching his own will,
and hath determined this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin,
shall do well. So then both he that giveth his own virgin in marriage
doeth well; and he that giveth her not in marriage shall do better."
With marked propriety he had previously said "He who marries a wife
does not sin": here he tells us "He that keepeth his own virgin doeth
well." But it is one thing not to sin, another to do well. [4338]
"Depart from evil," he says, "and do good." The former we forsake, the
latter we follow. In this last lies perfection. But whereas he says
"and he that giveth his virgin in marriage doeth well," it might be
supposed that our remark does not hold good; he therefore forthwith
detracts from this seeming good and puts it in the shade by comparing
it with another, and saying, "and he that giveth her not in marriage
shall do better." If he had not intended to draw the inference of doing
better, he would never have previously referred to doing well. But
where there is something good and something better, the reward is not
in both cases the same, and where the reward is not one and the same,
there of course the gifts are different. The difference, then, between
marriage and virginity is as great as that between not sinning and
doing well; nay rather, to speak less harshly, as great as between good
and better.
14. He has ended his discussion of wedlock and virginity, and has
carefully steered between the two precepts without turning to the right
hand or to the left. He has followed the royal road and fulfilled the
command [4339] not to be righteous over much. Now again he compares
monogamy with digamy, and as he had subordinated marriage to virginity,
so he makes second marriages inferior to first, and says, [4340] "A
wife is bound for so long time as her husband liveth; but if the
husband be dead, she is free to be married to whom she will; only in
the Lord. But she is happier if she abide as she is, after my
judgement: and I think that I also have the Spirit of God." He allows
second marriages, but to such persons as wish for them and are not able
to contain; lest, [4341] having "waxed wanton against Christ," they
desire to marry, "having condemnation, because they have rejected their
first faith;" and he makes the concession because many had already
turned aside after Satan. [4342] "But," says he, "they will be happier
if they abide as they are," and he immediately adds the weight of
Apostolic authority, "after my judgement." And that an Apostle's
authority might not, like that of an ordinary man, be without weight,
he added, "and I think that I also have the Spirit of God." When he
incites to continence, it is not by the judgement or spirit of man, but
by the judgement and Spirit of God; when, however, he grants the
indulgence of marriage, he does not mention the Spirit of God, but
weighs his judgement with wisdom, and adapts the severity of the strain
to the weakness of the individual. In this sense we must take the whole
of the following passage: [4343] "For the woman that hath a husband is
bound by law to the husband while he liveth; but if the husband die,
she is discharged from the law of the husband. So then if, while the
husband liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall be called an
adulteress: but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so that
she is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man." And
similarly the words to Timothy, [4344] "I desire therefore that the
younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, give none
occasion to the adversary for reviling: for already some are turned
aside after Satan," and so on. For as on account of the danger of
fornication he allows virgins to marry, and makes that excusable which
in itself is not desirable, so to avoid this same fornication, he
allows second marriages to widows. For it is better to know a single
husband, though he be a second or third, than to have many paramours:
that is, it is more tolerable for a woman to prostitute herself to one
man than to many. At all events this is so if the Samaritan woman in
John's Gospel who said she had her sixth husband was reproved by the
Lord because he was not her husband. For where there are more husbands
than one the proper idea of a husband, who is a single person, is
destroyed. At the beginning one rib was turned into one wife. "And they
two," he says, "shall be one flesh": not three, or four; otherwise, how
can they be any longer two, if they are several. Lamech, a man of blood
and a murderer, was the first who divided one flesh between two wives.
Fratricide and digamy were abolished by the same punishment--that of
the deluge. The one was avenged seven times, the other seventy times
seven. The guilt is as widely different as are the numbers. What the
holiness of second marriage is, appears from this--that a person twice
married [4345] cannot be enrolled in the ranks of the clergy, and so
the Apostle tells Timothy, [4346] "Let none be enrolled as a widow
under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man." The whole
command concerns those widows who are supported on the alms of the
Church. The age is therefore limited, so that those only may receive
the food of the poor who can no longer work. And at the same time,
consider that she who has had two husbands, even though she be a widow,
decrepit, and in want, is not a worthy recipient of the Church's funds.
But if she be deprived of the bread of charity, how much more is she
deprived of that bread which cometh down from heaven, and of which if a
man eat unworthily, he shall be guilty of outrage offered to the body
and the blood of Christ?
15. The passages, however, which I have adduced in support of my
position and in which it is permitted to widows, if they so desire, to
marry again, are interpreted by some concerning those widows who had
lost their husbands and were found in that condition when they became
Christians. For, supposing a person baptized and her husband dead, it
would not be consistent if the Apostle were to bid her marry another,
when he enjoins even those who have wives to be as though they had them
not. And this is why the number of wives which a man may take is not
defined, because when Christian baptism has been received, even though
a third or a fourth wife has been taken, she is reckoned as the first.
Otherwise, if, after baptism and after the death of a first husband, a
second is taken why should not a sixth after the death of the second,
third, fourth, and fifth, and so on? For it is possible, that through
some strange misfortune, or by the judgement of God cutting short
repeated marriages, a young woman may have several husbands, while an
old woman may be left a widow by her first husband in extreme age. The
first Adam was married once: the second was unmarried. Let the
supporters of second marriages shew us as their leader a third Adam who
was twice married. But granted that Paul allowed second marriages: upon
the same grounds it follows that he allows even third and fourth
marriages, or a woman may marry as often as her husband dies. The
Apostle was forced to choose many things which he did not like. He
circumcised Timothy, and shaved his own head, practised going barefoot,
let his hair grow long, and cut it at Cenchrea. And he had certainly
chastised the Galatians, and blamed Peter because for the sake of
Jewish observances he separated himself from the Gentiles. As then in
other points connected with the discipline of the Church he was a Jew
to Jews, a Gentile to Gentiles, and was made all things to all men,
that he might gain all: so too he allowed second marriages to
incontinent persons, and did not limit the number of marriages, in
order that women, although they saw themselves permitted to take a
second husband, in the same way as a third or a fourth was allowed,
might blush to take a second, lest they should be compared to those who
were three or four times married. If more than one husband be allowed,
it makes no difference whether he be a second or a third, because there
is no longer a question of single marriage. [4347] "All things are
lawful, but not all things are expedient." I do not condemn second, nor
third, nor, pardon the expression, eighth marriages: I will go still
further and say that I welcome even a penitent whoremonger. Things that
are equally lawful must be weighed in an even balance.
16. But he takes us to the Old Testament, and beginning with Adam goes
on to Zacharias and Elizabeth. He next confronts us with Peter and the
rest of the Apostles. We are therefore bound to traverse the same
course of argument and show that chastity was always preferred to the
condition of marriage. And as regards Adam and Eve we must maintain
that before the fall they were virgins in Paradise: but after they
sinned, and were cast out of Paradise, they were immediately married.
Then we have the passage, [4348] "For this cause shall a man leave his
father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the twain shall
become one flesh," in explanation of which the Apostle straightway
adds, [4349] "This mystery is great, but I speak in regard of Christ,
and of the Church." Christ in the flesh is a virgin, in the spirit he
is once married. For he has one Church, concerning which the same
Apostle says, [4350] "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also
loved the Church." If Christ loves the Church holily, chastely, and
without spot, let husbands also love their wives in chastity. And let
everyone know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour,
not in the lust of concupiscence, as the Gentiles who know not God:
[4351] "For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification:
seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings, and have put
on the new man, which is being renewed unto knowledge after the image
of him that created him: where there cannot be male and female, Greek
and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman,
freeman: but Christ is all, and in all." The link of marriage is not
found in the image of the Creator. When difference of sex is done away,
and we are putting off the old man, and putting on the new, then we are
being born again into Christ a virgin, who was both born of a virgin,
and is born again through [4352] virginity. And whereas he says "Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth," it was necessary
first to plant the wood and to let it grow, so that there might be an
after-growth for cutting down. And at the same time we must bear in
mind the meaning of the phrase, "replenish the earth." Marriage
replenishes the earth, virginity fills Paradise. This too we must
observe, at least if we would faithfully follow the Hebrew, that while
Scripture on the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth days relates
that, having finished the works of each, "God saw that it was good," on
the second day it omitted this altogether, leaving us to understand
that two is not a good number because it destroys unity, and prefigures
the marriage compact. Hence it was that all the animals which Noah took
into the ark by pairs were unclean. Odd numbers denote cleanness. And
yet by the double number is represented another mystery: that not even
in beasts and unclean birds is second marriage approved. For unclean
animals went in two and two, and clean ones by sevens, so that Noah
after the flood might be able to immediately offer to God sacrifices
from the latter.
17. But if Enoch was translated, and Noah was preserved at the deluge,
I do not think that Enoch was translated because he had a wife, but
because he was [4353] the first to call upon God and to believe in the
Creator; and the Apostle Paul fully instructs us concerning him in the
Epistle to the Hebrews. Noah, moreover, who was preserved as a kind of
second root for the human race, must of course be preserved together
with his wife and sons, although in this there is a Scripture mystery.
The ark, [4354] according to the Apostle Peter, was a type of the
Church, in which eight souls were saved. When Noah entered into it,
both he and his sons were separated from their wives; but when he
landed from it, they united in pairs, and what had been separated in
the ark, that is, in the Church, was joined together in the intercourse
of the world. And at the same time if the ark had many compartments and
little chambers, and was made with second and third stories, and was
filled with different beasts, and was furnished with dwellings, great
or small, according to the kind of animal, I think all this diversity
in the compartments was a figure of the manifold character of the
Church.
18. He raises the objection that when God gave his second blessing,
permission was granted to eat flesh, which had not in the first
benediction been allowed. He should know that just as divorce according
to the Saviour's word was not permitted from the beginning, but on
account of the hardness of our heart was a concession of Moses to the
human race, so too the eating of flesh was unknown until the deluge.
But after the deluge, like the quails given in the desert to the
murmuring people, the poison of flesh-meat was offered to our teeth.
The Apostle writing to the Ephesians [4355] teaches that God had
purposed in the fulness of time to sum up and renew in Christ Jesus all
things which are in heaven and in earth. Whence also the Saviour
himself in the Revelation of John says, [4356] "I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending." At the beginning of the human race we
neither ate flesh, nor gave bills of divorce, nor suffered circumcision
for a sign. Thus we reached the deluge. But after the deluge, together
with the giving of the law which no one could fulfil, flesh was given
for food, and divorce was allowed to hard-hearted men, and the knife of
circumcision was applied, as though the hand of God had fashioned us
with something superfluous. But once Christ has come in the end of
time, and Omega passed into Alpha and turned the end into the
beginning, we are no longer allowed divorce, nor are we circumcised,
nor do we eat flesh, for the Apostle says, [4357] "It is good not to
eat flesh, nor to drink wine." For wine as well as flesh was
consecrated after the deluge.
19. What shall I say of Abraham who had three wives, as Jovinianus
says, and received circumcision as a sign of his faith? If we follow
him in the number of his wives, let us also follow him in circumcision.
We must not partly follow, partly reject him. Isaac, moreover, the
husband of one wife, Rebecca, prefigures the Church of Christ, and
reproves the wantonness of second marriage. And if Jacob had two pairs
of wives and concubines, and our opponent will not admit that
blear-eyed Leah, ugly and prolific, was a type of the synagogue, but
that Rachel, beautiful and long barren, indicated the mystery of the
Church, let me remind him that when Jacob did this thing he was among
the Assyrians, and in Mesopotamia in bondage to a hard master. But when
he wished to enter the holy land, he raised on Mount Galeed [4358] the
heap of witness, in token that the lord of Mesopotamia had failed to
find anything among his baggage, and there swore that he would never
return to the place of his bondage; and when, [4359] after wrestling
with the angel at the brook Jabbok, he began to limp, because the great
muscle of his thigh was withered, he at once gained the name of Israel.
[4360] Then the wife whom he once loved, and for whom he had served,
was slain by the son of sorrow near Bethlehem which was destined to be
the birthplace of our Lord, the herald of virginity: and the intimacies
of Mesopotamia died in the land of the Gospel.
20. But I wonder why he set [4361] Judah and Tamar before us for an
example, unless perchance even harlots give him pleasure; or [4362]
Onan who was slain because he grudged his brother seed. Does he imagine
that we approve of any sexual intercourse except for the procreation of
children? As regards Moses, it is clear that he would have been in
peril at the inn, if [4363] Sephora which is by interpretation a bird,
had not circumcised her son, and cut off the foreskin of marriage with
the knife which prefigured the Gospel. This is that Moses who when he
saw a great vision and heard an angel, or the Lord speaking in the
bush, [4364] could not by any means approach to him without first
loosing the latchet of his shoe, that is, putting off the bonds of
marriage. And we need not be surprised at this in the case of one who
was a prophet, lawgiver, and the friend of God, seeing that all the
people when about to draw nigh to Mount Sinai, and to hear the voice
speaking to them, were commanded to sanctify themselves in three days,
and keep themselves from their wives. I am out of order in violating
historical sequence, but I may point out that the same thing was said
by [4365] Ahimelech the priest to David when he fled to Nob: "If only
the young men have kept themselves from women." And David answered, "of
a truth about these three days." For the shew-bread, like the body of
Christ, might not be eaten by those who rose from the marriage bed. And
in passing we ought to consider the words "if only the young men have
kept themselves from women." The truth is that, in view of the purity
of the body of Christ, all sexual intercourse is unclean. In the law
also it is enjoined that the [4366] high priest must not marry any but
a virgin, nor must he take to wife a widow. If a virgin and a widow are
on the same level, how is it that one is taken, the other rejected?
[4367] And the widow of a priest is bidden abide in the house of her
father, and not to contract a second marriage. [4368] If the sister of
a priest dies in virginity, just as the priest is commanded to go to
the funeral of his father and mother, so must he go to hers. But if she
be married, she is despised as though she belonged not to him. He who
has [4369] married a wife, and he who has planted a vineyard, an image
of the propagation of children, is forbidden to go to the battle. For
he who is the slave of his wife cannot be the Lord's soldier. And the
laver in the tabernacle was cast from the mirrors of the women who
[4370] fasted, signifying the bodies of pure virgins: And within,
[4371] in the sanctuary, both cherubim, and mercy-seat, and the ark of
the covenant, and the table of shew-bread, and the candle-stick, and
the censer, were made of the purest gold. For silver might not be
brought into the holy of holies.
21. I must not linger over Moses when my purpose is at full speed to
lightly touch on each topic and to sketch the outline of a proper
knowledge of my subject. I will pass to Joshua the son of Nun, who was
previously called Ause, or better, as in the Hebrew, Osee, that is,
Saviour. For he, [4372] according to the epistle of Jude, saved the
people of Israel and led them forth out of Egypt, and brought them into
the land of promise. As soon as this Joshua [4373] reached the Jordan,
the waters of marriage, which had ever flowed in the land, dried up and
stood in one heap; and the whole people, barefooted and on dry ground,
crossed over, and came to Gilgal, and there was a second time
circumcised. If we take this literally, it cannot possibly stand. For
if we had two foreskins, or if another could grow after the first was
cut off, there would be room for speaking of a second circumcision. But
the meaning is that Joshua circumcised the people who had crossed the
desert, with the Gospel knife, and he circumcised them with a stone
knife, that what in the case of Moses' son was prefigured in a few
might under Joshua be fulfilled in all. Moreover, the very foreskins
were heaped together and buried, and covered with earth, and the fact
that the reproach of Egypt was taken away, and the name of the place,
Gilgal, which is by interpretation [4374] revelation, show that while
the people wandered in the desert uncircumcised their eyes were
blinded. Let us see what follows. After this Gospel circumcision and
the consecration of twelve stones at the place of revelation, the
Passover was immediately celebrated, a lamb was slain for them, and
they ate the food of the Holy Land. Joshua went forth, and was met by
the Prince of the host, sword in hand, that is either to shew that he
was ready to fight for the circumcised people, or to sever the tie of
marriage. And in the same way that Moses was commanded, so was he:
[4375] "loose thy shoe, for the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground." For if the armed host of the Lord was represented by the
trumpets of the priests, we may see in Jericho a type of the overthrow
of the world by the preaching of the Gospel. And to pass over endless
details (for it is not my purpose now to unfold all the mysteries of
the Old Testament), [4376] five kings who previously reigned in the
land of promise, and opposed the Gospel army, were overcome in battle
with Joshua. I think it is clearly to be understood that before the
Lord led his people from Egypt and circumcised them, sight, smell,
taste, hearing, and touch had the dominion, and that to these, as to
five princes, everything was subject. And when they [4377] took refuge
in the cave of the body and in a place of darkness, Jesus entered the
body itself and slew them, that the source of their power might be the
instrument of their death.
22. But it is now time for us to raise the standard of Joshua's
chastity. It is written that Moses had a wife. Now Moses is interpreted
both by our Lord and by the Apostle to mean the law: [4378] "They have
Moses and the prophets." And [4379] "Death reigned from Adam until
Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's
transgression." And no one doubts that in both passages Moses signifies
the law. We read that Moses, that is the law, had a wife: shew me then
in the same way that Joshua the son of Nun had either wife or children,
and if you can do so, I will confess that I am beaten. He certainly
received the fairest spot in the division of the land of Judah, and
died, not in the twenties, which are ever unlucky in Scripture--by them
are reckoned the years of [4380] Jacob's service, [4381] the price of
Joseph, and [4382] sundry presents which Esau who was fond of them
received--but in the [4383] tens, whose praises we have often sung; and
he was buried in [4384] Thamnath Sare, that is, most perfect
sovereignty, or among those of a new covering, to signify the crowds of
virgins, covered by the Saviour's aid on Mount Ephraim, that is, the
fruitful mountain; on the north of the Mountain of Gaash, which is,
being interpreted, disturbance: for [4385] "Mount Sion is on the sides
of the north, the city of the Great King," is ever exposed to hatred,
and in every trial says [4386] "But my feet had well nigh slipped." The
book which bears the name of Joshua ends with his burial. Again in the
book of Judges we read of him as though he had risen and come to life
again, and by way of summary his works are extolled. We read too [4387]
"So Joshua sent the people away, every man unto his inheritance, that
they might possess the land." And "Israel served the Lord all the days
of Joshua," and so on. There immediately follows: "And Joshua the son
of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years
old." Moses, moreover, only saw the land of promise; he could not
enter: and [4388] "he died in the land of Moab, and the Lord buried him
in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-peor: but no man
knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day." Let us compare the burial of
the two: Moses died in the land of Moab, Joshua in the land of Judæa.
The former was buried in a valley over against the house of Phogor,
which is, being interpreted, reproach (for the Hebrew Phogor
corresponds to Priapus [4389] ); the latter in Mount Ephraim on the
north of Mount Gaash. And in the simple expressions of the sacred
Scriptures there is always a more subtle meaning. The Jews gloried in
children and child-bearing; and the barren woman, who had not offspring
in Israel, was accursed; but blessed was he whose seed was in Sion, and
his family in Jerusalem; and part of the highest blessing was, [4390]
"Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, in the innermost parts of thy
house, thy children like olive plants, round about thy table."
Therefore his grave is described as placed in a valley over against the
house of an idol which was in a special sense consecrated to lust. But
we who fight under Joshua our leader, even to the present day know not
where Moses was buried. For we despise Phogor, and all his shame,
knowing that they who are in the flesh cannot please God. And the Lord
before the flood had said [4391] "My spirit shall not abide in man for
ever, for that he also is flesh." Wherefore, when Moses died, the
people of Israel mourned for him; but Joshua like one on his way to
victory was unmourned. For marriage ends at death; virginity thereafter
begins to wear the crown.
23. Next he brings forward Samson, and does not consider that the
Lord's Nazarite was once shaven bald by a woman. And although Samson
continues to be a type of the Saviour because he loved a harlot from
among the Gentiles, which harlot corresponds to the Church, and because
he slew more enemies in his death than he did in his life, yet he does
not set an example of conjugal chastity. And he surely reminds us
[4392] of Jacob's prophecy--he was shaken by his runaway steed, bitten
by an adder and fell backwards. But why he enumerated Deborah, and
Barak, and the wife of Heber the Kenite, I am at a loss to understand.
For it is one thing to draw up a list of military commanders in
historical sequence, another to indicate certain figures of marriage
which cannot be found in them. And whereas he prefers the fidelity of
the father Jephthah to the tears of the virgin daughter, that makes for
us. For we are not commending virgins of the world so much as those who
are virgins for Christ's sake, and most Hebrews blame the father for
the rash vow he made, [4393] "If thou wilt indeed deliver the children
of Ammon into mine hand, then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth
of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the
children of Ammon, it shall be for the Lord's, and I will offer it up
for a burnt offering." Supposing (they say) a dog or an ass had met
him, what would he have done? Their meaning is that God so ordered
events that he who had improvidently made a vow, should learn his error
by the death of his daughter. And if Samuel who was brought up in the
tabernacle married a wife, how does that prejudice virginity? As if at
the present day also there were not many married priests, and as though
the Apostle did not [4394] describe a bishop as the husband of one
wife, having children with all purity. At the same time we must not
forget that Samuel was a Levite, not a priest or high-priest. Hence it
was that his mother made for him a linen ephod, that is, a linen
garment to go over the shoulders, which was the proper dress of the
Levites and of the inferior order. And so he is not named in the Psalms
among the priests, but among those who call upon the name of the Lord:
[4395] "Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who
call upon his name." For [4396] Levi begat Kohath, Kohath begat
Amminadab, Amminadab begat Korah, Korah begat Assir, Assir begat
Elkanah, Elkanah begat Zuph, Zuph begat Tahath, Tahath begat Eliel,
Eliel begat Jeroham, Jeroham begat Elkanah, Elkanah begat Samuel. And
no one doubts that the priests sprang from the stock of Aaron, Eleazar,
and Phinees. And seeing that they had wives, they would be rightly
brought against us, if, led away by the error of the Encratites, we
were to maintain that marriage deserved censure, and our high priest
were not after the order of Melchizedek, without father, without
mother, [4397] A'genealogetos , that is, unmarried. And much fruit
truly did Samuel reap from his children! he himself pleased God, but
[4398] begat such children as displeased the Lord. But if in support of
second marriage, he urges the instance of Boaz and Ruth, let him know
that in the Gospel (S. Matt. i. 6) to typify the Church even Rahab the
harlot is reckoned among our Lord's ancestors.
24. He boasts that David bought his wife for two hundred foreskins. But
he should remember that David had numerous other wives, and afterwards
received Michal, Saul's daughter, whom her father had delivered to
another, and when he was old got heat from the embrace of the
Shunammite maiden. And I do not say this because I am bold enough to
disparage holy men, but because it is one thing to live under the law,
another to live under the Gospel. David slew Uriah the Hittite and
committed adultery with Bathsheba. And because he was a man of
blood--the reference is not, as some think, to his wars, but to the
[4399] murder--he was not permitted to build a temple of the Lord. But
as for us, [4400] if we cause one of the least to stumble, and if we
say to a brother [4401] Raca, or [4402] use our eyes improperly, it
were good that a millstone were hanged about our neck, we shall be in
danger of Gehenna, and a mere glance will be reckoned to us for
adultery. He passes on to Solomon, through whom wisdom itself sang its
own praises. Seeing that not content with dwelling upon his praises, he
calls him uxorious, I am surprised that he did not add the words of the
Canticles: [4403] "There are threescore queens, and fourscore
concubines, and maidens without number," and those of the First Book of
Kings; [4404] And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three
hundred concubines, and others without number." These are they who
turned away his heart from the Lord: and yet before he had many wives,
and fell into sins of the flesh, at the beginning of his reign and in
his early years he built a temple to the Lord. For every one is judged
not for what he will be, but for what he is. But if Jovinianus approves
the example of Solomon, he will no longer be in favour of second and
third marriages only, but unless he has seven hundred wives and three
hundred concubines, he cannot be the king's antitype or attain to his
merit. I earnestly again and again remind you, my reader, that I am
compelled to speak as I do, and that I do not disparage our
predecessors under the law, but am well aware that they served their
generation according to their circumstances, and fulfilled the Lord's
command to increase, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And what is
more they were figures of those that were to come. But we to whom it is
said, [4405] "The time is shortened, that henceforth those that have
wives may be as though they had none," have a different command, and
for us virginity is consecrated by the Virgin Saviour.
25. What folly it was to include Elijah and Elisha in a list of married
men, is plain without a word from me. For, since John Baptist came in
the spirit and power of Elijah, and John was a virgin, it is clear that
he came not only in Elijah's spirit, but also in his bodily chastity.
Then the passage relating to Hezekiah might be adduced (though
Jovinianus with his wonted stupidity did not notice it), in which after
his recovery and the addition of fifteen years to his life he said,
"Now will I beget children." It must be remembered, however, that in
the Hebrew texts the passage is not so, but runs thus: [4406] "The
father to the children shall make known thy faithfulness." Nor need we
wonder that Huldah, the prophetess, and wife of Shallum, was [4407]
consulted by Josiah, King of Judah, when the captivity was approaching
and the wrath of the Lord was falling upon Jerusalem: since it is the
rule of Scripture when holy men fail, to praise women to the reproach
of men. And it is superfluous to speak of Daniel, for the Hebrews to
the present day affirm that the three youths were eunuchs, in
accordance with the declaration of God which Isaiah utters to Hezekiah:
[4408] "And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt
beget, shall they take away: and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of
the King of Babylon." And again in Daniel we read: [4409] "And the king
spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in
certain of the children of Israel, even of the seed royal and of the
nobles: youth in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in
all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science." The
conclusion is that if Daniel and the three youths were chosen from the
seed royal, and if Scripture foretold that that there should be eunuchs
of the seed royal, these men were those who were made eunuchs. If he
meets us with the argument that in Ezekiel [4410] it is said that Noah,
Daniel and Job in a sinful land could not free their sons and
daughters, we reply that the words are used hypothetically. Noah and
Job were not in existence at that time: we know that they lived many
ages before. And the meaning is this: if there were such and such men
in a sinful land, they shall not be able to save their own sons and
daughters: because the righteousness of the father shall not save the
son, nor shall the sin of one be imputed to another. [4411] "For the
soul that sinneth, it shall die." This, too, must be said, that Daniel,
as the history of his book shows, was taken captive with King Jehoiakim
at the same time that Ezekiel was also led into captivity. How then
could he have sons who was still a youth? And only three years had
elapsed when he was brought in to wait upon the king. Let no one
suppose that Ezekiel at this time remembers Daniel as a man, not as a
youth; for "It came to pass," he says, [4412] "in the sixth year," that
is of King Jehoiakim, "in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the
month:" and, "as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before
me." Yet on that same day it was said to him, [4413] "Though these
three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it." Daniel was therefore a
youth, and known to the people, either on account of his interpretation
of the king's dreams, [4414] or on account of the release of Susannah,
and the slaying of the elders. And it is clearly proved that at the
time these things were spoken of Noah, Daniel, and Job, Daniel was
still a youth and could not have had sons and daughters, whom he might
save by his righteousness. So far concerning the Law.
26. Coming to the Gospel he sets before us Zacharias and Elizabeth,
Peter and his mother-in-law, and, with a shamelessness to which we have
now grown accustomed, fails to understand that they, too, ought to have
been reckoned among those who served the Law. For the Gospel had no
being before the crucifixion of Christ--it was consecrated by His
passion and by His blood. In accordance with this rule Peter and the
other Apostles (I must give Jovinianus something now and then out of my
abundance) had indeed wives, but those which they had taken before they
knew the Gospel. But once they were received into the Apostolate, they
forsook the offices of marriage. For when Peter, representing the
Apostles, says to the Lord: [4415] "Lo we have left all and followed
thee," the Lord answered him, [4416] "Verily I say unto you, there is
no man that hath left house or wife, or brethren, or parents, or
children for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold
more in this time, and in the world to come eternal life." But if, in
order to show that all the Apostles had wives, he meets us with the
words [4417] "Have we no right to lead about women or wives" (for gune
in Greek has both meanings) "even as the rest of the apostles, and
Cephas, and the brethren of the Lord?" let him add what is found in the
Greek copies, "Have we no right to lead about women that are sisters,
or wives?" This makes it clear that the writer referred to other holy
women, who, in accordance with Jewish custom, ministered to their
teachers of their substance, as we read was the practice with even our
Lord himself. Where there is a previous reference to eating and
drinking, and the outlay of money, and mention is afterwards made of
women that are sisters, it is quite clear, as we have said, that we
must understand, not wives, but those women who ministered of their
substance. And we read the same account in the Old Testament of the
Shunammite who was wont to welcome Elisha, and to put for him a table,
and bread, and a candlestick, and the rest. At all events if we take
gunaikas to mean wives, not women, the addition of the word sisters
destroys the effect of the word wives, and shews that they were related
in spirit, not by wedlock. Nevertheless, with the exception of the
Apostle Peter, it is not openly stated that the Apostles had wives; and
since the statement is made of one while nothing is said about the
rest, we must understand that those of whom Scripture gives no such
description had no wives. Yet Jovinianus, who has arrayed against us
Zacharias and Elizabeth, Peter and his wife's mother, should know, that
John was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, that is, a virgin was the
offspring of marriage, the Gospel of the law, chastity of matrimony; so
that by a virgin prophet the virgin Lord might be both announced and
baptized. But we might say concerning Peter, that he had a
mother-in-law when he believed, and no longer had a wife, although in
the [4418] "Sentences" we read of both his wife and daughter. But for
the present our argument must be based wholly on Scripture. He has made
his appeal to the Apostles, because he thinks that they, who hold the
chief authority in our moral system and are the typical Christian
teachers, were not virgins. If, then, we allow that they were not
virgins (and, with the exception of Peter, the point cannot be proved),
yet I must tell him that it is to the Apostles that the words of Isaiah
relate: [4419] "Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a small
remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto
Gomorrah." So, then, they who were by birth Jews could not under the
Gospel recover the virginity which they had lost in Judaism. And yet
John, one of the disciples, who is related to have been the youngest of
the Apostles, and who was a virgin when he embraced Christianity,
remained a virgin, and on that account was more beloved by our Lord,
and lay upon the breast of Jesus. And what Peter, who had had a wife,
did not dare ask, [4420] he requested John to ask. And after the
resurrection, when Mary Magdalene told them that the Lord had risen,
[4421] they both ran to the sepulchre, but John outran Peter. And when
they were fishing in the ship on the lake of Gennesaret, Jesus stood
upon the shore, and the Apostles knew not who it was they saw; [4422]
the virgin alone recognized a virgin, and said to Peter, "It is the
Lord." Again, after hearing the prediction that he must be bound by
another, and led whither he would not, and must suffer on the cross,
Peter said, "Lord what shall this man do?" being unwilling to desert
John, with whom he had always been united. Our Lord said to him, "What
is that to thee if I wish him so to be?" Whence the saying went abroad
among the brethren that that disciple should not die. Here we have a
proof that virginity does not die, and that the defilement of marriage
is not washed away by the blood of martyrdom, but virginity abides with
Christ, and its sleep is not death but a passing to another state. If,
however, Jovinianus should obstinately contend that John was not a
virgin, (whereas we have maintained that his virginity was the cause of
the special love our Lord bore to him), let him explain, if he was not
a virgin, why it was that he was loved more than the other Apostles.
But you say, [4423] the Church was founded upon Peter: although [4424]
elsewhere the same is attributed to all the Apostles, and they all
receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the strength of the
Church depends upon them all alike, yet one among the twelve is chosen
so that when a head has been appointed, there may be no occasion for
schism. But why was not John chosen, who was a virgin? Deference was
paid to age, because Peter was the elder: one who was a youth, I may
say almost a boy, could not be set over men of advanced age; and a good
master who was bound to remove every occasion of strife among his
disciples, and who had said to them, [4425] "Peace I leave with you, my
peace I give unto you," and, [4426] "He that is the greater among you,
let him be the least of all," would not be thought to afford cause of
envy against the youth whom he had loved. We maybe sure that John was
then a boy because ecclesiastical history most clearly proves that he
lived to the reign of Trajan, that is, he fell asleep in the
sixty-eighth year after our Lord's passion, as I have briefly noted in
my treatise on Illustrious Men. [4427] Peter is an Apostle, and John is
an Apostle--the one a married man, the other a virgin; but Peter is an
Apostle only, John is both an Apostle and an Evangelist, and a prophet.
An Apostle, because he wrote to the Churches as a master; an
Evangelist, because he composed a Gospel, a thing which no other of the
Apostles, excepting Matthew, did; a prophet, for he saw in the island
of Patmos, to which he had been banished by the Emperor Domitian as a
martyr for the Lord, an Apocalypse containing the boundless mysteries
of the future. Tertullian, more over, relates that he was sent to Rome,
and that having been plunged into a jar of boiling oil he came out
fresher and more active than when he went in. But his very Gospel is
widely different from the rest. Matthew as though he were writing of a
man begins thus: "The book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, the son
of David, the son of Abraham;" Luke begins with the priesthood of
Zacharias; Mark with a prophecy of the prophets Malachi and Isaiah. The
first has the face of a man, on account of the genealogical table; the
second, the face of a calf, on account of the priesthood; the third,
the face of a lion, on account of the voice of one crying in the
desert, [4428] "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths
straight." But John like an eagle soars aloft, and reaches the Father
Himself, and says, [4429] "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with
God," and so on. The virgin writer expounded mysteries which the
married could not, and to briefly sum up all and show how great was the
privilege of John, or rather of virginity in John, the Virgin Mother
[4430] was entrusted by the Virgin Lord to the Virgin disciple.
27. But we toil to no purpose. For our opponent urges against us the
Apostolic sentence and says, [4431] "Adam was first formed, then Eve;
and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen
into transgression: but she shall be saved through the child-bearing,
if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety."
Let us consider what led the Apostle to make this declaration: [4432]
"I desire therefore that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy
hands, without wrath and disputing." So in due course he lays down
rules of life for the women and says "In like manner that women adorn
themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not
with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment; but (which
becometh women professing godliness) through good works. Let a woman
learn in quietness with all subjection. But I permit not a woman to
teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness." And
that the lot of a woman might not seem a hard one, reducing her to the
condition of a slave to her husband, the Apostle recalls the ancient
law and goes back to the first example: that Adam was first made, then
the woman out of his rib; and that the Devil could not seduce Adam, but
did seduce Eve; and that after displeasing God she was immediately
subjected to the man, and began to turn to her husband; and he points
out that she who was once tied with the bonds of marriage and was
reduced to the condition of Eve, might blot out the [4433] old
transgression by the [4434] procreation of children: provided, however,
that she bring up the children themselves in the faith and love of
Christ, and in sanctification and chastity; for we must not adopt the
faulty reading of the Latin texts, sobrietas, but castitas, that is,
[4435] sophrosune . You see how you are mastered by the witness of this
passage also, and cannot but be driven to admit that what you thought
was on the side of marriage tells in favour of virginity. For if the
woman is saved in child-bearing, and the more the children the greater
the safety of the mothers, why did he add "if they continue in faith
and love and sanctification with chastity"? The woman will then be
saved, if she bear not children who will remain virgins: if what she
has herself lost, she attains in her children, and makes up for the
loss and decay, of the root by the excellence of the flower and fruit.
28. Above, in passing, when our opponent adduced Solomon, who, although
he had many wives, nevertheless built the temple, I briefly replied
that it was my intention to run over the remaining points. Now that he
may not cry out that both Solomon and others under the law, prophets
and holy men, have been dishonoured by us, let us show what this very
man with his many wives and concubines thought of marriage. For no one
can know better than he who suffered through them, what a wife or woman
is. Well then, he says in the Proverbs: [4436] "The foolish and bold
woman comes to want bread." What bread? Surely that bread which cometh
down from heaven: and he immediately adds [4437] "The earth-born perish
in her house, rush into the depths of hell." Who are the earth-born
that perish in her house? They of course who follow the first Adam, who
is of the earth, and not the second, who is from heaven. And again in
another place: "Like a worm in wood, so a wicked woman destroyeth her
husband." But if you assert that this was spoken of bad wives, I shall
briefly answer: What necessity rests upon me to run the risk of the
wife I marry proving good or bad? [4438] "It is better," he says, "to
dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and passionate woman in
a wide house." How seldom we find a wife without these faults, he knows
who is married. Hence that sublime orator, Varius Geminus [4439] says
well "The man who does not quarrel is a bachelor." [4440] "It is better
to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a contentious woman
in a house in common." If a house common to husband and wife makes a
wife proud and breeds contempt for the husband: how much more if the
wife be the richer of the two, and the husband but a lodger in her
house! She begins to be not a wife, but mistress of the house; and if
she offend her husband, they must part. [4441] "A continual dropping on
a wintry day" turns a man out of doors, and so will a contentious woman
drive a man from his own house. She floods his house with her constant
nagging and daily chatter, and ousts him from his own home, that is the
Church. Hence the same Solomon previously commands: [4442] "My son
flows forth beyond." And the Apostle, writing to the Hebrews, says
"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things spoken,
lest haply we flow forth beyond." But who can hide from himself what is
thus enigmatically expressed? [4443] "The horseleech had three
daughters, dearly loved, but they satisfied her not, and a fourth is
not satisfied when you say Enough; the grave, and woman's love, and the
earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire that saith not,
Enough." The horse-leech is the devil, the daughters of the devil are
dearly loved, and they cannot be satisfied with the blood of the slain:
the grave, and woman's love, and the earth dry and scorched with heat.
It is not the harlot, or the adulteress who is spoken of; but woman's
love in general is accused of ever being insatiable; put it out, it
bursts into flame; give it plenty, it is again in need; it enervates a
man's mind, and engrosses all thought except for the passion which it
feeds. What we read in the parable which follows is to the same effect:
"For three things the earth doth tremble, and for four which it cannot
bear: for a servant when he is king: and a fool when he is filled with
meat: for an odious woman when she is married to a good husband: and an
handmaid that is heir to her mistress." See how a wife is classed with
the greatest evils. But if you reply that it is an odious wife, I will
give you the same answer as before--the mere possibility of such danger
is in itself no light matter. For he who marries a wife is uncertain
whether he is marrying an odious woman or one worthy of his love. If
she be odious, she is intolerable. If worthy of love, her love is
compared to the grave, to the parched earth, and to fire.
29. Let us come to Ecclesiastes and adduce a few corroborative passages
from him also. [4444] "To everything there is a season, and a time to
every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die: a
time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted." We
brought forth young under the law with Moses, let us die under the
Gospel with Christ. We planted in marriage, let us by chastity pluck up
that which was planted. "A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from
embracing: a time to love, and a time to hate: a time for war, and a
time for peace." And at the same time he warns us not to prefer the law
to the Gospel; nor to think that virgin purity is to be placed on a
level with marriage: [4445] "Better," he says, "is the end of a thing
than the beginning thereof." And he immediately adds: "Say not thou,
what is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou
dost not inquire wisely concerning this." And he gives the reason why
the latter days are better than the former: [4446] "For wisdom with an
inheritance is good." Under the law carnal wisdom was followed by the
sword of death; under the Gospel an eternal inheritance awaits
spiritual wisdom. "Behold, this have I found, [4447] saith the
Preacher, one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all
those have I not found. Behold this only have I found, that God made
man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." He says that he
had found man upright. Consider the force of the words. The word man
comprehends both male and female. "But a woman," he says, "among all
these have I not found." Let us read the beginning of Genesis, and we
shall find Adam, that is man, called both male and female. Having then
been created by God good and upright, by our own fault we have fallen
to a worse condition; and that which in Paradise had been upright, when
we left Paradise was corrupt. If you object that before they sinned
there was a distinction in sex between male and female, and that they
could without sin have come together, it is uncertain what might have
happened. For we cannot know the judgements of God, and anticipate his
sentence as we choose. What really happened is plain enough,--that they
who in Paradise remained in perpetual virginity, when they were
expelled from Paradise were joined together. Or if Paradise admits of
marriage, and there is no difference between marriage and virginity,
what prevented their previous intercourse even in Paradise? They are
driven out of Paradise; and what they did not there, they do on earth;
so that from the very earliest days of humanity virginity was
consecrated by Paradise, and marriage by earth. [4448] "Let thy
garments be always white." The eternal whiteness of our garments is the
purity of virginity. In the morning we sowed our seed, and in the
evening let us not cease. Let us who served marriage under the law,
serve virginity under the Gospel.
30. I pass to the Song of Songs, and whereas our opponent thinks it
makes altogether for marriage, I shall show that it contains the
mysteries of virginity. Let us hear what the bride says before that the
bridegroom comes to earth, suffers, descends to the lower world, and
rises again. [4449] "We will make for thee likenesses of gold with
ornaments of silver while the king sits at his table." Before the Lord
rose again, and the Gospel shone, the bride had not gold, but
likenesses of gold. As for the silver, however, which she professes to
have at the marriage, she not only had silver ornaments, but she had
them in variety--in widows, in the continent, and in the married. Then
the bridegroom makes answer to the bride, and teaches her that the
shadow of the old law has passed away, and the truth of the Gospel has
come. [4450] "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away, for lo, the
winter is past, the rain is over and gone." This relates to the Old
Testament. Once more he speaks of the Gospel and of virginity: "The
flowers appear on the earth, the time of the pruning of vines has
come." Does he not seem to you to say the very same thing that the
Apostle says: [4451] "The time is shortened that henceforth both those
that have wives may be as though they had none"? And more plainly does
he herald chastity: [4452] "The voice," he says, "of the turtle is
heard in our land." The turtle, the chastest of birds, always dwelling
in lofty places, is a type of the Saviour. Let us read the works of
naturalists and we shall find that it is the nature of the turtle-dove,
if it lose its mate, not to take another; and we shall understand that
second marriage is repudiated even by dumb birds. And immediately the
turtle says to its fellow: [4453] "The fig tree hath put forth its
green figs," that is, the commandments of the old law have fallen, and
the blossoming vines of the Gospel give forth their fragrance. Whence
the Apostle also says, [4454] "We are a sweet savour of Christ." [4455]
"Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, thou art in the
clefts of the rock, in the covert of the steep place. Let me see thy
countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy
countenance is comely." [4456] Whilst thou coveredst thy countenance
like Moses and the veil of the law remained, I neither saw thy face,
nor did I condescend to hear thy voice. I said, [4457] "Yea, when ye
make many prayers, I will not hear." But now with unveiled face behold
my glory, and shelter thyself in the cleft and steep places of the
solid rock. On hearing this the bride disclosed the mysteries of
chastity: [4458] "My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth his
flock among the lilies," that is among the pure virgin bands. Would you
know what sort of a throne our true Solomon, the Prince of Peace, has,
and what his attendants are like? [4459] "Behold," he says, "it is the
litter of Solomon: threescore mighty men are about it, of the mighty
men of Israel. They all handle the sword, and are expert in war: every
man hath his sword upon his thigh." They who are about Solomon have
their sword upon their thigh, like Ehud, the left-handed judge, who
slew the fattest of foes, a man devoted to the flesh, and cut short all
his pleasures. [4460] "I will get me," he says, "to the mountain of
myrrh;" to those, that is, who have mortified their bodies; "and to the
hill of frankincense," to the crowds of pure virgins; "and I will say
to my bride, thou art all fair, my love, and there is no spot in thee."
Whence too the Apostle: [4461] "That he might present the church to
himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such
thing." [4462] "Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from
Lebanon. Thou shalt come [4463] and pass on from the beginning of
faith, from the top of Sanir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the
mountains of the leopards." Lebanon is, being interpreted, whiteness.
Come then, fairest bride, concerning whom it is elsewhere said [4464]
"Who is she that cometh up, all in white?" and pass on by way of this
world, from the beginning of faith, and from Sanir, which is by
interpretation, God of light, as we read in the psalm: [4465] "Thy word
is a lantern unto my feet, and light unto my path;" and "from Hermon,"
that is, consecration: and "flee from the lions' dens, and the
mountains of the leopards who cannot change their spots." Flee, he
says, from the lions' dens, flee from the pride of devils, that when
thou hast been consecrated to me, I may be able to say unto thee:
[4466] "Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, thou hast
ravished mine heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy
neck." What he says is something like this--I do not reject marriage:
you have a second eye, the left, which I have given to you on account
of the weakness of those who cannot see the right. But I am pleased
with the right eye of virginity, and if it be blinded the whole body is
in darkness. And that we might not think he had in view carnal love and
bodily marriage, he at once excludes this meaning by saying [4467]
"Thou hast ravished my heart, my bride, my sister." The name sister
excludes all suspicion of unhallowed love. "How fair are thy breasts
with wine," those breasts concerning which he had said above, My
beloved is mine, and I am his: "betwixt my breasts shall he lie," that
is in the princely portion of the heart where the Word of God has its
lodging. What wine is that which gives beauty to the breasts of the
bride, and fills them with the milk of chastity? That, forsooth, of
which the bridegroom goes on to speak: [4468] "I have drunk my wine
with my milk. Eat, O friends: yea, drink and be drunken, my brethren."
Hence the Apostles also were said to be filled with new wine; with new,
he says, not with old wine; because [4469] new wine is put into fresh
wine-skins, and they [4470] did not walk in oldness of the letter, but
in newness of the Spirit. This is wine wherewith when youths and
maidens are intoxicated, they at once thirst for virginity; they are
filled with the spirit of chastity, and the prophecy of Zechariah comes
to pass, at least if we follow the Hebrew literally, for he prophesied
concerning virgins: [4471] "And the streets of the city shall be full
of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. For what is his
goodness, and what is his beauty, but the corn of the elect, and wine
that giveth birth to virgins?" They are virgins of whom it is written
in the forty-fifth psalm: [4472] "The virgins her companions that
follow her shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing
shall they be led: they shall enter into the King's palace."
31. Then follows: [4473] "A garden shut up is my sister, my bride: a
garden shut up, a fountain sealed." That which is shut up and sealed
reminds us of the mother of our Lord who was a mother and a Virgin.
Hence it was that no one before or after our Saviour was laid in his
new tomb, hewn in the solid rock. And yet she that was ever a Virgin is
the mother of many virgins. For next we read: "Thy shoots are an
orchard of pomegranates with precious fruits." By pomegranates and
fruits is signified the blending of all virtues in virginity. [4474]
"My beloved is white and ruddy"; white in virginity, ruddy in
martyrdom. And because He is white and ruddy, therefore it is
immediately added [4475] "His mouth is most sweet, yea, he is
altogether lovely." The virgin bridegroom having been praised by the
virgin bride, in turn praises the virgin bride, and says to her: [4476]
"How beautiful are thy feet in sandals, [4477] O daughter of Aminadab,"
which is, being interpreted, a people that offereth itself willingly.
For virginity is voluntary, and therefore the steps of the Church in
the beauty of chastity are praised. This is not the time for me like a
commentator to explain all the mysteries of virginity from the Song of
Songs; I have no doubt that the fastidious reader will turn up his nose
at what has already been said.
32. Isaiah tells of the mystery of our faith and hope: [4478] "Behold a
virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name
Emmanuel." I know that the Jews are accustomed to meet us with the
objection that in Hebrew the word Almah does not mean a virgin, but a
young woman. And, to speak truth, a virgin is properly called Bethulah,
but a young woman, or a girl, is not Almah, but Naarah! [4479] What
then is the meaning of Almah? A hidden virgin, that is, not merely
virgin, but a virgin and something more, because not every virgin is
hidden, shut off from the occasional sight of men. Then again, Rebecca,
on account of her extreme purity, and because she was a type of the
Church which she represented in her own virginity, is described in
Genesis as Almah, not Bethulah, as may clearly be proved from the words
of Abraham's servant, spoken by him in Mesopotamia: [4480] "And he
said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my
way which I go: behold I stand by the fountain of water; and let it
come to pass, that the maiden which cometh forth to draw, to whom I
shall say, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of this pitcher to
drink; and she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw
for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed
for my master's son." Where he speaks of the maiden coming forth to
draw water, the Hebrew word is Almah, that is, a virgin secluded, and
guarded by her parents with extreme care. Or, if this be not so, let
them at least show me where the word is applied to married women as
well, and I will confess my ignorance. "Behold a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son." If virginity be not preferred to marriage, why did not
the Holy Spirit choose a married woman, or a widow? For at that time
Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser, was alive,
distinguished for purity, and always free to devote herself to prayers
and fasting in the temple of God. If the life, and good works, and
fasting without virginity can merit the advent of the Holy Spirit, she
might well have been the mother of our Lord. Let us hasten to the rest:
[4481] "The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee
to scorn." To her whom he called daughter the prophet also gave the
title virgin, for fear that if he spoke only of a daughter, it might be
supposed that she was married. This is the virgin daughter whom
elsewhere he thus addresses: [4482] "Sing, O barren, thou that dost not
bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not
travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate, than the
children of the married wife, saith the Lord." This is she of whom God
by the mouth of Jeremiah speaks, saying: [4483] "Can a maid forget her
ornaments, or a bride her attire." Concerning her we read of a great
miracle in the same prophecy [4484] --that a woman should compass a
man, and that the Father of all things should be contained in a
virgin's womb.
33. "Granted," says Jovinianus, "that there is a difference between
marriage and virginity, what have you to say to this,--Suppose a virgin
and a widow were baptized, and continued as they were, what difference
will there be between them?" What we have already said concerning Peter
and John, Anna and Mary, may be of service here. For if there is no
difference between a virgin and a widow, both being baptized, because
baptism makes a new man, upon the same principle harlots and
prostitutes, if they are baptized, will be equal to virgins. If
previous marriage is no prejudice to a baptized widow, and past
pleasures and the exposure of their bodies to public lust are no
detriment in the case of harlots, once they have approached the laver
they will gain the rewards of virginity. It is one thing to unite with
God a mind pure and free from any stain of memory, another to remember
the foul and forced embraces of a man, and in recollection to act a
part which you do not in person. Jeremiah, who was [4485] sanctified in
the womb, and was known in his mother's belly, enjoyed the high
privilege because he was predestined to the blessing of virginity. And
when all were captured, and even the vessels of the temple were
plundered by the King of Babylon, he alone was [4486] liberated by the
enemy, knew not the insults of captivity, and was supported by the
conquerors; and Nebuchadnezzar, though he gave Nebuzaradan no charge
concerning the Holy of Holies, did give him charge concerning Jeremiah.
For that is the true temple of God, and that is the Holy of Holies,
which is consecrated to the Lord by pure virginity. On the other hand,
Ezekiel, who was kept captive in Babylon, who saw the [4487] storm
approaching from the north, and the whirlwind sweeping all before it,
says, [4488] "My wife died in the evening and I did in the morning as I
was commanded." For the Lord had previously told him that in that day
he should open his mouth, and speak, and no longer keep silence. Mark
well, that while his wife was living he was not at liberty to admonish
the people. His wife died, the bond of wedlock was broken, and without
the least hesitation he constantly devoted himself to the prophetic
office. For he who was called being free, is truly the Lord's
bondservant. I do not deny the blessedness of widows who remain such
after their baptism; nor do I disparage those wives who maintain their
chastity in wedlock; but as they attain a greater reward with God than
married women who pay the marriage due, let widows themselves be
content to give the preference to virginity. For if a chastity which
comes too late, when the glow of bodily pleasure is no longer felt,
makes them feel superior to married women, why should they not
acknowledge themselves inferior to perpetual virginity.
34. All that goes for nothing, says Jovinianus, because even bishops,
priests, and deacons, husbands of one wife, and having children, were
appointed by the Apostle. Just as the Apostle [4489] says he has no
commandment respecting virgins, and yet gives his advice, as one who
had obtained mercy from the Lord, and is anxious throughout the whole
discussion to give virginity the preference over marriage, and advises
what he does not venture to command, lest he seem to lay a snare, and
to put a heavier burden upon man's nature than it can bear; so also in
establishing the constitution of the Church, inasmuch as the elements
of the early Church were drawn from the Gentiles, he made the rules for
fresh believers somewhat lighter that they might not in alarm shrink
from keeping them. Then, again, the Apostles and elders wrote [4490]
letters from Jerusalem that no heavier burden should be laid on Gentile
believers than that they should keep themselves from idolatry, and from
fornication, and from things strangled. As though they were providing
for infant children, they gave them milk to drink, not solid food. Nor
did they lay down rules for continence, nor hint at virginity, nor urge
to fasting, nor repeat the directions [4491] given in the Gospel to the
Apostles, not to have two tunics, nor scrip, nor money in their
girdles, nor staff in their hand, nor shoes on their feet. And they
certainly did not bid them, [4492] if they wished to be perfect, go and
sell all that they had and give to the poor, and "come follow me." For
if the young man who boasted of having done all that the law enjoins,
when he heard this went away sorrowful, because he had great
possessions, and the Pharisees derided an utterance such as this from
our Lord's lips: how much more would the vast multitude of Gentiles,
whose highest virtue consisted in not plundering another's goods, have
repudiated the obligation of perpetual chastity and continence, when
they were told in the letter to keep themselves from idols, and from
fornication, seeing that fornication was heard of among them, and such
fornication as was not "even among the Gentiles." But the very choice
of a bishop makes for me. For he does not say: Let a bishop be chosen
who marries one wife and begets children; but who marries one wife, and
[4493] has his children in subjection and well disciplined. You surely
admit that he is no bishop who during his episcopate begets children.
The reverse is the case--if he be discovered, he will not be bound by
the ordinary obligations of a husband, but will be condemned as an
adulterer. Either permit [4494] priests to perform the work of marriage
with the result that virginity and marriage are on a par: or if it is
unlawful for priests to touch their wives, they are so far holy in that
they imitate virgin chastity. But something more follows. A layman, or
any believer, cannot pray unless he abstain from sexual intercourse.
Now a priest must always offer sacrifices for the people: he must
therefore always pray. And if he must always pray, he must always be
released from the duties of marriage. For even under the old law they
who used to offer sacrifices for the people not only remained in their
houses, but purified themselves for the occasion by separating from
their wives, nor would they drink wine or strong drink which are wont
to stimulate lust. That married men are elected to the priesthood, I do
not deny: the number of virgins is not so great as that of the priests
required. Does it follow that because all the strongest men are chosen
for the army, weaker men should not be taken as well? All cannot be
strong. If an army were constituted of strength only, and numbers went
for nothing, the feebler men might be rejected. As it is, men of second
or third-rate strength are chosen, that the army may have its full
numerical complement. How is it, then, you will say, that frequently at
the ordination of priests a virgin is passed over, and a married man
taken? Perhaps because he lacks other qualifications in keeping with
virginity, or it may be that he is thought a virgin, and is not: or
there may be a stigma on his virginity, or at all events virginity
itself makes him proud, and while he plumes himself on mere bodily
chastity, he neglects other virtues; he does not cherish the poor: he
is too fond of money. It sometimes happens that a man has a gloomy
visage, a frowning brow, a walk as though he were in a solemn
procession, and so offends the people, who, because they have no fault
to find with his life, hate his mere dress and gait. Many are chosen
not out of affection for themselves, but out of hatred for another. In
most cases the election is won by mere simplicity, while the shrewdness
and discretion of another candidate elicit opposition as though they
were evils. Sometimes the judgement of the commoner people is at fault,
and in testing the qualities of the priesthood, the individual inclines
to his own character, with the result that he looks not so much for a
good candidate as for one like himself. Not unfrequently it happens
that married men, who form the larger portion of the people, in
approving married candidates seem to approve themselves, and it does
not occur to them that the mere fact that they prefer a married person
to a virgin is evidence of their inferiority to virgins. What I am
going to say will perhaps offend many. Yet I will say it, and good men
will not be angry with me, because they will not feel the sting of
conscience. Sometimes it is the fault of the bishops, who choose into
the ranks of the clergy not the best, but the cleverest, men, and think
the more simple as well as innocent ones incapable; or, as though they
were distributing the offices of an earthly service, they give posts to
their kindred and relations; or they listen to the dictates of wealth.
And, worse than all, they give promotion to the clergy who besmear them
with flattery. To take the other view, if the Apostle's meaning be that
marriage is necessary in a bishop, the Apostle himself ought not to
have been a bishop, for he said, [4495] "Yet I would that all men were
even as I myself." And John will be thought unworthy of this rank, and
all the virgins, and the continent, the fairest gems that give grace
and ornament to the Church. Bishop, priest, and deacon, are not
honourable distinctions, but names of offices. And we do not read:
[4496] "If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good
degree," but, "he desireth a good work," because by being placed in the
higher order an opportunity is afforded him, if he choose to avail
himself of it, for the practice of virtue.
35. "The bishop, then, must be without reproach, so that he is the
slave of no vice: "the husband of one wife," that is, in the past, not
in the present; "sober," or [4497] better, as it is in the Greek,
"vigilant," that is nephaleon; "chaste," for that is the [4498] meaning
of sophrona; [4499] "distinguished," both by chastity and conduct:
"hospitable," so that he imitates Abraham, and with strangers, nay
rather in strangers, entertains Christ; "apt to teach," for it profits
nothing to enjoy the consciousness of virtue, unless a man be able to
instruct the people intrusted to him, so that he can exhort in
doctrine, and refute the gainsayers; [4500] "not a drunkard," for he
who is constantly in the Holy of Holies and offers sacrifices, will not
drink wine and strong drink, since wine is a luxury. If a bishop drink
at all, let it be in such a way that no one will know whether he has
drunk or not. "No striker," that is, [4501] a striker of men's
consciences, for the Apostle is not pointing out what a boxer, but a
pontiff ought not to do. He directly teaches what he ought to do: "but
gentle, not contentious, no lover of money, one that ruleth well his
own house, having his children in subjection with all chastity." See
what chastity is required in a bishop! If his child be unchaste, he
himself cannot be a bishop, and he offends God in the same way as did
[4502] Eli the priest, who had indeed rebuked his sons, but because he
had not put away the offenders, fell backwards and died before the lamp
of God went out. [4503] "Women in like manner must be chaste," and so
on. In every grade, and in both sexes, chastity has the chief place.
You see then that the blessedness of a bishop, priest, or deacon, does
not lie in the fact that they are bishops, priests, or deacons, but in
their having the virtues which their names and offices imply.
Otherwise, if a deacon be holier than his bishop, his lower grade will
not give him a worse standing with Christ. If it were so, Stephen the
deacon, the first to wear the martyr's crown, would be less in the
kingdom of heaven than many bishops, and than Timothy and Titus, whom I
venture to make neither inferior nor yet superior to him. Just as in
the legions of the army there are generals, tribunes, centurions,
javelin-men, and light-armed troops, common soldiers, and companies,
but once the battle begins, all distinctions of rank are dropped, and
the one thing looked for is valour: so too in this camp and in this
battle, in which we contend against devils, not names but deeds are
needed: and under the true commander, Christ, not the man who has the
highest title has the greatest fame, but he who is the bravest warrior.
36. But you will say: "If everybody were a virgin, what would become of
the human race"? Like shall here beget like. If everyone were a widow,
or continent in marriage, how will mortal men be propagated? Upon this
principle there will be nothing at all for fear that something else may
cease to exist. To put a case: if all men were philosophers, there
would be no husbandmen. Why speak of husbandmen? there would be no
orators, no lawyers, no teachers of the other professions. If all men
were leaders, what would become of the soldiers? If all were the head,
whose head would they be called, when there were no other members? You
are afraid that if the desire for virginity were general there would be
no prostitutes, no adulteresses, no wailing infants in town or country.
Every day the blood of adulterers [4504] is shed, adulterers are
condemned, and lust is raging and rampant in the very presence of the
laws and the symbols of authority and the courts of justice. Be not
afraid that all will become virgins: virginity is a hard matter, and
therefore rare, because it is hard: "Many are called, few chosen." Many
begin, few persevere. And so the reward is great for those who have
persevered. If all were able to be virgins, our Lord would never have
said: [4505] "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it:" and
the Apostle would not have hesitated to give his advice,-- [4506] "Now
concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord." Why then, you
will say, were the organs of generation created, and why were we so
fashioned by the all-wise creator, that we burn for one another, and
long for natural intercourse? To reply is to endanger our modesty: we
are, as it were, between two rocks, the [4507] Symplegades of necessity
and virtue, on either side; and must make shipwreck of either our sense
of shame, or of the cause we defend: If we reply to your suggestions,
shame covers our face. If shame secures silence, in a manner we seem to
desert our post, and to leave the ground clear to the raging foe. Yet
it is better, as the story goes, to shut our eyes and fight like the
[4508] blindfold gladiators, than not to repel with the shield of truth
the darts aimed at us. I can indeed say: "Our hinder parts which are
banished from sight, and the lower portions of the abdomen, which
perform the functions of nature, are the Creator's work." But inasmuch
as the physical conformation of the organs of generation testifies to
difference of sex, I shall briefly reply: Are we never then to forego
lust, for fear that we may have members of this kind for nothing? Why
then should a husband keep himself from his wife? Why should a widow
persevere in chastity, if we were only born to live like beasts? Or
what harm does it do me if another man lies with my wife? For as the
teeth were made for chewing, and the food masticated passes into the
stomach, and a man is not blamed for giving my wife bread: similarly if
it was intended that the organs of generation should always be
performing their office, when my vigour is spent let another take my
place, and, if I may so speak, let my wife quench her burning lust
where she can. But what does the Apostle mean by exhorting to
continence, if continence be contrary to nature? What does our Lord
mean when He instructs us in the various kinds of eunuchs. [4509]
Surely [4510] the Apostle who bids us emulate his own chastity, must be
asked, if we are to be consistent, Why are you like other men, Paul?
Why are you distinguished from the female sex by a beard, hair, and
other peculiarities of person? How is it that you have not swelling
bosoms, and are not broad at the hips, narrow at the chest? Your voice
is rugged, your speech rough, your eyebrows more shaggy. To no purpose
you have all these manly qualities, if you forego the embraces of
women. I am compelled to say something and become a fool: but you have
forced me to dare to speak. Our Lord and Saviour, [4511] Who though He
was in the form of God, condescended to take the form of a servant, and
became obedient to the Father even unto death, yea the death of the
cross--what necessity was there for Him to be born with members which
He was not going to use? He certainly was circumcised to manifest His
sex. Why did he cause John the Apostle and John the Baptist to make
themselves eunuchs through love of Him, after causing them to be born
men? Let us then who believe in Christ follow His example. And if we
knew Him after the flesh, let us no longer know Him according to the
flesh. The substance of our resurrection bodies will certainly be the
same as now, though of higher glory. For the Saviour after His descent
into hell had so far the selfsame body in which He was crucified, that
[4512] He showed the disciples the marks of the nails in His hands and
the wound in His side. Moreover, if we deny the identity of His body
because [4513] He entered though the doors were shut, and this is not a
property of human bodies, we must deny also that Peter and the Lord had
real bodies because they [4514] walked upon the water, which is
contrary to nature. [4515] "In the resurrection of the dead they will
neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be like the angels."
What others will hereafter be in heaven, that virgins begin to be on
earth. If likeness to the angels is promised us (and there is no
difference of sex among the angels), we shall either be of no sex as
are the angels, or at all events which is clearly proved, though we
rise from the dead in our own sex, we shall not perform the functions
of sex.
37. But why do we argue, and why are we eager to frame a clever and
victorious reply to our opponent? [4516] "Old things have passed away,
behold all things have become new." I will run through the utterances
of the Apostles, and as to the instances afforded by Solomon I added
short expositions to facilitate their being understood, so now I will
go over the passages bearing on Christian purity and continence, and
will make of many proofs a connected series. By this method I shall
succeed in omitting nothing relating to chastity, and shall avoid being
tediously long. Amongst other passages, Paul the Apostle writes to the
Romans: [4517] "What fruit then had ye at that time in the things
whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But
now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your
fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life." I suppose too
that the end of marriage is death. But the compensating fruit of
sanctification, fruit belonging either to virginity or to continence,
is eternal life. And afterwards: [4518] "Wherefore, my brethren, ye
also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye
should be joined to another, even to him who was raised from the dead,
that we might bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the
flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the law, wrought in our
members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we have been
discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were holden; so
that we serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in oldness of the
letter." "When," he says, "we were in the flesh, and not in the newness
of the Spirit but in the oldness of the letter," we did those things
which pertained to the flesh, and bore fruit unto death. But now
because we are dead to the law, through the body of Christ, let us bear
fruit to God, that we may belong to Him who rose from the dead. And
elsewhere, having previously said, [4519] "I know that the law is
spiritual," and having discussed at some length the violence of the
flesh which frequently drives us to do what we would not, he at last
continues: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." And
again, "So then I myself with the mind serve the law of God; but with
the flesh the law of sin." And, [4520] "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the
flesh. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free
from the law of sin and death." And more clearly in what follows he
teaches that Christians do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit: [4521] "For they that are after the flesh do
mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the spirit the
things of the spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind
of the spirit is life and peace: because the mind of the flesh is
enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can it be: and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But
ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of
God dwelleth in you," and so on to where he says, [4522] "So then,
brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh:
for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the spirit ye
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by
the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." If the [4523] wisdom of the
flesh is enmity against God, and they who are in the flesh cannot
please God, I think that they who perform the functions of marriage
love the wisdom of the flesh, and therefore are in the flesh. The
Apostle being desirous to withdraw us from the flesh and to join us to
the Spirit, says afterwards: [4524] "I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And be not
fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and
acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace that
was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself
more highly than he ought to think; but to think according to chastity"
[4525] (not soberly as the Latin versions badly render), but "think,"
he says, "according to chastity," for the Greek words are eis to
sophronein. Let us consider what the Apostle says: "Be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and
acceptable and perfect will of God." What he says is something like
this--God indeed permits marriage, He permits second marriages, and if
necessary, prefers even third marriages to fornication and adultery.
But we who ought to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service, should consider,
not what God permits, but what He wishes: that we may prove what is the
good and acceptable and perfect will of God. It follows that what He
merely permits is neither good, nor acceptable, nor perfect. And he
gives his reasons for this advice: [4526] "Knowing the season, that now
it is high time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation
nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far spent, and
the day is at hand." And lastly: "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." God's
will is one thing, His indulgence another. Whence, writing to the
Corinthians, he says, [4527] "I, brethren, could not speak unto you as
unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I
have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not
able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal."
He who [4528] is in the merely animal state, and does not receive the
things pertaining to the Spirit of God (for he is foolish, and cannot
understand them, because they are spiritually discerned), he is not fed
with the food of perfect chastity, but with the coarse milk of
marriage. As through man came death, so also through man came the
resurrection of the dead. As in Adam we all die, so in Christ we shall
all be made alive. Under the law we served the old Adam, under the
Gospel let us serve the new Adam. For the first man Adam was made a
living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. [4529] "The
first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven. As is
the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly,
such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of
the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I
say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God;
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." This is so clear that no
explanation can make it clearer: "Flesh and blood," he says, "cannot
inherit the Kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit
incorruption." If corruption attaches to all intercourse, and
incorruption is characteristic of chastity, the rewards of chastity
cannot belong to marriage. [4530] "For we know that if the earthly
house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a
house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. For verily in this
we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from
heaven. We are willing to be absent from the body, and to be at home
with the Lord. Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether in the body,
or out of the body, to be well-pleasing unto God." And by way of more
fully explaining what he did not wish them to be he says elsewhere:
[4531] "I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a
pure virgin to Christ." But if you choose to apply the words to the
whole Assembly of believers, and in this betrothal to Christ include
both married women, and the twice-married, and widows, and virgins,
that also makes for us. For whilst he invites all to chastity and to
the reward of virginity, he shows that virginity is more excellent than
all these conditions. And again writing to the Galatians he says:
[4532] "Because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
Among the works of the law is marriage, and accordingly under it they
are cursed who have no children. And if under the Gospel it is
permitted to have children, it is one thing to make a concession to
weakness, another to hold out rewards to virtue.
38. Something else I will say to my friends who marry and after long
chastity and continence begin to burn and are as wanton as the brutes:
[4533] "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now
perfected in the flesh? Did ye suffer so many things in vain?" If the
Apostle in the case of some persons loosens the cords of continence,
and lets them have a slack rein, he does so on account of the infirmity
of the flesh. This is the enemy he has in view when he once more says:
[4534] "Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the
flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against
the flesh." It is unnecessary now to speak of the works of the flesh:
it would be tedious, and he who chooses can easily gather them from the
letter of the Apostle. I will only speak of the Spirit and its fruits,
love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
meekness, [4535] continence. All the virtues of the Spirit are
supported and protected by continence, which is as it were their solid
foundation and crowning point. Against such there is no law. [4536]
"And they that are of Christ have crucified their flesh with the
passions and the lusts thereof. If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit
let us also walk." Why do we who with Christ have crucified our flesh
and its passions and desires again desire to do the things of the
flesh? [4537] "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he
that soweth unto his own flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but
he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life."
I think that he who has a wife, so long as he reverts to the practice
in question, that Satan may not tempt him, is sowing to the flesh and
not to the Spirit. And he who sows to the flesh (the words are not
mine, but the Apostle's) reaps corruption. God the Father chose us in
Christ before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and
without spot before Him. [4538] We walked in the lusts of the flesh,
doing the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were children
of wrath, even as the rest. But now He has raised us up with Him, and
made us to sit with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [4539]
that we may put away according to our former manner of life the old
man, which is corrupt according to the lusts of deceit, and that
blessing may be applied to us which so finely concludes the mystical
Epistle to the Ephesians: [4540] "Grace be with all them that love our
Lord Jesus Christ in uncorruptness." [4541] "For our citizenship is in
heaven; from whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be
conformed to the body of his glory. [4542] Whatsoever things then are
true, whatsoever are chaste, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things pertain to purity, let us join ourselves to these, let us follow
these. [4543] Christ hath reconciled us in his body to God the Father
through his death, and has presented us holy and without spot, and
without blame before himself: in whom we have been also circumcised,
not with the circumcision made with hands, to the spoiling of the body
of the flesh, but with the circumcision of Christ, having been buried
with him in baptism, wherein also we rose with him. If then we have
risen with Christ, let us seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God; let us set our affections on
things above, not upon the things that are upon the earth. For we are
dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ our life
shall appear, then we also shall appear with him in glory. [4544] No
soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that
he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier. [4545] For the grace
of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to
the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
purely and righteously and godly in this present world."
39. The day would not be long enough were I to attempt to relate all
that the Apostle enjoins concerning purity. These things are those
concerning which our Lord said to the Apostles: [4546] "I have yet many
things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he,
the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth."
After the crucifixion of Christ, we find in the [4547] Acts of the
Apostles that one house, that of Philip the Evangelist, produced four
virgin daughters, to the end that Cæsarea, where the Gentile Church had
been consecrated in the person of Cornelius the centurion, might afford
an illustration of virginity. And whereas our Lord said in the Gospel:
[4548] "The law and the prophets were until John," they because they
were virgins are related to have prophesied even after John. For they
could not be bound by the law of the Old Testament, who had shone with
the brightness of virginity. Let us pass on to James, who was called
the brother of the Lord, a man of such sanctity and righteousness, and
distinguished by so rigid and perpetual a virginity, that even [4549]
Josephus, the Jewish historian, relates that the overthrow of Jerusalem
was due to his death. He, the first bishop of the Church at Jerusalem,
which was composed of Jewish believers, to whom Paul went, accompanied
by Titus and Barnabas, says in his Epistle: [4550] "Be not deceived, my
beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights, [4551] with whom there is no
difference, neither shadow that is cast by turning. Of his own will he
brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of
first-fruits of his creatures." Himself a virgin, he teaches virginity
in a mystery. Every perfect gift cometh down from above, where marriage
is unknown; and it cometh down, not from any one you please, but from
the Father of lights, Who says to the apostles, "Ye are the light of
the world;" with Whom there is no difference of Jew, or Gentile, nor
does that shadow which was the companion of the law, trouble those who
have believed from among the nations; but with His word He begat us,
and with the word of truth, because some shadow, image, and likeness of
truth went before in the law, that we might be the first-fruits of His
creatures. And as He who was Himself the [4552] first begotten from the
dead has raised all that have died in Him: so He who was a virgin,
consecrated the first-fruits of His virgins in His own virgin self. Let
us also consider what Peter thinks of the calling of the Gentiles:
[4553] "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto
a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." Where we read of an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,
prepared in heaven and reserved for the last time, and of the hope of
eternal life when they will neither marry, nor be given in marriage,
there, in other words, the privileges of virginity are described. For
he shows as much in what follows: [4554] "Wherefore girding up the
loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace
that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as
children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your
former lusts in the time of your ignorance; but like as he which called
you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living;
because it is written, ye shall be holy; for I am holy. [4555] For we
were not redeemed with contemptible things, with silver or gold; but
with the precious blood of a lamb without spot, Jesus Christ, [4556]
that we might purify our souls in obedience to the truth, having been
begotten again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through
the word of God, [4557] who liveth and abideth. And as living stones
let us be built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood offering up
spiritual sacrifices through Christ our Lord. [4558] For we are an
elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own
possession. [4559] Christ died for us in the flesh. Let us arm
ourselves with the same conversation as did Christ; for he that hath
suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that we should no longer
live the rest of our time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the
will of God. For the time past is sufficient for us when we walked in
lasciviousness, lusts, and other vices. Great and precious are the
promises attaching to virginity which He has given us, [4560] that
through it we may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
from the corruption that is in the world through lust. [4561] The Lord
knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the
unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgement, but chiefly
them that walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise
dominion, daring, self-willed. For they, as beasts of burden, without
reason, think only of their belly and their lusts, railers who shall in
their corruption be destroyed, and shall receive the reward of
iniquity: men that count unrighteousness delight, spots and blemishes,
thinking of nothing but their pleasures; having eyes full of adultery
and insatiable lust, deceiving souls not yet strengthened by the love
of Christ. For they utter swelling words and easily snare the unlearned
with the seduction of the flesh; promising them liberty while they
themselves are the slaves of vice, luxury, and corruption. For of what
a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage. But if,
after they had escaped the defilements of the world through the
knowledge of our Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again overcome by that
which they before overcame, the last state is become worse with them
than the first. And it were better for them not to have known the way
of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back and forsake the
holy commandment delivered unto them. And it has happened unto them
according to the true proverb, the dog hath turned to his own vomit
again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire." I have
hesitated, for fear of being tedious, to quote the whole passage of the
second Epistle of Peter, and have merely shown that the Holy Spirit in
prophecy foretold the teachers of this time and their heresy. Lastly,
he more clearly denotes them, saying, [4562] "In the last days seducing
mockers shall come, walking after their own lusts."
40. The Apostle has described Jovinianus speaking with swelling cheeks
and nicely balancing his inflated utterances, promising heavenly
liberty, when he himself is the slave of vice and self-indulgence, a
dog returning to his vomit. For although he boasts of being a monk, he
has exchanged his dirty tunic, bare feet, common bread, and drink of
water, for a snowy dress, sleek skin, honey-wine and dainty dishes, for
the sauces of [4563] Apicius and [4564] Paxamus, for baths and
rubbings, and for the cook-shops. Is it not clear that he prefers his
belly to Christ, and thinks his ruddy complexion worth the kingdom of
heaven? And yet that handsome monk so fat and sleek, and of bright
appearance, who always walks with the air of a bridegroom, must either
marry a wife if he is to show that virginity and marriage are equal: or
if he does not marry one, it is useless for him to bandy words with us
when his acts are on our side. And John agrees with this almost to the
letter: [4565] "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the
world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of this life, which is not of the Father, but
is of the world." And, "The world passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. A new commandment
have I written unto you, which thing is true both in Christ and in you;
because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already
shineth." And again, [4566] "Beloved, now are we the children of God,
and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. But we know that, if
he shall be manifested, we shall be like him: for we shall see him even
as he is. And every one that hath this hope purifieth himself, even as
he is pure. [4567] Herein is our love made perfect, if we have boldness
in the day of judgement: that as he is, even so may we be in this
world." The Epistle of Jude also expresses nearly the same: [4568]
"Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." Let us read the
Apocalypse of John, and we shall there find the Lamb upon Mount Sion,
[4569] and with Him "a hundred and forty-four thousand of them that
were sealed, having His name and the name of His Father written in
their foreheads, who sing a new song, and no one can sing that song
save they who have been redeemed out of the earth. These are they who
have not defiled themselves with women, for they continued virgins.
These follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth: for they were redeemed
from among men, first-fruits to God and to the Lamb, and in their mouth
was found no guile, and they are without spot." [4570] Out of each
tribe, the tribe of Dan excepted, the place of which is taken by the
tribe of Levi, twelve thousand virgins who have been sealed are spoken
of as future believers, who have not defiled themselves with women. And
that we may not suppose the reference to be to those who know not
harlots, he immediately added: "For they continued virgins." Whereby he
shows that all who have not preserved their virginity, in comparison of
pure and angelic chastity and of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, are
defiled. [4571] "These are they who sing a new song which no man can
sing except him that is a virgin. These are first-fruits unto God and
unto the Lamb, and are without blemish." If virgins are first-fruits,
it follows that widows and the continent in marriage, come after the
first-fruits, that is, are in the second and third rank: nor can a lost
people be saved unless it offer such sacrifices of chastity to God, and
with pure victims reconcile the spotless Lamb. It would be endless work
to explain the Gospel mystery of the ten virgins, five of whom were
wise and five foolish. All I say now is, that as mere virginity without
other works does not save, so all works without virginity, purity,
continence, chastity, are imperfect. And we shall not be hindered in
the least from taking this view by the objection of our opponent that
our Lord was at Cana of Galilee, and joined in the marriage festivities
when He turned water into wine. I shall very briefly reply, that He Who
was circumcised on the eighth day, and for Whom a pair of turtle-doves
and two young pigeons were offered on the day of purification, like
others before He suffered, shewed His approval of Jewish custom, that
He might not seem to give His enemies just cause for putting Him to
death on the pretext that He destroyed the law and condemned nature.
And even this was done for our sakes. For by going once to a marriage,
He taught that men should marry only once. Moreover, at that time it
was possible to injure virginity if marriage were not placed next to
it, and the purity of widowhood in the third rank. But now when
heretics are condemning wedlock, and despise the ordinance of God, we
gladly hear anything he [4572] may say in praise of marriage. For the
Church does not condemn marriage, but makes it subordinate; nor does
she reject it, but regulates it; for she knows, as was said before,
that [4573] in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and
silver, but also of wood and earthenware; and that some are to honour,
some to dishonour; and that whoever cleanses himself will be a vessel
of honour, necessary, prepared for every good work.
41. I have given enough and more than enough illustrations from the
divine writings of Christian chastity and angelic virginity. But as I
understand that our opponent in his commentaries summons us to the
tribunal of worldly wisdom, and we are told that views of this kind are
never accepted in the world, and that our religion has invented a dogma
against nature, I will quickly run through Greek and Roman and Foreign
History, and will show that virginity ever took the lead of chastity.
Fable relates that Atalanta, the virgin of Calydonian fame, lived for
the chase and dwelt always in the woods; in other words that she did
not set her heart on marriage with its troubles of pregnancy and of
sickness, but upon the nobler life of freedom and chastity. [4574]
Harpalyce too, a Thracian virgin, is described by the famous poet; and
so is [4575] Camilia, queen of the Volsci, on whom, when she came to
his assistance, Turnus had no higher praise which he could bestow than
to call her a virgin. "O Virgin, Glory of Italy!" And that famous
daughter of [4576] Leos, the lady of the brazen house, ever a virgin,
is related to have freed her country from pestilence by her voluntary
death: and the blood of the virgin [4577] Iphigenia is said to have
calmed the stormy winds. What need to tell of the Sibyls of Erythræ and
Cumæ, and the eight others? for Varro asserts there were ten whose
ornament was virginity, and divination the reward of their virginity.
But if in the Æolian dialect "Sibyl" is represented by Theoboule, we
must understand that a knowledge of the Counsel of God is rightly
attributed to virginity alone. We read, too, that Cassandra and
Chryseis, prophetesses of Apollo and Juno, were virgins. And there were
innumerable priestesses of the Taurian Diana, and of Vesta. One of
these, Munitia, being suspected of unchastily was [4578] buried alive,
which would be in my opinion an unjust punishment, unless the violation
of virginity were considered a serious crime. At all events how highly
the Romans always esteemed virgins is clear from the fact that consuls
and generals even in their triumphal chariots and bringing home the
spoils of conquered nations, were wont to make way for them to pass.
And so did men of all ranks. When [4579] Claudia, a Vestal Virgin, was
suspected of unchastily, and a vessel containing the image of Cybele
was aground in the Tiber, it is related that she, to prove her
chastity, with her girdle drew the ship which a thousand men could not
move. Yet, as [4580] the uncle of Lucan the poet says, it would have
been better if this circumstance had decorated a chastity tried and
proved, and had not pleaded in defence of a chastity equivocal. No
wonder that we read such things of human beings, when heathen error
also invented the virgin goddesses Minerva and Diana, and placed the
Virgin among the twelve signs of the Zodiac, by means of which, as they
suppose, the world revolves. It is a proof of the little esteem in
which they held marriage that they did not even among the scorpions,
centaurs, crabs, fishes, and capricorn, thrust in a husband and wife.
When the thirty tyrants of Athens had slain Phidon at the banquet, they
commanded his virgin daughters to come to them, naked like harlots, and
there upon the ground, red with their father's blood, to act the
wanton. For a little while they hid their grief, and then when they saw
the revellers were intoxicated, going out on the plea of easing nature,
they embraced one another and threw themselves into a well, that by
death they might save their virginity. The virgin daughter of Demotion,
chief of the Areopagites, having heard of the death of her betrothed,
[4581] Leosthenes, who had originated the Lamian war, slew herself, for
she declared that although in body she was a virgin, yet if she were
compelled to accept another, she should regard him as her second
husband, when she had given her heart to Leosthenes. So close a
friendship long existed between Sparta and Messene that for the
furtherance of certain religious rites they even exchanged virgins.
Well, on one occasion when the men of Messene attempted to outrage
fifty Lacedæmonian virgins, out of so many not one consented, but they
all most gladly died in defence of their chastity. Whence there arose a
long and grievous war, and in the long run [4582] Mamertina was
destroyed. Aristoclides, tyrant of Orchomenos, fell in love with a
virgin of Stymphalus, and when after the death of her father she took
refuge in the temple of Diana, and embraced the image of the goddess
and could not be dragged thence by force, she was slain on the spot.
Her death caused such intense grief throughout Arcadia that the people
took up arms and avenged the virgin's death. [4583] Aristomenes of
Messene, a just man, at a time when the Lacedæmonians, whom he had
conquered, were celebrating by night the festival called the [4584]
Hyacinthia, carried off from the sportive bands fifteen virgins, and
fleeing all night at full speed got away from the Spartan territory.
His companions wished to outrage them, but he admonished them to the
best of his power not to do so, and when certain refused to obey, he
slew them, and restrained the rest by fear. The maidens were afterwards
ransomed by their kinsmen, and on seeing Aristomenes condemned for
murder would not return to their country until clasping the knees of
the judges they beheld the protector of their chastity acquitted. How
shall we sufficiently praise the daughters of Scedasus at Leuctra in
Boeotia? It is related that in the absence of their father they
hospitably entertained two youths who were passing by, and who having
drunk to excess violated the virgins in the course of the night. Being
unwilling to survive the loss of their virginity, the maidens inflicted
deadly wounds on one another. Nor would it be right to omit mention of
the Locrian virgins. They were sent to Ilium according to custom which
had lasted for nearly a thousand years, and yet not one gave occasion
to any idle tale or filthy rumour of virginity defiled. Could any one
pass over in silence the seven virgins of Miletus who, when the Gauls
spread desolation far and wide, that they might suffer no indignity at
the hands of the enemy, escaped disgrace by death, and left to all
virgins the lesson of their example--that noble minds care more for
chastity than life? Nicanor having conquered and overthrown Thebes was
himself overcome by a passion for one captive virgin, whose voluntary
self-surrender he longed for. A captive maid, he thought, must be only
too glad. But he found that virginity is dearer to the pure in heart
than a kingdom, when with tears and grief he held her in his arms slain
by her own hand. Greek writers tell also of another Theban virgin who
had been deflowered by a Macedonian foe, and who, hiding her grief for
a while, slew the violator of her virginity as he slept, and then
killed herself with the sword, so that she would neither live when her
chastity was lost, nor die before she had avenged herself.
42. To come to the Gymnosophists of India, the opinion is
authoritatively handed down that Budda, the founder of their religion,
had his birth through the side of a virgin. And we need not wonder at
this in the case of Barbarians when cultured Greece supposed that
Minerva at her birth sprang from the head of Jove, and Father Bacchus
from his thigh. [4585] Speusippus also, Plato's nephew, and [4586]
Clearchus in his eulogy of Plato, and [4587] Anaxelides in the second
book of his philosophy, relates that Perictione, the mother of Plato,
was violated by an apparition of Apollo, and they agree in thinking
that the prince of wisdom was born of a virgin. [4588] Timæus writes
that the [4589] virgin daughter of [4590] Pythagoras was at the head of
a band of virgins, and instructed them in chastity. [4591] Diodorus,
the disciple of Socrates, is said to have had five daughters skilled in
dialectics and distinguished for chastity, of whom a full account is
given by Philo the master of [4592] Carneades. And mighty Rome cannot
taunt us as though we had invented the story of the birth of our Lord
and Saviour from a virgin; for the Romans believe that the founders of
their city and race were the offspring of the virgin [4593] Ilia and of
Mars.
43. Let these allusions to the virgins of the world, brief and hastily
gathered from many histories, now suffice. I will proceed to married
women who were reluctant to survive the decease or violent death of
their husbands for fear they might be forced into a second marriage,
and who entertained a marvellous affection for the only husbands they
had. This may teach us that second marriage was repudiated among the
heathen. Dido, the sister of Pygmalion, having collected a vast amount
of gold and silver, sailed to Africa, and there built Carthage. And
when her hand was sought in marriage by Iarbas, king of Libya, she
deferred the marriage for a while until her country was settled. Not
long after, having raised a [4594] funeral pyre to the memory of her
former husband Sichæus, she preferred to "burn rather than to marry."
Carthage was built by a woman of chastity, and its end was a tribute to
the excellence of the virtue. For the [4595] wife of Hasdrubal, when
the city was captured and set on fire, and she saw that she could not
herself escape capture by the Romans, took her little children in
either hand and leaped into the burning ruins of her house.
44. What need to tell of the wife of [4596] Niceratus, who, not
enduring to wrong her husband, inflicted death upon herself rather than
subject herself to the lust of the thirty tyrants whom Lysander had set
over conquered Athens? [4597] Artemisia, also, wife of Mausolus, is
related to have been distinguished for chastity. Though she was queen
of Caria, and is extolled by great poets and historians, no higher
praise is bestowed upon her than that when her husband was dead she
loved him as much as when he was alive, and built a tomb so great that
even to the present day all costly sepulchres are called after his
name, mausoleums. [4598] Teuta, queen of the Illyrians, owed her long
sway over brave warriors, and her frequent victories over Rome, to her
marvellous chastity. The Indians and almost all the Barbarians have a
plurality of wives. It is a law with them that the favourite wife must
be burned with her dead husband. The wives therefore vie with one
another for the husband's love, and the highest ambition of the rivals,
and the proof of chastity, is to be considered worthy of death. So then
she that is victorious, having put on her former dress and ornaments,
lies down beside the corpse, embracing and kissing it, and to the glory
of chastity despises the flames which are burning beneath her. I
suppose that she who dies thus, wants no second marriage. The famous
Alcibiades, the friend of Socrates, when Athens was conquered, fled to
Pharnabazus, who took a bribe from Lysander the Lacedæmonian leader and
ordered him to be slain. He was strangled, and when his head had been
cut off it was sent to Lysander as proof of the murder, but the rest of
his body lay unburied. His concubine, therefore, all alone, in defiance
of the command of the cruel enemy, in the midst of strangers, and in
the face of peril, gave him due burial, for she was ready to die for
the dead man whom she had loved when living. Let matrons, Christian
matrons at all events, imitate the fidelity of concubines, and exhibit
in their freedom what she in her captivity preserved.
45. Strato, ruler of Sidon, thought of dying by his own hand, that he
might not be the sport of the Persians, who were close by and whose
alliance he had discarded for the friendship of the king of Egypt. But
he drew back in terror, and eying the sword which he had seized,
awaited in alarm the approach of the enemy. His wife, knowing that he
must be immediately taken, wrested the weapon from his hand, and
pierced his side. When the body was properly laid out she lay down upon
it in the agony of death, that she might not violate her virgin troth
in the embraces of another. [4599] Xenophon, in describing the early
years of the elder Cyrus, relates that when her husband Abradatas was
slain, Panthea who had loved him intensely, placed herself beside the
mangled body, then stabbed herself, and let her blood run into her
husband's wounds. The [4600] queen whom the king her husband had shewn
naked and without her knowledge to his friend, thought she had good
cause for slaying the king. She judged that she was not beloved if it
was possible for her to be exhibited to another. Rhodogune, daughter of
Darius, after the death of her husband, put to death the nurse who was
trying to persuade her to marry again. [4601] Alcestis is related in
story to have voluntarily died for Admetus, and Penelope's chastity is
the theme of Homer's song. Laodamia's praises are also sung by the
poets, because, when [4602] Protesilaus was slain at Troy, she refused
to survive him.
46. I may pass on to Roman women; and the first that I shall mention is
[4603] Lucretia, who would not survive her violated chastity, but
blotted out the stain upon her person with her own blood. Duilius, the
first Roman who won a [4604] naval triumph, took to wife a virgin,
Bilia, of such extraordinary chastity that she was an example even to
an age which held unchastity to be not merely vicious but monstrous.
When he was grown old and feeble he was once in the course of a quarrel
taunted with having bad breath. In dudgeon he betook himself home, and
on complaining to his wife that she had never told him of it so that he
might remedy the fault, he received the reply that she would have done
so, but she thought that all men had foul breath as he had. In either
case this chaste and noble woman deserves praise, whether she was not
aware there was anything wrong with her husband, or if she patiently
endured, and her husband discovered his unfortunate condition not by
the disgust of a wife, but by the abuse of an enemy. At all events the
woman who marries a second time cannot say this. Marcia, Cato's younger
daughter, on being asked after the loss of her husband why she did not
marry again, replied that she could not find a man who wanted her more
than her money. Her words teach us that men in choosing their wives
look for riches rather than for chastity, and that many in marrying use
not their eyes but their fingers. That must be an excellent thing which
is won by avarice! When the same lady was mourning the loss of her
husband, and the matrons asked what day would terminate her grief, she
replied, "The same that terminates my life." I imagine that a woman who
thus followed her husband in heart and mind had no thought of marrying
again. Porcia, whom [4605] Brutus took to wife, was a virgin; Cato's
wife, [4606] Marcia, was not a virgin; but Marcia went to and fro
between Hortensius and Cato, and was quite content to live without
Cato; while [4607] Porcia could not live without Brutus; for women
attach themselves closely to particular men, and to keep to one is a
strong link in the chain of affection. When a relative urged Annia to
marry again (she was of full age and a goodly person), she answered, "I
shall certainly not do so. For, if I find a good man, I have no wish to
be in fear of losing him: if a bad one, why must I put up with a bad
husband after having had a good one?" [4608] Porcia the younger, on
hearing a certain lady of good character, who had a second husband,
praised in her house, replied, "A chaste and happy matron never marries
more than once." Marcella the elder, on being asked by her mother if
she was glad she was married, answered, "So much so that I want nothing
more." [4609] Valeria, sister of the Messalas, when she lost her
husband Servius, would marry no one else. On being asked why not, she
said that to her, her husband Servius was ever alive.
47. I feel that in giving this list of women I have said far more than
is customary in illustrating a point, and that I might be justly
censured by my learned reader. But what am I to do when the women of
our time press me with apostolic authority, and before the first
husband is buried, repeat from morning to night the precepts which
allow a second marriage? Seeing they despise the fidelity which
Christian purity dictates, let them at least learn chastity from the
heathen. A book On Marriage, worth its weight in gold, passes under the
name of [4610] Theophrastus. In it the author asks whether a wise man
marries. And after laying down the conditions--that the wife must be
fair, of good character, and honest parentage, the husband in good
health and of ample means, and after saying that under these
circumstances a wise man sometimes enters the state of matrimony, he
immediately proceeds thus: "But all these conditions are seldom
satisfied in marriage. A wise man therefore must not take a wife. For
in the first place his study of philosophy will be hindered, and it is
impossible for anyone to attend to his books and his wife. Matrons want
many things, costly dresses, gold, jewels, great outlay, maid-servants,
all kinds of furniture, litters and gilded coaches. Then come
curtain-lectures the livelong night: she complains that one lady goes
out better dressed than she: that another is looked up to by all: I am
a poor despised nobody at the ladies' assemblies.' Why did you ogle
that creature next door?' Why were you talking to the maid?' What did
you bring from the market?' I am not allowed to have a single friend,
or companion.' She suspects that her husband's love goes the same way
as her hate. There may be in some neighbouring city the wisest of
teachers; but if we have a wife we can neither leave her behind, nor
take the burden with us. To support a poor wife, is hard: to put up
with a rich one, is torture. Notice, too, that in the case of a wife
you cannot pick and choose: you must take her as you find her. If she
has a bad temper, or is a fool, if she has a blemish, or is proud, or
has bad breath, whatever her fault may be--all this we learn after
marriage. Horses, asses, cattle, even slaves of the smallest worth,
clothes, kettles, wooden seats, cups, and earthenware pitchers, are
first tried and then bought: a wife is the only thing that is not shown
before she is married, for fear she may not give satisfaction. Our gaze
must always be directed to her face, and we must always praise her
beauty: if you look at another woman, she thinks that she is out of
favour. She must be called my lady, her birth-day must be kept, we must
swear by her health and wish that she may survive us, respect must be
paid to the nurse, to the nursemaid, to the father's slave, to the
foster-child, to the handsome hanger-on, to the curled darling who
manages her affairs, and to the eunuch who ministers to the safe
indulgence of her lust: names which are only a cloak for adultery. Upon
whomsoever she sets her heart, they must have her love though they want
her not. If you give her the management of the whole house, you must
yourself be her slave. If you reserve something for yourself, she will
not think you are loyal to her; but she will turn to strife and hatred,
and unless you quickly take care, she will have the poison ready. If
you introduce old women, and soothsayers, and prophets, and vendors of
jewels and silken clothing, you imperil her chastity; if you shut the
door upon them, she is injured and fancies you suspect her. But what is
the good of even a careful guardian, when an unchaste wife cannot be
watched, and a chaste one ought not to be? For necessity is but a
faithless keeper of chastity, and she alone really deserves to be
called pure, who is free to sin if she chooses. If a woman be fair, she
soon finds lovers; if she be ugly, it is easy to be wanton. It is
difficult to guard what many long for. It is annoying to have what no
one thinks worth possessing. But the misery of having an ugly wife is
less than that of watching a comely one. Nothing is safe, for which a
whole people sighs and longs. One man entices with his figure, another
with his brains, another with his wit, another with his open hand.
Somehow, or sometime, the fortress is captured which is attacked on all
sides. Men marry, indeed, so as to get a manager for the house, to
solace weariness, to banish solitude; but a faithful slave is a far
better manager, more submissive to the master, more observant of his
ways, than a wife who thinks she proves herself mistress if she acts in
opposition to her husband, that is, if she does what pleases her, not
what she is commanded. But friends, and servants who are under the
obligation of benefits received, are better able to wait upon us in
sickness than a wife who makes us responsible for her tears (she will
sell you enough to make a deluge for the hope of a legacy), boasts of
her anxiety, but drives her sick husband to the distraction of despair.
But if she herself is poorly, we must fall sick with her and never
leave her bedside. Or if she be a good and agreeable wife (how rare a
bird she is!), we have to share her groans in childbirth, and suffer
torture when she is in danger. A wise man can never be alone. He has
with him the good men of all time, and turns his mind freely wherever
he chooses. What is inaccessible to him in person he can embrace in
thought. And, if men are scarce, he converses with God. [4611] He is
never less alone than when alone. Then again, to marry for the sake of
children, so that our name may not perish, or that we may have support
in old age, and leave our property without dispute, is the height of
stupidity. For what is it to us when we are leaving the world if
another bears our name, when even a son does not all at once take his
father's title, and there are countless others who are called by the
same name. Or what support in old age is he whom you bring up, and who
may die before you, or turn out a reprobate? Or at all events when he
reaches mature age, you may seem to him long in dying. Friends and
relatives whom you can judiciously love are better and safer heirs than
those whom you must make your heirs whether you like it or not. Indeed,
the surest way of having a good heir is to ruin your fortune in a good
cause while you live, not to leave the fruit of your labour to be used
you know not how."
48. When Theophrastus thus discourses, are there any of us, Christians,
whose conversation is in heaven and who daily say [4612] "I long to be
dissolved, and to be with Christ," whom he does not put to the blush?
Shall a joint-heir of Christ really long for human heirs? And shall he
desire children and delight himself in a long line of descendants, who
will perhaps fall into the clutches of Antichrist, when we read that
[4613] Moses and [4614] Samuel preferred other men to their own sons,
and did not count as their children those whom they saw to be
displeasing to God? When Cicero after [4615] divorcing Terentia was
requested by [4616] Hirtius to marry his sister, he [4617] set the
matter altogether on one side, and said that he could not possibly
devote himself to a wife and to philosophy. Meanwhile that excellent
partner, who had herself drunk wisdom at Tully's fountains, married
[4618] Sallust his enemy, and took for her third husband Messala
Corvinus, and thus, as it were, passed through three degrees of
eloquence. Socrates had two wives, Xantippe and Myron, grand-daughter
of Aristides. They frequently quarrelled, and he was accustomed to
banter them for disagreeing about him, he being the ugliest of men,
with snub nose, bald forehead, rough-haired, and bandy-legged. At last
they planned an attack upon him, and having punished him severely, and
put him to flight, vexed him for a long time. On one occasion when he
opposed Xantippe; who from above was heaping abuse upon him, the
termagant soused him with dirty water, but he only wiped his head and
said, "I knew that a shower must follow such thunder as that." [4619]
Metella, consort of L. Sulla the [4620] Fortunate (except in the matter
of his wife) was [4621] openly unchaste. It was the common talk of
Athens, as I learnt in my youthful years when we soon pick up what is
bad, and yet Sulla was in the dark, and first got to know the secrets
of his household through the abuse of his enemies. Cn. Pompey had an
impure wife [4622] Mucia, who was surrounded by eunuchs from Pontus and
troops of the countrymen of Mithridates. Others thought that he knew
all and submitted to it; but a comrade told him during the campaign,
and the conqueror of the whole world was dismayed at the sad
intelligence. [4623] M. Cato, the Censor, had a wife Actoria Paula, a
woman of low origin, fond of drink, violent, and (who would believe
it?) haughty to Cato. I say this for fear anyone may suppose that in
marrying a poor woman he has secured peace. When [4624] Philip king of
Macedon, against whom [4625] Demosthenes thundered in his Philippics,
was entering his bed-room as usual, his wife in a passion shut him out.
Finding himself excluded he held his tongue, and consoled himself for
the insult by reading a tragic poem. [4626] Gorgias the Rhetorician
recited his excellent treatise on Concord to the Greeks, then at
variance among themselves, at Olympia. Whereupon [4627] Melanthius his
enemy observed: "Here is a man who teaches us concord, and yet could
not make concord between himself his wife, and maid-servant, three
persons in one house." The truth was that his wife envied the beauty of
the girl, and drove the purest of men wild with daily quarrels. Whole
tragedies of Euripides are censures on women. Hence Hermione says,
[4628] "The counsels of evil women have beguiled me." In the
semi-barbarous and remote city [4629] Leptis it is the custom for a
daughter-in-law on [4630] the second day to beg the loan of a jar from
her mother-in-law. The latter at once denies the request, and we see
how true was the remark of [4631] Terence, ambiguously expressed on
purpose--"How is this? do all mothers-in-law hate their
daughters-in-law?" We read of a certain Roman noble who, when his
friends found fault with him for having divorced a wife, beautiful,
chaste, and rich, put out his foot and said to them, "And the shoe
before you looks new and elegant, yet no one but myself knows where it
pinches." Herodotus [4632] tells us that a woman puts off her modesty
with her clothes. And our own comic poet [4633] thinks the man
fortunate who has never been married. Why should I refer to Pasiphaë,
[4634] Clytemnestra, and Eriphyle, the first of whom, the wife of a
king and swimming in pleasure, is said to have lusted for a bull, the
second to have killed her: husband for the sake of an adulterer, the
third to have betrayed Amphiaraus, and to have preferred a gold
necklace to the welfare of her husband. In all the bombast of tragedy
and the overthrow of houses, cities, and kingdoms, it is the wives and
concubines who stir up strife. Parents take up arms against their
children: unspeakable banquets are served: and on account of the rape
of one wretched woman Europe and Asia are involved in a ten years' war.
We read of some who were divorced the day after they were married, and
immediately married again. Both husbands are to blame, both he who was
so soon dissatisfied, and he who was so soon pleased. Epicurus the
patron of pleasure (though [4635] Metrodorus his disciple married
Leontia) says that a wise man can seldom marry, because marriage has
many drawbacks. And as riches, honours, bodily health, and other things
which we call indifferent, are neither good nor bad, but stand as it
were midway, and become good and bad according to the use and issue, so
wives stand on the border line of good and ill. It is, moreover, a
serious matter for a wise man to be in doubt whether he is going to
marry a good or a bad woman. [4636] Chrysippus ridiculously maintains
that a wise man should marry, that he may not outrage Jupiter [4637]
Gamelius and Genethlius. For upon that principle the Latins would not
marry at all, since they have no Jupiter who presides over marriage.
But if, as he thinks, the life of men is determined by the names of
gods, whoever chooses to sit will offend Jupiter [4638] Stator.
49. Aristotle and Plutarch and our Seneca have written treatises on
matrimony, out of which we have already made some extracts and now add
a few more. "The love of beauty is the forgetting of reason and the
near neighbour of madness; a foul blot little in keeping with a sound
mind. It confuses counsel, breaks high and generous spirits, draws away
men from great thoughts to mean ones; it makes men querulous,
ill-tempered, foolhardy, cruelly imperious, servile flatterers, good
for nothing, at last not even for love itself. For although in the
intensity of passion it burns like a raging fire, it wastes much time
through suspicions, tears, and complaints: it begets hatred of itself,
and at last hates itself." The course of love is laid bare in Plato's
Phædrus from beginning to end, and Lysias explains all its
drawbacks--how it is led not by reason, but by frenzy, and in
particular is a harsh gaoler over lovely wives. Seneca, too, relates
that he knew an accomplished man who before going out used to tie his
wife's garter upon his breast, and could not bear to be absent from her
for a quarter of an hour; and this pair would never take a drink unless
husband and wife alternately put their lips to the cup; and they did
other things just as absurd in the extravagant outbursts of their warm
but blind affection. Their love was of honourable birth, but it grew
out of all proportion. And it makes no difference how honourable may be
the cause of a man's insanity. Hence [4639] Xystus in his Sentences
tells us that "He who too ardently loves his own wife is an adulterer."
It is disgraceful to love another man's wife at all, or one's own too
much. A wise man ought to love his wife with judgment, not with
passion. Let a man govern his voluptuous impulses, and not rush
headlong into intercourse. There is nothing blacker than to love a wife
as if she were an adulteress. Men who say they have contracted marriage
and are bringing up children, for the good of their country and of the
race, should at least imitate the brutes, and not destroy their
offspring in the womb; nor should they appear in the character of
lovers, but of husbands. In some cases marriage has grown out of
adultery: and, shameful to relate! men have tried to teach their wives
chastity after having taken their chastity away. Marriages of that sort
are quickly dissolved when lust is satiated. The first allurement gone,
the charm is lost. What shall I say, says Seneca, of the poor men who
in numbers are bribed to take the name of husband in order to evade the
laws promulgated against bachelors? How can he who is married under
such conditions be a guide to morality, teach chastity, and maintain
the authority of a husband? It is the saying of a very learned man,
that chastity must be preserved at all costs, and that when it is lost
all virtue falls to the ground. This holds the primacy of all virtues
in woman. This it is that makes up for a wife's poverty, enhances her
riches, redeems her deformity, gives grace to her beauty; it makes her
act in a way worthy of her forefathers whose blood it does not taint
with bastard offspring; of her children, who through it have no need to
blush for their mother, or to be in doubt about their father; and above
all, of herself, since it defends her from external violation. There is
no greater calamity connected with captivity than to be the victim of
another's lust. The consulship sheds lustre upon men; eloquence gives
eternal renown; military glory and a triumph immortalise an obscure
family. Many are the spheres ennobled by splendid ability. The virtue
of woman is, in a special sense, purity. It was this that made [4640]
Lucretia the equal of Brutus, if it did not make her his superior,
since Brutus learnt from a woman the impossibility of being a slave. It
was this that made [4641] Cornelia a fit match for Gracchus, and [4642]
Porcia for a second Brutus. [4643] Tanaquil is better known than her
husband. His name, like the names of many other kings, is lost in the
mists of antiquity. She, through a virtue rare among women, is too
deeply rooted in the hearts of all ages for her memory ever to perish.
Let my married sisters copy the examples of [4644] Theano, [4645]
Cleobuline, Gorgente, [4646] Timoclia, the [4647] Claudias and
Cornelias; and when they find the Apostle conceding second marriage to
depraved women, they will read that before the light of our religion
shone upon the world wives of one husband ever held high rank among
matrons, that by their hands the sacred rites of Fortuna [4648]
Muliebris were performed, that a priest or [4649] Flamen twice [4650]
married was unknown, that the high-priests of Athens to this day [4651]
emasculate themselves by drinking hemlock, and once they have been
drawn in to the pontificate, cease to be men.
__________________________________________________________________
[4254] From this expression and that quoted in the notice above, it
would be supposed that Jerome knew Jovinianus and his mode of life. But
there is no reason to think that he had this knowledge; and his
imputations against his adversary must be taken as the inferences which
he draws from his opinions.
[4255] Hor. Ars Poet. 139.
[4256] Pers. Sat. iii. 118.
[4257] Plautus, Pseudolus, i. 1. 23. Has quidem, pol, credo, nisi
Sibylla legerit, Interpretari alium potesse neminem.
[4258] The allusion is probably to the Sybilline books.
[4259] Æn x. 640.
[4260] The philosopher of Ephesus. Flourished about b.c. 513.
[4261] Ibi est distinctio. Instead of clearness we have to make a
choice between possible meanings.
[4262] Marcion lived about a.d. 150, and was co-temporary with
Polycarp, who is said to have had a personal encounter with him at
Rome. Unlike other Gnostics he professed to be purely Christian in his
doctrines. He is specially noted for his violent treatment of
Scripture: he rejected the whole of the Old Testament, while of the New
he acknowledged only the Gospel of S. Luke and ten of S. Paul's
Epistles, and from these he expunged whatever he did not approve of.
His sect lasted until the sixth century.
[4263] By birth an Assyrian, and a pupil of Justin Martyr. His
followers were called Encratites, or Temperates, from their great
austerity. They also bore the names Water-drinkers and Renouncers.
[4264] Heb. xiii. The Revised Ver. translates "let marriage be, etc."
There is no verb in the original, the sentence being probably designed
to be a Christian proverb, and capable of serving either as an
assertion or as a precept. The revised rendering is preferred by the
chief modern commentators.
[4265] Gen. i. 28.
[4266] For much interesting information relating to counting on the
fingers, and for authorities on the subject, see Mayor's note on
Juvenal x. 249.
[4267] The philosopher of Crotona, in Italy, b.c. 580-510. See some of
his sayings in Jerome's Apology, iii. 39-40.
[4268] The great teacher of the Academy at Athens; lived b.c. 428-389.
[4269] Surnamed the "Just." He was the opponent of Themistocles. He
fought at Marathon (490), and although in exile did good service at
Salamis (480). He was now recalled, and after commanding the Athenians
at Platæa (479) died, probably in 468, so poor that he did not leave
enough to pay for his funeral.
[4270] Flourished about b.c. 370. A disciple of Socrates, and founder
of the Cyrenaic School of Philosophy; he was luxurious in his life, and
held pleasure to be the highest good.
[4271] Epicurus (b.c. 342-270), though a disciple of Aristippus, does
not appear to have deserved the odium attached to his name by Jerome
and many others. "Pleasure with him was not a mere momentary and
transitory sensation, but something lasting and imperishable,
consisting in pure and noble enjoyments, that is, in ataraxia and
aponia, or the freedom from pain and from all influences which disturb
the peace of our mind, and thereby our happiness which is the result of
it." See Zeller's Socrates and the Socratic Schools (Reichel's
translation), second ed., p. 337 sq.
[4272] The famous Athenian, talented, reckless and unscrupulous; born
about b.c. 450, assassinated 404.
[4273] Gen. ii. 24.
[4274] Matt. xix. 5.
[4275] Gen. i. 28; ix. 1.
[4276] Gen. ix. 1.
[4277] Gen. ix. 3.
[4278] Gen. xxv. 23.
[4279] Gen. xxx. 1.
[4280] Gen. xxx. 2.
[4281] Palo. Rev. Vers. tent-pin.
[4282] Ps. lxxii. 1.
[4283] Ps. lxxii. 15.
[4284] Is. xxxviii. 19. Sept.
[4285] 1 Tim. v. 14.
[4286] Hebr. xiii. 4. See note on sec. 3.
[4287] 1 Cor. vii. 39.
[4288] 1 Tim. ii. 14.
[4289] 1 Cor. vii. 29.
[4290] 1 Cor. vii. 1 sq.
[4291] Prov. vi. 27, 28.
[4292] Mithras was the God of the Sun among the Persians. His worship
was introduced at Rome under the Emperors, and thence spread over the
empire.
[4293] Son of Vulcan, king of Athens, and the first to drive a
four-in-hand, Virg. G. iii. 113: "First to the chariot, Ericthonius
dared four steeds to join, and o'er the rapid wheels victorious hang."
[4294] 1 Pet. iii. 7.
[4295] 1 Pet. iii. 2, 3.
[4296] 1 John ii. 6.
[4297] 1 Cor. vii. 7.
[4298] 2 Cor. ii. 7.
[4299] 2 Cor. ii. 7.
[4300] 2 Cor. ii. 10. Margin.
[4301] Ps. xlv. 9, 13, 14.
[4302] 1 Peter iii. 7, joined with 1 Peter iv. 10.
[4303] 1 Cor. vii. 8.
[4304] Tit. i. 12.
[4305] 1 Cor. xv. 33.
[4306] Acts xvii. 28.
[4307] 1 Cor. vii. 10 sq.
[4308] 2 Cor. vi. 14 sq.
[4309] 1 Cor. vii. 39.
[4310] Mal. ii. 11, 12.
[4311] R.V. "To the man that doeth this, him that waketh and him that
answereth."
[4312] 1 Cor. vii. 18 sq.
[4313] But S. Paul hints at a surgical operation. See Josephus, Antiq.
Bk. xii. c. v. sec. 1, where certain apostates from Judaism are said
"to have hid their circumcision that even when they were naked [in the
gymnasium] they might appear to be Greeks." See also Celsus, Bk. vii.
c. xxv.
[4314] Gal. v. 19.
[4315] 1 Cor. vi. 17.
[4316] 1 Cor. vii. 25, 26.
[4317] Ferias nuptiarum. The reference is to 1 Cor. vii. 5.
[4318] Matt. xix. 10 sq.
[4319] Jerome uses the Greek word agonothetes --President of the Games.
[4320] S. John vii. 37.
[4321] Is. lvi. 3.
[4322] Jer. xxxviii. 7.
[4323] Acts viii. 27.
[4324] 1 Cor. vii. 26.
[4325] Matt. xxiv. 19, &c.
[4326] 1 Cor. vii. 27.
[4327] 1 Cor. vii. 30 sqq.
[4328] See Rev. Ver. Margin.
[4329] See the treatise on the Perp. Virginity of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. Rome, 384.
[4330] Ep. xxii. on the guarding of virginity. Rome, 384.
[4331] Jerome apparently, here, alludes to some early work of
Tertullian not now extant.
[4332] Jerome often alludes to his relation to Gregory, in the year
381; he was present at the council of Constantinople, of which Gregory
was then the bishop.
[4333] This rendering supposes kai memeristai to be joined to the
preceding sentence. The Vulgate has et divisus est, and so also the
Æthiopic Version.
[4334] S. John xv. 19.
[4335] 1 Cor. vii. 35.
[4336] 1 Cor. iii. 10.
[4337] 1 Cor. vii. 37, 38.
[4338] Ps. xxxvi. 27.
[4339] Eccles. vii. 16.
[4340] 1 Cor. vii. 39, 40.
[4341] 1 Tim. v. 11, 15.
[4342] 1 Cor. vii. 40.
[4343] Rom vii. 2, 3.
[4344] 1 Tim. v. 14, 15.
[4345] See 1 Tim. iii. 12. Most ancient writers interpreted S. Paul's
words as referring to second marriages after loss of first wife,
however happening. And certain Councils decided in the same sense, e.g.
Neocæsarea (a.d. 314). Ellicott's Pastoral Ep., fifth ed., p. 41.
[4346] 1 Tim. v. 9. Other authorities, however, suppose the words to
refer to an order of widows, and pertinently ask, would the Church thus
limit her alms.
[4347] 1 Cor. vi. 12.
[4348] Eph. v. 31; Gen. ii.
[4349] Eph. v. 32.
[4350] Eph. v. 25; Col. iii. 9-11.
[4351] 1 Thess. iv. 7.
[4352] Lit. through a virgin. The allusion is, probably, to his baptism
by a virgin, i.e., John Baptist.
[4353] But see Gen. iv. 26.
[4354] 1 Pet. iii. 20.
[4355] Eph. i. 10.
[4356] Rev. i. 8; xxii. 13.
[4357] Rom. xiv. 21.
[4358] Gen. xxxi. 46-49, where the heap itself is called Galeed.
[4359] Gen. xxxii. 25, 28, 31.
[4360] Gen. xxxv. 16, 20.
[4361] Gen. xxxviii.
[4362] Gen. xxxviii. 9.
[4363] Ex. iv. 24-26.
[4364] Ex. iii. 5.
[4365] 1 Sam. xxi. 4.
[4366] Levit. xxi. 13, 14.
[4367] The reference is, probably, to Levit. xxii. 13. But the second
marriage is not there prohibited, and in the ideal polity of Ezekiel
(xliv. 22) a priest might marry the widow of a priest.
[4368] Levit. xxi. 3.
[4369] Deut. xx. 6, 7, where an indulgence, not a prohibition, is
clearly indicated.
[4370] Ex. xxxviii. 8. Sept. Vulg. "who watched;" Onkelos' Targum "who
assembled to pray," and so the Syriac Version. The Hebrew word
signifies "to go forth to war," but is applied to the temple service, a
sort of militia sacra (Gesenius). Hence Rev. Version, "the serving
women which served at the door of the tent of meeting;" and Margin,
"the women which assembled to minister." Comp. Numb. iv. 3, 23, 30, 35,
39; and 1 Sam. ii. 22.
[4371] Ex. xxxvii.
[4372] In Jude 5, instead of "the Lord," A. B. read Jesus, and this is
accepted by many ancient, authorities. Farrar observes ("Early Days of
Christianity," pop. ed., p, 128) "Jesus" is the more difficult, and
therefore more probable reading of A. B. It is explained by 1 Cor. x.
4, and the identification of the Messiah with the "Angel of the Lord"
(Ex. xiv. 19; xxiii. 20, &c.) and with the Pillar of Fire in Philo.
[4373] Josh. iii.
[4374] Jerome derives Gilgal from nlh to uncover: the accepted
derivation is from nll to roll.
[4375] Ex. iii. 5; Jos. v. 15.
[4376] Josh. x. 3.
[4377] Josh. x. 16.
[4378] S. Luke xvi. 29.
[4379] Rom. v. 14.
[4380] Gen. xxxi. 41.
[4381] Gen. xxxvii. 28.
[4382] Gen. xxxii. 14.
[4383] Joshua died at the age of 110 years. Josh. xxiv. 29.
[4384] Timnath-Serah was the original name of Joshua's inheritance
(Josh. xix. 50), but in Judges ii. 9, we find the name changed to
Timnath-Heres. Timnath-Serah and the tomb of its illustrious owner were
shown in the time of Jerome (Letter cviii. 13). "Paula wondered greatly
that he who assigned men their possessions had chosen for himself a
rough and rocky spot." Jerome is looking at the inheritance with the
eyes of an ardent controversialist when he describes it as "the fairest
spot in the land of Judah."
[4385] Ps. xlviii. 2. The correct rendering of the Hebrew is much
disputed.
[4386] Ps. lxxiii. 2.
[4387] Josh. xxiv. 28.
[4388] Deut. xxxiv. 6.
[4389] Worshipped more especially at Lampsacus on the Hellespont. He
was regarded as the promoter of fertility in vegetables and animals.
[4390] Ps. cxxviii. 3.
[4391] Gen. vi. 3. R.V. Strive or rule in.
[4392] Gen. xlix. 17. Samson was of the tribe of Dan.
[4393] Judg. xi. 30, 31.
[4394] 1 Tim. iii. 2.
[4395] Ps. xcix. 6.
[4396] See 1 Chron. vi. 34-38.
[4397] Heb. vii. 3. The Greek word in the text ("without genealogy") is
unknown to secular writers, and occurs here only in the New Test. It
cannot mean without descent (see verse 6). Unmarried appears to be a
false inference from this supposed meaning. Ignatius also (Ep. ad.
Philad.) reckoned Melchizedek among celibates. Rev. Version translates,
"without genealogy," i.e., his ancestry was unrecorded. See Farrar's
"Early Days of Christianity," pop. ed., p. 221.
[4398] 1 Sam. ii. 22.
[4399] See, however, 1 Chron. xxii. 8.
[4400] S. Matt. xviii. 6.
[4401] S. Matt. v. 22.
[4402] S. Matt. v. 27.
[4403] Cant. vi. 8.
[4404] 1 Kings xi. 3.
[4405] 1 Cor. vii. 29.
[4406] Is. xxxviii. 19.
[4407] 2 Kings xxii. 14.
[4408] 2 Kings xx. 18.
[4409] Dan. i. 3, 4.
[4410] Ezek. xiv. 14, 20.
[4411] Ezek. xviii. 4.
[4412] Ezek. viii. 1.
[4413] Ezek. xiv. 14.
[4414] Apocryphal additions to Daniel.
[4415] Matt. xix. 27.
[4416] Luke xviii. 29, 30.
[4417] 1 Cor. ix. 5. The text has been much tampered with by the
advocates or opponents of celibacy. The reading first quoted by Jerome
is that of F, a manuscript of the eighth or ninth century, and is found
in Tertullian; the other chief readings introduce the Greek equivalent
for sister, either in the sing. or plural. The Rev. Version renders,
"have we no right to lead about a wife that is a believer" (or sister).
Augustine, Tertullian, Theodoret, &c., together with Cornelius-a-Lapide
and Estius among the moderns, agree with Jerome in referring the
passage to holy women who ministered to the Apostles as they did to the
Lord Himself. The third canon of Nicæa is supposed to be directed
against the practice encouraged by this interpretation of the Apostle's
words.
[4418] Attributed to Clement by Jerome.
[4419] Isa. i. 9.
[4420] S. John xiii. 25.
[4421] S. John xx. 4.
[4422] S. John xxi. 7 sq.
[4423] S. Matt. xvi. 18.
[4424] S. Matt. xviii. 18: S. John xx. 22, 23.
[4425] S. John xiv. 27.
[4426] S. Matt. xx. 27: S. Luke xxii. 26.
[4427] See this book in Vol. III. of this series.
[4428] Is. xl. 3.
[4429] S. John i. 1.
[4430] S. John xix. 26, 27.
[4431] 1 Tim. ii. 13, 15.
[4432] 1 Tim. ii. 8 sqq.
[4433] Apparently, Eve's transgression imputed to her descendants.
[4434] The original admits of the rendering "by means of her
child-bearing." But Ellicott and others interpret of the Incarnation.
[4435] Rev. Version, "sobriety." Sobermindedness or discretion are
given by Ellicott (Notes on translation) as alternative renderings. The
word cannot mean chastity, but rather "the well-balanced state of mind
resulting from habitual self-restraint" in general.
[4436] Prov. vi. 26?
[4437] Prov. vii. 27; ix. 18.
[4438] Prov. xxi. 19.
[4439] Often mentioned by Seneca. A saying is reported of him: "Ho,
traveller, stop. There is a miracle here: a man and his wife not at
strife."
[4440] Prov. xxi. 9; xxv. 24.
[4441] Prov. xxvii. 15.
[4442] Supereffluas. Prov. iii. 21 Sept., Heb. ii. 1. The Greek word
signifies to fall away like flowing water. See Schleusner on
pararruomai . In Heb. ii. 1, Rev. V. translates "We drift away:"
Vaughan, "We be found to have leaked, or ebbed away."
[4443] Prov. xxx. 15, 16.
[4444] Eccles. iii. 1, 2, sqq.
[4445] Eccles. vii. 10.
[4446] R.V. "Good as an inheritance."
[4447] Eccles. vii. 28, 29.
[4448] Eccles. ix. 8.
[4449] Cant. i. 10, 11. "Plaits of gold with studs of silver." R.V.
[4450] Cant. ii. 1, 10-12.
[4451] 1 Cor. vii. 29.
[4452] Cant. ii. 12.
[4453] Verse 13.
[4454] 2 Cor. ii. 15.
[4455] Cant. ii. 13, 14.
[4456] Ex. xxxiv. 33, 35; 2 Cor. iii. 7 sq.
[4457] Is. i. 15.
[4458] Cant. ii. 16.
[4459] Cant. iii. 7, 8.
[4460] Cant. iv. 6.
[4461] Eph. v. 27.
[4462] Cant. iv. 8.
[4463] Sept. R.V. "Look from the top of Amana."
[4464] Cant. viii. 5.
[4465] Ps. cxix. 105.
[4466] Cant. iv. 9.
[4467] Cant. iv. 9, 10.
[4468] Cant. v. 1.
[4469] S. Matt. ix. 17.
[4470] Rom. vii. 6.
[4471] Zech. viii. 5; ix. 17, R.V. "How great is his goodness, and how
great is his beauty! Corn shall make the young men flourish, and new
wine the maids."
[4472] Ps. xlv. 16, 17.
[4473] Cant. iv. 12, 13.
[4474] Cant. v. 10.
[4475] Cant. v. 16.
[4476] Cant. vii. 1.
[4477] R.V. "O Prince's daughter!" Sept., also "daughter of Nadab."
[4478] Is. vii. 14.
[4479] Delitzsch remarks, "The assertion of Jerome is untenable." See
Cheyne, critical note on Is. vii. 14. The word probably denotes a
female, married or unmarried, just attaining maturity. But in every
other passage, the context shows that the word is used of an unmarried
woman.
[4480] Gen. xxiv. 42 sq.
[4481] Is. xxxvii. 22.
[4482] Is. liv. 1.
[4483] Jerem. ii. 32.
[4484] Jer. xxxi. 22.
[4485] Jer. i. 5.
[4486] Jer. xxxix. 11; xl. i.
[4487] Ezek. i. 4.
[4488] Ezek. xxiv. 18.
[4489] 1 Cor. vii. 25.
[4490] Acts xv. 28, 29.
[4491] S. Matt. x. 10: S. Luke x. 5.
[4492] S. Matt. xix. 21.
[4493] 1 Tim. iii. 2, 4; Tit. i. 6.
[4494] Sacerdotes: that is, bishops.
[4495] 1 Cor. vii. 7.
[4496] 1 Tim. iii. 1.
[4497] V. supra, c. 27. R.V. "temperate." Ellicott observes, "under any
circumstances the derivative translation Vigilant, Auth., though
possibly defensible in the verb, is a needless and doubtful extension
of the primary meaning."
[4498] R.V. "orderly." V. above, c. 27.
[4499] kosmion. R.V. "orderly."
[4500] Non vinolentum. R.V. "no brawler," i.e., as the Margin explains,
"not quarrelsome over wine." The original is not thus a mere synonym
for nephalios in v. 2.
[4501] So Chrysostom and Theodoret. The simple meaning appears to suit
the context better.
[4502] 1 Sam. ii. and iv.
[4503] 1 Tim. iii. 11.
[4504] The Code of Constantine, following the Mosaic law, imposed the
penalty of death for adultery. See Gibbon, ch. xliv.
[4505] S. Matt. xix. 12.
[4506] 1 Cor. vii. 25.
[4507] Two rocky islands in the Euxine, that, according to the fable,
floated about, dashing against and rebounding from each other, until at
length they became fixed on the passage of the Argo between them."
[4508] Andabatæ.
[4509] Matt. xix. 12.
[4510] 1 Cor. vii. 7.
[4511] Phil. ii. 6-8.
[4512] S. John xx. 20.
[4513] S. John xx. 19.
[4514] S. Matt. xiv. 28.
[4515] S. Matt. xxii. 30.
[4516] 2 Cor. v. 17.
[4517] Rom. vi. 21, 22.
[4518] Rom. vii. 4 sq.
[4519] Rom. vii. 14, 24, 25.
[4520] Rom. viii. 1, 2.
[4521] Rom. viii. 5 sq.
[4522] Rom. viii. 11, 14.
[4523] R.V. "mind."
[4524] Rom. xii. 1-3.
[4525] See ch. 27.
[4526] Rom. xiii. 11, 12, 14.
[4527] 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2, 3.
[4528] That is, under the dominion of the psyche, or principle of life
common to man and the beasts, hence, natural. Opposed to the psyche is
the pneuma, capable of being influenced by the Spirit of God. A man
thus influenced is pneumatikos or spiritual. See also 1 Cor. xv. 44.
[4529] 1 Cor. xv. 47 sq.
[4530] 2 Cor. v. 1 sq.
[4531] 2 Cor. xi. 2.
[4532] Gal. ii. 16.
[4533] Gal. iii. 3, 4.
[4534] Gal. v. 16, 17.
[4535] Properly, self-control in the wide sense.
[4536] Gal. v. 24, 25.
[4537] Gal. vi. 7, 8.
[4538] Eph. ii. 3, 4.
[4539] Eph. iv. 22.
[4540] Eph. vi. 24.
[4541] Phil. iii. 20, 21.
[4542] Phil. iv. 8.
[4543] Coloss. ii. 11; iii. 1 sq.
[4544] 2 Tim. ii. 4.
[4545] Titus ii. 11, 12.
[4546] S. John xvi. 12, 13.
[4547] xxi. 9.
[4548] Matt. xi. 13.
[4549] The passage is not found in existing copies of Josephus.
[4550] S. James i. 16-18.
[4551] R.V. "can be no variation." The word "difference," as used by
Jerome, is explained by the context.
[4552] Rev. i. 5.
[4553] 1 Pet. i. 3-5.
[4554] 1 Pet. i. 13-16.
[4555] 1 Pet. i. 18, 19.
[4556] 1 Pet. i. 22, 23.
[4557] In Jerome's rendering living and abiding,' are attributes of
God. But in the original the participles may be taken as predicates of
either word or God. The R.V. refers them to the former.
[4558] 1 Pet. ii. 9.
[4559] 1 Pet. iv. 1 sq.
[4560] 2 Pet. i. 4.
[4561] 2 Pet. ii. 9 sq.
[4562] 2 Pet. iii. 3.
[4563] The notorious epicure of the time of Augustus and Tiberius.
[4564] Paxamus wrote a treatise on cooking, which, Suidas states, was
arranged in alphabetical order.
[4565] 1 John ii. 15 sq.
[4566] 1 John iii. 2, 3.
[4567] 1 John iv. 7. R.V. "that we may have."
[4568] Jude 23.
[4569] xiv. 1 sq.
[4570] Rev. vii. 5 sq.
[4571] Apoc. xiv. 3, 4.
[4572] or they may say.
[4573] 2 Tim. ii. 20, 21.
[4574] Virg. Æn i. 317.
[4575] Virg. Æn. vii. 803: id. xi. 535.
[4576] Leos was the hero from whom the tribe Leontis derived its name.
Once when Athens was suffering from famine or plague, the oracle at
Delphi demanded that his daughters should be sacrificed. The father
complied. The shrine called Leocorium was erected by the Athenians to
their honour.
[4577] Jerome's memory appears to be at fault. When the Greek fleet was
on its way to Troy, it was detained by a calm at Aulis. The seer
Calchas advised that Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon should be
sacrificed. See Dict. of Ant.
[4578] According to the law of Numa, the punishment of a Vestal Virgin
for violating the vow of chastity was stoning to death. Tarquinius
Priscus first enacted that the offender should be buried alive, after
being stripped of her badges of office, scourged and attired like a
corpse. "From the time of the triumvirs each [Vestal] was preceded by a
lictor when she went abroad; consuls and prætors made way for them, and
lowered their fasces; even the tribunes of the plebs respected their
holy character, and if any one passed under their litter, he was put to
death."
[4579] It is said, however, that Claudia (Quinta) was a Roman matron,
not a Vestal Virgin. The soothsayers announced that only a chaste woman
could move the vessel referred to. Claudia, who had been accused of
incontinency, took hold of the rope, and the vessel forthwith followed
her. b.c. 204.
[4580] Seneca.
[4581] In the year after the death of Alexander (b.c. 323), Leosthenes
defeated Alexander's general Antipater, near Thermopylæ. Antipater then
threw himself into the town of Lamia (in Phthiotis in Thessaly) which
thus gave its name to the war. Leosthenes pressed the siege with great
vigour, but was killed by a blow from a stone.
[4582] Another name for Messana (or Messene), derived from the
Mamertini, a people of Campania, some of whom were mercenaries in the
army of the tyrant Agathocles, and were quartered in the town. At his
death (b.c. 282) they rose and gained possession of it.
[4583] The semi-legendary hero of the second war between Sparta and
Messene. He lived about b.c. 270.
[4584] The spring festival held in honour of Hyacinthus, the beautiful
youth accidentally slain by Apollo, and from whose blood was said to
have sprung the flower of the same name.
[4585] He succeeded Plato as president of the Academy (b.c. 347-339).
His works are all lost.
[4586] One of Aristotle's pupils, and author of a number of works, none
of which are extant.
[4587] Diogenes Laërtius (so named from Laërte in Cilicia), who
probably lived in the 2nd century after Christ, in the Third Book of
his "Lives of the Philosophers" refers to a treatise by Anaxelides on
the same subject. It has therefore been conjectured that Jerome may
have written Philosophica Historia for philosophiae.
[4588] Timæus of Locri, in Italy, a Pythagorean philosopher, is said to
have been a teacher of Plato. There is an extant work bearing his name;
but its genuineness is considered doubtful, and it is in all
probability only an abridgment of Plato's dialogue of Timæus.
[4589] Damo. Pythagoras is said to have entrusted his writings to her,
and to have forbidden her to give them to any one. She strictly
observed the command, although she was in extreme poverty, and received
many requests to sell them. According to some accounts Pythagoras had
another daughter, Myia.
[4590] Flourished about b.c. 540-510.
[4591] Clement of Alexandria (died about a.d. 220) in his Stromata
(i.e. literally, patchwork) or Miscellanies, Bk. iv., relates the same
story and gives the names of the daughters. The Diodorus referred to in
the text lived at Alexandria in the reign of Ptolemy Sorer (b.c.
323-285), by whom he was said to have been surnamed Cronos or Saturn,
on account of his inability to solve at once some dialectic problem
when dining with the king, perhaps with a play upon the word chronos
(time), or with a sarcastic allusion to Cronos as the introducer of the
arts of civilized life. The philosopher is said to have taken the
disgrace so much to heart, that he wrote a treatise on the problem, and
then died in despair. Another account derives his name from his teacher
Apollonius Cronus.
[4592] Born about b.c. 213, died b.c. 129. He was the determined
opponent of the Stoics, and maintained that neither our senses nor our
understanding gives us a safe criterion of truth.
[4593] The poetical name of Rhea Silvia, daughter of Numitor and mother
of Romulus and Remus.
[4594] According to the legend she stabbed herself on the funeral pyre.
Jerome ignores the modifications introduced into the legend by Virgil,
who, in defiance of the common chronology, makes Dido a contemporary of
Æneas, and represents her as destroying herself when forsaken by the
hero.
[4595] Hasdrubal and his family, with 900 deserters and desperadoes,
retired into the temple of Æsculapius, as if to make a brave defence.
But the commandant's heart failed him; and, slipping out alone, he
threw himself at the feet of Scipio, and craved for pardon. His wife,
standing on the base of the temple, was near enough to witness the
sight, and reproaching her husband with cowardice, cast herself with
her children into the flames which were now wrapping the Citadel round
on all sides. b.c. 146.
[4596] Son of Nicias the celebrated Athenian general.
[4597] She succeeded Mausolus and reigned b.c. 352-350.
[4598] She was the wife of Agron, and assumed the sovereign power on
the death of her husband, b.c. 231. War was declared against her by
Rome in consequence of her having caused the assassination of an
ambassador, and in 228 she obtained peace at the cost of the greater
part of her dominions.
[4599] Cyropædeia, Book vii.
[4600] The wife of Candaules, also called Myrsilus. She was exhibited
to Gyges, who, after the murder of her husband, married her. Herod. B.
i.
[4601] The story, as is well known, formed the subject of the play by
Euripides bearing the heroine's name, which was brought out about b.c.
438.
[4602] Protesilaus was the first of the Greeks to fall at Troy.
According to some accounts he was slain by Hector. When her husband was
slain Laodamia begged the gods to allow her to converse with him for
only 3 hours. The request having been granted, Hermes led Protesilaus
back to the upper world, and when he died a second time, Laodamia died
with him.
[4603] The wife of L. Tarquinius Collatinus, whose rape by Sextus led
to the dethronement of Tarquinius Superbus and the establishment of the
republic.
[4604] Over the Carthaginian fleet near Mylæ, 260 b.c.
[4605] One of the assassins of Julius Cæsar. Jerome appears to be at
fault here. Porcia, the daughter of Cato by his first wife Atilia,
before marrying Brutus in 45 b.c., had been married to M. Bibulus and
had borne him three children. He died in 48. After the death of Brutus
in 42 she put an end to her own life, probably by the fumes of a
charcoal fire.
[4606] Marcia is related to have been ceded by Cato to his friend
Hortensius. She continued to live with the latter until his death, when
she returned to Cato.
[4607] It has been conjectured that instead of "Marcia, Cato's younger
daughter," a few lines above, we should read Porcia.
[4608] Probably the daughter of Cato by his second wife Marcia.
[4609] Jerome, apparently, makes a mistake here. Valeria, sister of the
Messalas, married Sulla towards the end of his life. Valeria, the widow
of Galerius, after the death of her husband in 311, rejected the
proposals of Maximinus. Her consequent sufferings are related by Gibbon
in his fourteenth chapter.
[4610] The Greek philosopher to whom Aristotle bequeathed his library
and the originals of his own writings. He died b.c. 287, after being
President of the Academy for 35 years. If he were the author of the
book here referred to, it is not to be found among his extant writings.
[4611] Cicero at the beginning of the third book of the De Officiis,
makes Cato quote this saying as one frequently in the mouth of Publius
Scipio.
[4612] Phil. i. 23.
[4613] We hear very little of the two sons of Moses, Gershom and
Eliezer. See Ex. iv. 20, xviii. 3, 1 Chron. xxiii. 14. Their promotion
is nowhere recorded, and Moses appointed a person of another tribe to
be his successor.
[4614] See 1 Sam. viii. 1-4 and ch. ix.
[4615] b.c. 46. "What grounds for displeasure she had given him besides
her alleged extravagance it is hard to say. His letters to her during
the previous year had been short and rather cold." Watson, Select
Letters of Cicero, third ed. p. 397.
[4616] Hirtius was the friend personal and political of Julius Cæsar,
and during Cæsar's absence in Africa he lived principally at his
Tusculan estate which adjoined Cicero's villa. Hirtius and Cicero
though opposed to each other in politics were on good terms, and the
former is said to have received lessons in oratory from the latter.
[4617] But not long after divorcing Terentia he married Publilia, a
young girl of whose property he had the management, in order to relieve
himself from pecuniary difficulties. She seems to have received little
affection from her husband. Watson, p. 397.
[4618] This statement is without authority. See Long's Article on
Sallust in Smith's Dict. of Classical Biography.
[4619] Cæcilia Metella, the third of Sulla's five wives, had previously
been married to M. Æmilius Scaurus, consul b.c. 115. She fell ill
during the celebration of Sulla's triumph on account of his victory
over Mithridates in 81; and as her recovery was hopeless, Sulla for
religious reasons divorced her. She soon afterwards died, and Sulla
honoured her memory with a splendid funeral.
[4620] The famous dictator claimed the name Felix for himself in a
speech which he delivered to the people at the close of the celebration
of his triumph, because he attributed his success in life to the favour
of the gods.
[4621] But Sulla's youth and manhood were disgraced by the most sensual
vices. He was indebted for a considerable portion of his wealth to a
courtesan Nicopolis, and his death in b.c. 78 at the age of 60 was
hastened by his dissolute mode of life.
[4622] Pompey, like Sulla, was married five times. Mucia, his third
wife, daughter of Q. Mucius Scævola, the augur, consul b.c. 95, was
divorced by Pompey in 62, and afterwards married M. Æmilius Scaurus,
son of the consul by Cæcilia and thus stepson of Sulla.
[4623] Born b.c. 234, died b.c. 149. He was the great-grandfather of
Cato of Utica.
[4624] b.c. 382-336.
[4625] b.c. 385-322.
[4626] Born about b.c. 480 at Leontini in Sicily. He is said to have
lived 105, or even 109 years. He was held in high esteem at Athens,
where he had numerous distinguished pupils and imitators.
[4627] An Athenian tragic poet, celebrated for his wit.
[4628] See the Andromache.
[4629] There were two cities of this name, Leptis Magna and Parva, in
N. Africa.
[4630] Or "on another day," that is, than the marriage day implied in
the context.
[4631] Terence, Hecyra II. i. 4.
[4632] Bk. I. ch. 8. "Candaules addressed Gyges as follows: Gyges, as I
think you do not believe me when I speak of my wife's beauty (for the
ears of men are naturally more incredulous than their eyes), you must
contrive to see her naked.' But he, exclaiming loudly, answered: Sire,
what a shocking proposal do you make, bidding me behold my queen naked!
With her clothes a woman puts off her modesty,'" etc.
[4633] Perhaps Terence, Phormio I. iii. 21.
[4634] For these legends, see Classical Dict.
[4635] The most distinguished disciple and the intimate friend of
Epicurus. His philosophy appears to have been of a more sensual kind
than that of his master. He made perfect happiness to consist in having
a well-constituted body. He died b.c. 277 in the 53rd year of his age,
7 years before Epicurus.
[4636] Chrysippus (b.c. 280-207) the Stoic philosopher, born at Soli in
Cilicia. He opposed the prevailing scepticism and maintained the
possibility of attaining certain knowledge. It was said of him "that if
Chrysippus had not existed the Porch (i.e., Stoicism) could not have
been." He is reported to have seldom written less than 500 lines a-day,
and to have left behind him 705 works.
[4637] That is Zeus, regarded as presiding over marriages and the
tutelary god of races or families.
[4638] Literally, "Jupiter who causes to stand": hence Jerome's play
upon the word. Jupiter Stator was the god regarded as supporting,
preserving, etc. Cic., Cat. I. 13, 31--"quem (sc. Jovem) statorem hujus
urbis atque imperii vere nominamus."
[4639] The greater number of manuscripts read Sextus, an alternative
name for the same person. Jerome in his version of the Chronicon of
Eusebius speaks of "Xystus a Pythagorean philosopher" who flourished at
the time of Christ's birth; but there is great difficulty in
establishing the identity of the author of the "Sentences." See also
the Prolegomena to Rufinus who translated the Sentences of Xystus, in
Vol. III. of this Series.
[4640] See note above, p. 382.
[4641] Daughter of P. Scipio Africanus, and wife of Ti. Sempronius
Gracchus, censor b.c. 169. The people erected a statue to her with the
inscription "Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi."
[4642] See note p. 376.
[4643] Wife of Tarquinius Priscus.
[4644] Theano was the most celebrated of the female philosophers of the
Pythagorean school. According to some authorities she was the wife of
Pythagoras.
[4645] Cleobuline, or Cleobule, was celebrated for her riddles in
hexameter verse. One on the subject of the year runs thus--"A father
has 12 children, and each of these 30 daughters, on one side white, and
on the other side black, and though immortal they all die."
[4646] Timoclia was a woman of Thebes, whose house at the capture of
the city in b.c. 335 was broken into and pillaged by the soldiery. She
was herself violated by the commander, whom she afterwards contrived to
push into a well.
[4647] A vestal virgin who proved her innocence of the unchastity
imputed to her by setting free a stranded ship with her girdle.
[4648] The epithet is said to have been given to the goddess at the
time when Coriolanus was prevented by the entreaties of the women from
destroying Rome.
[4649] The name for any Roman priest devoted to the service of one
particular god. He took his distinguishing title from the deity to whom
he ministered, e.g. Flamen Martialis.
[4650] Comp. Tertullian De Monogamia, last chapter--"Fortunæ, inquit,
muliebri coronam non imponit, nisi univira...Pontifex Maximus et
Flaminica (the wife of a Flamen) nubunt semel."
[4651] See Origen, Contra Celsum, Bk. VII. The water hemlock, or
cowbane, is the variety referred to.
__________________________________________________________________
Book II.
Jerome answers the second, third, and fourth propositions of
Jovinianus.
I. (c. 1-4). That those who have become regenerate cannot be overthrown
by the devil, Jerome (c. 1) puts it that they cannot be tempted by the
devil. He quotes 1 John i. 8-ii. 2, as shewing that faithful men can be
tempted and sin and need an advocate. The expressions (3) in Heb. vi.
as to those who crucify the Son of God afresh do not apply to ordinary
sins after baptism, as supposed by Montanus and Novatus. The epistles
to the Seven Churches show that the lapsed may return. The Angels, and
even our Lord Himself, (4) could be tempted.
II. (c. 5-17). That there is no difference (morally) between one who
fasts and one who takes food with thanksgiving. Jovinian has quoted (5)
many texts of Scripture to show that God has made animals for men's
food. But (6) there are many other uses of animals besides food. And
there are many warnings like 1 Cor. vi. 13, as to the danger arising
from food. There are among the heathen (7) many instances of
abstinence. They recognize (8) the evil of sensual allurements, and
often, like Crates the Theban, (9) have cast away what would tempt
them; the senses, they teach, (10) should be subject to reason; and,
that (11) except for athletes (Christians do not want to be like Milo
of Crotona) bread and water suffice. Horace (12), Xenophon and other
eminent Greeks (13), the Essenes and the Brahmans (14), as well as
philosophers like Diogenes, testify to the value of abstinence. The Old
Testament stories (15) of Esau's pottage, of the lusting of Israel for
the flesh-pots of Egypt, and those in the New Testament of Anna,
Cornelius, &c., commend abstinence. If some heretics inculcate fasting
(16) in such a way as to despise the gifts of God, and weak Christians
are not to be judged for their use of flesh, those who seek the higher
life (17) will find a help in abstinence.
III. (c. 18-34). The fourth proposition of Jovinianus, that all who are
saved will have equal reward, is refuted (19) by the various yields of
thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold in the parable of the sower, by (20)
the "stars differing in glory" of 1 Cor. xv. 41. It is strange (21) to
find the advocate of self-indulgence now claiming equality to the
saints. But (22) as there were differences in Ezekiel between cattle
and cattle, so in St. Paul between those who built gold or stubble on
the one foundation. The differences of gifts (23), of punishments (24),
of guilt (25), as in Pilate and the Chief Priests, of the produce of
the good seed (26), of the mansions promised in heaven (27-29), of the
judgment upon sins both in the church and in Scripture (30-31), of
those called at different times to the vineyard (32) are arguments for
the diversity of rewards. The parable of the talents (33) holds out as
rewards differences of station, and so does the church (34) in its
different orders.
Jerome now recapitulates (35) and appeals (36)against the licentious
views of Jovinianus, which have already induced many virgins to break
their vows; and which, as the new Roman heresy (37), he calls upon the
Imperial City (38) to reject.
1. The second proposition of Jovinianus is that the baptized cannot be
tempted [4652] by the devil. And to escape the imputation of folly in
saying this, he adds: "But if any are tempted, it only shows that they
were baptized with water, not with the Spirit, as we read was the case
with Simon Magus." Hence it is that John says, [4653] "Whosoever is
begotten of God doeth no sin, because his seed abideth in him: and he
cannot sin, because he is begotten of God. In this the children of God
are manifest, and the children of the Devil." And at the end of the
Epistle, [4654] "Whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not; but his
being begotten of God keepeth him, and the evil one toucheth him not."
2. This would be a real difficulty and one for ever incapable of
solution were it not solved by the witness of John himself, who
immediately goes on to say, [4655] "My little children, guard
yourselves from idols." If everyone that is born of God sinneth not,
and cannot be tempted by the devil, how is it that he bids them beware
of temptation? Again in the same Epistle we read: [4656] "If we say
that we have no sins, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not
sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." I suppose that
John was baptized and was writing to the baptized: I imagine too that
all sin is of the devil. Now John confesses himself a sinner, and hopes
for forgiveness of sins after baptism. My friend Jovinianus says,
[4657] "Touch me not, for I am clean." What then? Does the Apostle
contradict himself? By no means. In the same passage he gives his
reason for thus speaking: [4658] "My little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye may not sin. But if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the
propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the
whole world. And hereby know we that we know him, if we keep his
commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth
his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby
know we that we are in him: he that saith he abideth in him ought
himself also to walk even as he walked." My reason for telling you,
little children, that everyone who is born of God sinneth not, is that
you may not sin, and that you may know that so long as you sin not you
abide in the birth which God has given you. Yea, they who abide in that
birth cannot sin. [4659] "For what communion hath light with darkness?
Or Christ with Belial?" As day is distinct from night, so righteousness
and unrighteousness, sin and good works, Christ and Antichrist cannot
blend. If we give Christ a lodging-place in our hearts, we banish the
devil from thence. If we sin and the devil enter through the gate of
sin, Christ will immediately withdraw. Hence David after sinning says:
[4660] "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation," that is, the joy
which he had lost by sinning. [4661] "He who saith, I know him, and
keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."
Christ is called the truth: [4662] "I am the way, the truth, and the
life." In vain do we make our boast in him whose commandments we keep
not. To him that knoweth what is good, and doeth it not, it is sin.
[4663] "As the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart
from works is dead." And we must not think it a great matter to know
the only God, when even devils believe and tremble. "He that saith he
abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked." Our
opponent may choose whichever of the two he likes; we give him his
choice. Does he abide in Christ, or not? If he abide, let him then walk
as Christ walked. But if there is [4664] rashness in professing to copy
the virtues of our Lord, he does not abide in Christ, for he does not
walk as did Christ. [4665] "He did not sin, neither was guile found in
his mouth: when he was reviled, he reviled not again, and as a lamb is
dumb before its shearer, so opened he not his mouth." To Him came the
prince of this world, and found nothing in Him: although He had done no
sin, God made Him sin for us. But we, according to the Epistle of
James, [4666] "all stumble in many things," and [4667] "no one is pure
from sin, no not if his life be but a day long." [4668] For who will
boast "that he has a clean heart? or who will be sure that he is pure
from sin?" And we are held guilty after the similitude of Adam's
transgression. Hence David says, [4669] "Behold, I was shapen in
iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." And the blessed Job,
[4670] "Though I be righteous my mouth will speak wickedness, and
though I be perfect, I shall be found perverse. If I wash myself with
snow water and make my hands never so clean, yet wilt thou plunge me in
the ditch and mine own clothes shall abhor me." But that we may not
utterly despair and think that if we sin after baptism we cannot be
saved, he immediately checks the tendency: [4671] "And if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he
is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only, but also for
the whole world." He addresses this to baptized believers, and he
promises them the Lord as an advocate for their offences. He does not
say: If you fall into sin, you have an advocate with the Father,
Christ, and He is the propitiation for your sins: you might then say
that he was addressing those whose baptism had been destitute of the
true faith: but what he says is this, "We have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ, and he is the propitiation for our sins." And not
only for the sins of John and his contemporaries, but for those of the
whole world. Now in "the whole world" are included apostles and all the
faithful, and a clear proof is established that sin after baptism is
possible. It is useless for us to have an advocate Jesus Christ, if sin
be impossible.
3. The apostle Peter, to whom it was said, [4672] "He that is bathed
needeth not to wash again," and [4673] "Thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my Church," through fear of a maid-servant denied
Him. Our Lord himself says, [4674] "Simon, Simon, behold Satan asked to
have you, that he might sift you as wheat. But I made supplication for
thee, that thy faith fail not." And in the same place, "Watch and pray,
that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak." If you reply that this was said before the Passion,
we certainly say after the Passion, in the Lord's prayer, [4675]
"Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors; and lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." If we do not sin
after baptism, why do we ask that we may be forgiven our sins, which
were already forgiven in baptism? Why do we pray that we may not enter
into temptation, and that we may be delivered from the evil one, if the
devil cannot tempt those who are baptized? The case is different if
this prayer belongs to the Catechumens, and is not adapted to faithful
Christians. Paul, the chosen vessel, [4676] chastised his body, and
brought it into subjection, lest after preaching to others he himself
should be found a reprobate, and [4677] he tells that there was given
to him "a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet" him. And
to the Corinthians he writes: [4678] "I fear, lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is toward Christ." And elsewhere: [4679] "But
to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also: for what I also have
forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, for your sakes have I forgiven
it in the person of Christ: that no advantage may be gained over us by
Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices." And again: [4680]
"There hath no temptation taken you, but such as man can bear; but God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are
able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye
may be able to endure it." And, [4681] "Let him that thinketh he
standeth, take heed lest he fall." And to the Galatians: [4682] "Ye
were running well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the
truth?" And elsewhere: [4683] "We would fain have come unto you, I Paul
once and again; and Satan hindered us." And to the married he says:
[4684] "Be together again, that Satan tempt you not because of your
incontinency." And again: [4685] "But I say, walk by the Spirit and ye
shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary
the one to the other: that ye may not do the things that ye would." We
are a compound of the two, and must endure the strife of the two
substances. And to the Ephesians: [4686] "Our wrestling is not against
flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers,
against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places." Does any one think that we are
safe, and that it is right to fall asleep when once we have been
baptized? And so, too, in the epistle to the Hebrews: [4687] "For as
touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and tasted the good
word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it
is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify
to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."
Surely we cannot deny that they have been baptized who have been
illuminated, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have been made
partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God. But
if the baptized cannot sin, how is it now that the Apostle says, "And
have fallen away"? [4688] Montanus and [4689] Novatus would smile at
this, for they contend that it is impossible to renew again through
repentance those who have crucified to themselves the Son of God, and
put Him to an open shame. He therefore corrects this mistake by saying:
[4690] "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things
that accompany salvation, though we thus speak; for God is not
unrighteous to forget your work and the love which ye shewed towards
his name, in that ye ministered unto the Saints, and still do
minister." And truly the unrighteousness of God would be great, if He
merely punished sin, and did not welcome good works. I have so spoken,
says the Apostle, to withdraw you from your sins, and to make you more
careful through fear of despair. But, beloved, I am persuaded better
things of you, and things that accompany salvation. For it is not
accordant with the righteousness of God to forget good works, and the
fact that you have ministered and do minister to the Saints for His
name's sake, and to remember sins only. The Apostle James also, knowing
that the baptized can be tempted, and fall of their own free choice,
says: [4691] "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he
hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord
promised to them that love him." And that we may not think that we are
tempted by God, as we read in Genesis Abraham was, he adds: "Let no man
say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted
with evil, and He Himself tempteth no man. But each man is tempted when
he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then the lust, when it
hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is full grown,
bringeth forth death." God created us with free will, and we are not
forced by necessity either to virtue or to vice. Otherwise, if there be
necessity, there is no crown. As in good works it is God who brings
them to perfection, for it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, but of God that pitieth and gives us help that we may be able
to reach the goal: so in things wicked and sinful, the seeds within us
give the impulse, and these are brought to maturity by the devil. When
he sees that we are building upon the foundation of Christ, hay, wood,
stubble, then he applies the match. Let us then build gold, silver,
costly stones, and he will not venture to tempt us: although even thus
there is not sure and safe possession. For the lion lurks in ambush to
slay the innocent. [4692] "Potters' vessels are proved by the furnace,
and just men by the trial of tribulation." And in another place it is
written: [4693] "My son, when thou comest to serve the Lord, prepare
thyself for temptation." Again, the same James says: [4694] "Be ye
doers of the word, and not hearers only. For if any one is a hearer of
the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural
face in a mirror: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and
straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." It was useless to
warn them to add works to faith, if they could not sin after baptism.
He tells us that [4695] "whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all." Which of us is
without sin? [4696] "God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he
might have mercy upon all." Peter also says: [4697] "The Lord knows how
to deliver the godly out of temptation." And concerning false teachers:
[4698] "These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm;
for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved. For, uttering
proud words of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by
lasciviousness, those who had just escaped, and have turned back to
error." Does not the Apostle in these words seem to you to have
depicted the new party of ignorance? For, as it were, they open the
fountains of knowledge and yet have no water: they promise a shower of
doctrine like prophetic clouds which have been visited by the truth of
God, and are driven by the storms of devils and vices. They speak great
things, and their talk is nothing but pride: [4699] "But every one is
unclean with God who is lifted up in his own heart." Like those who had
just escaped from their sins, they return to their own error, and
persuade men to luxury, and to the delights of eating and the
gratification of the flesh. For who is not glad to hear them say: "Let
us eat and drink, and reign for ever"? The wise and prudent they call
corrupt, but pay more attention to the honey-tongued. John the apostle,
or rather the Saviour in the person of John, writes thus to the angel
of the Church of Ephesus: [4700] "I know thy works and thy toil and
patience, and that thou didst bear for my name's sake, and hast not
grown weary. But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy
first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent,
and do the first works; or else I will come to thee, and will move thy
candlestick out of its place, except thou repent." Similarly He urges
the other churches, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia,
Laodicea, to repentance, and threatens them unless they return to the
former works. And in Sardis He says He has a few who have not defiled
their garments, and they shall walk with Him in white, for they are
worthy. But they to whom He says: "Remember from whence thou art
fallen"; and, "Behold the devil is about to cast some of you into
prison, that ye may be tried"; and, "I know where thou dwellest, even
where Satan's throne is"; and, "Remember how thou hast received, and
didst hear, and keep it, and repent," and so on, were of course
believers, and baptized, who once stood, but fell through sin.
4. I delayed for a little while the production of proofs from the Old
Testament, because, wherever the Old Testament is against them they are
accustomed to cry out that [4701] the Law and the Prophets were until
John. But who does not know that under the other dispensation of God
all the saints of past times were of equal merit with Christians at the
present day? As Abraham in days gone by pleased God in wedlock, so
virgins now please him in perpetual virginity. He served the Law and
his own times; let us now serve the Gospel and our times, [4702] upon
whom the ends of the ages have come. David the chosen one, the man
after God's own heart, who had performed all His pleasure, and who in a
certain psalm had said, [4703] "Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in
mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord and shall not slide.
Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart," even he
was afterwards tempted by the devil; and repenting of his sin said,
[4704] "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness."
He would have a great sin blotted out by great loving-kindness.
Solomon, beloved of the Lord, and to whom God had twice revealed
Himself, because he loved women forsook the love of God. It is related
in the [4705] Book of Days that Manasses the wicked king was restored
after the Babylonish captivity to his former rank. And Josiah, a holy
man, [4706] was slain by the king of Egypt on the plain of Megiddo.
[4707] Joshua also, the son of Josedech and high-priest, although he
was a type of our Saviour Who bore our sins, and united to Himself a
church of alien birth from among the Gentiles, is nevertheless,
according to the letter of Scripture, represented in filthy garments
after he attained to the priesthood, and with the devil standing at his
right hand; and white raiment is afterwards restored to him. It is
needless to tell how Moses and Aaron [4708] offended God at the water
of strife, and did not enter the land of promise. For the blessed Job
relates that even the angels and every creature can sin. [4709] "Shall
mortal man," he says, "be just before God? Shall a man be spotless in
his works? If he putteth no trust in his servants, and chargeth his
angels with folly, how much more them that dwell in houses of clay,"
amongst whom are we, and made of the same clay too. [4710] "The life of
man is a warfare upon earth." [4711] Lucifer fell who was sending to
all nations, and he who was nurtured in a paradise of delight as one of
the twelve precious stones, was wounded and went down to hell from the
mount of God. Hence the Saviour says in the Gospel: [4712] "I beheld
Satan falling as lightning from heaven." If he fell who stood on so
sublime a height, who may not fall? If there are falls in heaven, how
much more on earth! And yet though Lucifer be fallen (the old serpent
after his fall), [4713] "his strength is in his loins, and his force is
in the muscles of his belly. The great trees are overshadowed by him,
and he sleepeth beside the reed, the rush, and the sedge." [4714] He is
king over all things that are in the waters--that is to say in the seat
of pleasure and luxury, of propagation of children, and of the
fertilisation of the marriage bed. [4715] "For who can strip off his
outer garment? Who can open the doors of his face? Nations fatten upon
him, and the tribes of Phenicia divide him." And lest haply the reader
in his secret thought might imagine that those tribes of Phenicia and
peoples of Ethiopia only are meant by those to whom the dragon was
given for food, we immediately find a reference to those who are
crossing the sea of this world, and are hastening to reach the haven of
salvation: [4716] "His head stands in the ships of the fishermen like
an anvil that cannot be wearied: [4717] he counteth iron as straw, and
brass as rotten wood. And all the gold of the sea under him is as mire.
He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he values the sea like a pot of
ointment, and the blackness of the deep as a captive. He beholdeth
everything that is high." And my friend Jovinianus thinks he can gain
an easy mastery over him. Why speak of holy men and angels, who, being
creatures of God, are of course capable of sin? He dared to tempt the
Son of God, and though smitten through and through with our Lord's
first and second answer, nevertheless raised his head, and when thrice
wounded, withdrew only for a time, and deferred rather than removed the
temptation. And we flatter ourselves on the ground of our baptism,
which though it put away the sins of the past, cannot keep us for the
time to come, unless the baptized keep their hearts with all diligence.
5. At length we have arrived at the question of food, and are
confronted by our third difficulty. "All things were created to serve
for the use of mortal men." And as man, a rational animal, in a sense
the owner and tenant of the world, is subject to God, and worships his
Creator, so all things living were created either for the food of men,
or for clothing, or for tilling the earth, or conveying the fruits
thereof, or to be the companions of man, and hence, because they are
man's [4718] helpers, they have their name jumenta. [4719] What is
man,' says David, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man,
that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him but little lower than
the angels, and crownest him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to
have dominion over the works of thine hands; thou hast put all things
under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field:
the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatsoever passeth
through the paths of the seas.' Granted, he says, that the ox was
created for ploughing, the horse for riding, the dog for watching,
goats for their milk, sheep for their fleeces. What is the use of swine
if we may not eat their flesh? of roes, stags, fallow-deer, boars,
hares, and such like game? of geese, wild and tame? of wild ducks and
[4720] fig-peckers? of woodcocks? of coots? of thrushes? Why do hens
run about our houses? If they are not eaten, all these creatures were
created by God for nothing. But what need is there of argument when
Scripture clearly teaches that every moving creature, like herbs and
vegetables, were given to us for food, and the Apostle cries aloud
[4721] All things are clean to the clean, and nothing is to be
rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving,' and [4722] tells us
that men will come in the last days, forbidding to marry, and to eat
meats, which God created for use? The Lord himself was called by the
Pharisees a wine-bibber and a glutton, the friend of publicans and
sinners, because he did not decline the invitation of Zacchæus to
dinner, and went to the marriage-feast. But it is a different matter
if, as you may foolishly contend, he went to the dinner intending to
fast, and after the manner of deceivers said, I eat this, not that; I
do not drink the wine which I created out of water. He did not make
water, but wine, the type of his blood. After the resurrection he ate a
fish and part of a honey-comb, not sesame nuts and service-berries. The
apostle, Peter, did not wait like a Jew for the stars to peep, but went
upon the house-top to dine at the sixth hour. Paul in the ship broke
bread, not dried figs. When Timothy's stomach was out of order, he
advised him to drink wine, not perry. In abstaining from meats they
please their own fancy: as though superstitious Gentiles did not
observe the [4723] rites of abstinence connected with the Mother of the
Gods and with Isis."
6. I will follow in detail the views now expounded, and before I come
to Scripture and show by it that fasting is pleasing to God, and
chastity accepted by him, I will meet philosophic argument with
argument, and will prove that we are not followers of Empedocles and
Pythagoras, who on account of their doctrine of the transmigration of
souls think nothing which lives and moves should be eaten, and look
upon him who fells a fir-tree or an oak as equally guilty with the
parricide or the poisoner: but that we worship our Creator Who made all
things for the use of man. And as the ox was created for ploughing, the
horse for riding, dogs for watching, goats for milk, sheep for their
wool: so it was with swine and stags, and roes and hares, and other
animals: but the immediate purpose of their creation was not that they
might serve for food, but for other uses of men. For if everything that
moves and lives was made for food, and prepared for the stomach, let my
opponents tell me why elephants, lions, leopards, and wolves were
created; why vipers, scorpions, bugs, lice, and fleas; why the vulture,
the eagle, the crow, the hawk; why whales, dolphins, seals, and small
snails were created. Which of us ever eats the flesh of a lion, a
viper, a vulture, a stork, a kite, or the worms that crawl upon our
shores? As then these have their proper uses, so may we say that other
beasts, fishes, birds, were created not for eating, but for medicine.
In short, to how many uses the flesh of vipers, from which we make our
antidotes against poison, may be applied, physicians know well. Ivory
dust is an ingredient in many remedies. Hyena's gall restores
brightness to the eyes, and its dung and that of dogs cures gangrenous
wounds. And (it may seem strange to the reader) Galen asserts in his
treatise on Simples, that human dung is of service in a multitude of
cases. Naturalists say that snake-skin, boiled in oil, gives wonderful
relief in ear-ache. What to the uninitiated seems so useless as a bug?
Yet, suppose a leech to have fastened on the throat, as soon as the
odour of a bug is inhaled the leech is vomited out, and difficulty in
urinating is relieved by the same application. As for the fat of pigs,
geese, fowls, and pheasants, how useful they are is told in all medical
works, and if you read these books you will see there that the vulture
has as many curative properties as it has limbs. Peacock's dung allays
the inflammation of gout. Cranes, storks, eagle's gall, hawk's blood,
the ostrich, frogs, chameleons, swallow's dung and flesh--in what
diseases these are suitable remedies, I could tell if it were my
purpose to discuss bodily ailments and their cure. If you think proper
you may read Aristotle and [4724] Theophrastus in prose, or [4725]
Marcellus of Side, and our [4726] Flavius, who discourse on these
subjects in hexameter verse; the [4727] second Pliny also, and [4728]
Dioscorides, and others, both naturalists and physicians, who assign to
every herb, every stone, every animal whether reptile, bird, or fish,
its own use in the art of which they treat. So then when you ask me why
the pig was created, I immediately reply, as if two boys were
disputing, by asking you why were vipers and scorpions? You must not
judge that anything from the hand of God is superfluous, because there
are many beasts and birds which your palate rejects. But this may
perhaps look more like contentiousness and pugnacity than truth. Let me
tell you therefore that pigs and wild-boars, and stags, and the rest of
living creatures were created, that soldiers, athletes, sailors,
rhetoricians, miners, and other slaves of hard toil, who need physical
strength, might have food: and also those who carry arms and
provisions, who wear themselves out with the work of hand or foot, who
ply the oar, who need good lungs to shout and speak, who level
mountains and sleep out rain or fair. But our religion does not train
boxers, athletes, sailors, soldiers, or ditchers, but followers of
wisdom, who devote themselves to the worship of God, and know why they
were created and are in the world from which they are impatient to
depart. Hence also the Apostle says: [4729] "When I am weak, then am I
strong." And [4730] "Though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward
man is renewed day by day." And [4731] "I have the desire to depart and
be with Christ." And, [4732] "Make not provision for the flesh to
fulfil the lusts thereof." Are all commanded [4733] not to have two
coats, nor food in their scrip, money in their purse, a staff in the
hand, shoes on the feet? or to sell all they possess and give to the
poor, and follow Jesus? Of course not: but the command is for those who
wish to be perfect. On the contrary John the Baptist lays down one rule
for the soldiers, another for the publicans. But the Lord says in the
Gospel to him who had boasted of having kept the whole law: [4734] "If
thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the
poor, and come, follow me." That He might not seem to lay a heavy
burden on unwilling shoulders, He sent His hearer away with full power
to please himself, saying "If thou wilt be perfect." And so I too say
to you: If you wish to be perfect, it is good not to drink wine, and
eat flesh. If you wish to be perfect, it is better to enrich the mind
than to stuff the body. But if you are an infant and fond of the cooks
and their preparations, no one will snatch the dainties out of your
mouth. Eat and drink, and, if you like, with Israel rise up and play,
and sing [4735] "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die." Let
him eat and drink, who looks for death when he has feasted, and who
says with Epicurus, "There is nothing after death, and death itself is
nothing." We believe Paul when he says in tones of thunder: [4736]
"Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats. But God will destroy
both them and it."
7. I have quoted these few passages of Scripture to show that we are at
one with the philosophers. But who does not know that no universal law
of nature regulates the food of all nations, and that each eats those
things of which it has abundance? For instance, the Arabians and
Saracens, and all the wild tribes of the desert live on camel's milk
and flesh: for the camel, to suit the climate and barren soil of those
regions, is easily bred and reared. They think it wicked to eat the
flesh of swine. Why? Because pigs which fatten on acorns, chestnuts,
roots of ferns, and barley, are seldom or never found among them: and
if they were found, they would not afford the nourishment of which we
spoke just now. The exact opposite is the case with the northern
peoples. If you were to force them to eat the flesh of asses and
camels, they would think it the same as though they were compelled to
devour a wolf or a crow. In Pontus and Phrygia a pater-familias pays a
good price for fat white worms with blackish heads, which breed in
decayed wood. And as with us the woodcock and fig-pecker, the mullet
and scar, are reputed delicacies, so with them it is a luxury to eat
the [4737] xylophagus. Again, because throughout the glowing wastes of
the desert clouds of locusts are found, it is customary with the
peoples of the East and of Libya to feed on locusts. John the Baptist
proves the truth of this. Compel a Phrygian or a native of Pontus to
eat a locust, and he will think it scandalous. Force a Syrian, an
African, or Arabian to swallow worms, he will have the same contempt
for them as for flies, millepedes, and lizards, although the Syrians
are accustomed to eat land-crocodiles, and the Africans even green
lizards. In Egypt and Palestine, owing to the scarcity of cattle no one
eats beef, or makes the flesh of bulls or oxen, or calves, a portion of
their food. Moreover, in my province [4738] it is considered a crime to
eat veal. Accordingly the Emperor Valens recently promulgated a law
throughout the East, prohibiting the killing and eating of calves. He
had in view the interests of agriculture, and wished to check the bad
practice of the commoner sort of the people who imitated the Jews in
devouring the flesh of calves, instead of fowls and sucking pigs. The
Nomad tribes, and the [4739] Troglodytes, and Scythians, and the
barbarous [4740] Huns with whom we have recently become acquainted, eat
flesh half raw. Moreover the Icthyophagi, a wandering race on the
shores of the Red Sea, broil fish on the stones made hot by the sun,
and subsist on this poor food. The [4741] Sarmatians, the [4742]
Chuadi, the [4743] Vandals, and countless other races, delight in the
flesh of horses and wolves. Why should I speak of other nations when I
myself, a youth on a visit to Gaul, heard that the Atticoti, a British
tribe, eat human flesh, and that although they find herds of swine, and
droves of large or small cattle in the woods, it is their custom to cut
off the buttocks of the shepherds and the breasts of their women, and
to regard them as the greatest delicacies? The Scots have no wives of
their own; as though they read Plato's Republic and took Cato for their
leader, no man among them has his own wife, but like beasts they
indulge their lust to their hearts' content. The Persians, Medes,
Indians, and Ethiopians, peoples on a par with Rome itself, have
intercourse with mothers and grandmothers, with daughters and
granddaughters. The [4744] Massagetæ and [4745] Derbices think those
persons most unhappy who die of sickness--and when parents, kindred, or
friends reach old age, they are murdered and devoured. It is thought
better that they should be eaten by the people themselves than by the
worms. The [4746] Tibareni crucify those whom they have loved before
when they have grown old. The [4747] Hyrcani throw them out half alive
to the birds and dogs: the Caspians leave them dead for the same
beasts. The Scythians bury alive with the remains of the dead those who
were beloved of the deceased. The Bactrians throw their old men to dogs
which they rear for the very purpose, and when Stasanor, Alexander's
general, wished to correct the practice, he almost lost his province.
Force an Egyptian to drink sheep's milk: drive, if you can, a Pelusiote
to eat an onion. Almost every city in Egypt venerates its own beasts
and monsters, and whatever be the object of worship, that they think
inviolable and sacred. Hence it is that their towns also are named
after animals Leonto, Cyno, Lyco, Busyris, Thmuis, which is, being
interpreted, a he-goat. And to make us understand what sort of gods
Egypt always welcomed, one of their cities was recently called [4748]
Antinous after Hadrian's favourite. You see clearly then that not only
in eating, but also in burial, in wedlock, and in every department of
life, each race follows its own practice and peculiar usages, and takes
that for the law of nature which is most familiar to it. But suppose
all nations alike ate flesh, and let that be everywhere lawful which
the place produces. How does it concern us whose conversation is in
heaven? who, as well as Pythagoras and Empedocles and all lovers of
wisdom, are not bound to the circumstances of our birth, but of our new
birth: who by abstinence subjugate our refractory flesh, eager to
follow the allurements of lust? The eating of flesh, and drinking of
wine, and fulness of stomach, is the seed-plot of lust. And so the
comic poet says, [4749] "Venus shivers unless Ceres and Bacchus be with
her."
8. Through the five senses, as through open windows, vice has access to
the soul. The metropolis and citadel of the mind cannot be taken unless
the enemy have previously entered by its doors. The soul is distressed
by the disorder they produce, and is led captive by sight, hearing,
smell, taste, and touch. If any one delights in the sports of the
circus, or the struggles of athletes, the versatility of actors, the
figure of women, in splendid jewels, dress, silver and gold, and other
things of the kind, the liberty of the soul is lost through the windows
of the eyes, and the prophet's words are fulfilled: [4750] "Death is
come up into our windows." Again, our sense of hearing is flattered by
the tones of various instruments and the modulations of the voice; and
whatever enters the ear by the songs of poets and comedians, by the
pleasantries and verses of pantomimic actors, weakens the manly fibre
of the mind. Then, again, no one but a profligate denies that the
profligate and licentious find a delight in sweet odours, different
sorts of incense, fragrant balsam, [4751] kuphi, [4752] oenanthe, and
musk, which is nothing but the skin of a foreign rat. And who does not
know that gluttony is the mother of avarice, and, as it were, fetters
the heart and keeps it pressed down upon the earth? For the sake of a
temporary gratification of the appetite, land and sea are ransacked,
and we toil and sweat our lives through, that we may send down our
throats honey-wine and costly food. The desire to handle other men's
persons, and the burning lust for women, is a passion bordering on
insanity. To gratify this sense we languish, grow angry, throw
ourselves about with joy, indulge envy, engage in rivalry, are filled
with anxiety, and when we have terminated the pleasure with more or
less repentance, we once more take fire, and want to do that which we
again regret doing. Where, then, that which we may call the thin edge
of disturbance, has entered the citadel of the mind through these
doors, what will become of its liberty, its endurance, its thought of
God, particularly since the sense of touch can picture to itself even
bygone pleasures, and through the recollection of vice forces the soul
to take part in them, and after a manner to practice what it does not
actually commit?
9. At the call of reasoning such as this, many philosophers have
forsaken the crowded cities, and their pleasure gardens in the suburbs
with well-watered grounds, shady trees, twittering birds, crystal
fountains, murmuring brooks, and many charms for eye and ear, lest
through luxury and abundance of riches, the firmness of the mind should
be enfeebled, and its purity debauched. For there is no good in
frequently seeing objects which may one day lead to your captivity, or
in making trial of things which you would find it hard to do without.
Even the Pythagoreans shunned company of this kind and were wont to
dwell in solitary places in the desert. The Platonists also and Stoics
lived in the groves and porticos of temples, that, admonished by the
sanctity of their restricted abode, they might think of nothing but
virtue. Plato, moreover, himself, when [4753] Diogenes trampled on his
couches with muddy feet (he being a rich man), chose a house called
[4754] Academia at some distance from the city, in a spot not only
lonely but unhealthy, so that he might have leisure for philosophy. His
object was that by constant anxiety about sickness the assaults of lust
might be defeated, and that his disciples might experience no pleasure
but that afforded by the things they learned. We have read of some who
took out their own eyes lest through sight they might lose the
contemplation of philosophy. Hence it was that [4755] Crates the famous
Theban, after throwing into the sea a considerable weight of gold,
exclaimed, "Go to the bottom, ye evil lusts: I will drown you that you
may not drown me." But if anyone thinks to enjoy keenly meat and drink
in excess, and at the same time to devote himself to philosophy, that
is to say, to live in luxury and yet not to be hampered by the vices
attendant on luxury, he deceives himself. For if it be the case that
even when far distant from them we are frequently caught in the snares
of nature, and are compelled to desire those things of which we have a
scant supply: what folly it is to think we are free when we are
surrounded by the nets of pleasure! We think of what we see, hear,
smell, taste, handle, and are led to desire the thing which affords us
pleasure. That the mind sees and hears, and that we can neither hear
nor see anything unless our senses are fixed upon the objects of sight
and hearing, is an old saw. It is difficult, or rather impossible, when
we are swimming in luxury and pleasure not to think of what we are
doing: and it is an idle pretence which some men put forward [4756]
that they can take their fill of pleasure with their faith and purity
and mental uprightness unimpaired. It is a violation of nature to revel
in pleasure, and the Apostle gives a caution against this very thing
when he says, [4757] "She that giveth herself to pleasure is dead while
she liveth."
10. The bodily senses are like horses madly racing, but the soul like a
charioteer holds the reins. And as horses without a driver go at
break-neck speed, so the body if it be not governed by the reasonable
soul rushes to its own destruction. The philosophers make use of
another illustration of the relations between soul and body; [4758]
they say the body is a boy, the soul his tutor. Hence the [4759]
historian tells us "that our soul directs, our body serves. The one we
have in common with the gods, the other with the beasts." So then
unless the vices of youth and boyhood are regulated by the wisdom of
the tutor, every effort and every impulse sets strongly in the
direction of wantonness. We might lose four of the senses and yet
live,--that is we could do without sight, hearing, smell, and the
pleasures of touch. But a human being cannot subsist without tasting
food. It follows that reason must be present, that we may take food of
such a kind and in such quantities as will not burden the body, or
hinder the free movement of the soul: for it is the way with us that we
eat, and walk, and sleep, and digest our food, and afterwards in the
fulness of blood have to bear the spur of lust. [4760] "Wine is a
mocker, strong drink a brawler." Whosoever has much to do with these is
not wise. And we should not take such food as is difficult of
digestion, or such as when eaten will give us reason to complain that
we got it and lost it with much effort. The preparation of vegetables,
fruit, and pulse is easy, and does not require the skill of expensive
cooks: our bodies are nourished by them with little trouble on our
part; and, if taken in moderation, such food is easier to digest, and
at less cost, because it does not stimulate the appetite, and therefore
is not devoured with avidity. No one has his stomach inflated or
overloaded if he eats only one or two dishes, and those inexpensive
ones: such a condition comes of pampering the taste with a variety of
meats. The smells of the kitchen may induce us to eat, but when hunger
is satisfied, they make us their slaves. Hence gorging gives rise to
disease: and many persons find relief for the discomfort of gluttony in
emetics,--what they disgraced themselves by putting in, they with still
greater disgrace put out.
11. [4761] Hippocrates in his Aphorisms teaches that stout persons of a
coarse habit of body, when once they have attained their full growth,
unless the plethora be quickly relieved by blood-letting, develop
tendencies to paralysis and the worst forms of disease: they must
therefore be bled, that there may be room for fresh growth. For it is
not the nature of our bodies to continue in one stay, but go on either
to increase or decrease, and no animal can live which is incapable of
growth. Whence [4762] Galen, a very learned man and the commentator on
Hippocrates, says in his exhortation to the practice of medicine that
athletes whose whole life and art consists in stuffing cannot live
long, nor be healthy: and that their souls enveloped with superfluous
blood and fat, and as it were covered with mud, have no refined or
heavenly thoughts, but are always intent upon gluttonous and voracious
feasting. Diogenes maintains that tyrants do not bring about
revolutions in cities, and foment wars civil or foreign for the sake of
a simple diet of vegetables and fruits, but for costly meats and the
delicacies of the table. And, strange to say, Epicurus, the defender of
pleasure, in all his books speaks of nothing but vegetables and fruits;
and he says that we ought to live on cheap food because the preparation
of sumptuous banquets of flesh involves great care and suffering, and
greater pains attend the search for such delicacies than pleasures the
consumption of them. Our bodies need only something to eat and drink.
Where there is bread and water, and the like, nature is satisfied.
Whatever more there may be does not go to meet the wants of life, but
are ministers to vicious pleasure. Eating and drinking does not quench
the longing for luxuries, but appeases hunger and thirst. Persons who
feed on flesh want also gratifications not found in flesh. But they who
adopt a simple diet do not look for flesh. Further, we cannot devote
ourselves to wisdom if our thoughts are running on a well-laden table,
the supply of which requires an excess of work and anxiety. The wants
of nature are soon satisfied: cold and hunger can be banished with
simple food and clothing. Hence the Apostle says: "Having food and
clothing let us be therewith content." Delicacies and the various
dishes of the feast are the nurses of avarice. The soul greatly exults
when you are content with little: you have the world beneath your feet,
and can exchange all its power, its feasts, and its lusts, the objects
for which men rake money together, for common food, and make up for
them all with a sack-cloth shirt. Take away the luxurious feasting and
the gratification of lust, and no one will want riches to be used
either in the belly, or beneath it. The invalid only regains his health
by diminishing and carefully selecting his food, i.e., in medical
phrase, by adopting a "slender diet." The same food that recovers
health, can preserve it, for no one can imagine vegetables to be the
cause of disease. And if vegetables do not give the strength of Milo of
Crotona--a strength supplied and nourished by meat--what need has a
wise man and a Christian philosopher of such strength as is required by
athletes and soldiers, and which, if he had it, would only stimulate to
vice? Let those persons deem meat accordant with health who wish to
gratify their lust, and who, sunk in filthy pleasure, are always at
heat. What a Christian wants is health, but not superfluous strength.
And it ought not to disturb us if we find but few supporters; for the
pure and temperate are as rare as good and faithful friends, and virtue
is always scarce. Study the temperance of [4763] Fabricius, or the
poverty of [4764] Curius, and in a great city you will find few worthy
of your imitation. You need not fear that if you do not eat flesh,
fowlers and hunters will have learnt their craft in vain.
12. We have read that some who suffered with disease of the joints and
with gouty humours recovered their health by proscribing delicacies,
and coming down to a simple board and mean food. For they were then
free from the worry of managing a house and from unlimited feasting.
Horace [4765] makes fun of the longing for food which when eaten leaves
nothing but regret.
"Scorn pleasure; she but hurts when bought with pain."
And when, in the delightful retirement of the country, by way of
satirizing voluptuous men, he described himself as plump and fat, his
sportive verse ran thus:
"Pay me a visit if you want to laugh,
You'll find me fat and sleek with well-dress'd hide,
Like any pig from Epicurus' sty."
But even if our food be the commonest, we must avoid repletion. For
nothing is so destructive to the mind as a full belly, fermenting like
a wine vat and giving forth its gases on all sides. What sort of
fasting is it, or what refreshment is there after fasting, when we are
blown out with yesterday's dinner, and our [4766] stomach is made a
factory for the closet? We wish to get credit for protracted
abstinence, and all the while we devour so much that a day and a night
can scarcely digest it. The proper name to give it is not fasting, but
rather debauch and rank indigestion.
13. [4767] Dicæarchus in his book of Antiquities, describing Greece,
relates that under Saturn, that is in the Golden Age, when the ground
brought forth all things abundantly, no one ate flesh, but every one
lived on field produce and fruits which the earth bore of itself.
Xenophon in eight books narrates the life of Cyrus, King of the
Persians, and asserts that they supported life on barley, cress, salt,
and black bread. Both the aforesaid Xenophon, Theophrastus, and almost
all the Greek writers testify to the frugal diet of the Spartans.
[4768] Chæremon the Stoic, a man of great eloquence, has a treatise on
the life of the ancient priests of Egypt, who, he says, laid aside all
worldly business and cares, and were ever in the temple, studying
nature and the regulating causes of the heavenly bodies; they never had
intercourse with women; they never from the time they began to devote
themselves to the divine service set eyes on their kindred and
relations, nor even saw their children; they always abstained from
flesh and wine, on account of the light-headedness and dizziness which
a small quantity of food caused, and especially to avoid the
stimulation of the lustful appetite engendered by this meat and drink.
They seldom ate bread, that they might not load the stomach. And
whenever they ate it, they mixed pounded hyssop with all that they
took, so that the action of its warmth might diminish the weight of the
heavier food. They used no oil except with vegetables, and then only in
small quantities, to mitigate the unpalatable taste. What need, he
says, to speak of birds, when they avoided even eggs and milk as flesh.
The one, they said, was liquid flesh, the other was blood with the
colour changed? Their bed was made of palm-leaves, called by them baiæ:
a sloping footstool laid upon the ground served for a pillow, and they
could go without food for two or three days. The humours of the body
which arise from sedentary habits were dried up by reducing their diet
to an extreme point.
14. [4769] Josephus in the second book of the history of the Jewish
captivity, and in the eighteenth book of the Antiquities, and the two
treatises against Apion, describes three sects of the Jews, the
Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. On the last of these he bestows
wondrous praise because they practised perpetual abstinence from wives,
wine, and flesh, and made a second nature of their daily fast. [4770]
Philo, too, a man of great learning, published a treatise of his own on
their mode of life. [4771] Neanthes of Cizycus, and [4772] Asclepiades
of Cyprus, at the time when Pygmalion ruled over the East, relate that
the eating of flesh was unknown. Eubulus, also, who wrote the history
of [4773] Mithras in many volumes, relates that among the Persians
there are three kinds of Magi, the first of whom, those of greatest
learning and eloquence, take no food except meal and vegetables. At
Eleusis it is customary to abstain from fowls and fish and certain
fruits. [4774] Bardesanes, a Babylonian, divides the Gymnosophists of
India into two classes, the one called Brahmans, the other Samaneans,
who are so rigidly self-restrained that they support themselves either
with the fruit of trees which grow on the banks of the Ganges, or with
common food of rice or flour, and when the king visits them, he is wont
to adore them, and thinks the peace of his country depends upon their
prayers. Euripides relates that the prophets of Jupiter in Crete
abstained not only from flesh, but also from cooked food. [4775]
Xenocrates the philosopher writes that at Athens out of all the laws of
[4776] Triptolemus only three precepts remain in the temple of Ceres:
respect to parents, reverence for the gods, and abstinence from flesh.
[4777] Orpheus in his song utterly denounces the eating of flesh. I
might speak of the frugality of Pythagoras, Socrates, and [4778]
Antisthenes to our confusion: but it would be tedious, and would
require a work to itself. At all events this is the Antisthenes who,
after teaching rhetoric with renown, on hearing Socrates, is related to
have said to his disciples, "Go, and seek a master, for I have now
found one." He immediately, sold what he had, divided the proceeds
among the people, and kept nothing for himself but a small cloak. Of
his poverty and toil Xenophon in the Symposium is a witness, and so are
his countless treatises, some philosophical, some rhetorical. His most
famous follower was the great Diogenes, who was mightier than King
Alexander in that he conquered human nature. For Antisthenes would not
take a single pupil, and when he could not get rid of the persistent
Diogenes he threatened him with a stick if he did not depart. The
latter is said to have laid down his head and said, "No stick will be
hard enough to prevent me from following you." [4779] Satyrus, the
biographer of illustrious men, relates that Diogenes to guard himself
against the cold, folded his cloak double: his scrip was his pantry:
and when aged he carried a stick to support his feeble frame, and was
commonly called "Old Hand-to-mouth," because to that very hour he
begged and received food from any one. His home was the gateways and
city arcades. And when he wriggled into his tub, he would joke about
his movable house that adapted itself to the seasons. For when the
weather was cold he used to turn the mouth of the tub towards the
south: in summer towards the north; and whatever the direction of the
sun might be, that way the palace of Diogenes was turned. He had a
wooden dish for drinking; but on one occasion seeing a boy drinking
with the hollow of his hand he is related to have dashed the cup to the
ground, saying that he did not know nature provided a cup. His virtue
and self-restraint were proved even by his death. It is said that, now
an old man, he was on his way to the Olympic games, which used to be
attended by a great concourse of people from all parts of Greece, when
he was overtaken by fever and lay down upon the bank by the road-side.
And when his friends wished to place him on a beast or in a conveyance,
he did not assent, but crossing to the shade of a tree said, "Go your
way, I pray you, and see the games: this night will prove me either
conquered or conqueror. If I conquer the fever, I shall go to the
games: if the fever conquers me, I shall enter the unseen world." There
through the night he lay gasping for breath and did not, as we are
told, so much die as banish the fever by death. I have cited the
example of only one philosopher, so that our fine, erect, muscular
athletes, who hardly make a shadow of a footmark in their swift
passage, whose words are in their fists and their reasoning in their
heels, who either know nothing of apostolic poverty and the hardness of
the cross, or despise it, may at least imitate Gentile moderation.
15. So far I have dealt with the arguments and examples of
philosophers. Now I will pass on to the beginning of the human race,
that is, to the sphere which belongs to us. I will first point out that
Adam received a command in paradise to abstain from one tree though he
might eat the other fruit. The blessedness of paradise could not be
consecrated without abstinence from food. So long as he fasted, he
remained in paradise; he ate, and was cast out; he was no sooner cast
out than he married a wife. While he fasted in paradise he continued a
virgin: when he filled himself with food in the earth, he bound himself
with the tie of marriage. And yet though cast out he did not
immediately receive permission to eat flesh; but only the fruits of
trees and the produce of the crops, and herbs and vegetables were given
him for food, that even when an exile from paradise he might feed not
upon flesh which was not to be found in paradise, but upon grain and
fruit like that of paradise. But afterwards when [4780] God saw that
the heart of man from his youth was set on wickedness continually, and
that His Spirit could not remain in them because they were flesh, He by
the deluge passed sentence on the works of the flesh, and, taking note
of the extreme greediness of men, [4781] gave them liberty to eat
flesh: so that while understanding that all things were lawful for
them, they might not greatly desire that which was allowed, lest they
should turn a commandment into a cause of transgression. And yet even
then, fasting was in part commanded. For, seeing that some animals are
called clean, some unclean, and the unclean animals were taken into
Noah's ark by pairs, the clean in uneven numbers (and of course the
eating of the unclean was forbidden, otherwise the term unclean would
be unmeaning), fasting was in part consecrated: restraint in the use of
all was taught by the prohibition of some. Why did Esau lose his
birthright? Was it not on account of food? and he could not atone with
tears for the impatience of his appetite. The people of Israel cast out
from Egypt and on their way to the land of promise, the land flowing
with milk and honey, longed for the flesh of Egypt, and the melons and
garlic, saying: [4782] "Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord
in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots." And again, [4783]
"Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we did eat
in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and
the onions, and the garlic: but now our soul is dried away: we have
nought save this manna to look to."
They despised angels' food, and sighed for the flesh of Egypt. Moses
for forty days and forty nights fasted on Mount Sinai, and showed even
then that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word of God.
He says to the Lord, "the people is full and maketh idols." Moses with
empty stomach received the law written with the finger of God. The
people that ate and drank and rose up to play fashioned a golden calf,
and preferred an Egyptian ox to the majesty of the Lord. The toil of so
many days perished through the fulness of a single hour. Moses boldly
broke the tables: for he knew that drunkards cannot hear the word of
God. [4784] "The beloved grew thick, waxed fat, and became sleek: he
kicked and forsook the Lord which made him, and departed from the God
of his salvation." Hence also it is enjoined in the same Book of
Deuteronomy: [4785] "Beware, lest when thou hast eaten and drunk, and
hast built goodly houses, and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply,
and thy silver and gold is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up,
and thou forget the Lord thy God." In short the people ate and their
heart grew thick, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with
their ears, and understand with their heart: so the people well fed and
fat-fleshed could not bear the countenance of Moses who fasted, for, to
correctly render the Hebrew, it was [4786] furnished with horns through
his converse with God. And it was not, as some think, to show that
there is no difference between virginity and marriage, but to assert
his sympathy with severe fasting, that our Lord and Saviour when he was
transfigured on the Mount revealed Moses and Elias with Himself in
glory. Although Moses and Elias were properly types of the Law and the
Prophets, as is clearly witnessed by the Gospel: [4787] "They spake of
his departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem." For the
passion of our Lord is declared not by virginity or marriage, but by
the Law and the Prophets. If, however, any persons contentiously
maintain that by Moses is signified marriage, by Elias virginity, let
me tell them briefly that Moses died and was buried, but Elias was
carried off in a chariot of fire and entered on immortality before he
approached death. But the second writing of the tables could not be
effected without fasting. What was lost by drunkenness was regained by
abstinence, a proof that by fasting we can return to paradise, whence,
though fulness, we have been expelled. In [4788] Exodus we read that
the battle was fought against Amalek while Moses prayed, and the whole
people fasted until the evening. [4789] Joshua, the son of Nun, bade
sun and moon stand still, and the victorious army prolonged its fast
for more than a day. [4790] Saul, as it is written in the first book of
Kings, pronounced a curse on him who ate bread before the evening, and
until he had avenged himself upon his enemies. So none of his people
tasted any food. And all they of the land took food. And so binding was
a solemn fast once it was proclaimed to the Lord, that Jonathan, to
whom the victory was due, was taken by lot, and [4791] could not escape
the charge of sinning in ignorance, and his father's hand was raised
against him, and the prayers of the people scarce availed to save him.
[4792] Elijah after the preparation of a forty days fast saw God on
Mount Horeb, and heard from Him the words, "What doest thou here,
Elijah?" There is much more familiarity in this than in the "Where art
thou, Adam?" of Genesis. The latter was intended to excite the fears of
one who had fed and was lost; the former was affectionately addressed
to a fasting servant. [4793] When the people were assembled in Mizpeh,
Samuel proclaimed a fast, and so strengthened them, and thus made them
prevail against the enemy. [4794] The attack of the Assyrians was
repulsed, and the might of Sennacherib utterly crushed, by the tears
and sackcloth of King Hezekiah, and by his humbling himself with
fasting. So also the city of Nineveh by fasting excited compassion and
turned aside the threatening wrath of the Lord. And [4795] Sodom and
Gomorrha might have appeased it, had they been willing to repent, and
through the aid of fasting gain for themselves tears of repentance.
[4796] Ahab, the most impious of kings, by fasting and wearing
sackcloth, succeeded in escaping the sentence of God, and in deferring
the overthrow of his house to the days of his posterity. [4797] Hannah,
the wife of Elkanah, by fasting won the gift of a son. [4798] At
Babylon the magicians came into peril, every interpreter of dreams,
soothsayer, and diviner was slain. Daniel and the three youths gained a
good report by fasting, and although they were fed on pulse, they were
fairer and wiser than they who ate the flesh from the king's table.
Then it is written that Daniel fasted for three weeks; he ate no
pleasant bread; flesh and wine entered not his mouth; he was not
anointed with oil; and the angel came to him saying, [4799] "Daniel,
thou art worthy of compassion." He who in the eyes of God was worthy of
compassion, afterwards was an object of terror to the lions in their
den. How fair a thing is that which propitiates God, tames lions,
terrifies demons! Habakkuk (although we do not find this in the Hebrew
Scriptures [4800] ) was sent to him with the reaper's meal, for by a
week's abstinence he had merited so distinguished a server. David, when
his son was in danger after his adultery, made confession in ashes and
with fasting. [4801] He tells us that he ate ashes like bread, and
mingled his drink with weeping. [4802] And that his knees became weak
through fasting. Yet he had certainly heard from Nathan the words,
[4803] "The Lord also hath put away thy sin." Samson and Samuel drank
neither wine nor strong drink, for they were children of promise, and
conceived in abstinence and fasting. [4804] Aaron and the other priests
when about to enter the temple, refrained from all intoxicating drink
for fear they should die. Whence we learn that they die who minister in
the Church without sobriety. And hence it is a reproach against Israel:
[4805] "Ye gave my Nazarites wine to drink." Jonadab, the son of
Rechab, commanded his sons to drink no wine for ever. And when Jeremiah
offered them wine to drink, and they of their own accord refused it,
the Lord spake by the prophet, saying: [4806] "Because ye have obeyed
the commandment of Jonadab your father, Jonadab the son of Rechab shall
not want a man to stand before me for ever." On the [4807] threshold of
the Gospel appears Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, the wife of one
husband, and a woman who was always fasting. Long-continued chastity
and persistent fasting welcomed a Virgin Lord. His forerunner and
herald, John, fed on locusts and wild honey, not on flesh; and the
hermits of the desert and the monks in their cells, at first used the
same sustenance. But the Lord Himself consecrated His baptism by a
forty days' fast, and He taught us that the more violent devils [4808]
cannot be overcome, except by prayer and fasting. [4809] Cornelius the
centurion was found worthy through alms-giving and frequent fasts to
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit before baptism. [4810] The Apostle
Paul, after speaking of hunger and thirst, and his other labours,
perils from robbers, shipwrecks, loneliness, enumerates frequent fasts.
And he [4811] advises his disciple Timothy, who had a weak stomach, and
was subject to many infirmities, to drink wine in moderation: "Drink no
longer water," he says. The fact that he bids him no longer drink water
shows that he had previously drunk water. The apostle would not have
allowed this had not frequent infirmities and bodily pain demanded the
concession.
16. The Apostle does indeed [4812] blame those who forbade marriage,
and commanded to abstain from food, which God created for use with
thanksgiving. But he has in view Marcion, and Tatian, and other
heretics, who inculcate perpetual abstinence, to destroy, and express
their hatred and contempt for, the works of the Creator. But we praise
every creature of God, and yet prefer leanness to corpulence,
abstinence to luxury, fasting to fulness. [4813] "He that laboureth
laboureth for himself, and he is eager to his own destruction." And,
[4814] "From the days of John the Baptist (who fasted and was a virgin)
until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence
take it by force." For we are afraid lest at the coming of the eternal
judge we be caught, as in the days of the flood, and at the overthrow
of Sodom and Gomorrha, eating and drinking, and marrying, and giving in
marriage. For both the flood and the fire from heaven found fulness as
well as marriage ready for destruction. Nor need we wonder if the
Apostle commands that everything sold in the market be bought and
eaten, since with idolaters, and with those who still ate in the
temples of the idols meats offered to idols as such, it passed for the
highest abstinence to abstain only from food eaten by the Gentiles. And
if he says to the Romans: [4815] "Let not him that eateth set at nought
him that eateth not: and let not him that eateth not judge him that
eateth," he does not make fasting and fulness of equal merit, but he is
speaking against those believers in Christ who were still judaizing:
and he warns Gentile believers, not to offend those by their food who
were still too weak in faith. In brief this is clear enough in the
sequel: [4816] "I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing
is unclean of itself: save that to him who accounteth anything to be
unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of meat thy brother is
grieved, thou walkest no longer in love. Destroy not with thy meat him
for whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: for the
Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking." And that no one may suppose
he is referring to fasting and not to Jewish superstition, he
immediately explains, [4817] "One man hath faith to eat all things: but
he that is weak eateth herbs." And again, [4818] "One man esteemeth one
day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let each man be
fully assured in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it
unto the Lord: and he that eateth, eateth unto the Lord, for he giveth
God thanks; and he that eateth not, unto the Lord he eateth not, and
giveth God thanks." For they who were still weak in faith and thought
some meats clean, some unclean: and supposed there was a difference
between one day and another, for example, that the Sabbath, and the New
Moons, and the Feast of Tabernacles were holier than other days, were
commanded to eat herbs which are indifferently partaken of by all. But
such as were of stronger faith believed all meats and all days to be
alike.
17. My opponent has dared to maintain that our Lord was called by the
Pharisees a wine-bibber and a glutton: and from the fact of His going
to marriage feasts and from His not despising the banquets of sinners,
I am to infer His wishes respecting ourselves. That Lord, so you
suppose, is a glutton who fasted forty days to hallow Christian
fasting; [4819] who calls them blessed that hunger and thirst; [4820]
who says that He has food, not that which the disciples surmised, but
such as would not perish for ever; [4821] who forbids us to think of
the morrow; who, though He is said to have hungered and thirsted, and
to have gone frequently to various meals, except in celebrating the
mystery whereby He represented His passion, or [4822] in proving the
reality of His body is nowhere described as ministering to His
appetite; [4823] who tells of purple-clad Dives in hell for his
feasting, and says that poor Lazarus for his abstinence was in
Abraham's bosom; who, when we fast, [4824] bids us anoint our head and
wash our face, that we fast not to gain glory from men, but praise from
the Lord; who did indeed [4825] after His resurrection eat part of a
broiled fish and of a honey-comb, not to allay hunger and to gratify
His palate, but to show the reality of His own body. For whenever He
raised anyone from the dead He [4826] ordered that food should be given
him to eat, lest the resurrection should be thought a delusion. And
this is why Lazarus after his resurrection is [4827] described as being
at the feast with our Lord. We do not deny that fish and other kinds of
flesh, if we choose, may be taken as food; but as we prefer virginity
to marriage, so do we esteem fasting and spirituality above meats and
full-bloodedness. And if Peter [4828] before dinner went to the supper
chamber at the sixth hour, a chance fit of hunger does not prejudice
fasting. For, if this were so, because our Lord [4829] at the sixth
hour sat weary on the well of Samaria and wished to drink, all must of
necessity, whether they so desire or not, drink at that time. Possibly
it was the Sabbath, or the Lord's day, and he hungered at the sixth
hour after two or three days' fasting; for I could never believe that
the Apostle, if he had eaten a dinner only one day previous and had
been blown out with a great meal, would have been hungry by noon next
day. But if he did dine the day previous, and was hungry next day
before luncheon, I do not think that a man who was so soon hungry ate
until he was satisfied. Again, God by the mouth of Isaiah says what
fast He did not choose: [4830] "In the day of your fast ye find
pleasure, and afflict the lowly: ye fast for strife and debate, and to
smite with the fist of wickedness. It is not such a fast that I have
chosen, saith the Lord." What kind He has chosen He thus teaches: "Deal
thy bread to the hungry, and bring the houseless poor into thy house.
When thou seest the naked cover him, and hide not thyself from thine
own flesh." He did not therefore reject fasting, but showed what He
would have it to be: for that bodily hunger is not pleasing to God
which is made null and void by strife, and plunder, and lust. If God
does not desire fasting, how is it that in [4831] Leviticus He commands
the whole people in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month,
to fast until the evening, and threatens that he who does not afflict
his soul shall die and be cut off from his people? How is it that the
[4832] graves of lust where the people fell in their devotion to flesh
remain even to this day in the wilderness? Do we not read that the
stupid people gorged themselves with quails until the wrath of God came
upon them? Why was the man of God at whose prophecy the hand of King
Jeroboam withered, and who ate contrary to the command of God, [4833]
immediately smitten? Strange that the lion which left the ass safe and
sound should not spare the prophet just risen from his meal! He who,
while he was fasting, had wrought miracles, no sooner ate a meal than
he paid the penalty for the gratification. Joel also cries aloud:
[4834] "Sanctify a fast, proclaim a time of healing," that it might
appear that a fast is sanctified by other works, and that a holy fast
avails for the cure of sin. Moreover, just as true virginity is not
prejudiced by the counterfeit professions of the virgins of the devil,
so neither is true fasting by the periodic fast and perpetual
abstinence from certain kinds of food on the part of the worshippers of
Isis and Cybele, particularly when a fast from bread is made up for by
feasting on flesh. And just as the signs of Moses were imitated by the
signs of the Egyptians which were in reality no signs at all, for the
rod of Moses swallowed up the rods of the magicians: so when the devil
tries to be the rival of God this does not prove that our religion is
superstitious, but that we are negligent, since we refuse to do what
even men of the world see clearly to be good.
18. His fourth and last contention is that there are two classes, the
sheep and the goats, the just and the unjust: that the just stand on
the right hand, the other on the left: and that to the just the words
are spoken: [4835] "Come, ye blessed of my Father, and inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." But that
sinners are thus addressed: [4836] "Depart from me, ye cursed, into the
eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels." That a
good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, nor an evil tree good fruit.
Hence it is that the Saviour says to the Jews: [4837] "Ye are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do."
He quotes the parable of the ten virgins, the wise and the foolish, and
shows that the five who had no oil remained outside, but that the other
five who had gotten for themselves the light of good works went into
the marriage with the bridegroom. He goes back to the flood, and tells
us that they who were righteous like Noah were saved, but that the
sinners perished all together. We are informed that among the men of
Sodom and Gomorrha no difference is made except between the two classes
of the good and the bad. The righteous are delivered, the sinners are
consumed by the same fire. There is one salvation for those who are
released, one destruction for those who stay behind. Lot's wife is a
clear warning that we must not deviate a hair's breadth from right. If,
however, he says, you object and ask me why the righteous toils in time
of peace, or in the midst of persecution, if he is to gain nothing nor
have a greater reward, I would assert that he does this, not that he
may gain a further reward but that he may not lose what he has already
received. In Egypt also the ten plagues fell with equal violence upon
all that sinned, and the same darkness hung over master and slave,
noble and ignoble, the king and the people. Again at the Red Sea the
righteous all passed over, the sinners were all overwhelmed. Six
hundred thousand men, besides those who were unfit for war through age
or sex, all alike fell in the desert, and two who were alike in
righteousness are alike delivered. For forty years all Israel toiled
and died alike. As regards food, an homer of manna was the measure for
all ages: the clothes of all alike did not wear out: the hair of all
alike did not grow, nor the beard increase: the shoes of all lasted the
same time. Their feet grew not hard: the food in the mouths of all had
the same taste. They went on their way to one resting place with equal
toil and equal reward. All Hebrews had the same Passover, the same
Feast of Tabernacles, the same Sabbath, the same New Moons. In the
seventh, the Sabbatical Year, all prisoners were released without
distinction of persons, and in the year of Jubilee all debts were
forgiven to all debtors, and he who had sold land returned to the
inheritance of his fathers.
19. Then, again, as regards the parable of the sower in the Gospel, we
read that the good ground brought forth fruit, some a hundred fold,
some sixty fold, and some thirty fold; and, on the other hand, that the
bad ground admitted of three degrees of sterility: but Jovinianus makes
only two classes, the good soil and the bad. [4838] And as in one
Gospel our Lord promises the Apostles a hundred fold, in another seven
fold, for leaving children and wives, and in the world to come life
eternal; and the seven and the hundred mean the same thing: so, too, in
the passage before us, the numbers describing the fertility of the soil
need not create any difficulty, particularly when the Evangelist Mark
gives the inverse order, thirty, sixty, and a hundred. The Lord says,
[4839] "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me,
and I in him." As, then, there are not varying degrees of Christ's
presence in us, so neither are there degrees of our abiding in Christ.
[4840] "Every one that loveth me will keep my word: and my Father will
love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." He
that is righteous, loves Christ: and if a man thus loves, the Father
and the Son come to him, and make their abode with him. Now I suppose
that when the guest is such as this the host cannot possibly lack
anything. And if our Lord says, [4841] "In my Father's house are many
mansions," His meaning is not that there are different mansions in the
kingdom of heaven, but He indicates the number of Churches in the whole
world, for though the Church be seven-fold she is but one. "I go," He
says, "to prepare a place for you," not places. If this promise is
peculiar to the twelve apostles, then Paul is shut out from that place,
and the chosen vessel will be thought superfluous and unworthy. John
and James, because they asked more than the others, did not obtain it;
and yet their dignity is not diminished, because they were equal to the
rest of the apostles. [4842] "Know ye not that your bodies are a temple
of the Holy Ghost?" A temple, He says, not temples, in order to show
that God dwells in all alike. [4843] "Neither for these only do I pray,
but for them also that believe on me through their word; as thou,
Father, in me, and I in thee, are one, so they may be all one in us.
And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them. I have
loved them, as thou hast loved me. And as we are Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, one God, so may they be one people in themselves, that is, like
dear children, partakers of the divine nature." Call the Church what
you will, bride, sister, mother, her assembly is but one and never
lacks husband, brother, or son. Her faith is one, and she is not
defiled by variety of doctrine, nor divided by heresies. She continues
a virgin. Whithersoever the Lamb goeth, she follows Him: she alone
knows the Song of Christ.
20. "If you tell me," says he, "that one star differeth from another
star in glory, I reply, that one star does differ from another star;
that is, spiritual persons differ from carnal. We love all the members
alike, and do not prefer the eye to the finger, nor the finger to the
ear: but the loss of any one is attended by the sorrow of all the rest.
We all alike come into this world, and we all alike depart from it.
There is one Adam of the earth, and another from heaven. The earthly
Adam is on the left hand, and will perish: the heavenly Adam is on the
right hand, and will be saved. He who says to his brother, thou fool,'
and raca,' will be in danger of Gehenna. And the murderer and the
adulterer will likewise be sent into Gehenna. In times of persecution
some are burnt, some strangled, some beheaded, some flee, or die within
the walls of a prison: the struggle varies in kind, but the victors'
crown is one. No difference was made between the son who had never left
his father, and his brother who was welcomed as a returning penitent.
To the labourers of the first hour, the third, the sixth, the ninth,
and the eleventh, the same reward of a penny was given, and what may
perhaps seem still more strange to you, the first to receive the reward
were they who had toiled least in the vineyard."
21. Who is there even of God's elect that would not be disturbed at
these and similar passages of Holy Scripture which our crafty opponent,
with a perverse ingenuity, twists to the support of his own views? The
Apostle John says that many Antichrists had come, and to make no
difference between John himself and the lowest penitent is the
preaching of a real Antichrist. At the same time, I am amazed at the
portentous forms which Jovinianus, as slippery as a snake and like
another Proteus, so rapidly assumes. In sexual intercourse and full
feeding he is an Epicurean; in the distribution of rewards and
punishments he all at once becomes a Stoic, He exchanges Jerusalem for
[4844] Citium, Judæa for Cyprus, Christ for Zeno. If we may not depart
a hair's breadth from virtue, and all sins are equal, and a man who in
a fit of hunger steals a piece of bread is no less guilty than he who
slays a man: you must, in your turn, be held guilty of the greatest
crimes. The case is different if you say that you have no sin, not even
the least, and if, although all apostles and prophets and all the
saints (as I have maintained in dealing with [4845] his second
proposition) bewail their sinfulness, you alone boast of your
righteousness. But a minute ago you were barefooted: now you not only
wear shoes, but decorated ones. Just now you wore a rough coat and a
dirty shirt, you were grimy, and haggard, and your hand was horny with
toil: now you are clad in linen and silks, and strut like an exquisite
in the fashions of the Atrebates and the Laodiceans. Your cheeks are
ruddy, your skin sleek, your hair smoothed down in front and behind,
your belly protrudes, your shoulders are little mountains, your neck
full and so loaded with fat that the half-smothered words can scarce
make their escape. Surely in such extremes of dress and mode of life
there must be sin on the one side or the other. I will not assert that
the sin lies in the food or clothing, but that such fickleness and
changing for the worse is almost censurable in itself. And what we
censure, is far removed from virtue; and what is far from virtue
becomes the property of vice; and what is proved to be vicious is one
with sin. Now sin, according to you, is placed on the left hand, and
corresponds to the goats. You must, therefore, return to your old
habits if you are to be a sheep on the right hand; or, if you
perversely repent of your former views and change them for others,
whether you like it or not, and although you shave off your beard, you
will be reckoned among the goats.
22. But what is the good of calling a [4846] one-eyed man Old One-eye,
and of showing the inconsistency of an assailant, when we have to
refute a whole series of statements? That the sheep and the goats on
the right hand and on the left are the two classes of the righteous and
the wicked, I do not deny. That a good tree does not bring forth evil
fruit, nor an evil one good fruit, no one doubts. The ten virgins also,
wise and foolish, we divide into good and bad. We are not ignorant that
at the deluge the righteous were delivered, and sinners overwhelmed
with the waters. That at Sodom and Gomorrha the just man was rescued,
while the sinners were consumed by fire, is clear to everyone. We are
also aware that Egypt was stricken with the ten plagues, and that
Israel was saved. Even little children in our schools sing how the
righteous passed through the Red Sea, and Pharaoh with his host was
drowned. That six hundred thousand fell in the desert because they were
unbelieving, and that two only entered the land of promise, is taught
by Scripture; and so is the rest of your description of the two
classes, good and bad, down to the labourers in the vineyard. But what
are we to think of your assertion, that because there is a division
into good and bad, the good, or the bad it may be, are not
distinguished one from another, and that it makes no difference whether
one is a ram in the flock or a poor little sheep? whether the sheep
have the first or the second fleece? whether the flock is diseased and
covered with the scab, or full of life and vigour? [4847] especially
when by the authoritative utterances of His own prophet Ezekiel God
clearly points out the difference between flock and flock of His
rational sheep, saying, "Behold I judge between cattle and cattle, and
between the rams and the he-goats, and between the fat cattle and the
lean. Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed
all the diseased with your horns, until they were scattered abroad."
And that we might know what the cattle were, He immediately added:
[4848] "Ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men." Will Paul and
that penitent who had lain with his father's wife be on an equality,
because the latter repented and was received into the Church: and shall
the offender because he is with him on the right hand shine with the
same glory as the Apostle? How is it then that tares and wheat grow
side by side in the same field until the harvest, that is the end of
the world? What is the significance of good and bad fish being
contained in the Gospel net? Why, in Noah's ark, the type of the
Church, are there different animals with different abodes according to
their rank? Why standeth the queen upon the Lord's right hand, in
raiment of wrought gold, in a vesture of gold? Why had Joseph,
representing Christ, a coat of many colours? Why does the Apostle say
to the Romans: [4849] "According as God had dealt to each man a measure
of faith. For even as we have many members in one body, and all the
members have not the same office: so we, who are many, are one body in
Christ, and severally members one of another. And having gifts
differing according to the grace that was given to us, whether
prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; or
ministry, let us give ourselves to our ministry; or he that teacheth,
to his teaching; or he that exhorteth, to his exhorting: he that
giveth, let him do it with liberality; he that ruleth, with diligence,"
and so on. And elsewhere: [4850] "One man esteemeth one day above
another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully
persuaded in his own mind." To the Corinthians he says: [4851] "I have
planted, Apollos watered: but God gave the increase. So then, neither
is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth: but God that
giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one:
and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
For we are labourers together with God, ye are God's husbandry, ye are
God's building." And again elsewhere: [4852] "According to the grace of
God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder I laid a
foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed
how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay, than
that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if any man buildeth on
the foundation, gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble: each
man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall reveal it, because
it is revealed in fire: and the fire itself shall prove each man's work
of what sort it is. If any man's work shall abide which he built
thereon, 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 through
fire." If the man whose work is burnt and is to suffer the loss of his
labour, while he himself is saved, yet not without proof of fire: it
follows that if a man's work remains which he has built upon the
foundation, he will be saved without probation by fire, and
consequently a difference is established between one degree of
salvation and another. Again in another place he says: [4853] "Let a
man so account of us, as of ministers of Christ, and stewards of the
mysteries of God. Here, moreover, it is required in stewards, that a
man be found faithful." Would you be assured that between one steward
and another there is a great difference (I am not speaking of bad and
good, but of the good themselves who stand on the right hand)? then
listen to the sequel: [4854] "Know ye not that they which minister
about the sacrifices, eat of the sacrifices, and they which wait upon
the altar have their portion with the altar? Even so did the Lord
ordain that they which proclaim the gospel should live of the gospel.
But I have used none of these things: and I wrote not these things that
it may be so done in my case: for it were good for me rather to die,
than that any man should make my glorying void. For if I preach the
gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; for
woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. For if I do this of mine own
will, I have a reward: but if not of mine own will, I have a
steward-ship intrusted to me. What then is my reward? That, when I
preach the gospel, I may make the gospel without charge, so as not to
use to the full my right in the gospel. For though I was free from all
men, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the
more." You surely cannot say that men commit sin by living by the
Gospel, and partaking of the sacrifices. Of course not. The Lord
himself made the rule that they who preach the Gospel, should live by
the Gospel. But an Apostle who does not abuse this freedom, but labours
with his hands that he may not be a burden to anyone, and toils night
and day and ministers to his companions of course does this, that for
his greater toil he may receive a greater reward.
23. Let us hasten to what remains. [4855] "There are diversities of
gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations,
and the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but the
same God who worketh all things in all. But to each one is given the
manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal." And again: [4856] "As
the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the
body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ." But he precludes
you from saying that the different members of the one body have the
same rank; for he immediately describes the orders of the Church, and
says: [4857] "And God hath set some in the Church, first, apostles;
secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers; then miracles, then gifts of
healings, helps, governments, divers kinds of tongues. Are all
apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of
miracles? have all gifts of healings? do all speak with tongues? do all
interpret? But desire earnestly the greater gifts. And a still more
excellent way shew I unto you." And after discoursing more in detail of
the graces of charity, he added: [4858] "Whether there be prophecies,
they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease;
whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part,
and we prophesy in part: but when that which is perfect is come, then
that which is in part shall be done away." And afterwards we read:
[4859] "But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the
greatest of these is love. Follow after love; yet desire earnestly
spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." And again: [4860] "I
would have you all speak with tongues, but rather that ye should
prophesy: and greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with
tongues." And again: [4861] "I thank God, I speak with tongues more
than you all." Where there are different gifts, and one man is greater,
another less, and all are called spiritual, they are all certainly
sheep, and they stand on the right hand; but there is a difference
between one sheep and another. It is humility that leads the Apostle
Paul to say: [4862] "I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet
to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by
the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon
me was not found vain: but I laboured more abundantly than they all:
yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." But the very fact
of his thus humbling himself shows the possibility of there being
apostles of higher or lower rank, and God is not unjust that He will
forget the work of him who is called the chosen vessel of election, and
who laboured more abundantly than they all, or assign equal rewards to
unequal deserts. Afterwards we read, [4863] "As in Adam all die, so
also in Christ shall all be now alive. But each in his own order." If
each is to rise in his own order, it follows that those who rise are of
different degrees of merit. [4864] "All flesh is not the same flesh;
but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another
flesh of birds, and another of fishes. There are also celestial bodies,
and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the
glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star
differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of
the dead." Like a learned commentator, you have explained this passage
by saying that the spiritual differ from the carnal. It follows that in
heaven there will be both spiritual and carnal persons, and not only
will the sheep climb thither, but your goats also. "One star," he says,
"differeth from another star in glory": this is not the distinction of
sheep and goat, but of sheep and sheep, star and star. Lastly, he says,
"there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon." But for
this, you might maintain that the phrase one star from another star
covers the whole human race; but he introduces the sun and moon, and
you cannot possibly reckon them among the goats. "So," says he, "is
also the resurrection of the dead"--the just will shine with the
brightness of the sun, and those of the next rank will glow with the
splendour of the moon, so that one will be a Lucifer, another an
Arcturus, a third an Orion, another Mazzaroth, or some other of the
stars whose names are hollowed in the book of Job. [4865] [4866] "For
we all," he says, "must be made manifest before the judgment-seat of
Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body,
according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad." And you
cannot say that the mode of our manifestation before the judgment-seat
of Christ is such that the good receive good things, the bad evil
things; for he [4867] teaches us in the same epistle that he who soweth
sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he that soweth bountifully
shall reap also bountifully. Surely he who sows more and he who sows
less are both on the right side. And although they belong to the same
class, that of the sower, yet they differ in respect of measure and
number. The same Paul, writing to the Ephesians, says: [4868] "to the
intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly
places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of
God." You observe that it is a varied and manifold wisdom of God which
is spoken of as existing in the different ranks of the church. And in
the same epistle we read, [4869] "Unto each one of us was the grace
given according to the measure of the grace of Christ": not that
Christ's measure varies, but only that so much of His grace is poured
out as we can receive.
24. In vain, therefore, do you multiply instances of sheep and goats,
of the five wise and five foolish virgins, of Egyptians and Israelites,
and so forth, because retribution is not in the present, but will be in
the future. Hence we find that the day of judgment is promised at the
end of all things, because the judgment is not now. For it would be
absurd to call the last day the day of judgment, if God were judging at
the present time. Now we sail the ship, wrestle, and fight, that at
last we may reach the haven, be crowned, and triumph. But you, with no
less adroitness than perversity, make the life of this world illustrate
that of the world to come, although we know full well that here
unrighteousness prevails, there, righteousness: [4870] "until we go
into the sanctuary of God, and understand the end of those men." The
saint does not die one way, the sinner another. Those who sail the same
sea have the same calm and storm. A violent death is not one thing to
the robber, another to the martyr. Children are not born one way of
adultery and prostitution, in another of pure marriage. Certainly our
Lord and the robbers incurred the same penalty of crucifixion. If the
judgment of this world and of that which is to come be the same, it
follows that they who were here crucified side by side, will also be
esteemed of equal rank hereafter. Paul and they who bound him, sailed
together, endured the same storm, escaped together to the shore when
the ship was broken with the waves. You cannot deny that the prisoner
and the keepers were of unequal merit. And what were the circumstances
of that same shipwreck of the Apostle and the soldiers? The Apostle
Paul afterwards [4871] related a vision, and said that they who were
with him in the ship had been given to him by the Lord. Are we to
suppose that he to whom they were given, and they who were given to
him, were of one degree of merit? Ten righteous men can save a sinful
city. Lot together with his daughters was delivered from the fire: his
sons-in-law would also have been saved, had they been willing to leave
the city. Now there was surely a great difference between Lot and his
sons-in-law. One city out of the five, [4872] Zoar, was saved, and a
place which lay under the same sentence as Sodom, Gomorrha, Admah, and
Zeboiim, was preserved by the prayers of a holy man. Lot and Zoar were
of different merit, but both of them escaped the fire. [4873] The
robbers who in the absence of David had laid waste Ziklag, and made a
prey of the wives and children of the inhabitants were slain on the
third day in the plain, but forty men mounted on camels fled. Will you
maintain that there was some difference between those who were slain
and those who made good their escape? We read in the [4874] Gospel that
the tower of Siloam fell upon eighteen men who perished in the ruins.
Certainly our Saviour did not regard them as the only sinners: but they
were punished to terrify the rest: it was like scourging a pestilent
fellow to teach fools wisdom. If all sinners are punished alike, it is
unjust for one to be slain while another is admonished by his comrade's
death.
25. You raise the objection that all Israelites had the same measure of
manna, an homer, and were alike in respect of dress, and hair, and
beard, and shoes; as though we did not all alike partake of the body of
Christ. In the Christian mysteries there is one means of sanctification
for the master and the servant, the noble and the low-born, for the
king and his soldiers, and yet, that which is one varies according to
the merits of those who receive it. [4875] "Whosoever shall eat or
drink unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord."
Does it follow that because Judas drank of the same cup as the rest of
the apostles, that he and they are of equal merit? But suppose that we
do not choose to receive the sacrament, at all events we all have the
same life, breathe the same air, have the same blood in our veins, are
fed on the same food. Moreover, if our viands are improved by culinary
skill and are made more palatable for the consumer, food of this kind
does not satisfy nature, but tickles the appetite. We are all alike
subject to hunger, all alike suffer with cold: we alike are shrivelled
with the frost, or melted with the broiling heat. The sun and the moon,
and all the company of the stars, the showers, the whole world run
their course for us all alike, and, as the Gospel tells us, the same
refreshing rain falls upon all, good and bad, just and unjust. If the
present is a picture of the future, then the Sun of Righteousness will
rise upon sinners as well as upon the righteous, upon the wicked and
the holy, upon the heathen as well as upon Jews and Christians, though
the Scripture says, [4876] "Unto you that fear the Lord shall the Sun
of Righteousness arise." If He will rise to those that fear, He will
set to the despisers and the false prophets. The sheep which stand on
the right hand will be brought into the kingdom of heaven, the goats
will be thrust down to hell. The parable does not contrast the sheep
one with another, or on the other hand the goats, but merely makes a
difference between sheep and goats. The whole truth is not taught in a
single passage: we must always bear in mind the exact point of an
illustration. For instance, the ten virgins are not examples of the
whole human race, but of the careful and the slothful: the former are
ever anticipating the advent of our Lord, the latter abandon themselves
to idle slumber without a thought of future judgment. And so at the end
of the parable it is said, [4877] "Watch, for ye know not the day, nor
the hour." If at the deluge Noah was delivered, and the whole world
perished, all men were flesh, and therefore were destroyed. You must
either say that the sons of Noah and Noah for whose sake they were
delivered were of unequal merit, or you must place the accursed Ham in
the same rank as his father because he was delivered with him from the
flood. At the passion of Christ all wavered, all were unprofitable
together: there was none that did good, no not one. Will you therefore
dare to say that Peter and the rest of the Apostles who fled denied the
Saviour in the same sense as Caiaphas and the Pharisees and the people
who cried out, [4878] "Crucify him, crucify him"? And, to say no more
about the Apostles, do you think Annas and Caiaphas, and Judas the
traitor guilty of no greater crime than Pilate who was compelled
against his will to give sentence against our Lord? The guilt of Judas
is proportioned to his former merit, and the greater the guilt, the
greater the penalty too. [4879] "For the mighty shall mightily suffer
torment." An evil tree does not bear good fruit, nor a good tree evil
fruit. If this be so, tell me how it was that Paul though he was an
evil tree and persecuted the Church of Christ, afterwards bore good
fruit? And Judas, though he was a good tree and wrought miracles like
the other Apostles, afterwards turned traitor and brought forth evil
fruit? The truth is that a good tree does not bear evil fruit, nor an
evil tree good fruit, so long as they continue in their goodness, or
badness. And if we read that every Hebrew keeps the same Passover, and
that in [4880] the seventh year every prisoner is set free, and that at
Jubilee, that is the fiftieth year, [4881] every possession returns to
its owner, all this refers not to the present, but to the future; for
being in bondage during the six days of this world, on the seventh day,
the true and eternal Sabbath, we shall be free, at any rate if we wish
to be free while still in bondage in the world. If, however, we do not
desire it, our ear will be bored in token of our disobedience, and
together with our wives and children, whom we preferred to liberty,
that is, with the flesh and its works, we shall be in perpetual
slavery.
26. As for the parable of the sower which makes both good and bad
ground bear a triple crop, and the passage from the apostle in which
upon Christ as the foundation one man builds gold, silver, costly
stones, another wood, hay, stubble, the meaning is perfectly clear. We
know that in a great house there are different vessels, and to wish to
contradict so plain a truth would be sheer impudence. Yet that
Jovinianus may not triumph in a lie and quote the instance of the
apostles by way of discrediting the hundred fold, sixty fold, and
thirty fold, let me inform him that in [4882] Matthew and Mark a
hundred fold is promised to the apostles who had left all. And I would
tell him further, that in the Gospel of Luke we find much more, that is
polu pleiona, and that there is absolutely no instance in the Gospels
of a hundred standing for seven; and that he is convicted either of
forgery, or of ignorance; and that our cause is not prejudiced by the
fact that in one Gospel the enumeration begins at a hundred, in another
at thirty, since it is a rule with all Scripture, and especially with
the older writings, to put the lowest number first and so ascend by
degrees to the higher. For instance, suppose one to say that so-and-so
lived five and seventy and a hundred years, it does not follow that
five and seventy are more than a hundred because they were first
mentioned. If you do not on the side of good admit the difference
between a hundred, sixty, and thirty, neither will you do so on the
side of evil, and the seed which fell by the wayside, upon the rock,
and among thorns, will be equally faulty. But if the former three, or
the latter three, on the side of good, or on the side of evil
respectively, are one and the same, it was foolish instead of speaking
of two things to enumerate six kinds, and all the more because
according to the account of the parable in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the
Saviour always added: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Where
there is no deep inner meaning, it is useless to draw our attention to
the mystic sense.
27. You give it as your opinion that, since the Father and the Son make
their abode with the faithful, and since Christ is their guest, nothing
is lacking. I suppose, however, that Christ's abiding with the
Corinthians was one thing, with the Ephesians another: it was one
thing, I say, for Him to abide with those whom Paul blamed for many
sins, another for Him to dwell with those to whom the apostle revealed
mysteries hidden from the beginning of the world; one thing for Him to
be in Titus and Timothy, another in Paul. Certainly amongst them that
have been born of women, there has not arisen a greater than John the
Baptist. But the term greater implies others who are less. And [4883]
"he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." You see
then that in heaven one is greatest and another is least, and that
among the angels and the invisible creation there is a manifold and
infinite diversity. Why do the apostles say: [4884] "Lord, increase our
faith," if there is one measure for all? And why did our Lord rebuke
His disciple, saying: [4885] "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst
thou doubt?" In Jeremiah also we read concerning the future kingdom:
[4886] "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers." And so on
after: [4887] "I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their
heart will I write it; and I will be their God and they shall be my
people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me,
from the least of them unto the greatest of them." The context of this
passage clearly shows that the prophet is describing the future
kingdom, and how can there possibly be in it a least or greatest, if
all are to be equal? The secret is disclosed in the Gospel: [4888]
"Whosoever shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom
of heaven: but whosoever shall teach, and not do, shall be least."
[4889] The Saviour taught us at a feast to take the lowest place, lest,
when one greater than us came, we should be thrust with disgrace from
the higher place. If we cannot fall, but only raise ourselves by
penitence, what is the meaning of the ladder at Bethel, on which the
angels come from heaven to earth and descend as well as ascend? Surely
while on that ladder they are reckoned among the sheep and stand on the
right hand. There are angels who descend from heaven; but Jovinianus is
sure that they retain their inheritance.
28. But when Jovinianus supposes that the many mansions in our Father's
house are churches scattered throughout the world, who can refrain from
laughing; since Scripture plainly teaches in John's Gospel that our
Lord was discoursing not of the number of the churches, but of the
heavenly mansions, and the eternal tabernacles for which the prophet
longed? [4890] "In my Father's house," He says, "are many mansions: if
it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again, and
will receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also."
The place and the mansions which Christ says He would prepare for the
apostles are of course in the Father's house, that is, in the kingdom
of heaven, not on earth, where for the present He was leading the
apostles. And at the same time regard must be had to the sense of
Scripture: "I might tell you," He says, "that I go to prepare a place
for you, if there were not many mansions in my Father's house, that is
to say, if each individual did not prepare for himself a mansion
through his own works rather than receive it through the bounty of God.
The preparation is therefore not mine, but yours." This view is
supported by the fact that it profited Judas nothing to have a place
prepared, since he lost it by his own fault. And we must interpret in
the same way what our Lord says to the sons of Zebedee, one of whom
wished to sit on His left hand, the other on His right: [4891] "My cup
indeed ye shall drink: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left
hand, is not mine to give, but it is for them for whom it hath been
prepared of my Father." It is not the Son's to give; how then is it the
Father's to prepare? There are, He says, prepared in heaven, many
different mansions, destined for many different virtues, and they will
be awarded not to persons, but to persons' works. In vain therefore do
you ask of me what rests with yourselves, a reward which my Father has
prepared for those whose virtues will entitle them to rise to such
dignity. Again when He says: [4892] "I will come again, and will
receive you unto myself: that where I am, there ye may be also," He is
speaking especially to the apostles, concerning whom it is elsewhere
written, "That as I and thou, Father, are one, so they also may be one
in us," inasmuch as they have believed, have been perfected, and can
say, [4893] "the Lord is my portion." If, however, there are not many
mansions, how is it taught in the Old Testament correspondingly with
the New, that the chief priest has one rank, the priests another, the
Levites another, the door-keepers another, the sacristans another? How
is it that in the [4894] book of Ezekiel, where a description is given
of the future Church and of the heavenly Jerusalem, the priests who
have sinned are degraded to the rank of sacristans and doorkeepers, and
although they are in the temple of God, that is on the right hand, they
are not among the rams, but among the poorest of the sheep? How again
is it that in the river which flows from the temple, and replenishes
the salt sea, and gives new life to everything, we read there are many
kinds of fish? Why do we read that in the kingdom of heaven there are
Archangels, Angels, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Cherubim and Seraphim,
and every name which is named, not only in this present world, but also
that which is to come? A difference of name is meaningless where there
is not a difference of rank. An Archangel is of course an Archangel to
other inferior angels, and Powers, and Dominions have other spheres
over which they exercise authority. This is what we find in heaven and
in the administration of God. You must not therefore smile and sneer at
us, as is your wont, for making a graduated series of emperors,
præfects and counts, tribunes and centurions, companies, and all the
other steps in the service.
29. It is mere trifling to quote the passage: [4895] "Know ye not that
your bodies are a temple of the Holy Ghost," for it is customary in
Holy Scripture to speak of a single object as though it were many, and
of many as though they were one. And Jovinianus himself should know
that even in a temple there are many divisions--the outer and the inner
courts, the vestibules, the holy place, and the Holy of Holies. There
are also in a temple kitchens, pantries, oil-cellars, and cupboards for
the vessels. And so in the temple of our body there are different
degrees of merit. God does not dwell in all alike, nor does He impart
Himself to all in the same degree. A portion of the spirit of Moses was
taken and given to the seventy elders. I suppose there is a difference
between the abundance of the river, and that of the rivulets. [4896]
Elijah's spirit was given in double measure to Elisha, and thus double
grace wrought greater miracles. Elijah while living restored a dead man
to life; Elisha after death did the same. Elijah invoked famine on the
people; Elisha in a single day put the enemy's forces in the power of
the city which they besieged. No doubt the words, "Know ye not that
your bodies are a temple of the Holy Ghost," refer to the whole
assembly of the faithful, who, joined together, make up the one body of
Christ. But the question now is, who in the body is worthy to be the
feet of Christ, and who the head? who is His eye, and who His hand?--a
distinction indicated by the [4897] two women in the Gospel, the
penitent and the holy woman, one of whom held His feet, the other His
head. Some authorities, however, think there was only one woman, and
that she who began at His feet gradually advanced to His head.
Jovinianus further urges against us our Lord's words, [4898] "I pray
not for these only, but also for those who shall believe on me through
their word: that as I, Father, in thee and thou in me are one, so they
all may be one in us," and reminds us that the whole Christian people
is one in God, and, as His well-beloved sons, are [4899] "partakers of
the divine nature." We have already said, and the truth must now be
inculcated more in detail, that we are not one in the Father and the
Son according to nature, but according to grace. For the essence of the
human soul and the essence of God are not the same, as the Manichæans
constantly assert. But, says our Lord: [4900] "Thou hast loved them as
thou hast loved me." You see, then, that we are privileged to partake
of His essence, not in the realm of nature, but of grace, and the
reason why we are beloved of the Father is that He has loved the Son;
and the members are loved, those namely of the body. [4901] "For as
many as received Christ, to them gave He power to become sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name: which were born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." The
Word was made flesh that we might pass from the flesh into the Word.
The Word did not cease to be what He had been; nor did the human nature
lose that which it was by birth. The glory was increased, the nature
was not changed. Do you ask how we are made one body with Christ? Your
creator shall be your instructor: [4902] "He that eateth my flesh and
drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father
sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he that eateth me, he
also shall live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of
heaven." But the Evangelist John, who had drunk in wisdom from the
breast of Christ, agrees herewith, and says: [4903] "Hereby know we
that we abide in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his
Spirit. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God
abideth in him, and he in God." If you believe in Christ, as the
apostles believed, you shall be made one body with them in Christ. But,
if it is rash for you to claim for yourself a faith and works like
theirs when you have not the same faith and works, you cannot have the
same place.
30. You repeat the words bride, sister, mother, and affirm that all
these are titles of the one Church and names applied to all believers.
The fact goes against you. For if the Church admits but one rank, and
has not many members in one body, what necessity is there for calling
her bride, sister, mother? It must be that she is the bride of some,
the sister of others, the mother of others. All indeed stand on the
right hand, but one stands as a bridegroom, another as a brother, a
third as a son. [4904] "My little children" says the Apostle, "of whom
I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you." Do you think that
the children who are being born and the apostle who is in travail are
of equal rank? And the folly of your contention that we love all the
members alike, and do not prefer the eye to the finger, nor the hand to
the ear, but that if one be lost all mourn, is proved by the lesson
which the apostle teaches the Corinthians: [4905] "Some members are
more honourable, others excite the sense of shame: and those parts to
which shame attaches are clothed with more abundant honour; whereas our
comely parts have no need of our care." Do you think that the mouth and
the belly, the eyes and the outlets of the body are to be classed
together as of equal merit? [4906] "The lamp of thy body," he says, "is
thine eye. If thine eye be blinded, thy whole body is in darkness." If
you cut off a finger, or the tip of the ear, there is indeed pain, but
the loss is not so great, nor is the disfigurement attended by so much
pain as it would be were you to take out the eyes, mutilate the nose,
or saw through a bone. Some members we can dispense with and yet live:
without others life is an impossibility. Some offences are light, some
heavy. It is one thing to owe ten thousand talents, another to owe a
farthing. We shall have to give account of the idle word no less than
of adultery; but it is not the same thing to be put to the blush, and
to be put upon the rack, to grow red in the face and to ensure lasting
torment. Do you think I am merely expressing my own views? Hear what
the Apostle John says: [4907] "He who knows that his brother sinneth a
sin not unto death, let him ask, and he shall give him life, even to
him that sinneth not unto death. But he that hath sinned unto death,
who shall pray for him?" You observe that if we entreat for smaller
offences, we obtain pardon: if for greater ones, it is difficult to
obtain our request: and that there is a great difference between sins.
And so with respect to the people of Israel who had sinned a sin unto
death, it is said to Jeremiah: [4908] "Pray not thou for this people,
neither entreat for them, and do not withstand me, for I will not hear
thee." Moreover, if it be true that we all alike enter the world and
all alike leave it, and this is a precedent for the world to come, it
follows that whether righteous or sinners we shall all be equally
esteemed by God, because the conditions of our birth and death are now
the same. And if you contend that there are two Adams, the one of the
earth, the other from heaven; and that they who were in the earthly
Adam stand on the left hand, those who were in the heavenly are on the
right hand, before we go further, let me ask you a question concerning
two brothers: Was Esau in the earthly Adam, or in the heavenly? No one
doubts that you will reply, he was in the earthly. In which was Jacob?
Without hesitation you will say, in the heavenly. How then was he in
the heavenly when Christ had not yet come in the flesh--Christ who is
called the second Adam from heaven? You must either reckon all before
the incarnation of Christ in the old Adam, and even the just in the man
from the earth, and then they will be on the left among your goats; or,
if it be impious to give Isaac the same place as Ishmael, Jacob as
Esau, the saints as sinners, the last Adam will date from the time when
Christ was born of a Virgin, and your argument from the two Adams will
not benefit your sheep and goats, because we have proved that in the
first Adam there were both sheep and goats, and that of those who were
in one and the same man, some stood on the right hand of God, others on
the left: [4909] "For from Adam even until Moses death reigned over
all, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's
transgression."
31. As regards your attempt to show that railing and murder, the use of
the expression raca and adultery, the idle word and godlessness, are
rewarded with the same punishment, I have already given you my reply,
and will now briefly repeat it. You must either deny that you are a
sinner if you are not to be in danger of Gehenna: or, if you are a
sinner you will be sent to hell for even a light offence: [4910] "The
mouth that lieth," says one, "kills the soul." I suspect that you, like
other men, have occasionally told a lie: [4911] for all men are liars,
that God alone may be true, [4912] and that He may be justified in His
words, and may prevail when He judges. It follows either that you will
not be a man lest you be found a liar: or if you are a man and are
consequently a liar, you will be punished with parricides and
adulterers. For you admit no difference between sins, and the gratitude
of those whom you raise from the mire and set on high will not equal
the rage against you of those whom for the trifling offences of daily
life you have thrust into utter darkness. And if it be so that in a
persecution one is stifled, another beheaded, another flees, or the
fourth dies within the walls of a prison, and one crown of victory
awaits various kinds of struggle, the fact tells in our favour. For in
martyrdom it is the will, which gives occasion to the death, that is
crowned. My duty is to resist the frenzy of the heathen, and not deny
the Lord. It rests with them either to behead, or to burn, or to shut
up in prison, or enforce various other penalties. But if I escape, and
die in solitude, there will not at my death be the same crown for me as
for them, because the confession of Christ will not have been to me as
to them the cause of death. As for your remark that absolutely no
difference was made between the brother who had always been with his
father, and him who was afterwards welcomed as a penitent, I am willing
to add, if you like, that the one drachma which was lost and was found
was put with the others, and that the one sheep which the good
shepherd, leaving the ninety and nine, sought and brought back, made up
the full tale of a hundred. But it is one thing to be a penitent, and
with tears sue for pardon, another to be always with the father. And so
both the shepherd and the father say by the mouth of Ezekiel to the
sheep that was carried back, and to the son that was lost, [4913] "And
I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am
the Lord: that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open
thy mouth ever more, because of thy shame, when I have forgiven thee
all that thou hast done." That penitents may have their due it is
enough for them to feel shame instead of all other punishment. Hence in
another place it is said to them, [4914] "Then shall ye remember your
evil ways, and all the crimes wherewith ye were defiled, and ye shall
loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the wickedness that ye have
done; and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have done you
good for my name's sake, and not according to your evil ways, nor
according to your evil doings." The son, moreover, was reproved by his
father for envying his brother's deliverance, and for being tormented
by jealousy while the angels in heaven were rejoicing. The parallel,
however, is not to be drawn between the merits of the two sons (one of
whom was temperate, the other a prodigal) and those of the whole human
race, but the characters depicted are either Jews and Christians, or
saints and penitents. In the lifetime of Bishop Damasus I dedicated to
him a small treatise upon this parable. [4915]
32. And if a penny was given to all the labourers, those of the first,
the third, the sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh hours, and they came
first for the reward who were the last to work in the vineyard, even
here the persons described do not belong to one time or one age, but
from the beginning of the world to the end of it there are different
calls and a special meaning attaches to each. Abel and Seth were called
at the first hour: Enoch and Noah at the third: Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob at the sixth: Moses and the prophets at the ninth: at the
eleventh the Gentiles, to whom the recompense was first given because
they believed on the crucified Lord, and inasmuch as it was hard for
them to believe they earned a great reward. Many kings and prophets
have desired to see the things that we see, and have not seen them. But
the one penny does not represent one reward, but one life, and one
deliverance from Gehenna. And as by the favour of the sovereign those
guilty of various crimes are released from prison, and each one,
according to his toil and exertions, is in this or that condition of
life, so too the penny, as it were by the favour of our Sovereign, is
the discharge from prison of us all by baptism. Now our work is,
according to our different virtues, to prepare for ourselves a
different future.
33. So far I have replied to the separate portions of his argument; I
shall now address myself to the general question. Our Lord says to his
disciples, [4916] "Whosoever would become great among you, let him be
least of all." If we are all to be equal in heaven, in vain do we
humble ourselves here that we may be greater there. Of the two debtors
who owed, one five hundred pence, the other fifty, he to whom most was
forgiven loved most. And so the Saviour says, [4917] "I say to you, her
sins which are many are forgiven her, for she hath loved much. But to
whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." He who loves little,
and has little forgiven, he will of course be of inferior rank. [4918]
The householder when he set out delivered to his servants his goods, to
one five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to
his ability. Just as in another Gospel it is written that a nobleman
setting out for a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and
return, called the servants, and gave them each a sum of money, with
which one gained ten pounds, another five, and they, each according to
his ability and the gain he had made, received ten or five cities. But
one who had received a talent, or a pound, buried it in the ground, or
tied it up in a napkin, and kept it until his master's return. Our
first thought is that if, according to the modern Zeno, the righteous
do not toil in hope of reward, but to avoid the loss of what they
already have, he who buried his pound or talent that he might not lose
it, did no wrong, and the caution of him who kept his money is worthy
of more praise than the fruitless toil of those who wore themselves out
and yet received no reward for their labour. Then observe that the very
talent which was taken from the timid or negligent servant, was not
given to him who had the smaller profit, but to him who had gained the
most, that is, to him who had been placed over ten cities. If
difference of rank is not constituted by the difference in number, why
did our Lord say, "He gave to everyone according to his ability"? If
the gain of five talents and ten talents is the same, why were not ten
cities given to him who gained the least, and five to him who gained
the most? But that our Lord is not satisfied with what we have, but
always desires more, He himself shows by saying, "Wherefore didst thou
not give my money to the money-changers, that so when I came I might
have received it with usury?" The Apostle Paul understood this, and
[4919] forgetting those things which were behind, reached forward to
those things which were in front, that is, he made daily progress, and
did not keep the grace given to him carefully wrapped up in a napkin,
but his spirit, like the capital of a keen man of business, was renewed
from day to day, and if he were not always growing larger, he thought
himself growing less. Six cities of refuge are mentioned in the law,
provided for fugitives who were involuntary homicides, and the cities
themselves belonged to the priests. I should like to ask whether you
would put those fugitives among your goats, or among our sheep. If they
were goats, they would be slain like other homicides, and would not
enter the cities of God's ministers. If you say they were sheep, they
will not possibly be such sheep as can enjoy full liberty and feed
without fear of wolves. And it will be plain to you that sheep indeed
they are, but wandering sheep: that they are on the right hand, but do
not stand there: they flee until the High Priest dies and descending
into hell liberates their souls. The Gibeonites met the children of
Israel, and although other nations were slaughtered, they were kept
[4920] for hewers of wood and drawers of water. [4921] And of such
value were they in God's eyes, that the family of Saul was destroyed
for the wrong done to them. Where would you put them? Among the goats?
But they were not slain, and they were avenged by the determination of
God. Among the sheep? But holy Scripture says they were not of the same
merit as the Israelites. You see then that they do indeed stand on the
right hand, but are of a far inferior grade. Jonathan came between
David, the holy man, and Saul, the worst of kings, and we can neither
place him among the kids because he was worthy of a prophet's love, nor
amongst the rams lest we make him equal to David, and particularly when
we know that he was slain. He will, therefore, be among the sheep, but
low down. And just as in the case of David and Jonathan, you will be
bound to recognize differences between sheep and sheep. [4922] "That
servant, which knew his lord's will, and made not ready, nor did
according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he that
knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few
stripes. And to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be
required: and to whom they commit much, of him will they ask the more."
Lo! more or less is committed to different servants, and according to
the nature of the trust, as well as of the sin, is the number of
stripes inflicted.
34. The whole account of the land of Judah and of the tribes is typical
of the church in heaven. Let us read Joshua the son of Nun, or the
concluding portions of Ezekiel, and we shall see that the historical
division of the land as related by the one finds a counterpart in the
spiritual and heavenly promises of the other. What is the meaning of
the seven and eight steps in the description of the temple? or again,
what significance attaches to the fact that in the Psalter, after being
taught the mystic alphabet by the [4923] one hundred and eighteenth
psalm we arrive by fifteen steps at the point where we can sing: [4924]
"Behold, now bless the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord: ye who stand
in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God." Why
did [4925] two tribes and a half dwell on the other side of Jordan, a
district abounding in cattle, while the remaining nine tribes and a
half either drove out the old inhabitants from their possessions, or
dwelt with them? Why did the tribe of Levi [4926] receive no portion in
the land, but have the Lord for their portion? And how is it that of
the priests and Levites, themselves, the [4927] high priest alone
entered the Holy of Holies where were the cherubim and the mercy-seat?
Why did the other priests wear [4928] linen raiment only, and not have
their clothing of wrought gold, blue, scarlet, purple, and fine cloth?
The priests and [4929] Levites of the lower order took care of the oxen
and wains: those of the higher order carried the ark of the Lord on
their shoulders. If you do away with the gradations of the tabernacle,
the temple, the Church, if, to use a common military phrase, all upon
the right hand are to be "up to the same standard," bishops are to no
purpose, priests in vain, deacons useless. Why do virgins persevere?
widows toil? Why do married women practise continence? Let us all sin,
and when once we have repented, we shall be on the same footing as the
apostles.
35. But now we have just sighted land: the foaming billows have been
rolling mountain-high: our ship has been borne aloft, or has rushed
headlong into the depths beneath: little by little the haven opens to
the view of the weary and exhausted sailors. We have discussed the
married, widows, and virgins. We have preferred virginity to widowhood,
widowhood to marriage. The passage of the apostle, in which he treats
questions of this kind, has been expounded, and particular objections
have been met. We also took a survey of secular literature, and
inquired what was thought of virgins, and what of those who had one
husband; and by way of contrast we pointed out the cares which
sometimes attend wedlock. Then we passed to the second division, in
which our opponent denies the possibility of sinning to those who have
been baptized with complete faith. And we showed that God alone is
faultless, and every creature is at fault, not because all have sinned,
but because all may sin, and those who stand have cause to fear when
they see the fall of men like themselves. In the third place we came to
fasting, and inasmuch as our opponent's argument fell under two heads,
and he appealed either to philosophy, or to Holy Scripture, we also
furnished a several reply. In the fourth, that is the last section, the
sheep and goats on the right hand and the left, the righteous and the
wicked, were distributed into two classes, the intention being to show
that there is no difference between one just man and another, or
between one sinner and another. To prove the point Jovinianus had
accumulated countless instances from Scripture which apparently
favoured his view, and this contention we rebutted both by arguments
and illustrations from Scripture, and pulverized Zeno's old opinion no
less with common sense than with the words of inspiration.
36. I must in conclusion say a few words to our modern Epicurus
wantoning in his gardens with his favourites of both sexes. On your
side are the fat and the sleek in their festal attire. If I may mock
like Socrates, add if you please, all swine and dogs, and, since you
like flesh so well, vultures too, eagles, hawks, and owls. We shall
never be afraid of the host of [4930] Aristippus. If ever I see a fine
fellow, or a man who is no stranger to the curling-irons, with his hair
nicely done and his cheeks all aglow, he belongs to your herd, or
rather grunts in concert with your pigs. To our flock belong the sad,
the pale, the meanly clad, who, like strangers in this world, though
their tongues are silent, yet speak by their dress and bearing. [4931]
"Woe is me," say they, "that my sojourning is prolonged! that I dwell
among the tents of Kedar!" that is to say, in the darkness of this
world, for the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness
comprehended it not. Boast not of having many disciples. The Son of God
taught in Judæa, and only twelve apostles followed Him. [4932] "I have
trodden the wine-press alone," He says, "and of the peoples there was
no man with me." At the passion He was left alone, and even Peter's
fidelity to Him wavered: on the other hand all the people applauded the
doctrine of the Pharisees, saying, [4933] "Crucify him, crucify him. We
have no king but Cæsar," that is in effect, we follow vice, not virtue;
Epicurus, not Christ; Jovinianus, not the Apostle Paul. If many assent
to your views, that only indicates voluptuousness; for they do not so
much approve your utterances, as favour their own vices. In our crowded
thoroughfares a false prophet may be seen any day stick in hand
belabouring the fools about him, and knocking out the teeth of those
who offend him, and yet he never lacks constant followers. And do you
regard it as a mark of great wisdom if you have a following of many
pigs, whom you are feeding to make pork for hell? Since you published
your views, and set the mark of your approval on baths in which the
sexes bathe together, the impatience which once threw over burning lust
the semblance of a robe of modesty has been laid bare and exposed. What
was once hidden is now open to the gaze of all. You have revealed your
disciples, such as they are, not made them. One result of your teaching
is that sin is no longer even repented of. Your virgins whom, with a
depth of wisdom never found before in speech or writing, you have
taught the apostle's maxim that it is better to marry than to burn,
have turned secret adulterers into acknowledged husbands. [4934] It was
not the apostle, the chosen vessel, who gave this advice; it was
Virgil's widow:
[4935] "She calls it wedlock; thus she veils her fault."
37. About four hundred years have passed since the preaching of Christ
flashed upon the world, and during that time in which His robe has been
torn by countless heresies, almost the whole body of error has been
derived from the Chaldæan, Syriac, and Greek languages. Basilides, the
master of licentiousness and the grossest sensuality, after the lapse
of so many years, and like a second [4936] Euphorbus, was changed by
transmigration into Jovinian, so that the Latin tongue might have a
heresy of its own. Was there no other province in the whole world to
receive the gospel of pleasure, and into which the serpent might
insinuate itself, except that which was founded by the teaching of
Peter, upon the rock Christ? Idol temples had fallen before the
standard of the Cross and the severity of the Gospel: now on the
contrary lust and gluttony endeavour to overthrow the solid structure
of the Cross. And so God says by Isaiah, [4937] "O my people, they
which bless you cause you to err, and trouble the paths of your feet."
Also by Jeremiah, [4938] "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save
every man his life, and believe not the false prophets which say,
Peace, peace, and there is no peace;" who are always repeating, [4939]
"The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord." "Thy prophets have
seen for thee false and foolish things; they have not laid bare thine
iniquity that they might call thee to repentance: who devour God's
people like bread: they have not called upon God." Jeremiah announced
the captivity and was stoned by the people. [4940] Hananiah, the son of
Azzur, broke the bars of wood for the present, but was preparing bars
of iron for the future. False prophets always promise pleasant things,
and please for a time. Truth is bitter, and they who preach it are
filled with bitterness. For with the unleavened bread of sincerity and
truth the Lord's passover is kept, and it is eaten with bitter herbs.
Admirable are your utterances and worthy of the ears of the bride of
Christ standing in the midst of her virgins, and widows, and celibates!
(their very name is [4941] derived from the fact that they who abstain
from intercourse are fit for heaven). This is what you say: "Fast
seldom, marry often. You cannot do the work of marriage unless you take
mead, and flesh, and solid food. For lust strength is required. Flesh
is soon spent and enervated. You need not be afraid of fornication. He
who has been once baptized into Christ cannot fall, for he has the
consolation of marriage to slake his lust. And if you do fall,
repentance will restore you, and you who were hypocrites at baptism may
have a firm faith in your repentance. Be not disturbed by the thought
of a difference between the righteous and the penitent, and do not
imagine that pardon even gives a lower place; rather believe that it
takes away your crown. For there is one reward: he who stands on the
right hand shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." Through counsels
such as these your swine-herds are richer than our shepherds, and the
he-goats draw after them many of the other sex: [4942] "They were as
fed horses: they were mad after women": they no sooner see a woman than
they neigh after her, and, shame to say! find scriptural authority for
the consolation of their incontinence. But the very women, unhappy
creatures! though they deserve no pity, who chant the words of their
instructor (for what does God require of them but to become mothers?),
have lost not only their chastity, but all sense of shame, and defend
their licentious practices with an access of impudence. You have,
moreover, in your army many subalterns, you have your guardsmen and
your skirmishers at the outposts, the round-bellied, the well-dressed,
the exquisites, and noisy orators, to defend you with tooth and nail.
The noble make way for you, the wealthy print kisses on your face. For
unless you had come, the drunkard and the glutton could not have
entered paradise. All honor to your virtue, or rather to your vices!
You have in your camp, even amazons with uncovered breasts, bare arms
and knees, who challenge the men who come against them to a battle of
lust. Your household is a large one, and so in your aviaries not only
turtle-doves, but hoopoes are fed, which may wing their flight over the
whole field of rank debauchery. Pull me to pieces and scatter me to the
winds: tax me with what offences you please: accuse me of luxurious and
delicate living: you would like me better if I were guilty, for I
should belong to your herd.
38. But I will now address myself to you, great Rome, who with the
confession of Christ have blotted out the blasphemy written on your
forehead. Mighty city, mistress-city of the world, city of the
Apostle's praises, shew the meaning of your name. Rome is either
strength in Greek, or height in Hebrew. Lose not the excellence your
name implies: let virtue lift you up on high, let not voluptuousness
bring you low. By repentance, as the history of Nineveh proves, you may
escape the curse wherewith the Saviour threatened you in the
Apocalypse. Beware of the name of Jovinianus. It is derived from that
of an idol. [4943] The Capitol is in ruins: the temples of Jove with
their ceremonies have perished. Why should his name and vices flourish
now in the midst of you, when even in the time of Numa Pompilius, even
under the sway of kings, your ancestors gave a heartier welcome to the
self-restraint of Pythagoras than they did under the consuls to the
debauchery of Epicurus?
__________________________________________________________________
[4652] This, according to i. 3, is "cannot be overthrown."
[4653] 1 John iii. 9, 10.
[4654] 1 John v. 18.
[4655] 1 John v. 21.
[4656] 1 John i. 8 sq.
[4657] Is. lxv. 5. Quoted from memory. The LXX and Vulg. have like A.V.
and Rev., "Come not near me."
[4658] 1 John ii. 1.
[4659] 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.
[4660] Ps. li. 12.
[4661] 1 John ii. 4.
[4662] 1 John xiv. 6.
[4663] James ii. 26.
[4664] Jerome is perhaps hinting at the opinions of Jovinianus, that
there was no other distinction between men than the grand division into
righteous and wicked, and drawing from this the inference that whoever
had been truly baptized had nothing further to gain by progress in the
Christian life.
[4665] 1 Peter ii. 22.
[4666] James iii. 2.
[4667] Job xiv. 4, 5, Sept.
[4668] Prov. xx. 9.
[4669] Ps. li. 5.
[4670] Job ix. 20, 30. Sept.
[4671] 1 John ii. 1, 2.
[4672] S. John xiii. 10.
[4673] S. Matt. xvi. 18.
[4674] S. Luke xxi. 31.
[4675] S. Matt. vi. 12.
[4676] 1 Cor. ix. 27.
[4677] 2 Cor. xii. 7.
[4678] 2 Cor. xi. 3.
[4679] 2 Cor. ii. 10, 11.
[4680] 1 Cor. x. 13.
[4681] 1 Cor. x. 12.
[4682] Gal. v. 7.
[4683] 1 Thess. ii. 18.
[4684] 1 Cor. vii. 5.
[4685] Gal. v. 16, 17.
[4686] Eph. vi. 12.
[4687] Heb. vi. 4 sq.
[4688] Various dates, ranging between a.d. 126 and a.d. 173, are
assigned to the origin of Montanism. In addition to the tenet, that the
church has no power to remit sin after baptism (though the power was
claimed for the Montanistic prophets) and that some sins exclude for
ever from the communion of the saints on earth, although the mercy of
God may be extended to them hereafter, Montanus held second marriages
to be no better than adultery, proscribed military service and secular
life in general, denounced profane learning and amusements of every
kind, advocated extreme simplicity of female dress, practised frequent
and severe fasting, and inculcated the most rigorous asceticism. The
sect produced a great effect on the church and lasted until the sixth
century. As is well known, Tertullian in middle life lapsed into
Montanism, and he was the most distinguished of its champions.
Montanism has been described as an anticipation of the mediaeval system
of Rome.
[4689] The founder of the schism which afterwards bore the name of
Novatian was Novatus, a presbyter of Carthage who went to Rome (about
a.d. 250) and there co-operated with Novatianus, one of the most
distinguished of the clergy of that city. The Novatianists, whose
doctrines were near akin in many respects to those of Montanists,
assumed the name of Cathari, or Puritans.
[4690] Heb. vi. 9.
[4691] James i. 12 sq.
[4692] Ecclus. xxvii. 5.
[4693] Ecclus. ii. 1.
[4694] James i. 22 sq.
[4695] James ii. 10.
[4696] Rom. xi. 32.
[4697] 2 Pet. ii. 9.
[4698] 2 Pet. ii. 17, 18.
[4699] Prov. xvi. 5. Sept.
[4700] Apoc. ii. 2 sq.
[4701] Matt. xi. 13.
[4702] 1 Cor. x. 11.
[4703] Ps. xxvi. 1, 2.
[4704] Ps. li. 1.
[4705] 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12, 13.
[4706] 2 Kings xxiii. 29 sq. 2 Chron. xxxv. 20 sq.
[4707] Zech. iii. 1 sq.
[4708] Numb. xx. 13; Ps. cvi. 32.
[4709] Job v. 17.
[4710] Job vii. 1.
[4711] Jerome blends two passages, Is. xiv. 12 (in which the Sept.
reading is "that sendest to;" R.V. "didst lay low") and Ezek. xxviii.
13 sq. In the passage from Isaiah the king of Babylon is compared to
Lucifer, i.e. the shining one, the morning star, whose movements the
Babylonians had been the first to record. See Sayce, Fresh Light from
the Ancient Monuments, p. 178, and Cheyne's Isaiah. The subject of
Ezekiel's prophecy is the Prince of Tyre.
[4712] S. Luke x. 18.
[4713] Job xl. 16, 21. R.V. "He lieth under the lotus trees, in the
covert of the reed and the fen."
[4714] Job xli. 34. Sept. R.V. "King over the sons of pride."
[4715] Job xli. 13 sq. R.V. for the latter part of the verse has "Round
about his teeth is terror, his strong scales are his pride." Jerome's
words are not found in the existing Septuagint.
[4716] The Septuagint omits much in this portion of the Book of Job.
[4717] xli. 27.
[4718] That is, deriving jumenta from juvo. The derivation, however, is
from jungo.
[4719] Ps. viii. 5 sq.
[4720] The Italian beccafico.
[4721] Rom. xiv. 20; 1 Tim. iv. 5.
[4722] 1 Tim. iv. 3.
[4723] Castum. Another reading is Cossum i.e. wood-worms, which were
considered a delicacy in Pontus and Phrygia. The reading Castum is
supported by Tert., De Iejun. cap. 16: In nostris xerophagiis
blasphemias ingerens. Casto Isidis et Cybeles eos adæquas. Compare
Arnob. Bk. V., and Jerome's Letter cvii. ad Lætam c. 10, and below c.
7.
[4724] See note on p. 383.
[4725] That is, of Side in Pamphylia. He lived in the reigns of Hadrian
and Antoninus Pius, a.d. 117-161. Only two fragments remain of his
Greek poem in forty-two books.
[4726] He appears to be Flavius the Grammarian to whom reference is
made in the Book on Illustrious Men, chap. 80:--Firmianus, qui et
Lactantius, Arnobii discipulus, sub Diocletiano principe accitus cum
Flavio grammatico, cujus de Medicinalibus versu compositi exstant
libri, etc.
[4727] Born a.d. 23. His Historia Naturalis embraces astronomy,
meteorology, geography, mineralogy, zoölogy, and botany, and comprises
according to the author's own account 20,000 matters of importance
drawn from 2,000 volumes.
[4728] A native of Cilicia, who probably lived in the second century of
the Christian era. He was a Greek physician and wrote a treatise on
Materia Medica, in 5 books, which is still extant.
[4729] 2 Cor. xii. 14.
[4730] 2 Cor. iv. 16.
[4731] Phil. i. 23.
[4732] Rom. xiii. 14.
[4733] Matt. x. 9, xix. 21; Mark vi. 8.
[4734] Matt. xix. 21.
[4735] 1 Cor. xv. 85.
[4736] 1 Cor. vi. 13.
[4737] That is, the wood-worm just referred to.
[4738] Pannonia, of which Valens also was a native.
[4739] This name, which signifies dwellers in caves, was applied by
Greek geographers to various peoples, but especially to the uncivilized
inhabitants of the west coast of the Red Sea, along the shores of Upper
Egypt and Æthiopia. The whole coast was called Troglodytice.
[4740] In 376 the Goths were driven out of their country by the Huns.
They were allowed by Valens to cross the Danube, but war soon broke out
and the emperor was defeated with great slaughter on Aug. 9, 378.
[4741] The Sarmatians dwelt on the N. E. of the Sea of Azov, E. of the
river Don.
[4742] They were located in the S. E. of Germany.
[4743] The name given to the great confederacy of German peoples who in
a.d. 409 traversed Germany and Gaul, and invaded Spain. In 429 they
conquered all the Roman dominions in Africa, and in 455 they plundered
Rome. Their kingdom was destroyed by Belisarius in 535.
[4744] A people of Central Asia. Cyrus the Great was slain in an
expedition against them.
[4745] On the Oxus near its entrance into the Caspian Sea.
[4746] An agricultural people on the W. coast of Pontus.
[4747] Hyrcania was a province of the Persian Empire, on the S. and S.
E. shores of the Caspian or Hyrcanian Sea. Jerome draws many of these
details from the treatise of Porphyry Peri apoches empsuchion.
[4748] Antinous was drowned in the Nile. a.d. 122. The emperor's grief
was so great that he enrolled his favourite amongst the gods, caused a
temple to be erected to his honour at Mantinea, and founded the city of
Antinoopolis.
[4749] Ter. Eunuch. iv. 5, 6.
[4750] Jer. ix. 21.
[4751] An Egyptian perfuming powder.
[4752] Probably an ointment made from the grape of the wild vine.
[4753] The celebrated Cynic philosopher. He died at Corinth, at the age
of nearly 90, b.c. 323.
[4754] Academia was a piece of land on the Cephisus about
three-quarters of a mile from Athens, originally belonging to the hero
Academus. Here was a Gymnasium with plane and olive plantations, etc.
Plato had a piece of land in the neighbourhood; here he taught, and
after him his followers, who were hence called Academici. Cicero called
his villa Academia.
[4755] Flourished about b.c. 320. Though heir to a large fortune he
renounced it all, and lived and died as a true Cynic. He was called the
"door-opener," because it was his practice to visit every house at
Athens and rebuke its inmates.
[4756] A common form of Gnostic error revived many centuries afterwards
by the Anabaptists.
[4757] 1 Tim. v. 6.
[4758] See Cicero, Repub. Bk. III.
[4759] Sallust. In Cat. ch. 1.
[4760] Prov. xx. 1.
[4761] The most celebrated physician of antiquity. Born about b.c. 460,
died about 357.
[4762] Born at Pergamum a.d. 130, died probably in the year 200. His
writings are considered to have had a more extensive influence on
medical science than even those of Hippocrates.
[4763] Fabricius was censor in b.c. 275, and devoted himself to
repressing the prevalent taste for luxury. The story of his expelling
from the Senate P. Cornelius Rufinus because he possessed ten pounds'
weight of silver-plate is well-known.
[4764] Curius Dentatus, Consul b.c. 290 with P. Cornelius Rufinus to
whom allusion has just been made, was no less distinguished for
simplicity of life than was Fabricius. He was censor b.c. 272.
[4765] Ep. Lib. I. ep. 2.
[4766] Or, "an ante-room to the closet"--Meditatorium. Comp.
Tertullian, Treatise on Fasting, ch. 6.
[4767] The Peripatetic philosopher, geographer, and historian, a
disciple of Aristotle and the friend of Theophrastus.
[4768] Chæremon was chief librarian of the Alexandrian library. He
afterwards became one of Nero's tutors.
[4769] Wars, Book II., ch. viii. 2 sq.; Antiquities, Bk. xviii. I. 2
sq. Josephus nowhere says that the Essenes abstained from flesh and
wine, or fasted daily. Philo commends them for so doing. Jerome here,
as above, borrows from Porphyry. The "Wars of the Jews or History of
the Destruction of Jerusalem," are here called the "History of the
Jewish Captivity."
[4770] Philo the Jew. His exact date cannot be given; but he was
advanced in years when he went to Rome (a.d. 40) on his famous embassy
in behalf of his countrymen.
[4771] Neanthes lived about b.c. 241. He was a voluminous writer,
chiefly on historical subjects.
[4772] There were many physicians of this name.
[4773] The sun-god of the Persians.
[4774] Supposed to be the same as the Bardesanes born at Edessa in
Mesopotamia, who flourished in the latter half of the second century.
Jerome again refers to him in the book on Illustrious Men, c. 33.
[4775] Xenocrates was born b.c. 396, died b.c. 314.
[4776] Triptolemus was the legendary inventor of the plough and of
agriculture.
[4777] Poems ascribed to the mythical Orpheus are quoted by Plato. The
extant poems which bear his name are forgeries of Christian grammarians
and philosophers of the Alexandrine school; but some fragments of the
old Orphic poetry are said to be remaining.
[4778] Antisthenes was the founder of the Cynic philosophy. He was a
devoted disciple of Socrates and flourished about b.c. 366.
[4779] The distinguished Peripatetic philosopher and historian. He
lived, probably, about the time of Ptolemy Philopator (b.c. 222-205).
[4780] Gen. vi. 3, 5.
[4781] Gen. viii. 21; ix. 3.
[4782] Ex. xvi. 3.
[4783] Numb. xi. 4-6.
[4784] Deut. xxxii. 15. "Beloved" (dilectus). Correctly Jeshurun, that
is, the Upright, a name of Israel.
[4785] Deut. viii. 12-14.
[4786] The curious custom of representing Moses with horns arose from a
mistake in the Vulgate rendering. The Hebrew verb qvl, to emit rays, is
derived from a word which, meaning mostly a horn, has in the dual the
signification rays of light. See Hab. iii. 4.
[4787] Luke ix. 31.
[4788] Ex. xvii. 8.
[4789] Josh. x. 13.
[4790] 1 Sam. xiv. 24. Heb. "entered into the wood." The English
version follows the Hebrew. The Sept. erhista (Jerome's prandebat) is
perhaps only a repetition of the preceding thought. Another rendering
inserts the negative, ouk erista.
[4791] 1 Sam. xiv. 24.
[4792] 1 Kings xix. 8-11.
[4793] 1 Sam. vii. 7.
[4794] 2 Kings xviii.
[4795] Gen. xviii. 23 sq.
[4796] 1 Kings xxi. 27-29.
[4797] 1 Sam. i. 15, 17.
[4798] Dan. i and ii.
[4799] Dan. ix. 23. Heb. A man of desires. A.V. greatly beloved.
[4800] The story is in the apocryphal part of the book of Daniel.
[4801] Ps. cii. 9.
[4802] Ps. cix. 24.
[4803] 2 Sam. xii. 13.
[4804] Lev. x. 9.
[4805] Amos ii. 12.
[4806] Jer. xxxv. 18.
[4807] S. Luke ii. 36.
[4808] S. Jerome is in accord with the Vulgate, Peshito, and certain
manuscripts, but the R.V. omits S. Matt. xvii. 21 (Howbeit this kind
goeth not out but by prayer and fasting) and in S. Mark ix. 29 omits
the words respecting fasting. S. Luke does not refer to our Lord's
supposed remark.
[4809] Acts x. 4.
[4810] 2 Cor. xi. 27.
[4811] 1 Tim. v. 23.
[4812] 1 Tim. iv. 3.
[4813] Prov. xvi. 26. Sept.
[4814] S. Matt. xi. 12.
[4815] Rom. xiv. 3.
[4816] Rom. xiv. 14 sq.
[4817] Rom. xiv. 2.
[4818] Rom. xiv. 5 sq.
[4819] S. Matt. v. 6.
[4820] S. John iv. 32.
[4821] S. Matt. v. 34. (Rather, not to be anxious about it.)
[4822] S. Luke xxiv. 42; S. John xxi. 13.
[4823] S. Luke xv. 19-31.
[4824] S. Matt. xvi. 17, 18.
[4825] See above.
[4826] S. Mark v. 43: S. Luke viii. 55. Our Lord is not related to have
given the command in the case of the son of the widow of Nain, or in
that of Lazarus.
[4827] S. John xii. 2.
[4828] Acts x. 10. In our version "the housetop."
[4829] S. John iv. 6.
[4830] Isa. lviii. 5 sq.
[4831] xvi. 29.
[4832] Numb. xi. 34. Tertullian also speaks of the graves remaining.
[4833] 1 Kings xiii. 24.
[4834] Joel i. 14; ii. 15. Jerome agrees with the Sept. Therapeia. The
Heb. root signifies to close or bind; hence the meaning healing. But
others translate Therapeia by worship, or service. The correct
rendering appears to be a solemn assembly as in A.V.
[4835] S. Matt. xxv. 34.
[4836] S. Matt. xxv. 41.
[4837] S. John viii. 44.
[4838] S. Matt. xix. 29; S. Mark x. 29, 30; S. Luke xviii. 29, 30.
[4839] S. John vi. 56.
[4840] S. John xiv. 23.
[4841] S. John xiv. 2.
[4842] 1 Cor. iii. 16; vi. 19.
[4843] S. John xvii. 20-23.
[4844] In Cyprus, where Zeno the founder of the Stoic school was born.
[4845] i.e., Jovinianus. Jerome for the moment addresses the reader.
[4846] Persius I. 128, Conington's translation.
[4847] Ezek. xxxiv. 17, 20, 21.
[4848] Ezek. xxxiv. 31.
[4849] Rom. xii. 3 sq.
[4850] Rom. xiv. 5.
[4851] 1 Cor. iii. 6 sq.
[4852] 1 Cor. iii. 10 sq.
[4853] 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2.
[4854] 1 Cor. ix. 13 sq.
[4855] 1 Cor. xii. 4.
[4856] 1 Cor. xii. 12.
[4857] 1 Cor. xii. 28 sq.
[4858] 1 Cor. xiii. 8, 9, 10.
[4859] 1 Cor. xiii. 18; xiv. 1.
[4860] 1 Cor. xiv. 5.
[4861] 1 Cor. xiv. 18.
[4862] 1 Cor. xv. 9, 10.
[4863] 1 Cor. xv. 22.
[4864] 1 Cor. xv. 39.
[4865] Job ix. 9; xxxviii. 32.
[4866] 2 Cor. v. 10.
[4867] 2 Cor. ix. 6.
[4868] Eph. iii. 10.
[4869] Eph. iv. 7.
[4870] Ps. lxxiii. 17.
[4871] See Acts xxvii. 23 and the context.
[4872] Gen. xix. 18-21.
[4873] 1 Sam. xxx. 1 sq.
[4874] S. Luke xiii. 4.
[4875] 1 Cor. xi. 27.
[4876] Mal. iv. 2.
[4877] S. Matt. xxv. 13.
[4878] S. John xix. 6.
[4879] Wisd. vi. 7.
[4880] Ex. xxi. 2.
[4881] Lev. xxv. 13.
[4882] S. Matt. xix. 29; S. Mark x. 30; S. Luke xviii. 30. In S.
Matthew some authorities agree with S. Luke in reading "manifold."
[4883] Matt. xi. 11.
[4884] S. Luke xvii. 5.
[4885] Matt. xiv. 31.
[4886] Jer. xxxi. 31.
[4887] Jer. xxxi. 33, 34.
[4888] S. Matt. v. 19.
[4889] S. Luke xiv. 9.
[4890] S. John xiv. 2, 3.
[4891] S. Matt. xx. 23.
[4892] S. John xiv. 3.
[4893] Ps. lxxiii. 26.
[4894] Ez. xliv. 10.
[4895] 1 Cor. vi. 19.
[4896] Correctly, a portion of two, i.e., the portion of a first-born.
Deut. xxi. 17.
[4897] S. Luke vii., S. Matt. xxvi., S. Mark xiv., S. John xii.
[4898] S. John xvii. 20, 21.
[4899] 2 Pet. i. 4.
[4900] S. John xvii. 23.
[4901] S. John i. 12, 13.
[4902] S. John vi. 57 sq.
[4903] 1 John iv. 13, 15.
[4904] Gal. iv. 19.
[4905] 1 Cor. xii. 22-24.
[4906] S. Luke xi. 34.
[4907] 1 John v. 16.
[4908] Jer. vii. 16.
[4909] Rom. v. 14.
[4910] Wisd. i. 11.
[4911] Ps. cxvi. 11; Rom. iii. 4.
[4912] Ps. li. 4.
[4913] Ezek. xvi. 62, 63.
[4914] Ezek. xxxvi. 31, 32.
[4915] Letter XXI.
[4916] S. Matt. xx. 26.
[4917] S. Luke vii. 47.
[4918] S. Matt. xxv. 15 sq.
[4919] Phil. iii. 13.
[4920] Josh. ix. 27.
[4921] 2 Sam. xxi. 1.
[4922] S. Luke xii. 47, 48.
[4923] Ps. cxix. in our arrangement of the Psalter. The psalm is
divided into twenty-two portions, which begin with the successive
letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The following fifteen psalms are called
in our Authorized Version, Songs of Degrees (Vulgate, graduum, steps).
For the origin of the title, Wordsworth, or Neal and Littledale on Ps.
cxx. may be consulted.
[4924] Ps. cxxxiv. 1.
[4925] Numb. xxxiv. 15; Josh. xiv. 3.
[4926] Numb. xviii. 20.
[4927] Lev. xvi. 2; Heb. ix. 7.
[4928] Ex. xxviii. etc.
[4929] Numb. vii. 5.
[4930] Aristippus though the disciple of Socrates, taught that pleasure
was the highest good.
[4931] Ps. cxx. 5.
[4932] Is. lxiii. 3.
[4933] S. John xix. 6, 15.
[4934] Jovinianus's doctrine is said to have influenced some who had
taken a vow of virginity, to marry.
[4935] Virgil Æn. iv. 172.
[4936] Pythagoras asserted that he had once been the Trojan Euphorbus.
[4937] Is. iii. 16.
[4938] Jer. li. 6; vi. 14.
[4939] Jer. vii. 4; Ps. xiv. 4; liii. 4.
[4940] Jer. xxviii. 13.
[4941] That is, cælebs from cælum.
[4942] Jer. v. 8.
[4943] That is, Jove.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Against Vigilantius.
------------------------
Introduction.
Full details respecting Vigilantius, against whom this treatise, the
result of a single night's labour, is directed, may be found in a work
on "Vigilantius and His Times," published in 1844 by Dr. Gilly, canon
of Durham. It will perhaps, however, assist the reader if we briefly
remark that he was born about 370, at Calagurris, near Convenæ
(Comminges), which was a station on the Roman road from Aquitaine to
Spain. His father was probably the keeper of the inn, and Vigilantius
appears to have been brought up to his father's business. He was of a
studious character, and Sulpicius Severus, the ecclesiastical
historian, who had estates in those parts, took him into his service,
and, possibly, made him manager of his estates. Having been ordained he
was introduced to Jerome (then living at Bethlehem, in 395) through
Paulinus of Nola, who was the friend of Sulpicius Severus. After
staying with Jerome for a considerable time he begged to be dismissed,
and left in great haste without giving any reason. Returning to Gaul,
he settled in his native country. Jerome hearing that he was spreading
reports of him as favouring the views of Origen, and in other ways
defaming him and his friends, wrote him a sharp letter of rebuke
(Letter LXI.). The work of Vigilantius which drew from Jerome the
following treatise was written in the year a.d. 406; not "hastily,
under provocation such as he may have felt in leaving Bethlehem." but
after the lapse of six or seven years. The points against which he
argued as being superstitious are: (1) the reverence paid to the relics
of holy men by carrying them round the church in costly vessels or
silken wrappings to be kissed, and the prayers offered to the dead; (2)
the late watchings at the basilicas of the martyrs, with their
attendant scandals, the burning of numerous tapers. alleged miracles,
etc.; (3) the sending of alms to Jerusalem, which, Vigilantius urged,
had better be spent among the poor in each separate diocese, and the
monkish vow of poverty; (4) the exaggerated estimate of virginity.
The bishop of the diocese, Exsuperius of Toulouse, was strongly in
favour of the views of Vigilantius, and they began to spread widely.
Complaints having reached Jerome through the presbyter Riparius, he at
once expressed his indignation, and offered to answer in detail if the
work of Vigilantius were sent to him. In 406 he received it through
Sisinnius, who was bearing alms to the East. It has been truly said
that this treatise has less of reason and more of abuse than any other
which Jerome wrote. But in spite of this the author was followed by the
chief ecclesiastics of the day, and the practices impugned by
Vigilantius prevailed almost unchecked till the sixteenth century.
1. The world has given birth to many monsters; in [4944] Isaiah we read
of centaurs and sirens, screech-owls and pelicans. Job, in mystic
language, describes Leviathan and Behemoth; Cerberus and the birds of
Stymphalus, the Erymanthian boar and the Nemean lion, the Chimæra and
the many-headed Hydra, are told of in poetic fables. Virgil describes
Cacus. Spain has produced Geryon, with his three bodies. Gaul alone has
had no monsters, but has ever been rich in men of courage and great
eloquence. All at once Vigilantius, or, more correctly, Dormitantius,
has arisen, animated by an unclean spirit, to fight against the Spirit
of Christ, and to deny that religious reverence is to be paid to the
tombs of the martyrs. Vigils, he says, are to be condemned; Alleluia
must never be sung except at Easter; continence is a heresy; chastity a
hot-bed of lust. And as Euphorbus is said to have been born again in
the person of Pythagoras, so in this fellow the corrupt mind of
Jovinianus has arisen; so that in him, no less than in his predecessor,
we are bound to meet the snares of the devil. The words may be justly
applied to him: [4945] "Seed of evil-doers, prepare thy children for
the slaughter because of the sins of thy father." Jovinianus, condemned
by the authority of the Church of Rome, amidst pheasants and swine's
flesh, breathed out, or rather belched out his spirit. And now this
tavern-keeper of Calagurris, who, according to the name of his [4946]
native village is a Quintilian, only dumb instead of eloquent, is
[4947] mixing water with the wine. According to the trick which he
knows of old, he is trying to blend his perfidious poison with the
Catholic faith; he assails virginity and hates chastity; he revels with
worldlings and declaims against the fasts of the saints; he plays the
philosopher over his cups, and soothes himself with the sweet strains
of psalmody, while he smacks his lips over his cheese-cakes; nor could
he deign to listen to the songs of David and Jeduthun, and Asaph and
the sons of Core, except at the banqueting table. This I have poured
forth with more grief than amusement, for I cannot restrain myself and
turn a deaf ear to the wrongs inflicted on apostles and martyrs.
2. Shameful to relate, there are bishops who are said to be associated
with him in his wickedness--if at least they are to be called
bishops--who ordain no deacons but such as have been previously
married; who credit no celibate with chastity--nay, rather, who show
clearly what measure of holiness of life they can claim by indulging in
evil suspicions of all men, and, unless the candidates for ordination
appear before them with pregnant wives, and infants wailing in the arms
of their mothers, will not administer to them Christ's ordinance. What
are the Churches of the East to do? What is to become of the Egyptian
Churches and those belonging to the Apostolic Seat, which accept for
the ministry only men who are virgins, or those who practice
continency, or, if married, abandon their conjugal rights? Such is the
teaching of Dormitantius, who throws the reins upon the neck of lust,
and by his encouragement doubles the natural heat of the flesh, which
in youth is mostly at boiling point, or rather slakes it by intercourse
with women; so that there is nothing to separate us from swine, nothing
wherein we differ from the brute creation, or from horses, respecting
which it is written: [4948] "They were toward women like raging horses;
everyone neighed after his neighbour's wife." This is that which the
Holy Spirit says by the mouth of David: [4949] "Be ye not like horse
and mule which have no understanding." And again respecting
Dormitantius and his friends: [4950] "Bind the jaws of them who draw
not near unto thee with bit and bridle."
3. But it is now time for us to adduce his own words and answer him in
detail. For, possibly, in his malice, he may choose once more to
misrepresent me, and say that I have trumped up a case for the sake of
showing off my rhetorical and declamatory powers in combating it, like
the letter [4951] which I wrote to Gaul, relating to a mother and
daughter who were at variance. This little treatise, which I now
dictate, is due to the reverend presbyters Riparius and Desiderius, who
write that their parishes have been defiled by being in his
neighbourhood, and have sent me, by our brother Sisinnius, the books
which he vomited forth in a drunken fit. They also declare that some
persons are found who, from their inclination to his vices, assent to
his blasphemies. He is a barbarian both in speech and knowledge. His
style is rude. He cannot defend even the truth; but, for the sake of
laymen, and poor women, laden with sins, ever learning and never coming
to a knowledge of the truth, I will spend upon his melancholy trifles a
single night's labour, otherwise I shall seem to have treated with
contempt the letters of the reverend persons who have entreated me to
undertake the task.
4. He certainly well represents his race. Sprung from a set of brigands
and persons collected together from all quarters (I mean those whom Cn.
Pompey, after the conquest of Spain, when he was hastening to return
for his triumph, brought down from the Pyrenees and gathered together
into one town, whence the name of the city Convenæ [4952] ), he has
carried on their brigand practices by his attack upon the Church of
God. Like his ancestors the Vectones, the Arrabaci, and the
Celtiberians, he makes his raids upon the churches of Gaul, not
carrying the standard of the cross, but, on the contrary, the ensign of
the devil. Pompey did just the same in the East. After overcoming the
Cilician and Isaurian pirates and brigands, he founded a city, bearing
his own name, between Cilicia and Isauria. That city, however, to this
day, observes the ordinances of its ancestors, and no Dormitantius has
arisen in it; but Gaul supports a native foe, and sees seated in the
Church a man who has lost his head and who ought to be put in the
strait-jacket which Hippocrates recommended. Among other blasphemies,
he may be heard to say, "What need is there for you not only to pay
such honour, not to say adoration, to the thing, whatever it may be,
which you carry about in a little vessel and worship?" And again, in
the same book, "Why do you kiss and adore a bit of powder wrapped up in
a cloth?" And again, in the same book, "Under the cloak of religion we
see what is all but a heathen ceremony introduced into the churches:
while the sun is still shining, heaps of tapers are lighted, and
everywhere a paltry bit of powder, wrapped up in a costly cloth, is
kissed and worshipped. Great honour do men of this sort pay to the
blessed martyrs, who, they think, are to be made glorious by trumpery
tapers, when the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne, with all the
brightness of His majesty, gives them light?"
5. Madman, who in the world ever adored the martyrs? who ever thought
man was God? Did not [4953] Paul and Barnabas, when the people of
Lycaonia thought them to be Jupiter and Mercury, and would have offered
sacrifices to them, rend their clothes and declare they were men? Not
that they were not better than Jupiter and Mercury, who were but men
long ago dead, but because, under the mistaken ideas of the Gentiles,
the honour due to God was being paid to them. And we read the same
respecting Peter, who, when Cornelius wished to adore him, raised him
by the hand, and said, [4954] "Stand up, for I also am a man." And have
you the audacity to speak of "the mysterious something or other which
you carry about in a little vessel and worship?" I want to know what it
is that you call "something or other." Tell us more clearly (that there
may be no restraint on your blasphemy) what you mean by the phrase "a
bit of powder wrapped up in a costly cloth in a tiny vessel." It is
nothing less than the relics of the martyrs which he is vexed to see
covered with a costly veil, and not bound up with rags or hair-cloth,
or thrown on the midden, so that Vigilantius alone in his drunken
slumber may be worshipped. Are we, therefore guilty of sacrilege when
we enter the basilicas of the Apostles? Was the Emperor Constantius I.
guilty of sacrilege when he transferred the sacred relics of Andrew,
Luke, and Timothy to Constantinople? In their presence the demons cry
out, and the devils who dwell in Vigilantius confess that they feel the
influence of the saints. And at the present day is the Emperor Arcadius
guilty of sacrilege, who after so long a time has conveyed the bones of
the blessed Samuel from Judea to Thrace? Are all the bishops to be
considered not only sacrilegious, but silly into the bargain, because
they carried that most worthless thing, dust and ashes, wrapped in silk
in golden vessel? Are the people of all the Churches fools, because
they went to meet the sacred relics, and welcomed them with as much joy
as if they beheld a living prophet in the midst of them, so that there
was one great swarm of people from Palestine to Chalcedon with one
voice re-echoing the praises of Christ? They were forsooth, adoring
Samuel and not Christ, whose Levite and prophet Samuel was. You show
mistrust because you think only of the dead body, and therefore
blaspheme. Read the Gospel-- [4955] "The God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, the God of Jacob: He is not the God of the dead, but of the
living." If then they are alive, they are not, to use your expression,
kept in honourable confinement.
6. For you say that the souls of Apostles and martyrs have their abode
either in the bosom of Abraham, or in the place of refreshment, or
under the altar of God, and that they cannot leave their own tombs, and
be present where they will. They are, it seems, of senatorial rank, and
are not subjected to the worst kind of prison and the society of
murderers, but are kept apart in liberal and honourable custody in the
isles of the blessed and the Elysian fields. Will you lay down the law
for God? Will you put the Apostles into chains? So that to the day of
judgment they are to be kept in confinement, and are not with their
Lord, although it is written concerning them, [4956] "They follow the
Lamb, whithersoever he goeth." If the Lamb is present everywhere, the
same must be believed respecting those who are with the Lamb. And while
the devil and the demons wander through the whole world, and with only
too great speed present themselves everywhere; are martyrs, after the
shedding of their blood, to be kept out of sight shut up in a [4957]
coffin, from whence they cannot escape? You say, in your pamphlet, that
so long as we are alive we can pray for one another; but once we die,
the prayer of no person for another can be heard, and all the more
because the martyrs, though they [4958] cry for the avenging of their
blood, have never been able to obtain their request. If Apostles and
martyrs while still in the body can pray for others, when they ought
still to be anxious for themselves, how much more must they do so when
once they have won their crowns, overcome, and triumphed? A single man,
Moses, oft [4959] wins pardon from God for six hundred thousand armed
men; and [4960] Stephen, the follower of his Lord and the first
Christian martyr, entreats pardon for his persecutors; and when once
they have entered on their life with Christ, shall they have less power
than before? The Apostle Paul [4961] says that two hundred and
seventy-six souls were given to him in the ship; and when, after his
dissolution, he has begun to be with Christ, must he shut his mouth,
and be unable to say a word for those who throughout the whole world
have believed in his Gospel? Shall Vigilantius the live dog be better
than Paul the dead lion? I should be right in saying so after [4962]
Ecclesiastes, if I admitted that Paul is dead in spirit. The truth is
that the saints are not called dead, but are said to be asleep.
Wherefore [4963] Lazarus, who was about to rise again, is said to have
slept. And the Apostle [4964] forbids the Thessalonians to be sorry for
those who were asleep. As for you, when wide awake you are asleep, and
asleep when you write, and you bring before me an apocryphal book
which, under the name of Esdras, is read by you and those of your
feather, and in this book it is [4965] written that after death no one
dares pray for others. I have never read the book: for what need is
there to take up what the Church does not receive? It can hardly be
your intention to confront me with Balsamus, and Barbelus, and the
Thesaurus of Manichæus, and the ludicrous name of Leusiboras; though
possibly because you live at the foot of the Pyrenees, and border on
Iberia, you follow the incredible marvels of the ancient heretic [4966]
Basilides and his so-called knowledge, which is mere ignorance, and set
forth what is condemned by the authority of the whole world. I say this
because in your short treatise you quote Solomon as if he were on your
side, though Solomon never wrote the words in question at all; so that,
as you have a second Esdras you may have a second Solomon. And, if you
like, you may read the imaginary revelations of all the patriarchs and
prophets, and, when you have learned them, you may sing them among the
women in their weaving-shops, or rather order them to be read in your
taverns, the more easily by these melancholy ditties to stimulate the
ignorant mob to replenish their cups.
7. As to the question of tapers, however, we do not, as you in vain
misrepresent us, light them in the daytime, but by their solace we
would cheer the darkness of the night, and watch for the dawn, lest we
should be blind like you and sleep in darkness. And if some persons,
being ignorant and simple minded laymen, or, at all events, religious
women--of whom we can truly say, [4967] "I allow that they have a zeal
for God, but not according to knowledge"--adopt the practice in honour
of the martyrs, what harm is thereby done to you? Once upon a time even
the Apostles [4968] pleaded that the ointment was wasted, but they were
rebuked by the voice of the Lord. Christ did not need the ointment, nor
do martyrs need the light of tapers; and yet that woman poured out the
ointment in honour of Christ, and her heart's devotion was accepted.
All those who light these tapers have their reward according to their
faith, as the Apostle says: [4969] "Let every one abound in his own
meaning." Do you call men of this sort idolaters? I do not deny, that
all of us who believe in Christ have passed from the error of idolatry.
For we are not born Christians, but become Christians by being born
again. And because we formerly worshipped idols, does it follow that we
ought not now to worship God lest we seem to pay like honour to Him and
to idols? In the one case respect was paid to idols, and therefore the
ceremony is to be abhorred; in the other the martyrs are venerated, and
the same ceremony is therefore to be allowed. Throughout the whole
Eastern Church, even when there are no relics of the martyrs, whenever
the Gospel is to be read the candles are lighted, although the dawn may
be reddening the sky, not of course to scatter the darkness, but by way
of evidencing our joy. [4970] And accordingly the virgins in the Gospel
always have their lamps lighted. And the Apostles are [4971] told to
have their loins girded, and their lamps burning in their hands. And of
John Baptist we read, [4972] "He was the lamp that burneth and
shineth"; so that, under the figure of corporeal light, that light is
represented of which we read in the Psalter, [4973] "Thy word is a lamp
unto my feet, O Lord, and a light unto my paths."
8. Does the bishop of Rome do wrong when he offers sacrifices to the
Lord over the venerable bones of the dead men Peter and Paul, as we
should say, but according to you, over a worthless bit of dust, and
judges their tombs worthy to be Christ's altars? And not only is the
bishop of one city in error, but the bishops of the whole world, who,
despite the tavern-keeper Vigilantius, enter the basilicas of the dead,
in which "a worthless bit of dust and ashes lies wrapped up in a
cloth," defiled and defiling all else. Thus, according to you, the
sacred buildings are like the sepulchres of the Pharisees, whitened
without, while within they have filthy remains, and are full of foul
smells and uncleanliness. And then he dares to expectorate his filth
upon the subject and to say: "Is it the case that the souls of the
martyrs love their ashes, and hover round them, and are always present,
lest haply if any one come to pray and they were absent, they could not
hear?" Oh, monster, who ought to be banished to the ends of the earth!
do you laugh at the relics of the martyrs, and in company with
Eunomius, the father of this heresy, slander the Churches of Christ?
Are you not afraid of being in such company, and of speaking against us
the same things which he utters against the Church? For all his
followers refuse to enter the basilicas of Apostles and martyrs, so
that, forsooth, they may worship the dead Eunomius, whose books they
consider are of more authority than the Gospels; and they believe that
the light of truth was in him just as other heretics maintain that the
Paraclete came into Montanus, and say that Manichæus himself was the
Paraclete. You cannot find an occasion of boasting even in supposing
that you are the inventor of a new kind of wickedness, for your heresy
long ago broke out against the Church. It found, however, an opponent
in Tertullian, a very learned man, who wrote a famous treatise which he
called most correctly Scorpiacum, [4974] because, as the scorpion bends
itself like a bow to inflict its wound, so what was formerly called the
heresy of Cain pours poison into the body of the Church; it has slept
or rather been buried for a long time, but has been now awakened by
Dormitantius. I am surprised you do not tell us that there must upon no
account be martyrdoms, inasmuch as God, who does not ask for the blood
of goats and bulls, much less requires the blood of men. This is what
you say, or rather, even if you do not say it, you are taken as meaning
to assert it. For in maintaining that the relics of the martyrs are to
be trodden under foot, you forbid the shedding of their blood as being
worthy of no honour.
9. Respecting vigils and the frequent keeping of night-watches in the
basilicas of the martyrs, I have given a brief reply in another letter
[4975] which, about two years ago, I wrote to the reverend presbyter
Riparius. You argue that they ought to be abjured, lest we seem to be
often keeping Easter, and appear not to observe the customary yearly
vigils. If so, then sacrifices should not be offered to Christ on the
Lord's day lest we frequently keep the Easter of our Lord's
Resurrection, and introduce the custom of having many Easters instead
of one. We must not, however, impute to pious men the faults and errors
of youths and worthless women such as are often detected at night. It
is true that, even at the Easter vigils, something of the kind usually
comes to light; but the faults of a few form no argument against
religion in general, and such persons, without keeping vigil, can go
wrong either in their own houses or in those of other people. The
treachery of Judas did not annul the loyalty of the Apostles. And if
others keep vigil badly, our vigils are not thereby to be stopped; nay,
rather let those who sleep to gratify their lust be compelled to watch
that they may preserve their chastity. For if a thing once done be
good, it cannot be bad if often done; and if there is some fault to be
avoided, the blame lies not in its being done often, but in its being
done at all. And so we should not watch at Easter-tide for fear that
adulterers may satisfy their long pent-up desires, or that the wife may
find an opportunity for sinning without having the key turned against
her by her husband. The occasions which seldom recur are those which
are most eagerly longed for.
10. I cannot traverse all the topics embraced in the letters of the
reverend presbyters; I will adduce a few points from the tracts of
Vigilantius. He argues against the signs and miracles which are wrought
in the basilicas of the martyrs, and says that they are of service to
the unbelieving, not to believers, as though the question now were for
whose advantage they occur, not by what power. Granted that signs
belong to the faithless, who, because they would not obey the word and
doctrine, are brought to believe by means of signs. Even our Lord
wrought signs for the unbelieving, and yet our Lord's signs are not on
that account to be impugned, because those people were faithless, but
must be worthy of greater admiration because they were so powerful that
they subdued even the hardest hearts, and compelled men to believe. And
so I will not have you tell me that signs are for the unbelieving; but
answer my question--how is it that poor worthless dust and ashes are
associated with this wondrous power of signs and miracles? I see, I
see, most unfortunate of mortals, why you are so sad and what causes
your fear. That unclean spirit who forces you to write these things has
often been tortured by this worthless dust, aye, and is being tortured
at this moment, and though in your case he conceals his wounds, in
others he makes confession. You will hardly follow the heathen and
impious Porphyry and Eunomius, and pretend that these are the tricks of
the demons, and that they do not really cry out, but feign their
torments. Let me give you my advice: go to the basilicas of the
martyrs, and some day you will be cleansed; you will find there many in
like case with yourself, and will be set on fire, not by the martyrs'
tapers which offend you, but by invisible flames; and you will then
confess what you now deny, and will freely proclaim your name--that you
who speak in the person of Vigilantius are really either Mercury, for
greedy of gain was he; or Nocturnus, who, according to Plautus's
"Amphitryon," slept while Jupiter, two nights together, had his
adulterous connection with Alcmena, and thus begat the mighty Hercules;
or at all events Father Bacchus, of drunken fame, with the tankard
hanging from his shoulder, with his ever ruby face, foaming lips, and
unbridled brawling.
11. Once, when a sudden earthquake in this province in the middle of
the night awoke us all out of our sleep, you, the most prudent and the
wisest of men, began to pray without putting your clothes on, and
recalled to our minds the story of Adam and Eve in Paradise; they,
indeed, when their eyes were opened were ashamed, for they saw that
they were naked, and covered their shame with the leaves of trees; but
you, who were stripped alike of your shirt and of your faith, in the
sudden terror which overwhelmed you, and with the fumes of your last
night's booze still hanging about you, showed your wisdom by exposing
your nakedness in only too evident a manner to the eyes of the
brethren. Such are the adversaries of the Church; these are the leaders
who fight against the blood of the martyrs; here is a specimen of the
orators who thunder against the Apostles, or, rather, such are the mad
dogs which bark at the disciples of Christ.
12. I confess my own fear, for possibly it may be thought to spring
from superstition. When I have been angry, or have had evil thoughts in
my mind, or some phantom of the night has beguiled me, I do not dare to
enter the basilicas of the martyrs, I shudder all over in body and
soul. You may smile, perhaps, and deride this as on a level with the
wild fancies of weak women. If it be so, I am not ashamed of having a
faith like that of those who were the first to see the risen Lord; who
were sent to the Apostles; who, in the person of the mother of our Lord
and Saviour, were commended to the holy Apostles. Belch out your shame,
if you will, with men of the world, I will fast with women; yea, with
religious men whose looks witness to their chastity, and who, with the
cheek pale from prolonged abstinence, show forth the chastity of
Christ.
13. Something, also, appears to be troubling you. You are afraid that,
if continence, sobriety, and fasting strike root among the people of
Gaul, your taverns will not pay, and you will be unable to keep up
through the night your diabolical vigils and drunken revels. Moreover,
I have learnt from those same letters that, in defiance of the
authority of Paul, nay, rather of Peter, John, and James, who gave the
right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas, and commanded them to
remember the poor, you forbid any pecuniary relief to be sent to
Jerusalem for the benefit of the saints. Now, if I reply to this, you
will immediately give tongue and cry out that I am pleading my own
cause. You, forsooth, were so generous to the whole community that if
you had not come to Jerusalem, and lavished your own money or that of
your patrons, we should all be on the verge of starvation. I say what
the blessed Apostle Paul says in nearly all his Epistles; and he makes
it a rule for the Churches of the Gentiles that, on the first day of
the week, that is, on the Lord's day, contributions should be made by
every one which should be sent up to Jerusalem for the relief of the
saints, and that either by his own disciples, or by those whom they
should themselves approve; and if it were thought fit, he would himself
either send, or take what was collected. Also in the Acts of the
Apostles, when speaking to the governor Felix, he says, [4976] "After
many years I went up to Jerusalem to bring alms to my nation and
offerings, and to perform my vows, amidst which they found me purified
in the temple." Might he not have distributed in some other part of the
world, and in the infant Churches which he was training in his own
faith, the gifts he had received from others? But he longed to give to
the poor of the holy places who, abandoning their own little
possessions for the sake of Christ, turned with their whole heart to
the service of the Lord. It would take too long now if I purposed to
repeat all the passages from the whole range of his Epistles in which
he advocates and urges with all his heart that money be sent to
Jerusalem and to the holy places for the faithful; not to gratify
avarice, but to give relief; not to accumulate wealth, but to support
the weakness of the poor body, and to stave off cold and hunger. And
this custom continues in Judea to the present day, not only among us,
but also among the Hebrews, so that they who [4977] meditate in the law
of the Lord, day and night, and have [4978] no father upon earth except
the Lord alone, may be cherished by the aid of the synagogues and of
the whole world; that there may be [4979] equality--not that some may
be refreshed while others are in distress, but that the abundance of
some may support the need of others.
14. You will reply that every one can do this in his own country, and
that there will never be wanting poor who ought to be supported with
the resources of the Church. And we do not deny that doles should be
distributed to all poor people, even to Jews and Samaritans, if the
means will allow. But the Apostle teaches that alms should be given to
all, indeed, [4980] especially, however, to those who are of the
household of faith. And respecting these the Saviour said in the
Gospel, [4981] "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness, who may receive you into everlasting habitations."
What! Can those poor creatures, with their rags and filth, lorded over,
as they are, by raging lust, can they who own nothing, now or
hereafter, have eternal habitations? No doubt it is not the poor
simply, but the poor in spirit, who are called blessed; those of whom
it is written, [4982] "Blessed is he who gives his mind to the poor and
needy; the Lord shall deliver him in the evil day." But the fact is, in
supporting the poor of the common people, what is needed is not mind,
but money. In the case of the saintly poor the mind has blessed
exercises, since you give to one who receives with a blush, and when he
has received is grieved, that while sowing spiritual things he must
reap your carnal things. As for his argument that they who keep what
they have, and distribute among the poor, little by little, the
increase of their property, act more wisely than they who sell their
possessions, and once for all give all away, not I but the Lord shall
make answer: [4983] "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell all that thou
hast and give to the poor, and come, follow Me." He speaks to him who
wishes to be perfect, who, with the Apostles, leaves father, ship, and
net. The man whom you approve stands in the second or third rank; yet
we welcome him provided it be understood that the first is to be
preferred to the second, and the second to the third.
15. Let me add that our monks are not to be deterred from their
resolution by you with your viper's tongue and savage bite. Your
argument respecting them runs thus: If all men were to seclude
themselves and live in solitude, who is there to frequent the churches?
Who will remain to win those engaged in secular pursuits? Who will be
able to urge sinners to virtuous conduct? Similarly, if all were as
silly as you, who could be wise? And, to follow out your argument,
virginity would not deserve our approbation. For if all were virgins,
we should have no marriages; the race would perish; infants would not
cry in their cradles; midwives would lose their pay and turn beggars;
and Dormitantius, all alone and shrivelled up with cold, would lie
awake in his bed. The truth is, virtue is a rare thing and not eagerly
sought after by the many. Would that all were as the few of whom it is
said: [4984] "Many are called, few are chosen." The prison would be
empty. But, indeed, a monk's function is not to teach, but to lament;
to mourn either for himself or for the world, and with terror to
anticipate our Lord's advent. Knowing his own weakness and the frailty
of the vessel which he carries, he is afraid of stumbling, lest he
strike against something, and it fall and be broken. Hence he shuns the
sight of women, and particularly of young women, and so far chastens
himself as to dread even what is safe.
16. Why, you will say, go to the desert? The reason is plain: That I
may not hear or see you; that I may not be disturbed by your madness;
that I may not be engaged in conflict with you; that the eye of the
harlot nay not lead me captive: that beauty may not lead me to unlawful
embraces. You will reply: "This is not to fight, but to run away. Stand
in line of battle, put on your armour and resist your foes, so that,
having overcome, you may wear the crown." I confess my weakness. I
would not fight in the hope of victory, lest some time or other I lose
the victory. If I flee, I avoid the sword; if I stand, I must either
overcome or fall. But what need is there for me to let go certainties
and follow after uncertainties? Either with my shield or with my feet I
must shun death. You who fight may either be overcome or may overcome.
I who fly do not overcome, inasmuch as I fly; but I fly to make sure
that I may not be overcome. There is no safety in sleep with a serpent
beside you. Possibly he will not bite me, yet it is possible that after
a time he may bite me. We call women mothers who are no older than
sisters and daughters, [4985] and we do not blush to cloak our vices
with the names of piety. What business has a monk in the women's cells?
What is the meaning of secret conversation and looks which shun the
presence of witnesses? Holy love has no restless desire. Moreover, what
we have said respecting lust we must apply to avarice, and to all vices
which are avoided by solitude. We therefore keep clear of the crowded
cities, that we may not be compelled to do what we are urged to do, not
so much by nature as by choice.
17. At the request of the reverend presbyters, as I have said, I have
devoted to the dictation of these remarks the labour of a single night,
for my brother Sisinnius is hastening his departure for Egypt, where he
has relief to give to the saints, and is impatient to be gone. If it
were not so, however, the subject itself was so openly blasphemous as
to call for the indignation of a writer rather than a multitude of
proofs. But if Dormitantius wakes up that he may again abuse me, and if
he thinks fit to disparage me with that same blasphemous mouth with
which he pulls to pieces Apostles and martyrs, I will spend upon him
something more than this short lucubration. I will keep vigil for a
whole night in his behalf and in behalf of his companions, whether they
be disciples or masters, who think no man to be worthy of Christ's
ministry unless he is married and his wife is seen to be with child.
__________________________________________________________________
[4944] Is. xiii. 21, 22, and xxxiv. 14-16.
[4945] Is. xix. 21. Sept.
[4946] Quintilian, the rhetorician, was born at Calagurris, in Spain,
but not the same as the birthplace of Vigilantius.
[4947] Combining the cheating tavern-keeper with the heretic.
[4948] Jerem. v. 8.
[4949] Ps. xxxii. 9.
[4950] Ibid.
[4951] Letter CXVII.
[4952] From convenio, to come together.
[4953] Acts xiv. 11.
[4954] Acts x. 26.
[4955] Matt. xxii. 32.
[4956] Apoc. xiv. 4.
[4957] Another reading is, "Shut up in the altar."
[4958] Apoc. vi. 10.
[4959] Ex. xxxii. 30 sqq.
[4960] Acts vii. 59, 60.
[4961] Acts xxvii. 37.
[4962] ix. 4.
[4963] John xi. 11.
[4964] 1 Thess. iv. 13.
[4965] vii. 35 sq. The passage occurs in the Ethiopic and Arabic
versions, not in the Latin. It was probably rejected in later times for
dogmatic reasons.
[4966] The chief of the Egyptian Gnostics.
[4967] Rom. x. 2.
[4968] Matt. xxvi. 8; Mark xiv. 4.
[4969] Rom. xiv. 5. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. R.V.
[4970] Matt. xxv. 1.
[4971] Luke xii. 35.
[4972] John v. 35.
[4973] Ps. cxix. 105.
[4974] i.e. antidote to the scorpion's bite.
[4975] Letter CIX.
[4976] Acts xxiv. 17, 18.
[4977] Ps. i. 2.
[4978] Deut. xviii. 2 sq.
[4979] 2 Cor. viii. 14.
[4980] Gal. vi. 10.
[4981] Luke xvi. 9.
[4982] Ps. xli. 9.
[4983] Matt. xix. 21.
[4984] Matt. xx. 16; xxii. 14.
[4985] He seems to mean that monks spoke of young ladies as Mothers of
the Convents, so as to be able to frequent their society without
reproach.
__________________________________________________________________
To Pammachius Against John of Jerusalem.
------------------------
Introduction.
The letter against John of Jerusalem was written about the year 398 or
399, and was a product of the Origenistic controversy. Its immediate
occasion was the visit of Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, at
Jerusalem, in 394. The bishop preached, in the Church of the
Resurrection (§11), a pointed sermon against Origenism, which was
thought to be so directly aimed at John that the latter sent his
archdeacon to remonstrate with the preacher (§14). After many unseemly
scenes, Epiphanius advised Jerome and his friends to separate from
their bishop (§39). But how were they to have the ministrations of the
Church? This difficulty was surmounted by Epiphanius, who took Jerome's
brother to the monastery which he had founded at Ad, in the diocese of
Eleutheropolis, and there ordained him against his will, even using
force to overcome his opposition (Jerome, Letter LI. 1). Epiphanius
attempted to defend his action (Jerome, Letter LI. 2), but John, after
some time, appealed to Alexandria against Jerome and his supporters as
schismatics. The bishop, Theophilus, at once took the side of John: but
a letter, written by his emissary Isidore and intended for John, fell
into the hands of Jerome (§37). The letter showed that Isidore was
coming as a mere partisan of John, and Jerome, therefore, treated both
it and the bearer with secret contempt. The dispute was thus prolonged
for about four years, and, after some attempts at reconciliation, and
the exhibition of much bitterness, amounting to the practical
excommunication of Jerome and his friends, the dispute was stopped,
perhaps by Theophilus, perhaps through the influence of Melania. The
letter written to Pammachius at Rome, in 397 or 398, against John, was
abruptly broken off, and it is almost certain that it was never
published during Jerome's lifetime. Jerome afterwards had so much
influence with Theophilus that we find him interceding for John, who
had fallen under the Pontiff's displeasure (Letter LXXXVI. 1).
The date of this treatise is the subject of controversy. In §1 Jerome
says that he wrote "after three years," that is, three years from the
visit of Epiphanius to Jerusalem, which was in 394. This would give the
date 397. At §14, also, he says that Epiphanius had been brooding over
his wrongs for three years. Another note of time is found in the words
of §43, that John had "lately" sought to obtain a sentence of exile
against Jerome from "that wild beast who threatened the necks of the
whole world," that is, the Prefect Rufinus, who died at the end of 395.
All these statements point to the year 397. On the other hand, at §17,
he speaks of his "Commentaries" on Ecclesiastes and Ephesians as having
been written "about (ferme) ten years ago"; and the preface to
Ecclesiastes says that he had read Ecclesiastes with Blesilla at Rome
"about (ferme) five years ago," consequently, fifteen years before the
writing of this treatise. Blesilla's death was in 384. The reading of
Ecclesiastes may, therefore, have been in 383. And the fifteen years
would bring us to 398. Also, at §41, Jerome says, addressing John. "You
seem to have slept for thirteen years," implying that it was for
thirteen years that the state of things complained of by John had
existed, that is, the presence of the monks in his diocese, or, at
least, their leaving their own dioceses. Jerome left Antioch, the
diocese of his ordination, at the end of 385 or beginning of 386; these
thirteen years, therefore, bring us to 399, the date adopted by
Vallarsi. There is, however, an intimation in "Pallad. Hist. Laus.," c.
117, that Melania, the friend of Rufinus, gave assistance in the matter
of "the schism of nearly 400 monks who followed Paulinus," which is
admitted to relate to the schism at Bethlehem, caused by the question
of the ordination of Paulinianus. We know that Melania and Rufinus left
Jerusalem early in 397, and that, before their departure, Jerome and
Rufinus were reconciled. It would, therefore, seem most probable that
the treatise, which is written with so much animosity against John,
Rufinus's fellow-worker, and contains invidious allusions to Rufinus
himself (§11, "your friends, who grin like dogs and turn up their
noses," Jerome's constant description of Rufinus), was written before
the reconciliation of Rufinus and Jerome, that is, in the end of 386 or
the beginning of 387, and that it was broken off and kept unpublished
because the situation had changed. Vallarsi places it in 399. He quotes
the passages which make for the later date, but strangely omits the
more definite statements which make for the earlier. It should be added
that the letter of Jerome (LXXXII.) to Theophilus is evidently written
at the same time, and under the same feelings, as this treatise. and,
if the arguments above given are valid, that letter must be placed in
397, not in 399, as stated in the note prefixed to it. The short letter
(LXXXVI.) to Theophilus is, in that case, probably to be placed in 398
or 399, rather than 401, as there stated.
The treatise is a letter to Pammachius, who had been disturbed by the
complaints of Bishop John to Siricius, bishop of Rome, against Jerome.
Jerome begins (1) by pleading necessity for his attack on the bishop.
Epiphanius has accused him of heresy (2). Let him answer plainly (3),
for it is pride alone (4) which prevents this. It is said that John's
letter of explanation or apology was approved by Theophilus (5); but it
did not touch the point, that is, the accusation of Origenism. Only
three points are treated (6), and Epiphanius adduced eight--namely (7)
Origen's opinions (i.) that the Son does not see the Father; (ii.) that
souls are confined in earthly bodies, as in a prison; (iii.) that the
devil may be saved; (iv.) that the skins with which God clothed Adam
and Eve were human bodies; (v.) that the body in the resurrection will
be without sex; (vi.) that the descriptions of Paradise are
allegorical: trees meaning angels, and rivers the heavenly virtues;
(vii) that the waters above and below the firmament are angels and
devils; (viii.) that the image of God was altogether lost at the Fall.
John, instead of answering on the first head, merely expressed his
faith in the Trinity (8, 9), and all through tries to make out (10)
that the question between him and Epiphanius relates merely to the
ordination of Paulinianus. Jerome then relates the extraordinary scenes
of the altercation between Epiphanius and John (11-14). He then turns
to the Origenistic notions that angels are cast down into human souls
(15, 16), that the spirits of men pass into the heavenly bodies (17)
and that the souls of men had a previous existence (18), and pass up
and down in the scale of creation (19, 20). John, instead of answering
on these points, contents himself with protesting against Manichæism
(21.) Jerome presses him on the question of the origin of souls (22),
pronouncing rashly for creationism. He then passes to the question of
the state of the body after the resurrection (23), asserting the
restoration of the flesh as it now is (24-27), both in the case of
Christ (28) and in our own, adducing testimonies from the Old Testament
(29-32), and discussing the appearances of our Lord after His
resurrection (34-36). He then passes to a detailed examination of
John's letter or "Apology" to Theophilus (37), quoting its words, and
telling the story of the mission of Isidore (37, 38), and the attempts
of the Count Archelaus to make peace (39). The ordination of
Paulinianus, on which John lays stress, is a subterfuge (40, 41). The
schism is due to the heretical tendencies of the bishop, who is
everywhere denounced by Epiphanius (42, 43).
The letter is, throughout, violent and contemptuous in its tone, with
an arrogant assumption that the writer is in possession of the whole
truth on the difficult subject on which he writes, and that he has a
right to demand from his bishop a confession of faith on each point on
which he chooses to catechise him. Its importance lies in the fact that
it, to a large extent, fixed the belief of churchmen on the points it
deals with, and the mode of dealing with supposed heresy, for more than
a thousand years.
1. If, according to the [4986] Apostle Paul, we cannot pray as we feel,
and speech does not express the thoughts of our own minds, how much
more dangerous is it to judge of another man's heart, and to trace and
explain the meaning of the particular words and expressions which he
uses? The nature of man is prone to mercy, and in considering another's
sin, every one commiserates himself. Accordingly, if you blame one who
offends in word, a man will say it was only simplicity; if you tax a
man with craft, he to whom you speak will not admit that there is
anything more in it than ignorance, so that he may avoid the suspicion
of malice. And it will thus come to pass that you, the accuser, are
made a slanderer, and the censured party is regarded, not as a heretic,
but merely as a man without culture. You know, Pammachius, you know
that it is not enmity or the lust of glory which leads me to engage in
this work, but that I have been stimulated by your letters and that I
act out of the fervour of my faith; and, if possible, I would have all
understand that I cannot be blamed for impatience and rashness, seeing
that I speak only after the lapse of three years. In fact, if you had
not told me that the minds of many are troubled at the "Apology" which
I am about to discuss, and are tossing to and fro on a sea of doubt, I
had determined to persist in silence.
2. So away with [4987] Novatus, who would not hold out a hand to the
erring! perish [4988] Montanus and his mad women! Montanus, who would
hurl the fallen into the abyss that they may never rise again. Every
day we all sin and make some slip or other. Being then merciful to
ourselves, we are not rigorous towards others; nay, rather, we pray and
beseech [4989] him either to simply tell us our own faults, or to
openly defend those of other men. I dislike ambiguities; I dislike to
be told what is capable of two meanings. Let us contemplate with [4990]
unveiled face the glory of the Lord. Once upon a time the people of
Israel halted [4991] between two opinions. But, said Elias, which is by
interpretation the strong one of the Lord, [4992] "How long halt ye
between two opinions? If the Lord be God, go after him; but if Baal,
follow him." And the Lord himself says concerning the Jews, [4993] "the
strange children lied unto me; the strange children became feeble, and
limped out of their by-paths." If there really is no ground for
suspecting him of heresy (as I wish and believe), why does he not speak
out my opinion in my own words? He calls it simplicity; I interpret it
as artfulness. He wishes to convince me that his belief is sound; let
his speech, then, also be sound. And, indeed, if the ambiguity attached
to a single word, or a single statement, or two or three, I could be
indulgent on the score of ignorance; nor would I judge what is obscure
or doubtful by the standard of what is certain and clear. But, as
things are, this "simplicity" is nothing but a platform trick, like
walking on tiptoe over eggs or standing corn; there is doubt and
suspicion everywhere. You might suppose he was not writing an
exposition of the faith, but was writing a disputation on some
imaginary theme. What he is now so keen upon, we learnt long ago in the
schools. He puts on our own armour to fight against us. Even if his
faith be correct, and he speaks with circumspection and reserve, his
extreme care rouses my suspicions. [4994] "He that walketh uprightly,
walketh boldly." It is folly to bear a bad name for nothing. A charge
is brought against him of which he is not conscious. Let him
confidently deny the charge which hangs upon a single word, and freely
turn the tables against his adversary. Let the one exhibit the same
boldness in repelling the charge which the other shows in advancing it.
And when he has said all that he wishes and purposes to say, and such
things as are above suspicion, if his opponent persists in slander, let
him try conclusions in open court. I wish no one to sit still under an
imputation of heresy, lest, if he say nothing, his want of openness be
interpreted, amongst those who are not aware of his innocence, as the
consciousness of guilt, although there is no need to demand the
presence of a man and to reduce him to silence when you have his
letters in your possession.
3. We all know what [4995] he wrote to you, what charge he brought
against you, wherein (as you maintain) he has slandered you. Answer the
points, one by one; follow the footsteps of this letter; leave not a
single jot or tittle of the slander unnoticed. For if you are careless,
and accidentally pass over any thing as I believe you on your oath to
have done, he will immediately cry out: "Now, now, you have got the
worst of it, the whole thing turns upon this." Words do not sound the
same in the ears of friends and enemies. An enemy looks for a knot even
in a bulrush; a friend judges even crooked to be straight. It is a
saying of secular writers that lovers are blind in their judgments,
though, perhaps, you are too busy with the sacred books to pay any
attention to such literature. You should never boast of what your
friends think of you. That is true testimony which comes from the lips
of foes. On the contrary, if a friend speaks in your behalf he will be
considered not as a witness but a judge or a partisan. This is the sort
of thing your enemies will say, who perhaps give no credit to you, and
only wish to vex you. But I, whom you say you have never willingly
injured, yet whose name you are always bound to bandy about in your
letters, advise you either to openly proclaim the faith of the Church,
or to speak as you believe. For that cautious mincing and weighing of
words may, no doubt, deceive the unlearned; but a careful hearer and
reader will quickly detect the snare, and will show in open daylight
the subterranean mines by which truth is overthrown. The Arians (no one
knows more about them than you) for a long time pretended that they
condemned the [4996] Homoousion on account of the offence it gave, and
they besmeared poisonous error with honeyed words. But at last the
snake uncoiled itself, and its deadly head, which lay concealed under
all its folds, was pierced by the sword of the Spirit. The Church, as
you know, welcomes penitents, and is so overwhelmed by the multitude of
sinners that it is forced, in the interests of the misguided flocks, to
be lenient to the wounds of the shepherds. [4997] Ancient and modern
heresy observes the same rule--the people hear one thing, the priests
preach another.
4. And first, before I translate and insert in this book the letter
which you wrote to Bishop Theophilus, and show you that I understand
your excessive care and circumspection, I should like a word of
expostulation with you. What is the meaning of this towering arrogance
which makes you refuse to reply to those who question you respecting
the faith? How is it that you regard almost as public enemies the vast
multitude of brethren, and the bands of monks, who refuse to
communicate with you in Palestine? The Son of God, for the sake of one
sick sheep, leaving the ninety and nine on the mountains, endured the
buffeting, the cross, the scourge; He took up the burden, and patiently
carried on His shoulders to heaven the voluptuous woman that was a
sinner. Is it for you to act the "most reverend father in God," the
fastidious prelate; to stand apart in your wealth and wisdom, in your
grandeur and your learning; to frown superciliously upon your fellow
servants, and scarce vouchsafe a glance to those who have been redeemed
with the blood of your Lord? Is this what you have learnt from the
Apostles' precept to be [4998] "ready always to give answer to every
man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you"?
Suppose we do, as you pretend, seek occasion, and that, under the
pretext of zeal for the faith, we are sowing strife, framing a schism,
and fomenting quarrels. Then take away the occasion from those who wish
for an occasion; so that having given satisfaction on the point of
faith, and solved all the difficulties in which you are involved, you
may show clearly to all that the dispute is not one of doctrine, but of
[4999] order. But perhaps when questioned concerning the faith, you say
that it is from wise forethought that you hold your tongue, so that it
may not be said that you have proved yourself a heretic--in as much as
you make satisfaction to your accusers. If that be so, then men ought
not to refute any charges of which they are accused, lest, having
denied them, they may be held to be guilty. The accusations of the
laity, deacons, and presbyters, are, I suppose, beneath your notice.
For you can, as you are perpetually boasting, make a thousand clerics
in an hour. But you have to answer Epiphanius, our father in God, who,
in the letters which he sent, openly calls you a heretic. Certainly you
are not his superior in respect of years, of learning, of his exemplary
life, or of the judgment of the whole world. If it is a question of
age, you are a young man writing to an old one. If it is one of
knowledge, you are a person not so very accomplished writing to a
learned man, although your partisans maintain that you are a more
finished speaker than Demosthenes, more sharp-witted than Chrysippus,
wiser than Plato, and perhaps have persuaded you that they are right.
As regards his life and devotion to the faith, I will say no more, that
I may not seem to be seeking to wound you. At the time when the whole
East (except our fathers in God Athanasius and Paulinus) was overrun by
the Arian and Eunomian heresies; when you did not hold communion with
the Westerns; then, in the very worst of the exile which made them
confessors, he, though a simple convent priest, gained the ear of
Eutychius, and afterwards as bishop of Cyprus was unmolested by Valens.
For he was always so highly venerated that heretics on the throne
thought it would redound to their own disgrace if they persecuted such
a man. Write therefore to him. Answer his letter. So let the rest
understand your purpose and judge of your eloquence and wisdom; do not
keep all your accomplishments to yourself. Why, when you are challenged
in one quarter, do you turn your arms towards another? A question is
put to you in Palestine, your answer is given in Egypt. When some are
blear-eyed, you anoint the eyes of others who are not affected. If you
tell another what is meant to give us satisfaction, such action springs
entirely from pride; if you tell him what we do not ask for, it is
entirely uncalled for.
5. But you say "the bishop of Alexandria approved of my letter." What
did he approve of? Your correct utterances against Arius, Photinus, and
Manichæus. For who, at this time of day, accuses you of being an Arian?
Who now fastens on you the guilt of Photinus and Manichæus? Those
faults were long ago corrected, those enemies were shattered. You were
not so foolish as to openly defend a heresy which you knew was
offensive to the whole Church. You knew that if you had done this, you
must have been immediately removed, and your heart was upon the
pleasures of your episcopal throne. You so tuned your expressions as to
neither displease the simple, nor offend your own incontestably marked
by deceit and slipperiness; what, then, are we to do with the remaining
five, with regard to which, because no opportunity was afforded for
ambiguity, supporters. You wrote well, but nothing to the purpose. How
was the bishop of Alexandria to know of what you were accused, or what
things they were of which a confession was demanded from you? You ought
to have set forth in detail the charges brought against you, and then
have met them one by one. There is an old story which tells how a
certain man, who, when he was speaking fluently, was carried along by a
torrent of words, without touching the question before the court, and
thus drew the wise remark from the judge, "Excellent! excellent! but to
what purpose is all this excellence?" Quacks have but one lotion for
all affections of the eyes. He who is accused of many things, and in
dissipating the charges passes over some, confesses all that he omits
to mention. Did you not reply to the letter of Epiphanius, and yourself
choose the points for refutation? No doubt, in replying, you rested on
the axiom, that no man is so brave as to put the sword to his own
throat. Choose which alternative you like. You shall have your choice:
you either replied to the letter of Epiphanius, or you did not. If you
did reply, why did you take no notice of the most important, and the
most numerous, of the charges brought against you? If you did not
reply, what becomes of your "Apology," of which you boast amongst the
simple, and which you are scattering broadcast amongst those who do not
understand the matter?
6. The questions for you to answer were arranged, as I shall presently
show, under eight heads. You touch only three, and pass on. As regards
the rest, you maintain a magnificent silence. If you had with perfect
frankness replied to seven, I should still cling to the charge which
remained; and what you said nothing about, that I should hold to be the
truth. But as things are, you have caught the wolf by the ears; you can
neither hold fast, nor dare let go. With a sort of careless security
and an air of abstraction, you skim over and touch the surface of three
in which there is nothing or but little of importance. And your
procedure is so dark and close that you confess more by your silence
than you rebut by your arguments. Every one has the right forthwith to
say to you, [5000] "If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great
is the darkness." Even in answering three little questions, respecting
which you seemed to say something, you are not clear from suspicion and
from blame, but your replies are and you were therefore unable to cheat
your hearers, you preferred to maintain unbroken silence rather than
openly confess what had been covered in obscurity?
7. The questions relate to the passages in the [5001] Peri Archon. The
first is this, "for as it is unfitting to say that the Son can see the
Father, so neither is it meet to think that the Holy Spirit can see the
Son." The second point is the statement that souls are tied up in the
body as in a prison; and that before man was made in Paradise they
dwelt amongst rational creatures in the heavens. Wherefore, afterwards
to console itself, the soul says in the Psalms, [5002] "Before I was
humbled, I went wrong"; and [5003] "Return, my soul, to thy rest"; and
[5004] "Lead my soul out of prison"; and similarly elsewhere. Thirdly,
he says that both the devil and demons will some time or other repent,
and ultimately reign with the saints. Fourthly, he interprets the coats
of skin, with which Adam and Eve were clothed after their fall and
ejection from Paradise, to be human bodies, and we are to suppose of
course that previously, in Paradise, they had neither flesh, sinews,
nor bones. Fifthly, he most openly denies the resurrection of the flesh
and the bodily structure, and the distinction of senses, both in his
explanation of the first Psalm, and in many other of his treatises.
Sixthly, he so allegorises Paradise as to destroy historical truth,
understanding angels instead of trees, heavenly virtues instead of
rivers, and he overthrows all that is contained in the history of
Paradise by his figurative interpretation. Seventhly, he thinks that
the waters which are said in Scripture to be above the heavens are holy
and supernal essences, while those which are above the earth and
beneath the earth are, on the contrary, demoniacal essences. The eighth
is Origen's cavil that the image and likeness of God, in which man was
created, was lost, and was no longer in man after he was expelled from
Paradise.
8. These are the arrows with which you are pierced; these the weapons
with which throughout the whole letter you are wounded; or I should
rather say Epiphanius throws himself as a suppliant at your knees, and
casts his hoary locks beneath your feet, and, for a time laying aside
his episcopal dignity, prays for your salvation in words such as these:
"Grant to me and to yourself the favour of your salvation; save
yourself, as it is written, from this crooked generation, [5005] and
forsake the heresy of Origen, and all heresies, dearly beloved." And
lower down, "In the defence of heresy you kindle hatred against me, and
destroy that love which I had towards you; insomuch that you would make
us even repent of holding communion with you who so resolutely defend
the errors and doctrines of Origen." Tell me, prince of arguers, to
which, out of the eight sections, you have replied. For the present, I
say nothing of the rest. Take the first blasphemy--that the Son cannot
see the Father, nor the Holy Spirit the Son. By what weapons of yours
has it been pierced? the answer we get is, "We believe that the Holy
and Adorable Trinity are of the same substance; that they are
co-eternal, and of the same glory and Godhead, and we anathematize
those who say that there is any greatness, smallness, inequality, or
aught that is visible in the Godhead of the Trinity. But as we say the
Father is incorporeal, invisible, and eternal; so we say the Son and
Holy Spirit are incorporeal, invisible, and eternal." If you did not
say this, you would not hold to the Church. I do not ask whether there
was not a time when you refused to say this. I will not discuss the
question, whether you were fond of those who preached such doctrines;
on whose side you were when, for expressing those sentiments, they
underwent banishment; or who the man was that, when the presbyter Theo
preached in the Church that the Holy Spirit is God, closed his ears,
and excitedly rushed out of doors that he might not so much as hear the
impiety. I recognize a man, as one may say, as one of the faithful,
even though his repentance comes late. [5006] That unhappy man
Prætextatus, who died after he had been chosen consul, a profane person
and an idolater, was wont in sport to say to blessed Pope Damascus,
"Make me bishop of Rome, and I will at once be a Christian." Why do
you, with many words and intricate periods, take the trouble to show me
that you are not an Arian? Either deny that the accused said what is
imputed to him, or, if he did give utterance to such sentiments,
condemn him for so speaking. You have still to learn how intense is the
zeal of the orthodox. Listen to the Apostle: [5007] "If I or an angel
from heaven bring you another gospel than that we have declared, let
him be anathema." You would extenuate the fault and hide the name of
the guilty party: as though everything were right and no one were
accused of blasphemy, you frame, in artificial language, an
uncalled-for profession of your faith. Speak out at once, and let your
letter thus begin: "Let him be accursed who has dared to write such
things." Pure faith is impatient of delay. As soon as the scorpion
appears, he must be crushed under foot. David, who was proved to be a
man after God's own heart, says: [5008] "Do not I hate those that hate
thee, O Lord, and did not I pine away over thine enemies? I hated them
with a perfect hatred." Had I heard my father, or mother, or brother
say such things against my Master Christ, I would have broken their
blasphemous jaws like those of a mad dog, and my hand should have been
amongst the first lifted up against them. They who said to father and
mother, [5009] "We know you not," these men fulfilled the will of the
Lord. [5010] He that loveth father or mother more than Christ, is not
worthy of Him.
9. It is alleged that your master, whom you call a Catholic, and whom
you resolutely defend, said, "the Son sees not the Father, and the Holy
Spirit sees not the Son." And you tell me that the Father is invisible,
the Son invisible, the Holy Ghost invisible, as though the angels, both
cherubim and seraphim, were not also, in accordance with their nature,
invisible to our eyes. David was certainly in doubt even as regards the
appearance of the heavens: [5011] "I shall see," he says, "the heavens,
the works of Thy fingers." I shall see, not I see. I shall see when
with unveiled face I shall behold the glory of the Lord: but [5012] now
we see in part, and we know in part. The question is whether the Son
sees the Father, and you say "The Father is invisible." It is disputed
whether the Holy Spirit sees the Son, and you answer "The Son is
invisible." The point at issue is, whether the Trinity have mutually
the vision of one another; human ears cannot endure such blasphemy, and
you say the Trinity is invisible. You wander in the realms of praise in
all other directions; you spend your eloquence on things which no one
wants to hear about. You put your hearer off the scent, to avoid
telling us what we ask for. But granted that all this is superfluous.
We make you a present of the fact that you are not an Arian; nay, even
more, that you never have been. We allow that in the explanation of the
first section no suspicion rests upon you, and that all that you said
was frank and free from error. We speak to you with equal frankness.
Did our father in God, Epiphanius, accuse you of being an Arian? Did he
fasten upon you the heresy of [5013] Eunomius, the Godless, or that of
[5014] Aerius? The point of the whole letter is that you follow the
erroneous doctrines of Origen, and are associated with others in this
heresy. Why, when a question is put to you on one point, do you give an
answer about another; and, as if you were speaking to fools, hide the
charges contained in the letters, and tell us what you said in the
church in the presence of Epiphanius? A confession of faith is demanded
of you, and you inflict upon us your very eloquent dissertations. I
beseech my readers to remember the judgment seat of the Lord, and as
you know that you must be judged for the judgment you give, favour
neither me nor my opponent, and consider not the persons of the
arguers, but the case itself. Let us then continue what we began.
10. You write in your letter that, before Paulinianus was made a
presbyter, the pope Epiphanius never took you to task in connection
with Origen's errors. To begin with, this is doubtful, and I have to
consider which of the two men I should believe. He says that he did
object, you deny it; he brings forward witnesses, you will not listen
to them when they are produced; he even relates that [5015] another
besides yourself was arraigned by him: you refuse to admit this in the
case of either; he sends a letter to you by one of his clergy, and
demands an answer: you are silent, dare not open your lips, and,
challenged in Palestine, speak at Alexandria. Which of you is to be
believed is not for me to say. I suppose that you yourself would not,
in the face of so distinguished a man, venture to claim truth for
yourself, and impute falsehood to him. But it is possible that each
speaks from his own point of view. I will call a witness against you,
and that witness is yourself. For if there were no dispute about
doctrines, if you had not roused the anger of an old man, if he had
given you no reply, what need was there for you, who do not excel in
gifts of speech, to discuss in a single sermon in the church the whole
circle of doctrine--the Trinity, the assumption of our Lord's body, the
cross, hell, the nature of angels, the condition of souls, the
Saviour's resurrection and our own, and this as taking place on this
earth (topics perhaps omitted in your manuscript) in the presence of
the masses, in the presence, too, of a man of such distinction? and to
speak with such perfect assurance and to gallop through it all without
stopping to draw breath? What shall we say of the ancient writers of
the Church, who were scarce able to explain single difficulties in many
volumes? What of the vessel of election, the Gospel trumpet, the
roaring of our lion, the thunderer of the Gentiles, the river of
Christian eloquence, who, when confronted by the [5016] mystery
concealed from ages and generations, and by [5017] the depth of the
riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, rather marvels at it than
discusses it? What of Isaiah, who pointed beforehand to the Virgin?
That single thing was too much for him, and he says, [5018] "Who shall
declare his generation?" In our age a poor mannikin has been found,
who, with one turn of the tongue, and a brilliancy exceeding that of
the sun, discourses on all ecclesiastical questions. If no one asked
you for the display, and everything was quiet, you were foolish to
enter voluntarily upon so hazardous a discussion. If, on the other
hand, the object of your speaking was the satisfaction you owed to the
faith, it follows that the cause of strife was not the ordination of a
[5019] priest, who, it is certain, was ordained long after. You have
deceived only those who were not on the spot, and your letters flatter
the ears of strangers only.
11. We were present (we know the whole case) when the bishop Epiphanius
spoke against Origen in your church, and he was the ostensible, you the
real object of attack. You and your crew grinned like dogs, drew in
your nostrils, scratched your heads, nodded to one another, and talked
of the "silly old man." Did you not, in front of the Lord's tomb, send
your archdeacon to tell him to cease discussing such matters? What
bishop ever gave such a command to one of his own presbyters in the
presence of the people? When you were going from the Church of the
Resurrection to the Church of the Holy Cross, and a crowd of all ages,
and both sexes, was flowing to meet him, presenting to him their little
ones, kissing his feet, plucking the fringes of his garments, and when
he could not stir a step forward, and could hardly stand against the
waves of the surging crowd, were not you so tortured by envy as to
exclaim against "the vainglorious old man"? And you were not ashamed to
tell him to his face that his stopping was of set purpose and design.
Pray recall that day when the people who had been called together were
kept waiting until the seventh hour by the mere hope of hearing
Epiphanius, and the subject of the harangue you then delivered. You
spoke, forsooth, with indignant rage against the Anthropomorphites,
who, with rustic simplicity, think that God has actually the members of
which we read in Scripture; and showed by your eyes, hands, and every
gesture that you had the old man in view, and wished him to be
suspected of that most foolish heresy. When through sheer fatigue, with
dry month, head thrown back, and quivering lips, to the satisfaction of
the whole people, who had longed for the end, you at last wound up, how
did the crazy and "silly old man" treat you? He rose to indicate that
he would say a few words, and after saluting the assembly with voice
and hand proceeded thus: "All that has been said by one who is my
brother in the episcopate, but my son in point of years, against the
heresy of the Anthropomorphites, has been well and faithfully spoken,
and my voice, too, condemns that heresy. But it is fair that, as we
condemn this heresy so we should also condemn the perverse doctrines of
Origen." You cannot, I think, have forgotten what a burst of laughter,
what shouts of applause ensued. This is what you call in your letter
his speaking to the people anything he chose, no matter what it might
be. He, forsooth, was mad because he contradicted you in your own
kingdom. "Anything he chose, no matter what." Either give him praise,
or blame. Why, here as well as elsewhere, do you move with so uncertain
a step? If what he said was good, why not openly proclaim it? if evil,
why not boldly censure it? And yet, let us note with what wisdom,
modesty, and humility this pillar of truth and faith, who dares to say
that so illustrious a man speaks to the people what he chooses, alludes
to himself. "One day I was speaking in his presence; and, taking
occasion from some words in the lesson for the day, I expressed, in his
hearing and in that of the whole Church, such views respecting the
faith and all the doctrines of the Church as by the grace of God I
unceasingly teach in the Church, and in my catechetical lectures."
12. What, I ask, is the meaning of this effrontery and bombast? All
philosophers and orators attack Gorgias of Leontini for daring openly
to pledge himself to answer any question which any person might choose
to put to him. If the honour of the priesthood and respect for your
title did not restrain me, and if I did not know what the Apostle says,
[5020] "I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is
written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people," how
loudly and indignantly might I complain of what you relate! You, on the
contrary, disparage the dignity of your title by the contempt which you
throw, both in word and deed, on one who is almost the father of the
whole episcopate, and a monument of the sanctity of former days. You
say that on a certain day, when something in the lesson for the day
stirred you up, you made a discourse in his hearing, and in that of the
whole Church, concerning the faith and all the doctrines of the Church.
After this we cannot but wonder at the weakness of Demosthenes; for we
are told that he spent a long time in elaborating his splendid oration
against Æschines. We are quite mistaken in looking up to Tully; for his
merit, according to Cornelius Nepos, who was present, was nothing but
this, that he delivered his famous defence of the seditious tribune
Cornelius, almost word for word as it was published. Behold a Lysias
[5021] and a Gracchus raised up for us! or, to name one of more modern
days, Quintus Aterius, [5022] the man who had all his powers at hand
like a stock of ready money, so that he needed some one to tell him
when to stop, and of whom Cæsar Augustus said very well, "Our friend
Quintus must have the break put on."
13. Is there any man in his right senses who would declare that in a
single sermon he had discussed the faith and all the doctrines of the
Church? Pray show me what that lesson is which is so seasoned with the
whole savour of Scripture that its occurrence in the service induced
you to enter the arena and put your wit to the hazard. And if you had
not been overwhelmed by the torrent of your eloquence, you might have
been convinced that it was impossible for you to speak upon the whole
circle of doctrines without any deliberation. But how stands the case?
You promise one thing and present another. Our custom is, for the space
of forty days, to deliver public lectures to those who are to be
baptized on the doctrine of the Holy and Adorable Trinity. If the
lesson for the day stimulated you to discuss all doctrines in a single
hour, what necessity was there to repeat the instruction of the
previous forty days? But if you meant to recapitulate what you had been
saying during the whole of Lent, how could one lesson on a certain day
"stir you up" to speak of all these doctrines? But even here his
language is ambiguous; for possibly he took occasion, from the
particular lesson, to go over summarily what he was accustomed to
deliver in church to the candidates for baptism during the forty days
of Lent. For it is eloquence all the same whether few things are said
in many words, or many things in few words. There is another
permissible meaning, that, as soon as the one lesson gave him the spur,
he was fired with such oratorical zeal that for forty days he never
ceased speaking. But, then, even the easy-going old man, who was
hanging upon his lips, and longing to know what he had never heard
before, must have almost fallen from his seat asleep. However, we must
put up with it; perhaps this, also, is a case of the simplicity which
we know to be his manner.
14. Let us quote the rest, in which, after the labyrinths of his
perplexing discussion, he expresses himself by no means ambiguously but
openly, and thus concludes his wonderful homilies: "When we had thus
spoken in his presence, and when out of the extreme honour which we
paid him we invited him to speak after us, he praised our preaching,
and said that he marvelled at it, and declared to all that it was the
Catholic faith." The extreme honour you paid him is evidenced by the
extreme insults offered to him, when through the archdeacon you bade
him be silent, and loudly proclaimed that it was the love of praise
which made him linger among the crowd. The present is the key to the
past. For three whole years from that time he has brooded in silence
[5023] over the wrongs he suffered, and, spurning all personal strife,
has only asked for a more correct expression of your faith. You, with
your endless resources, and making a profit out of the religion of the
whole world, have been sending those very dignified envoys of yours
hither and thither, and have been trying to awake the old man out of
his sleep that he might answer you. And in truth it was right that as
you had conferred such signal honour upon him he should praise your
utterances, particularly such as were ex tempore. But as men have a way
of sometimes praising what they do not approve, and of nourishing
another's folly by meaningless commendation, he not only praised your
utterances, but praised and marvelled at them as well; and what is
more, to magnify the marvel, he declared to the whole people that they
were in harmony with the Catholic faith. Whether he really said all
this, we ourselves are witnesses. The fact is, he came to us half dead
with dismay at your words, and saying that he had been too precipitate
in communicating with you. And further, when he was much entreated by
the whole monastery to return to you from Bethlehem, and was unable to
resist the entreaties of so many, he did indeed return in the evening,
but only to escape again at midnight. His letters to the pope Siricius
prove the same thing, and if you read them you will see clearly in what
sense he marvelled at your utterances and acknowledged them Catholic.
But we are threshing chaff, and have spent many words in refuting
gratuitous nonsense and old wives' fables.
15. Let us pass on to the second point. Here, as though there were
nothing for his consideration, he vapours, and vents himself
unconcernedly, pretending to be asleep, so that he may lull his readers
also into slumber. "But we were speaking of the other matters
pertaining to the faith, that is to say, that all things visible and
invisible, the heavenly powers and terrestrial creatures have one and
the same creator, even God, that is, the Holy Trinity, as the blessed
David says, [5024] By the word of the Lord were the heavens
established, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth'; and
the creation of man is a simple proof of the same; for it was God
Himself who took slime from the earth, and through the grace of His own
inspiration bestowed on it a reasonable soul, and one endowed with free
will; not a part of His own nature (as some impiously teach), but His
own workmanship. And concerning the holy angels, the belief of
Christians similarly follows Holy Scripture, which says of God, [5025]
"Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flaming fire." Holy
Scripture does not allow us to believe that their nature is
unchangeable, for it says, [5026] "And angels which kept not their own
principality, but left their proper habitation, He hath kept in
everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day";
we know, therefore, that they have changed, and having lost their own
dignity and glory have become more like demons. But that the souls of
men are caused by the fall of the angels, or by their conversion, we
never believed, nor have we so taught (God forbid!), and we confess
that the view is at variance with the teaching of the Church."
16. We want to know whether souls, before man was made in paradise, and
Adam was fashioned out of the earth, were among reasonable creatures;
whether they had their own rank, lived, continued, subsisted; and
whether the doctrine of Origen is true, who said that all reasonable
creatures, incorporeal and invisible, if they grow remiss, little by
little sink to a lower level, and, according to the character of the
places to which they descend, take to themselves bodies. (For instance,
that they may be at first ethereal, afterward aërial.) And that when
they reach the neighbourhood of earth they are invested with grossest
bodies, and last of all are tied to human flesh; and that the demons
themselves who, of their own choice, together with their leader the
devil, have forsaken the service of God, if they begin to amend a
little, are clothed with human flesh, so that, when they have undergone
a process of repentance after the resurrection, and after passing
through the same circuit by which they reached the flesh, they may
return to proximity to God, being released even from aërial and
ethereal bodies; and that then every knee will bow to God, of things in
heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and that God
may be all to all. When these are the real questions, why do you pass
over the points at issue, and, leaving the arena, fix yourself in the
region of remote and utterly irrelevant discussion?
17. You believe that one God made all creatures, visible and invisible.
Arius, who says that all things were created through the Son, would
also confess this. If you had been accused of holding Marcion's heresy,
which introduces two Gods, the one the God of goodness, the other of
justice, and asserts that the former is the Creator of things
invisible, the latter of things visible, your answer would have been
well adapted to satisfy me on a question of that sort. You believe it
is the Trinity which creates the universe. Arians and Semi-Arians deny
that, blasphemously maintaining that the Holy Spirit is not the
Creator, but is Himself created. But who now lays it to your charge
that you are an Arian? You say that the souls of men are not a part of
the nature of God, as though you were now called a Manichæan by
Epiphanius. You protest against those who assert that souls are made
out of angels, and say that their nature, in its fall, becomes the
substance of humanity. Don't conceal what you know, nor feign a
simplicity which you do not possess. Origen never said that souls are
made out of angels, since he teaches that the term angels describes an
office, not a nature. For in his book Peri 'Archon he says that angels,
and thrones, and dominions, powers and rulers of the world, and of
darkness, and [5027] every name which is named, not only in this world,
but in that which is to come, become the souls of those bodies which
they have taken on either through their own desire or for the sake of
their appointed duties; that the sun also, himself, and the moon, and
the company of all the stars, are the souls of what were once
reasonable and incorporeal creatures; and that though now subject to
vanity, that is to say, to fiery bodies which we, in our ignorance and
inexperience, call luminaries of the world, they shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption and brought to the liberty of the glory
of the sons of God. Wherefore every creature groaneth and travaileth in
pain together. And the Apostle laments, saying, [5028] "Wretched man
that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" This is
not the time to controvert this doctrine, which is partly heathen, and
partly Platonic. About ten years ago in my "Commentary" on
Ecclesiastes, and in my explanation of the Epistle to the Ephesians, I
think my own views were made clear to thoughtful men.
18. I now beg you, whose eloquence is so exuberant, and who expound the
truth concerning all topics in the course of one sermon, to give an
answer to your interrogators in concise and clear terms. When God
formed man out of slime, and through the grace of His own inspiration
gave him a soul, had that soul previously existed and subsisted which
was afterwards bestowed by the inspiration of God, and where was it? or
did it gain its capacity both to exist and to live from the power of
God, on the sixth day, when the body was formed out of the slime? You
are silent regarding this, and pretend you do not know what is wanted,
and busy yourself with irrelevant questions. You leave Origen
untouched, and rave against the absurdities of Marcion, Apollinaris,
Eunomius, Manichæus, and the other heretics. You are asked for a hand
and you put out a foot, and all the while covertly insinuate the
doctrine to which you hold. You speak smooth things to plain men like
us, but in such a way as in no degree to displease those of your own
party.
19. You say that demons rather than souls are made out of angels, as
though you did not know that, according to Origen, the demons
themselves are souls belonging to aërial bodies, and, after being
demons, destined to become human souls if they repent. You write that
the angels are mutable; and, under cover of a pious opinion, introduce
an impiety by maintaining that, after the lapse of many ages, souls are
produced not from the angels, but from whatever it was into which the
angels were first changed. I wish to make my meaning clearer; suppose a
person of the rank of tribune to be degraded through his own
misconduct, and to pass through the several steps of the cavalry
service until he becomes a private, does he all at once cease to be a
tribune [5029] and become a recruit? No; but he is first colonel, then,
successively, major officer of two hundred, captain, commissary,
patrol, trooper, and, lastly, a recruit; and although our tribune
eventually becomes a common soldier, still he did not pass from the
rank of tribune to that of recruit, but to that of colonel. Origen uses
Jacob's ladder to teach that reasonable creatures by slow degrees sink
to the lowest step, that is to flesh and blood; and that it is
impossible for any one to be suddenly precipitated from number one
hundred to number one without reaching the last by passing through the
successive numbers, as in descending the rounds of a ladder; and that
they change their bodies as often as they change their resting-places
in going from heaven to earth. These are the tricks and artifices by
which you make us out to be [5030] "Pelusiots" and "beasts of burden"
and "animal men" who do "not receive the things pertaining to the
Spirit." [5031] You are the "people of Jerusalem," and can make a mock
even of the angels. But your mysteries are being dragged into the
light, and your doctrine, which is a mere conglomerate of heathen
fables, is publicly exposed in the ears of Christians. What you so much
admire we long ago despised when we found it in Plato. And we despised
it because we received the foolishness of Christ. And we received the
foolishness of Christ because [5032] the weakness of God is wiser than
men. And is it not a shame for us, who are Christians and priests of
God, to entangle ourselves in words of doubtful meaning, as though we
were merely jesting; to keep our phrases balanced between two meanings,
in a way which deceives the speaker himself more than his hearers?
20. One of your company, when pressed by me to say what he thought
concerning the soul, whether it had existed before the flesh, or not,
replied that soul and body had existed together. I knew the man was a
heretic, and was seeking to entangle me in my speech. At last I caught
him saying that the soul gained that name from the time when it began
to animate a body, whereas it was formerly called a demon, or angel of
Satan, or spirit of fornication, or, on the other hand, dominion,
power, agent of the spirit, or messenger. Well, but if the soul existed
before Adam was made in Paradise (in any rank and condition), and lived
and acted (for we cannot think that what is incorporeal and eternal is
dull and torpid like a dormouse), there must have been some precedent
cause to account for the soul, which at first had no body, being
afterwards invested with a body. And if it is natural to the soul to be
without a body, it must be contrary to nature for it to be in a body.
If it is contrary to nature to be in a body, it follows that the
resurrection of the body is contrary to nature. But the resurrection
will not be contrary to nature; therefore, according to you, the body,
which is contrary to nature, when it rises again will be without a
soul.
21. You say that the soul is not of the essence of God. Well! This is
what we might expect, for you condemn the impious Manichæus, to make
mention of whose name is pollution. You say that angels are not turned
into souls. I agree to some extent, although I know what meaning you
give to the words. But, now that we have learnt what you deny, we wish
to know what you believe. "Having taken slime of the earth," you say,
"God fashioned man, and through the grace of His own inbreathing
bestowed upon him a rational soul, and through the grace of free will,
not a portion of His own divine nature (as some impiously maintain),
but His own handiwork." See how he goes out of his way to be eloquent
about what we did not ask for. We know that God fashioned man out of
the earth; we are aware that He breathed into his face, and man became
a living soul; we are not ignorant that the soul is characterized by
reason and free choice, and we know that it is the workmanship of God.
No one doubts that Manichæus errs in saying that the soul is the
essence of God. I now ask: When was that soul made, which is the work
of God, which is distinguished by free will and reason, and is not of
the essence of the Creator? Was it made at the same time that man was
made out of the slime, and the breath of life was breathed into his
face? Or, having previously existed, and having associated with
reasonable and incorporeal creatures as well as lived, was it
afterwards gifted with the inbreathing of God? Here you are silent;
here you feign a rustic simplicity, and make scriptural words a cloak
for unscriptural tenets. Where you affirm what no one wants to know,
that the soul is not a part of God's own nature (as some impiously
maintain), you ought rather to have declared (and this is what we all
want to know) that it is not that which previously existed, which He
had before created, which had long dwelt among rational, incorporeal,
and invisible creatures. You say none of these things; you bring
forward Manichæus, and keep Origen out of sight, and, just as when
children ask for something to eat their nursemaids put them off with
some little joke, so you direct the thoughts of us poor rustics to
other matters, so that we may be taken up with the fresh character on
the stage, and may not ask for what we want.
22. But suppose the fact to be that you merely omit this, and that your
simplicity does not mean something you are shrewd enough to conceal.
Having once begun to speak of the soul, and to deduce arguments on such
an important topic from man's first creation, why do you leave the
discussion in mid-air, and suddenly pass to the angels, and the
conditions under which the body of our Lord existed? Why do you pass by
such a vast slough of difficulty, and leave us to stick in the mire? If
the inbreathing of God (a view for which you have no liking, and a
point which you now leave unsettled) is the creating of the human soul;
whence had Eve her soul, seeing that God did not breathe into her face?
But I will not dwell upon Eve, since she, as a type of the Church, was
made out of one of her husband's ribs, and ought not, after so many
ages, to be subjected to the calumnies of her descendants. I ask whence
Cain and Abel, who were the firstborn of our first parents, had their
souls? And the whole human race downwards, what, are we to think, was
the origin of their souls? Did they come by propagation, like brute
beasts? So that, as body springs from body, so soul from soul. Or is it
the case that rational creatures, longing for bodily existence, sink by
degrees to earth, and at last are tied even to human bodies? Surely (as
the Church teaches in accordance with the Saviour's words, [5033] "My
Father worketh hitherto and I work"; and the passage in Isaiah, [5034]
"Who maketh the spirit of man in him"; and in the Psalms, [5035] "Who
fashioneth one by one the hearts of them") God is daily making
souls--He, with whom to will is to do, and who never ceases to be a
Creator. I know what you are accustomed to say in opposition to this,
and how you confront us with adultery and incest. But the dispute about
these is a tedious one, and would exceed the narrow limits of the time
at our disposal. The same argument may be retorted upon you, and
whatever seems unworthy in the Creator of the present dispensation is
again not unworthy, since it is His gift. Birth from adultery imputes
no blame to the child, but to the father. As in the case of seeds, the
earth which cherishes does not sin, nor the seed which is thrown into
the furrows, nor the heat and moisture, under whose influence the grain
bursts into bud, but some man, as for example, the thief and robber,
who, by fraud and violence, plucks up the seed: so in the begetting of
men, the womb, which corresponds to the earth, receives its own, and
nourishes what it has received, and then gives a body to that which it
nourishes, and divides into the several members the body it has formed.
And among those secret recesses of the belly the hand of God is always
working, and there is the same Creator of body and soul. Do not despise
the goodness of your Maker, who fashioned you and made you as He chose.
He Himself is the virtue of God and the wisdom of God, who, in the womb
of the Virgin, built a house for Himself. Jephthah, who is reckoned by
the Apostle among the saints, is the son of a harlot. But listen: Esau,
born of Rebecca had Isaac, a "hairy man," both in mind and body, like
good wheat, degenerates into darnel and wild oats; because the cause of
vice and virtue does not lie in the seed, but in the will of him who is
born. If it is an offence to be born with a human body, how is it that
Isaac, Samson, John Baptist, are the children of promise? You see, I
trust, what it is to have the courage of one's convictions. Suppose I
am wrong, I openly say what I think. Do you, then, likewise either
freely profess our opinions, or firmly maintain your own. Do not set
yourself in my line of battle, so that, by feigning simplicity, you may
be safe, and may be able, when you choose, to stab your opponent in the
back. It is impossible for me, at the present moment, to write a book
against the opinions of Origen. If Christ gives us life, we will devote
another work to them. The point now is, whether the accused has
answered the questions put to him, and whether his reply be clear and
open.
23. Let us pass from this to the most notorious point, that relating to
the resurrection of the flesh and of the body; and here, my reader, I
would admonish you that you may know I speak under a sense of fear and
of the judgment of God, and that you ought so to hear. For, if the pure
faith is to be found in his exposition, and there is no suspicion of
unfaithfulness, I am not so foolish as to seek an occasion of accusing
him, and while I wish to censure another for his fault be myself
censured as a slanderer. I will ask you, therefore, to read what
follows on the resurrection of the flesh; and, having read it, if it
satisfies you (I know it is well calculated to please the ignorant),
suspend your judgment, wait a while, refrain from expressing an opinion
until I have finished my reply; and if after that it satisfies you,
then you shall fix on us the brand of slander. "His passion also on the
cross, His death and burial, which was the saving of the world, and His
resurrection in a true and not an imaginary sense, we confess; and that
[5036] being the firstborn from the dead, He conveyed to heaven the
firstfruits of our bodily substance which, after being laid in the
tomb, He raised to life, thus giving us the hope of resurrection in the
resurrection of His own body; wherefore we all hope so to rise from the
dead, as He rose again; not in any foreign and strange bodies, which
are but phantom shapes assumed for the moment; but as He Himself rose
again in that body which was laid in the holy sepulchre at our very
doors, so we, in the very bodies with which we are now clothed, and in
which we are now buried, hope to rise again for the same reason and by
the same [5037] command. For the bodies which, as the Apostle says, are
sown in corruption, shall rise in incorruption; being sown in
dishonour, they shall rise in glory. [5038] It is sown an animal body,
it shall rise a spiritual body'; and of them the Saviour said in his
teaching: [5039] For they who shall be worthy of that world, and of the
resurrection from the dead, shall neither marry nor be given in
marriage, for they can die no more, but shall be as the angels of God,
since they are the sons of the resurrection.'"
24. Again, in another part of his letter, that is, towards the end of
his own homilies, that he might cheat the ear of the ignorant, he makes
a grand parade and noise about the Resurrection, but in ambiguous and
balanced language. He says: "We have not omitted the second glorious
advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall come in His own glory to
judge the quick and the dead; for He shall awake all the dead, and
cause them to stand before His own judgment-seat; and shall render to
every one according to what he has done in the body, whether it be good
or bad; for every one shall either be crowned in the body because he
lived a pure and righteous life, or be condemned, because he was the
slave alike of pleasure and iniquity." What we read in the Gospel, that
at the end of the world, [5040] if it were possible, even the elect are
to be seduced, we see verified in this passage. The ignorant crowd
hears of the dead and buried, hears of the resurrection of the dead in
a true and not an imaginary sense, hears that the firstfruits of our
bodily substance in our Lord's body have reached the heavenly regions,
hears that we shall rise again not in foreign and strange bodies, which
are mere phantom shapes, but, as our Lord rose in the body which lay
amongst us in the holy sepulchre, so we also in the very bodies with
which we are now clothed and buried shall rise again in the day of
judgment. And that no one might think this too little, he adds in the
last section: "And He shall render to every one according to what he
did in the body, whether it were good or bad: for every one shall
either be crowned in the body for his pure and righteous life, or shall
be condemned, because he was the slave of pleasure and iniquity."
Hearing these things the ignorant crowd suspects no artifice, no snares
in all this noise about the dead, the burial of the body, and the
resurrection. It believes things are as they are said to be. For there
is more devotion in the ears of the people than in the priest's heart.
25. Again and again, my reader, I admonish you to be patient, and to
learn what I also have learnt through patience; and yet, before I take
the veil off the dragon's face, and briefly explain Origen's views
respecting the resurrection (for you cannot know the efficacy of the
antidote unless you see clearly what the poison is), I beg you to read
his statements with caution, and to go over them again and again. Mark
well that, though he nine times speaks of the resurrection of the body,
he has not once introduced the resurrection of the flesh, and you may
fairly suspect that he left it out on purpose. Well, Origen says in
several places, and especially in his fourth book "Of the
Resurrection," and in the "Exposition of the First Psalm," and in the
"Miscellanies," that there is a double error common in the Church, in
which both we and the heretics are implicated: "We, in our simplicity
and fondness for the flesh, say that the same bones, and blood, and
flesh, in a word, limbs and features, and the whole bodily structure,
rise again at the last day: so that, forsooth, we shall walk with our
feet, work with our hands, see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and
carry about with us a belly never satisfied, and a stomach which
digests our food. Consequently, believing this, we say that we must
eat, drink, perform the offices of nature, marry wives, beget children.
For what is the use of organs of generation, if there is to be no
marriage? For what purpose are teeth, if the food is not to be
masticated? What is the good of a belly and of meats, if, according to
the Apostle, both it and they are to be destroyed? And the same Apostle
again exclaims, [5041] Flesh and blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of
God, nor shall corruption inherit incorruption.'" This, according to
him, is what we in our rustic innocence maintain. But as for the
heretics, amongst whom are Marcion, Apelles, Valentinus, Manes (a
synonym for Mania), he says that they utterly deny the resurrection of
the flesh and of the body, and allow salvation only to the soul, and
hold that it is futile for us to say that we shall rise after the
pattern of our Lord, since our Lord also Himself rose again in a
phantom body, and not only His resurrection, but His very nativity was
docetic or imaginary; that is, more apparent than real. Origen himself
is dissatisfied with both opinions. He says that he shuns both errors,
that of the flesh, which our party maintain, and that of the phantoms,
maintained by the heretics, because both sides go to the opposite
extremes, some wishing to be the same that they have been, others
denying altogether the resurrection of the body. "There are four
elements," he says, "known to philosophers and physicians: earth,
water, air, and fire, and out of these all things and human bodies are
compacted. We find earth in flesh, air in the breath, water in the
moisture of the body, fire in its heat. When, then, the soul, at the
command of God, lets go this perishing and feeble body, little by
little all things return to their parent substances: flesh is again
absorbed into the earth, the breath is mingled with the air, the
moisture returns to the depths, the heat escapes to the ether. And as
if you throw into the sea a pint of milk and wine, and wish again to
separate what is mixed together, although the wine and milk which you
threw in is not lost, and yet it is impossible to keep separate what
was poured out; so the substance of flesh and blood does not perish,
indeed, so far as concerns the original matter, yet they cannot again
become the former structure, nor can they be altogether the same that
they were." Observe that when such things are said, the firmness of the
flesh, the fluidity of the blood, the density of the sinews, the
interlacing of the veins, and the hardness of the bones is denied.
26. "For another reason," he says, "we confess the resurrection of our
bodies, those which have been laid in the grave and have turned to
dust; Paul's body will be that of Paul, Peter's that of Peter, and each
will have his own; for it is not right that souls should sin in one
body and be tormented in another, nor is it worthy of the Righteous
Judge that one body should shed its blood for Christ and another be
crowned." Who, hearing this, would think he denied the resurrection of
the flesh? "And," he says, "every seed has its own law of being
inherent in it by the gift of God, the Creator, which law contains in
embryonic form the future growth. The bulky tree, with its trunk,
boughs, fruit, leaves, is not seen in the seed, but nevertheless exists
in the seed by implication or, according to the Greek expression, by
the spermatikos logos. [5042] There is within the grain of corn a
marrow, or vein, which, when it has been dissolved in the earth,
attracts to itself the surrounding materials, and rises again in the
shape of stalk, leaves, and ear; and thus, while it is one thing when
it dies, it is another thing when it rises from the dead; for in the
grain of wheat, roots, stalk, leaves, ears, trunk are as yet
unseparated. In the same manner, in human bodies, according to the law
of their being, certain original principles remain which ensure their
resurrection, and a sort of marrow, that is a seed-plot of the dead, is
fostered in the bosom of the earth. But when the day of judgment shall
have come, and at the voice of the archangel, and the sound of the last
trumpet, the earth shall totter, immediately the seeds will be instinct
with life, and in a moment of time will cause the dead to burst into
life; yet the flesh which they will reconstitute will not be the same
flesh, nor will it be in the old forms. To give you the assurance that
we speak the truth, let me quote the words of the Apostle: [5043] But
some one says, How shall the dead rise? and with what body will they
come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body
which shall be, but a bare grain, it may be of wheat, or the seed of a
vine and a tree.' And as we have already made the grain of wheat, and
to some extent the planting of trees, the subject of our reasoning, let
us now take the grape-stone as an example. It is a mere granule, so
small that you can scarcely hold it between your two fingers. Where are
the roots? where the tortuous interlacing of roots, of trunk and
off-shoots? where the shade of the leaves, and the lovely clusters
teeming with coming wine? What you have in your fingers is parched and
scarcely discernible; nevertheless, in that dry granule, by the power
of God and the secret law of propagation, the foaming new wine must
have its origin. You will allow all this in the case of a tree; will
you not admit such things to be possible in the case of a man? The
plant which perishes is thus decked with beauty; why should we think
that man, who abides, will receive back his former meanness? Do you
demand that there should be flesh, bones, blood, limbs, so that you
must have the barber to cut your hair, that your nose may run, your
nails must be trimmed, your lower parts may gender filth or minister to
lust? If you introduce these foolish and gross notions, you forget what
is told us of the flesh, namely, that in it we cannot please God, and
that it is an enemy; you forget, also, what is told us of the
resurrection of the dead: [5044] It is sown in corruption, it shall
rise in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory.
It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power. It is sown a natural
body, it shall rise a spiritual body.' Now we see with our eyes, hear
with our ears, act with our hands, walk with our feet. But in that
spiritual body we shall be all sight, all hearing, all action, all
movement. The Lord shall transfigure [5045] the body of our humiliation
and fashion it according to His own glorious body. In saying
transfigure he affirms identity with the members which we now have. But
a different body, spiritual and ethereal, is promised to us, which is
neither tangible, nor perceptible to the eye, nor ponderable; and the
change it undergoes will be suitable to the difference in its future
abode. Otherwise, if there is to be the same flesh and if our bodies
are to be the same, there will again be males and females, there will
again be marriage; men will have the shaggy eyebrow and the flowing
beard; women will have their smooth cheeks and narrow chests, and their
bodies must adapt themselves to conception and parturition. Even tiny
infants will rise again; old men will also rise; the former to be
nursed, the latter to be supported by the staff. And, simple ones, be
not deceived by the resurrection of our Lord, because He showed His
side and His hands, stood on the shore, went for a walk with Cleophas,
and said that He had flesh and bones. That body, because it was not
born of the seed of man and the pleasure of the flesh, has its peculiar
prerogatives. He ate and drank after His resurrection, and appeared in
clothing, and allowed Himself to be touched, that He might make His
doubting Apostles believe in His resurrection. But still He does not
fail to manifest the nature of an aërial and spiritual body. For He
enters when the doors are shut, and in the breaking of bread vanishes
out of sight. Does it follow then that after our resurrection we shall
eat and drink, and perform the offices of nature? If so, what becomes
of the promise, [5046] The mortal must put on immortality.'"
27. Here we have the complete explanation of the fact that in your
exposition of the faith, to deceive the ears of the ignorant, you nine
times make mention of the body, and not even once of the flesh, and all
the while men think that you confess the body of flesh, and that the
flesh is identical with the body. If it is the same as the body, it
means nothing different. I say this, for I know your answer: "I thought
the body was the same as the flesh; I spoke with all simplicity." Why
do you not rather call it flesh to signify the body, and speak
indifferently at one time of the flesh, at another of the body, that
the body may be shown to consist of flesh, and the flesh to be the
body. But believe me, your silence is not the silence of simplicity.
For flesh is defined one way, the body another; all flesh is body, but
not every body is flesh. Flesh is properly what is comprised in blood,
veins, bones, and sinews. Although the body is also called flesh, yet
sometimes it is designated ethereal or aërial, because it is not
subject to touch and sight; and yet it is frequently both visible and
tangible. A wall is a body, but is not flesh; a stone is a body, but it
is not said to be flesh. Wherefore the Apostle calls some bodies
celestial, some terrestrial. A celestial body is that of the sun, moon,
stars; a terrestrial body is that of fire, air, water, and the rest,
which bodies being inanimate are known as consisting of material
elements. You see we understand your subtleties, and publish abroad the
mysteries which you utter in the bedchamber and amongst the perfect,
mysteries which may not reach the ears of outsiders. You smile, and
with hand uplifted and a snap of the fingers retort, [5047] "All the
glory of the king's daughter is within." And, [5048] "The king led me
into his bedchamber." It is clear why you spoke of the resurrection of
the body and not of that of the flesh; of course it was that we in our
ignorance might think that when body was spoken of flesh was meant;
while yet the perfect would understand that, when body was spoken of,
flesh was denied. Lastly, the Apostle, in his Epistle to the
Colossians, wishing to show that the body of Christ was made of flesh,
and was not spiritual, aërial, attenuated, said significantly, [5049]
"And you, when you were some time alienated from Christ and enemies of
His spirit in evil works, He has reconciled in the body of His flesh
through death." And again in the same Epistle: [5050] "In whom ye were
circumcised with a circumcision made without hands in the putting off
of the body of the flesh." If by body is meant flesh only, and the word
is not ambiguous, nor capable of diverse significations, it was quite
superfluous to use both expressions--bodily and of flesh--as though
body did not imply flesh.
28. In the symbol of our faith and hope, which was delivered by the
Apostles, and is not written with paper and ink, but on fleshy tables
of the heart, after the confession of the Trinity and the unity of the
Church, the whole symbol of Christian dogma concludes with the
resurrection of the flesh. You dwell so exclusively upon the subject of
the body, harping upon it in your discourse, repeating first the body,
and secondly the body, and again the body, and nine times over the
body, that you do not even once name the flesh; whereas they always
speak of the flesh, but say nothing of the body. I would have you know
that we see through what you craftily add, and with wise precaution
seek to conceal. For you make use of the same passages to prove the
reality of the resurrection by means of which Origen denies it; you
support questionable positions with doubtful arguments, and thus raise
a storm which in a moment overthrows the settled fabric of faith. You
quote the words, [5051] "It is sown an animal body: it shall rise a
spiritual body." "For they shall neither marry, nor be given in
marriage, but shall be as the angels in heaven." What other instances
would you take if you were denying the resurrection? You intend to
confess the resurrection of the flesh, you say, in a real and not an
imaginary sense. After the remarks with which you smooth things over to
the ears of the ignorant, to the effect that we rise again with the
very bodies with which we died and were buried, why do you not go on
and speak thus: "The Lord after His resurrection showed the prints of
the nails in His hands, pointed to the wound of the spear in His side,
and when the Apostles doubted because they thought they saw a phantom,
gave them reply, [5052] Handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh
and blood as ye see Me have'; and specially to Thomas, [5053] Put thy
finger into My hands, and thy hand into My side, and be not faithless,
but believing.' Similarly after the resurrection we shall have the same
members which we now use, the same flesh and blood and bones, for it is
not the nature of these which is condemned in Holy Scripture, but their
works. Then again, it is written in Genesis: [5054] My Spirit shall not
abide in those men, because they are flesh.' And the Apostle Paul,
speaking of the corrupt doctrine and works of the Jews, says: [5055] I
rested not in flesh and blood.' And to the Saints, who, of course, were
in the flesh, he says: [5056] But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you.' For by denying that they
were in the flesh who clearly were in the flesh, he condemned not the
substance of the flesh but its sins."
29. The true confession of the resurrection declares that the flesh
will be glorious, but without destroying its reality. And when the
Apostle says, [5057] "This is corruptible and mortal," his words denote
this very body, that is to say, the flesh which was then seen. But when
he adds that it puts on incorruption and immortality, he does not say
that that which is put on, that is the clothing, does away with the
body which it adorns in glory, but that it makes that body glorious,
which before lacked glory; so that the more worthless robe of mortality
and weakness being laid aside, we may be clothed with the gold of
immortality, and, so to speak, with the blessedness of strength as well
as virtue; since we wish not to be stripped of the flesh, but to put on
over it the vesture of glory, and desire to be clothed upon with our
house, which is from heaven, that mortality may be swallowed up by
life. Certainly, no one is clothed upon who was not previously clothed.
Accordingly, our Lord was not so transfigured on the mountain that He
lost His hands and feet and other members, and suddenly began to roll
along in a round shape like that of the sun or a ball; but the same
members glowed with the brightness of the sun and blinded the eyes of
the Apostles. Hence, also, His garments were changed, but so as to
become white and glistening, not aërial, for I suppose you do not
intend to maintain that His clothes also were spiritual. [5058] The
Evangelist adds that His face shone like the sun; but when mention is
made of His face, I reckon that His other members were beheld as well.
Enoch was translated in the flesh; Elias was carried up to heaven in
the flesh. They are not dead, they are inhabitants of Paradise, and
even there retain the members with which they were rapt away and
translated. What we aim at in fasting, they have through fellowship
with God. They feed on heavenly bread, and are satisfied with every
word of God, having Him as their food who is also their Lord. Listen to
the Saviour saying: [5059] "And my flesh rests in hope." And elsewhere,
[5060] "His flesh saw not corruption." And again, [5061] "All flesh
shall see the salvation of God." And must you be for ever making the
body a twofold thing? Rather quote the vision of [5062] Ezekiel, who
joins bones to bones and brings them forth from their sepulchres, and
then, making them to stand on their feet, binds them together with
flesh and sinews, and clothes them with skin.
30. Listen to those words of thunder which fall from Job, the
vanquisher of torments, who, as he scrapes away the filth of his
decaying flesh with a potsherd, solaces his miseries with the hope and
the reality of the resurrection: [5063] "Oh, that," he says, "my words
were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book with an iron pen,
and on a sheet of lead, that they were graven in the rock for ever! For
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that in the last day I shall rise
from the earth, and again be clothed with my skin, and in my flesh
shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold,
and not another. This my hope is laid up in my bosom." What can be
clearer than this prophecy? No one since the days of Christ speaks so
openly concerning the resurrection as he did before Christ. He wishes
his words to last for ever; and that they might never be obliterated by
age, he would have them inscribed on a sheet of lead, and graven on the
rock. He hopes for a resurrection; nay, rather he knew and saw that
Christ, his Redeemer, was alive, and at the last day would rise again
from the earth. The Lord had not yet died, and the athlete of the
Church saw his Redeemer rising from the grave. When he says, "And I
shall again be clothed with my skin, and in my flesh see God," I
suppose he does not speak as if he loved his flesh, for it was decaying
and putrifying before his eyes; but in the confidence of rising again,
and through the consolation of the future, he makes light of his
present misery. Again he says: "I shall be clothed with my skin." What
mention do we find here of an ethereal body? What of an aërial body,
like to breath and wind? Where there is skin and flesh, where there are
bones and sinews, and blood and veins, there assuredly is fleshy tissue
and distinction of sex. "And in my flesh," he says, "I shall see God."
When all flesh shall see the salvation of God, and Jesus as God, then
I, also, shall see the Redeemer and Saviour, and my God. But I shall
see him in that flesh which now tortures me, which now melts away for
pain. Therefore, in my flesh shall I behold God, because by His own
resurrection He has healed all my infirmities." Does it not seem to you
that Job was then writing against Origen, and was holding a controversy
similar to ours against the heretics, for the reality of the flesh in
which he underwent tortures? For he could not bear to think that all
his sufferings would be in vain; while the flesh he actually bore was
tortured as flesh indeed, it would be some other and spiritual kind of
flesh that would rise again. Wherefore he presses home and emphasizes
the truth, and puts a stop to all that might lie hid in an artful
confession, by speaking out plainly: "Whom I shall see for myself and
my eyes shall behold and not another." If he is not to rise again in
his own sex, if he is not to have the same members which were then
lying on the dunghill, if he does not open the same eyes to see God
with which he was then looking at the worms, where will Job then be?
You do away with what constituted Job, and give me the hollow phrase,
Job shall rise again; it is as if you were to order a ship to be
restored after shipwreck, and then were to refuse each particular thing
of which a ship is made.
31. I will speak freely, and although you screw your mouths, pull your
hair, stamp your feet, and take up stones like the Jews, I will openly
confess the faith of the Church. The reality of a resurrection without
flesh and bones, without blood and members, is unintelligible. Where
there are flesh and bones, where there are blood and members, there
must of necessity be diversity of sex. Where there is diversity of sex,
there John is John, Mary is Mary. You need not fear the marriage of
those who, even before death, lived in their own sex without
discharging the functions of sex. When it is said, "In that day they
shall neither marry, nor be given in marriage," the words refer to
those who can marry, and yet will not do so. For no one says of the
angels, "They shall not marry, nor be given in marriage." I never heard
of a marriage being celebrated among the spiritual virtues in heaven:
but where there is sex, there you have man and woman. Hence it is that,
although you were reluctant, you were compelled by the truth to confess
that, "A man must either be crowned in the body because he lived a pure
and upright life, or be condemned in the body, because he was the slave
of pleasure and iniquity." Substitute flesh for body, and you have not
denied the existence of male and female. Who can have any glory from a
life of chastity if we have no sex which would make unchastity
possible? Who ever crowned a stone for continuing a virgin? Likeness to
the angels is promised us, that is, the blessedness of their angelic
existence without flesh and sex will be bestowed on us in our flesh and
with our sex. I am simple enough so to believe, and so know how to
confess that sex can exist without the functions of the senses; that it
is thus that men rise, and that it is thus that they are made equal to
the angels. Nor will the resurrection of the members all at once seem
superfluous, because they are to have no office, since, while we are
still in this life, we strive not to perform the works of the members.
Moreover, likeness to the angels does not imply a changing of men into
angels, but their growth in immortality and glory.
32. But as for the arguments drawn from boys, and infants, and old men,
and meats, and excrements, which you employ against the Church, they
are not your own; they flow from a heathen source. For the heathen mock
us with the same. You say you are a Christian; lay aside the weapons of
the heathen. It is for them to learn from you to confess the
resurrection of the dead, not for you to learn from them to deny it. Or
if you belong to the enemy's camp, show yourself openly as an
adversary, that you may share the wounds we inflict on the heathen. I
will allow you your jest about the necessity of nursemaids to stop the
infants from crying; of the decrepit old men, who, you fear, would be
shrivelled with winter's cold. I will admit also that the barbers have
learnt their craft for nothing, for do we not know that the people of
Israel for forty years experienced no growth of either nails or hair;
and, still more, their clothes were not worn out, nor did their shoes
wax old? Enoch and Elias, concerning whom we spoke a while ago, abide
all this time in the same state in which they were carried away. They
have teeth, belly, organs of generation, and yet have no need of meats,
or wives. Why do you slander the power of God, who can from that [5064]
marrow and seed-plot of which you speak, not only produce flesh from
flesh, but also make one body from another; and change water, that is
worthless flesh, into the precious wine of an aërial body? the same
power by which He created all things out of nothing can give back what
has existed, because it is a much smaller thing to restore what has
been, than to make what never was. Do you wonder that there is a
resurrection from the condition of infancy and old age to that of
mature manhood, seeing that a perfect man was made out of the slime of
the earth without having gone through successive stages of growth? A
rib is changed into a woman; and by the third mode of creating man, the
poor elements of our birth which put us to the blush are changed into
flesh, bound together by the members, run into veins, harden into
bones. There is a fourth sort of human generation of which I can tell
you. "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the
Highest shall overshadow thee. Wherefore that [5065] holy thing which
shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Adam was created
one way, Eve another, Abel another, the man Jesus Christ another. And
yet, different as are all these beginnings, the nature of man remains
one and the same.
33. If I wished to prove the resurrection of the flesh and of all the
members, and to give the meaning of the several passages, many books
would be required; but the matter in hand does not call for this. For I
purposed not to reply to Origen in every detail, but to disclose the
mysteries of your insincere "Apology." I have, however, tarried long in
maintaining the opposite to your position, and am afraid that, in my
eagerness to expose fraud, I may leave a stumbling-block in the way of
the reader. I will, therefore, mass together the evidence, and glance
at the proofs in passing, so that we may bring all the weight of
Scripture to bear upon your poisonous argument. He who has not a
wedding garment, and has not kept that command, [5066] "Let your
garments be always white," is bound hand and foot that he may not
recline at the banquet, or sit on a throne, or stand at the right hand
of God; [5067] he is sent to Gehenna, where there is weeping and
gnashing of teeth. [5068] "The hairs of your head are numbered." If the
hairs, I suppose the teeth would be more easily numbered. But there is
no object in numbering them if they are some day to perish. [5069] "The
hour will come in which all who are in the tombs shall hear the voice
of the Son of God, and shall come forth." They shall hear with ears,
come forth with feet. This Lazarus had already done. They shall,
moreover, come forth from the tombs; that is, they who had been laid in
the tombs, the dead, shall come, and shall rise again from their
graves. For the dew which God gives is [5070] healing to their bones.
Then shall be fulfilled what God says by the prophet, [5071] "Go, my
people, into thy closets for a little while, until mine anger pass."
The closets signify the graves, out of which that, of course, is
brought forth which had been laid therein. And they shall come out of
the graves like young mules free from the halter. Their heart shall
rejoice, and their bones shall rise like the sun; all flesh shall come
into the presence of the Lord, and He shall command the fishes of the
sea; and they shall give up the bones which they had eaten; and He
shall bring joint to joint, and bone to bone; and [5072] they who slept
in the dust of the earth shall arise, some to life eternal, others to
shame and everlasting confusion. Then shall the just see the punishment
and tortures of the wicked, for [5073] their worm shall not die, and
their fire shall not be extinguished, and they shall be beheld by all
flesh. As many of us, therefore, as have this hope, as we have yielded
our members servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto iniquity, so
let us yield them servants to righteousness unto holiness, that [5074]
we may rise from the dead and walk in newness of life. As also the life
of the Lord Jesus is manifested in our mortal body, so [5075] also He
who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall quicken our mortal
bodies on account of His Spirit Who dwelleth in us. For it is right
that as we have always borne about the putting to death of Christ in
our body, so the life, also, of Jesus, should be manifested in our
mortal body, that is, in our flesh, which is mortal according to
nature, but eternal according to grace. Stephen also [5076] saw Jesus
standing on the right hand of the Father, and the [5077] hand of Moses
became snowy white, and was afterwards restored to its original colour.
There was still a hand, though the two states were different. The
potter in [5078] Jeremiah, whose vessel, which he had made, was broken
through the roughness of the stone, restored from the same lump and
from the same clay that which had fallen to pieces; and, if we look at
the word resurrection itself, it does not mean that one thing is
destroyed, another raised up; and the addition of the word dead, points
to our own flesh, for that which in man dies, that is also brought to
life. [5079] The wounded man on the road to Jericho is taken to the inn
with all his limbs complete, and the stripes of his offences are healed
with immortality.
34. Even the graves were opened [5080] at our Lord's passion when the
sun fled, the earth trembled, and many of the bodies of the saints
arose, and were seen in the holy city. [5081] "Who is this," says
Isaiah, "that cometh up from Edom, with shining raiment from Bozrah, so
beautiful in his glistening robe?" Edom is by interpretation either
earthy or bloody; Bosor either flesh, or in tribulation. In few words
he shows the whole mystery of the resurrection, that is, both the
reality of the flesh and the growth in glory. And the meaning is: Who
is he that cometh up from the earth, cometh up from blood? According to
the [5082] prophecy of Jacob, He has bound His foal to the vine, and
has trodden the wine-press alone, and His garments are red with new
wine from Bosor, that is from flesh, or from the tribulation of the
world: for He Himself [5083] has conquered the world. And, therefore,
His garments are red and shining, because He is [5084] beauteous in
form more than the sons of men, and on account of the glory of His
triumph they have been changed into a white robe; and then, in truth,
as concerns Christ's flesh, were fulfilled the words, [5085] "Who is
this that cometh up all in white, leaning upon her beloved?" And that
which is written in the same book: [5086] "My beloved is white and
ruddy." These men are his true followers who have not [5087] defiled
their garments with women, for they have continued virgins, who have
made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. And so they
shall be in white clothing. Then shall the saying of our Lord appear
perfectly realised: [5088] "All that my Father has given me, I shall
not lose aught thereof, but I will raise it up again at the last day;"
the whole of His humanity, forsooth, which He had taken upon Him in its
entirety at His birth. Then shall the sheep which was [5089] lost, and
was wandering in the lower world, be carried whole on the Saviour's
shoulders, and the sheep which was sick with sin shall be supported by
the mercy of the Judge. Then shall they see him who pierced Him, who
shouted, [5090] "Crucify Him, crucify Him." Again and again shall they
beat their breasts, they and their women, those women to whom our Lord
said, as He carried His cross, [5091] "Ye daughters of Jerusalem, weep
not for me but weep for yourselves, and for your children." Then shall
be fulfilled the prophecy of the angels, who said to the stupefied
Apostles, [5092] "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking with
astonishment into heaven? This Jesus who is taken from you into heaven,
shall come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." But what
are we to think of a man saying that our Lord [5093] ate with the
Apostles for forty days after His resurrection in order that they might
not think Him to be a phantom, and then asserting that it was a phantom
which did this very thing, which ate and which was seen by many in the
flesh. That which was seen is either real, or false. If it is real, it
follows that He really ate, and really had members. But if it is false,
how could He be willing to give false impressions in order to prove the
truth of His resurrection? For no one proves what is true by means of
what is false. You will say, are we then going to eat after our
resurrection? I know not. Scripture does not tell us; and yet, if the
question be asked, I do not think we shall eat. For I have read that
the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, while it promises [5094] such
things as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the
heart of man. Moses fasted forty days and forty nights. Human nature
does not allow of this, but what is impossible with men is not
impossible with God. Just as, in foretelling the future, it matters not
whether a person announces what will take place after ten years or
after a hundred, since the knowledge of futurity is all one; so he who
can fast for forty days and yet live,--not, indeed, that he can of
himself fast, but that he lives by the power of God,--will also be able
to live for ever without food and drink. Why did our Lord eat an
honeycomb? To prove the resurrection: not to give your palate the
pleasure of tasting of honey. He asked for a fish broiled on the coals
that He might [5095] confirm the doubting Apostles, who did not dare
approach Him because they thought they saw not a body, but a spirit.
[5096] The daughter of the ruler of the synagogue was raised to life
and took food. [5097] Lazarus, who had been four days dead, rose again,
and comes before us at a dinner; not because he was accustomed to eat
in the lower world, but because a case which presented such
difficulties challenged the believer's criticism. As He showed them
real hands and a real side, so He really ate with His disciples; really
walked with Cleophas; conversed with men with a real tongue; really
reclined at supper; with real hands took bread, blessed and brake it,
and was offering it to them. And as for His suddenly vanishing out of
their sight, that is the power of God, not of a shadowy phantom.
Besides, even before His resurrection, when they had led Him out from
Nazareth that they might cast Him down headlong from the brow of the
hill, He passed through the midst of them, that is, escaped out of
their hands. Can we follow Marcion, and say that because, when He was
held fast, He escaped in a manner contrary to nature, therefore His
birth must have been only apparent? Has not the Lord a privilege which
is conceded to magicians? It is related of Apollonius of Tyana that,
when standing in court before Domitian, he all at once disappeared. Do
not put the power of the Lord on a level with the tricks of magicians,
so that He may appear to have been what He was not, and may be thought
to have eaten without teeth, walked without feet, broken bread without
hands, spoken without a tongue, and showed a side which had no ribs.
35. And how was it, you will say, that they did not recognize Him on
the road if He had the same body which He had before? Let me recall
what Scripture says: [5098] "Their eyes were holden, that they might
not know Him." And again, "Their eyes were opened, and they knew Him."
Was He one person when He was not known, and another when He was known?
He was surely one and the same. Whether, therefore, they knew Him, or
not, depended on their sight; it did not depend upon Him Who was seen;
and yet it did depend on Him in this sense, that He held their eyes
that they might not know Him. Lastly, that you may see that the mistake
which held them was not to be attributed to the Lord's body, but to the
fact that their eyes were closed, we are told: [5099] "Their eyes were
opened, and they knew Him." Wherefore, also, Mary Magdalene so long as
she did not recognize Jesus, and sought the living among the dead,
thought He was the gardener. Afterwards she recognized Him and then she
called Him Lord. After His resurrection Jesus was standing on the
shore, His disciples were in the ship. When the others did not know
Him, the disciple whom Jesus loved [5100] said to Peter, "It is the
Lord." For virginity is the first to recognize a virgin body. He was
the same, yet was not seen alike by all as the same. And immediately it
is added, [5101] "And no one durst ask Him, Who art Thou? for they knew
that He was the Lord." No one durst, because they knew that He was God.
They ate with Him at dinner because they saw He was a man and had
flesh; not that He was one person as God, another as man: but, being
one and the same Son of God, He was known as man, adored as God. I
suppose I must now air my philosophy, and say that our senses are not
to be relied on, and especially sight. A [5102] Carneades must be
awaked from the dead to tell us the truth--that an oar seems broken in
the water, porticos afar off look more magnificent, the angles of
towers seem rounded in the distance, that the backs of pigeons change
their colours with every movement. When Rhoda [5103] announced Peter,
and told the Apostles, they did not believe that he had escaped, on
account of the greatness of the danger, but suspected it was a phantom.
Moreover, in passing through closed doors, He exhibited the same power
as in vanishing out of sight. [5104] Lynceus, as fable relates, used to
see through a wall. Could not the Lord enter when the doors were shut,
unless He were a phantom? Eagles and vultures perceive dead bodies
across the sea. Shall not the Saviour see His Apostles without opening
the door? Tell me, sharpest of disputants, which is greater, to hang
the vast weight of the earth on nothing, and to balance it on the
changing surface of the waves; or that God should pass through a closed
door, and the creature yield to the Creator? You allow the greater; you
object to the less. Peter [5105] walked upon the waters with his heavy
and solid body. The soft water does not yield: his faith doubts a
little, and immediately his body understands its own nature; that we
may know that it was not his body that walked on the water, but his
faith.
36. I pray you, who use such elaborate arguments against the
resurrection, let us have some simple talk together. Do you believe
that our Lord really rose again in the same body in which He died and
was buried, or do you not believe it? If you believe it, why do you
make propositions which lead to the denial of the resurrection? If you
do not believe, you who thus try to deceive the minds of the ignorant,
and parade the word resurrection, though you mean nothing by it, listen
to me. Not long ago, a certain disciple of Marcion said: "Woe to him
who rises again with this flesh and these bones!" Our heart at once
with joy replied, [5106] "We are buried together, and we shall rise
together with Christ through baptism." "Do you speak of the
resurrection of the soul, or of the flesh?" I answered, "Not that of
the soul alone, but that of the flesh, which, together with the soul,
is born again in the laver. And how shall that perish which has been
born again in Christ?" "Because it is written," said he, [5107] "Flesh
and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God.'" "I intreat you to
mind what is said--Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of
God.'" "It is said that they shall not rise again." "Not at all, but
only they shall not inherit the kingdom.'" "How so?" "Because,' it
follows, [5108] neither shall corruption inherit incorruption.' So long
then as they remain mere flesh and blood, they shall not inherit the
kingdom of God. But when the [5109] corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and the mortal shall have put on immortality, and the
clay of the flesh shall have been made into a vessel, then that flesh
which was formerly kept down by a heavy weight upon the earth, when
once it has received the wings of the spirit--wings which imply its
change, not its destruction--shall fly with fresh glory to heaven; and
then shall be fulfilled that which is written, [5110] Death is
swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is thy boasting? O death,
where is thy sting?'"
37. Reversing the order, we have given our answer respecting the state
of souls and the resurrection of the flesh; and, leaving out the
opening portions of the letter, we have confined ourselves to the
refutation of this most remarkable treatise. For we preferred to speak
of the things of God rather than of our own wrongs. [5111] "If one man
sin against another, they shall pray for him to the Lord. But if he sin
against God, who shall pray for him?" In these days, on the contrary,
we make it our first business to pursue with undying hate those who
have injured us--to those who blaspheme God we indulgently hold out the
hand. John writes to Bishop Theophilus an apology, of which the
introduction runs thus: "You, indeed, as a man of God, adorned with
apostolic grace, have upon you the care of all the Churches, especially
of that which is at Jerusalem, though you yourself are distracted with
countless anxieties for the Church of God, which is under you." This is
barefaced adulation, and an attempt to concentrate [5112] authority in
the hands of an individual. You, who ask for ecclesiastical rules, and
make use of the [5113] canons of the Council of Nicæa, and claim
authority over clerics who belong to another diocese and are [5114]
actually living with their own bishop, answer my question, What has
Palestine to do with the bishop of Alexandria? Unless I am deceived, it
is decreed in those canons that Cæsarea is the metropolis of Palestine,
and Antioch of the whole of the East. You ought therefore either to
appeal to the bishop of Cæsarea, with whom you know that we have
communion while we disdain to communicate with you, or, if judgment
were to be sought at a distance, letters ought rather to be addressed
to Antioch. But I know why you were unwilling to send to Cæsarea, or to
Antioch. You knew what to flee from, what to avoid. You preferred to
assail with your complaints ears that were preoccupied rather than pay
due honour to your metropolitan. And I do not say this because I have
anything to blame in the mission itself, except certain partialities
which beget suspicion, but because you ought rather to clear yourself
in the actual presence of your questioners. You begin with the words,
"You have sent a most devoted servant of God, the presbyter Isidore, a
man of influence no less from the dignity of his very gait and dress
than from that of his divine understanding, to heal those whose souls
are grievously sick; would that they had any sense of their illness! A
man of God sends a man of God." No difference is made between a priest
and a bishop; the same dignity belongs to the sender and the sent; this
is lame enough; the ship, as the saying goes, is wrecked in harbour.
That Isidore, whom you extol to the sky by your praises, lies under the
same imputation of heresy [5115] at Alexandria as you at Jerusalem;
wherefore he appears to have come to you not as an envoy, but as a
confederate. Besides, the letters in his own handwriting, which, three
months before the sending of the embassy, had been sent to us [5116]
through an error in the address, were delivered to the presbyter
Vincentius, and to this day they are in his keeping. In these letters
the writer encourages the leader of his army [5117] to plant his foot
firmly upon the rock of the faith, and not to be terrified by our
Jeremiads. He promises, before we had any suspicion of his mission,
that he will come to Jerusalem, and that on his arrival the ranks of
his adversaries will be instantly crushed. And amongst the rest he uses
these words: "As smoke vanishes in the air, and wax melts beside the
fire, so shall they be scattered who are for ever resisting the faith
of the Church, and are now through simple men endeavouring to disturb
that faith."
38. I ask you, my reader, what does a man, who writes these things
before he comes, appear to you to be? An adversary, or an envoy? This
is the man whom we may, indeed, call most pious, or most religious,
and, to give the exact equivalent of the word, one devoted to the
worship of God. This is the man of divine understanding, so
influential, and of such dignity in gait and dress, that, like a
spiritual Hippocrates, he is able by his presence to relieve the
sickness of our souls, provided, however, we are willing to submit to
his treatment. If such is his medicine, let him heal himself, since he
is accustomed to heal others. To us, that divine understanding of his
is folly for the sake of Christ. We willingly remain in the sickness of
our simplicity, rather than, by using your eye-salve, learn an impious
abuse of sight. Next come the words: "The excellent intentions of your
Holiness compel our prayers to the Lord night and day; and, as though
those intentions were already perfectly realised, we offer our prayers
to Him in the holy places, that He may give you a perfect reward, and
bestow on you the crown of life." You do right in giving thanks; for,
if Isidore had not come you would not now have found in the whole of
Palestine such a faithful associate. If he had not brought you the aid
he had promised beforehand, you would find yourself surrounded by a
crowd of rustics incapable of understanding your wisdom. This very
apology of which we are now speaking was dictated in the presence and,
to a great extent, with the assistance of Isidore, so that the same
person both composed the letter and carried it to its destination.
39. Your letter goes on to relate that "though he had come hither and
had had three separate interviews with us, and had applied to the
matter the healing language no less of your divine wisdom than of his
own understanding, he found that he could be of no use to any one, nor
could any one be of use to him." The fact is that he who is said to
have had "three separate interviews with us," so that in his coming he
might maintain the mystic number, and who talked to us about the
command issued by Bishop Theophilus, did not choose to deliver the
letters sent to us by him. And when we said: If you are an envoy,
produce your credentials; if you have no letters, how can you prove to
us that you are an envoy? he replied that he had, indeed, letters to us
but he had been adjured by the bishop of Jerusalem not to give them to
us. You see here the true envoy consistent with his proper character;
you see how impartial he shows himself to both sides, that he may make
peace, and exclude the suspicion of favouring either party. At all
events, he had come without a plaster, and had not the physician's
instruments at his command, and therefore his medicine was of no avail.
"Jerome and those associated with him," you continue, "both secretly,
and in the presence of all, again and again and with the attestation of
an oath, satisfied him that they never had any doubts of our orthodoxy,
saying: We have now just the same feeling toward him, as regards
matters of faith, that we had when we used to communicate with him."
See what dogmatic agreement can do. Isidore, in order that he might
make such a report as this, is taken into close fellowship, and is
spoken of as a man of God, and a most devout priest, a man of
influence, of holy and venerable gait, and of divine understanding, the
Hippocrates of the Christians. I, a poor wretch, hiding away in
solitude, suddenly cut off by this mighty pontiff, have lost the name
of priest. This "Jerome," then, with his ragged herd and shabby
following, did he dare to give any answer to Isidore and his
thunderbolts? Of course not; and doubtless for no other motive than
fear that the envoy would never yield, and might overwhelm them by his
presence and [5118] gigantic stature. "Not once, nor thrice, but again
and again [5119] they swore that they knew the individual in question
to be orthodox, and that they had never suspected him of heresy." What
undisguised and shameless lying! A witness borne by a man to himself!
Such witness as is not believed even in the mouth of a Cato, for [5120]
in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
Was there ever a word said, or a message sent to you, to the effect
that, without being satisfied as to your orthodoxy, we would endure
communion with you? When, through the instrumentality of the Count
Archelaus, a most accomplished as well as a most Christian man, who
tried to negotiate a peace between us, a place had been appointed where
we were to meet, was not one of the first things postulated that the
faith should form the basis of future agreement? He promised to come.
Easter was approaching; a great multitude of monks had assembled; you
were expected at the appointed place; what to do you did not know. All
at once you sent word that some one or other was sick, you could not
come that day. Is it a stage-player or a bishop who thus speaks?
Suppose what you said was true, to suit the pleasure of one feeble
woman who fears that she may have a headache, or may feel sick, or
haste a pain in the stomach, while you are away, do you neglect the
interests of the Church? Do you despise so many men, Christians and
monks assembled together? We were unwilling to give occasion for
breaking off the negotiation; we saw through the artifice of your
procrastination, and sought to overcome the wrong you did us by
patience. Archelaus wrote again, advising him that he was staying on
for two days, in case he should be willing to come. But he was busy;
his dear little woman had not ceased to vomit, he could not bestow a
thought upon us until she should have escaped from her nausea. Well,
after two months, at last the long-looked for Isidore arrived, and what
he heard from us was not as you pretend, a testimony in your behalf,
but the reason why we demanded satisfaction. For when he raised the
point, "Why, if he were a heretic, did you communicate with him?" he
was answered by us all that we communicated without any suspicion of
his heresy; but that, after he had been summoned by the Most Reverend
Epiphanius, both by word and by letter, and had disdained to answer,
documents were addressed to the monks by Epiphanius himself, to the
effect that, unless he gave satisfaction respecting the faith, no one
should rashly communicate with him. The letters are in our hands; there
can be no doubt about the matter. This, then, was the reply made by the
whole body of the brethren: not, as you maintain, that you were not an
heretic, because at a former time you were not said to be one. For upon
that showing, a man must be said not to be sick, because previous to
his sickness he was in good health.
40. To proceed with the letter. "But when the ordination of
Paulinianus, and the others associated with him, was brought forward,
they began to feel that they themselves were in the wrong. For the sake
of charity and concord every concession was made to them, and the only
point insisted on was that, though they had been ordained contrary to
the rules, yet they should be subject to the authority of the Church of
God, that they should not rend it, and set up an authority of their
own. But they, not agreeing to this, began to raise questions
concerning the faith; and thus they made it evident to all that if the
presbyter Jerome and his friends were not accused, they had no charge
to bring against us, but that they only betook themselves to doctrinal
questions because, when charges of error and misconduct were brought
against them, they were utterly unable to reply to us on matters of
that sort, or to give any satisfactory explanation of their
wrong-doing: not that they had any hope that we could be convicted of
heresy, but they were striving to injure our reputation."
41. No one must blame the translator for this verbiage: the Greek is
the same. Meanwhile I rejoice that whereas I thought I was beheaded I
find my presbyterial head on my shoulders again. He says that we are
utterly incapable of conviction, and he draws back from the encounter.
If the cause of discord is not due to discussions about the faith, but
springs from the ordination of Paulinianus, is it not the extreme of
folly to give occasion to those who seek occasion by refusing to
answer? Confess the faith; but do it so as to answer the question put
to you, that it may be clear to all that the dispute is not one of
faith, but of order. For so long as you are silent when questioned
concerning the faith, your adversary has a right to say to you: "The
matter is not one of order but of faith." If it is a question of order,
you act foolishly in saying nothing when questioned concerning the
faith. If it is one of faith, it is foolish of you to make a pretext of
the question of order. Moreover, when you say your aim was that they
might be subject to the Church, that they might not rend it, nor set up
an authority of their own; who they are of whom you speak I do not well
understand. If you are speaking of me and the presbyter Vincentius, you
have been asleep long enough, if you only wake up now, after thirteen
years, [5121] to say these things. For the reason why I forsook Antioch
and he Constantinople, [5122] both famous cities, was, not that we
might praise your popular eloquence, but that, in the country and in
solitude, we might weep over the sins of our youth, and draw down upon
us the mercy of Christ. But if Paulinianus is the subject of your
remarks, he, as you see, is subject to his [5123] bishop, and lives at
Cyprus: he sometimes comes to visit us, not as one of your clergy, but
as another's, his, namely, by whom he was ordained. But if he wished
even to stay here, and to live a quiet, solitary life sharing our
exile, what does he owe you except the respect which we owe to all
bishops? Suppose that he had been ordained by you; he would only tell
you the same that I, a poor wretch of a man, told Bishop Paulinus of
blessed memory. "Did I ask to be ordained by you?" I said. "If in
bestowing the rank of presbyter you do not strip us of the monastic
state, you can bestow or withhold ordination as you think best. But if
your intention in giving the name presbyter was to take from me that
for which I forsook the world, I must still claim to be what I always
was; you have suffered no loss by ordaining me." [5124]
42. "That they might not rend the Church," he says, "and set up an
authority of their own." Who rends the Church? Do we, who as a complete
household at Bethlehem communicate in the Church? Or is it you, who
either being orthodox refuse through pride to speak concerning the
faith, or else being heterodox are the real render of the Church? Do we
rend the Church, who, a few months ago, about the day of Pentecost,
when the sun was darkened and all the world dreaded the immediate
coming of the Judge, presented forty candidates of different ages and
sexes to your presbyter for baptism? There were certainly five
presbyters in the monastery who had the right to baptize; but they were
unwilling to do anything to move you to anger, for fear you might make
this a pretext for reticence concerning the faith. Is it not you, on
the contrary, who rend the Church, you who commanded your presbyters at
Bethlehem not to give baptism to our candidates at Easter, so that we
sent them to [5125] Diospolis to the Confessor and Bishop Dionysius for
baptism? Are we said to rend the Church, who, outside our cells, hold
no position in the Church? Or do not you rather rend the Church, who
issue an order to your clergy that if any one says Paulinianus was
consecrated presbyter by Epiphanius, he is to be forbidden to enter the
Church. Ever since that time to this day we can only look from without
on the cave of the Saviour, and, while heretics enter, we stand afar
off and sigh.
43. Are we schismatics? Is not he the schismatic who refuses a
habitation to the living, a grave to the dead, and demands the exile of
his brethren? Who was it that set at our throats, with special fury,
that wild beast who constantly menaced the throats of the whole world?
[5126] Who is it that permits the rain to beat upon the bones of the
saints, and their harmless ashes, up to the present hour? These are the
endearments with which the good shepherd invites us to reconciliation,
and at the same time accuses us of setting up an authority of our
own--us who are united in communion and charity with all the bishops,
so long, at least, as they are orthodox. Do you yourself constitute the
Church, and is whosoever offends you shut out from Christ? If we defend
our own authority--prove that we have a bishop in your diocese. The
reason that we have not had communion with you is the question of
faith; answer our questions, and it will become one of order.
44. "They," you go on, "also take advantage of other letters which they
say Epiphanius wrote to them. But he, too shall give account for all
his doings before the judgment seat of Christ, where great and small
shall be judged without respect of persons. Still, how can they rely on
his letter which he wrote only because we took him to task on the
matter of the unlawful ordination of Paulinianus and his associates; as
in the opening of that very letter he intimates?" What, I ask, is the
meaning of this blindness? how is it that he is immersed, as the saying
goes, in Cimmerian darkness? He says that we make a pretext, and that
we have no letters from Epiphanius against him, and he immediately
adds, "How can they rely on his letter, which he only wrote because he
was taken to task by us, in the matter of the unlawful ordination of
Paulinianus and his associates; as in the opening of that very letter
he intimates?" We have no such letter! And what letter then is that,
which in its opening sentence speaks of Paulinianus? There is something
in the body of the letter of which you are afraid to make mention.
Well! He was taken to task, you say, by you because of the age of
Paulinianus. But you yourself ordain a man presbyter, and send him out
as an envoy and a colleague. You have the boldness falsely to call
Paulinianus a boy, and then to send out your own boy presbyter. You
likewise take Theoseca, a deacon of the church of Thiria, and make him
presbyter, and put weapons into his hands against us, and make a misuse
of his eloquence for our injury. You alone are at liberty to trample on
the rights of the Church; whatever you do, is the standard of teaching;
and you do not blush to challenge Epiphanius to stand with you before
the judgment seat of Christ. The sequel of this passage is to the
following effect: [5127] he throws it in the teeth of Epiphanius that
he was the partner of his table and an inmate of his house, and
declares that they never had any talk together concerning the views of
Origen, and he supports what he says with the attestation of an oath,
saying: "He never showed, as God is witness, that he had even the
suspicion that our faith was not correct?" I am unwilling to answer and
argue acrimoniously, lest I seem to be convicting a bishop of perjury.
There are several letters of Epiphanius in our possession. One to John
himself, others to the bishops of Palestine, and one of recent date to
the pontiff of Rome; and in these he speaks of himself as impugning his
views in the presence of many, and says that he was not thought worthy
of a reply, "and the whole Monastery," he says, "is witness to what we
in our insignificance assert."
__________________________________________________________________
[4986] Rom. viii. 26.
[4987] Novatus the Carthaginian was the chief ally of Novatian, who,
about the middle of the third century, founded the sect of the Cathari,
or pure. The allusion is to the severity with which they treated the
lapsed.
[4988] Maximilla and Priscilla, who forsook their husbands and followed
him, professing to be inspired prophetesses. Circ. a.d. 150. Montanus,
like Novatian, refused to re-admit the lapsed.
[4989] That is, John.
[4990] 2 Cor. iii. 18.
[4991] In Jerome's text, "limped in both its feet." It seemed better to
give the accepted meaning.
[4992] 1 Kings xviii. 21.
[4993] Ps. xviii. 45.
[4994] Prov. x. 9.
[4995] That is, Epiphanius. See Jerome, Letter LI. c. 6. Epiphanius
prays that God would free John and Rufinus and all their flock from all
heresies.
[4996] The doctrine that the Son is of "one substance with the Father."
More correctly of one essence, etc.
[4997] The meaning is that, where error is widespread, the Church
authorities are forced to wink at speciously expressed error in the
pastors.
[4998] 1 Pet. iii. 15.
[4999] John complained of the ordination of Paulinianus, Jerome's
brother, to the priesthood by Epiphanius, for the monastery of
Bethlehem.
[5000] Matt. vi. 23.
[5001] Origen's great speculative work "On First Principles."
[5002] Ps. cxix. 67.
[5003] Ps. cxvi. 7.
[5004] Ps. cxlii. 7.
[5005] Acts ii. 40.
[5006] Vettius Agorius Prætextatus, one of the most virtuous of the
heathen. Jerome writes of him to Marcella (Letter XXIII. 2): "I wish
you to know that the consul designate is now in Tartarus."
[5007] Gal. i. 8.
[5008] Ps. cxxxix. 21, 22.
[5009] Deut. xxxiii. 9.
[5010] Matt. x. 37.
[5011] Ps. viii. 3.
[5012] 1 Cor. xiii. 9.
[5013] Eunomius held that the Son "resembles the Father in nothing but
his working," and similar doctrines.
[5014] Of Sebaste, in the Lesser Armenia. Epiphanius described him as
an Arian. He asserted that Bishops and Presbyters were equal.
[5015] This probably relates to Rufinus, whose name was mentioned by
Epiphanius in his letter to John.
[5016] Col. i. 26.
[5017] Rom. xi. 33.
[5018] Is. liii. 8.
[5019] Paulinianus.
[5020] Acts xxiii. 5; Ex. xxii. 28.
[5021] A celebrated orator of Athens, many of whose orations are
extant. B. 458, d. 378 b.c.
[5022] This story is from the 4th Declamation of Seneca.
[5023] Literally "devours his wrongs."
[5024] Ps. xxxiii. 6.
[5025] Ps. civ. 4.
[5026] Jude 6.
[5027] Eph. i. 21.
[5028] Rom. vii. 24.
[5029] The names of the officers of the Roman Legion (some of them of
doubtful meaning), viz., tribunes, primicerius, senator, ducenarius,
centenarius, biarchus, circitor, eques, have been rendered
approximately by these English equivalents.
[5030] That is, apparently, with a play upon the word, Men of Mud.
[5031] 1 Cor. ii. 14.
[5032] 1 Cor. i. 25.
[5033] John v. 17.
[5034] That is, Zechariah xii. 1.
[5035] Ps. xxxiii. 15.
[5036] Col. i. 18.
[5037] Jussione. Another reading, "Eâdem ratione et visione," might be
rendered, "In the same condition and the same appearance."
[5038] 1 Cor. xv. 44.
[5039] Luke xx. 35, 36.
[5040] Matt. xxiv. 24.
[5041] 1 Cor. xv. 58.
[5042] That is, the reason of the seed.
[5043] 1 Cor. xv. 35, 37.
[5044] 1 Cor. xv. 42, 44.
[5045] Phil. iii. 21.
[5046] 1 Cor. xv. 53.
[5047] Ps. xlv. 13.
[5048] Cant. i. 4.
[5049] Col. i. 21, 22.
[5050] Col. ii. 11.
[5051] 1 Cor. xv. 44; Matt. xxii. 30; Luke xx. 35.
[5052] Luke xxiv. 39.
[5053] John xx. 27.
[5054] Gen. vi. 3.
[5055] Gal. i. 16.
[5056] Rom. viii. 9.
[5057] 1 Cor. xv. 53.
[5058] Matt. xvii. 2.
[5059] Ps. xvi. 9.
[5060] Acts ii. 31.
[5061] Is. xl. 5.
[5062] xxxvii. 1 sqq.
[5063] Job xix. 23 sqq.
[5064] Besides medulla and seminarium Jerome has onterione = inward
part, or pith.
[5065] Luke i. 35.
[5066] Ecc. ix. 8.
[5067] Matt. xxii. 13.
[5068] Luke xii. 7.
[5069] John v. 25.
[5070] Sept. "The dew which comes from thee is healing to them."
[5071] Is. xxvi. 20.
[5072] Dan. xii. 2.
[5073] Is. lxvi. 24.
[5074] Rom. vi. 4.
[5075] Rom. viii. 11.
[5076] Acts vii. 55.
[5077] Ex. iv. 6.
[5078] xviii. 3, 4. Sept.
[5079] Luke x. 34.
[5080] Matt. xxvii. 52.
[5081] lxiii. 1 sq.
[5082] Gen. xlix. 11.
[5083] John xvi. 33.
[5084] Ps. xlv. (?).
[5085] Cant. viii. 5.
[5086] Cant. v. 10.
[5087] Apoc. xiv. 4.
[5088] John vi. 39.
[5089] Luke xv. 3 sq.
[5090] John xix. 6.
[5091] Luke xxiii. 28.
[5092] Acts i. 11.
[5093] Ib. 3.
[5094] 1 Cor. ii. 9.
[5095] John xxi. 9.
[5096] Mark v.
[5097] John xii.
[5098] Luke xxiv. 16.
[5099] John xx.
[5100] John xxi. 7.
[5101] Ib. 12.
[5102] Born at Cyrene about b.c. 213. He maintained that we can be sure
of nothing, neither through the senses, nor through the understanding.
[5103] Acts xii.
[5104] One of the Argonauts.
[5105] Matt. xiv. 28.
[5106] Rom. vi. 4.
[5107] 1 Cor. xv. 50.
[5108] Ib.
[5109] Ib. 54.
[5110] Ib. 55.
[5111] 1 Sam. ii. 25.
[5112] Laudat faciem, ad personam principum trahit. Literally, He
praises the face (i.e. the person of Theophilus) and draws him on to
act the part of (only fit for) princes.
[5113] Canon 6 says that the old customs are to hold good, that all
Egypt is to be subject to the authority of the bishop of Alexandria,
just as the custom holds at Rome; and similarly that at Antioch, and in
the other churches the authority of the churches should be preserved to
them. Canon 7 says: "Since custom and ancient tradition has prevailed
to cause honour to be given to the bishop of Ælia (Jerusalem), let him
have the proper results of this honour; saving, however, the proper
authority due to the metropolis" (that is, Cæsarea).
[5114] This relates to Paulinianus, who was ordained by Epiphanius, and
was then living with him in Cyprus.
[5115] Theophilus, whose sympathies had suddenly changed, turned
violently against Isidore, who had previously been his confidential
friend, accused him of Origenism, and, on his taking refuge with
Chrysostom at Constantinople, pursued both him and Chrysostom with
unrelenting animosity.
[5116] Reading portantes errorem. Another reading is, "Through the
error of the bearer."
[5117] John, to whom the letters were really written.
[5118] Isidore was closely associated with the three brothers known as
the Long Monks from their great size, and seems to have shared the
appellation with them.
[5119] i.e. Jerome and his friends. This was Isidore's report,
incorporated probably into John's letter.
[5120] Numb. xxxv. 30; Deut. xvii. 6; 2 Cor. xiii. 1.
[5121] Dating probably from Jerome's coming to Palestine. See Prefatory
Note.
[5122] Jerome was ordained at Antioch, Vincentius at Constantinople.
[5123] That is, Jerome argues, Epiphanius, who ordained him.
[5124] This perhaps means, "No virtue has gone out of you--you have
conferred nothing upon me."
[5125] Lydda.
[5126] The allusion is believed to be to the Prefect Rufinus, who was
at the head of the government under the young Arcadius, and whose
intrigues with Alaric with a view to obtain the empire for himself led
to his death in the end of 395.--Comp. Letter LXXXII. 10.
[5127] See Letter LI., which begins as John says, though Jerome denies
it.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Against the Pelagians:
Dialogue Between Atticus, a Catholic, and Critobulus, a Heretic.
------------------------
The anti-Pelagian Dialogue is the last of Jerome's controversial works,
having been written in the year 417, within three years of his death.
It shows no lack of his old vigour, though perhaps something of the
prolixity induced by old age. He looks at the subject more calmly than
those of the previous treatises, mainly because it lay somewhat outside
the track of his own thoughts. He was induced to interest himself in it
by his increasing regard for Augustin, and by the coming of the young
Spaniard, Orosius, in 414, from Augustin to sit at his feet. Pelagius
also had come to Palestine, and, after an investigation of his tenets,
at a small council at Jerusalem, in 415, presided over by Bishop John,
and a second, at Diospolis in 416, had been admitted to communion.
Jerome appears to have taken no part in these proceedings, and having
been at peace with Bishop John for nearly twenty years, was no doubt
unwilling to act against him. But he had come to look upon Pelagius as
infected with the heretical "impiety," which he looked upon (i. 28) as
far worse than moral evil; and connected him, as we see from his letter
to Ctesiphon (CXXXIII.), with Origenism and Rufinus; and he brings his
great knowledge of Scripture to bear upon the controversy. He quotes a
work of Pelagius, though giving only the headings, and the numbers of
the chapters, up to 100 (i. 26-32); and, though at times his conviction
appears weak, and there are passages (i. 5, ii. 6-30, iii. 1) which
give occasion to the observation that he really, if unconsciously,
inclined to the views of Pelagius, and that he is a "Synergist," not,
like Augustin, a thorough predestinarian, the Dialogue, as a whole, is
clear and forms a substantial contribution to our knowledge. Although
its tone is less violent than that of his ascetic treatises, it appears
to have stirred up the strongest animosity against him. The adherents
of Pelagius attacked and burned the monasteries of Bethlehem, and
Jerome himself only escaped by taking refuge in a tower. His
sufferings, and the interference of Pope Innocentius in his behalf, may
be seen by referring to Letters CXXXV.-CXXXVII., with the introductory
notes prefixed to them.
The following is a summary of the argument: Atticus, the Augustinian,
at once (c. 1) introduces the question: Do you affirm that, as Pelagius
affirms, men can live without sin? Yes, says the Pelagian Critobulus,
but I do not add, as is imputed to us, "without the grace of God."
Indeed, the fact that we have a free will is from grace. Yes, replies
Atticus, but what is this grace? Is it only our original nature, or is
it needed in every act. In every act, is the reply (2); yet one would
hardly say that we cannot mend a pen without grace (3), for, if so,
where is our free will? But, says Atticus (5), the Scriptures speak of
our need of God's aid in everything. In that case, says Critobulus, the
promised reward must be given not to us but to God, Who works in us.
Reverting then to the first point stated, Atticus asks, does the
possibility of sinlessness extend to single acts, or to the whole life?
Certainly to the whole as well as the part, is the answer. But we wish,
or will to be sinless; why then are we not actually sinless? Because
(8) we do not exert our will to the full. But (9) no one has ever lived
without sin. Still, says the Pelagian, God commands us to be perfect,
and he does not command impossibilities. Job, Zacharias, and Elizabeth
are represented as perfectly righteous. No, it is answered (12), faults
are attributed to each of them. John says, "He that is born of God
sinneth not" (13); yet, "If we say we have no sin we deceive
ourselves." The Apostles, though told to be perfect (14) were not
perfect: and St. Paul says (14a), "I count not myself to have
apprehended." Men are called just and perfect only in comparison of
others (16), or because of general subjection to the will of God (18),
or according to their special characteristics (19), as we may speak of
a bishop as excellent in his office, though he may not fulfil the ideal
of the pastoral epistles (22).
The discussion now turns to the words of Pelagius' book. "All are ruled
by their own will" (27). No; for Christ says, "I came not to do My own
will." "The wicked shall not be spared in the judgment." But we must
distinguish between the impious or heretics who will be destroyed (28)
and Christian sinners who will be forgiven. Some of his sayings
contradict each other or are trifling (29, 30). "The kingdom of heaven
is promised in the Old Testament." Yes, but more fully in the New.
Returning to the first thesis, "That a man can be without sin if he
wills it," the Pelagian says, If things, like desires which arise
spontaneously and have no issue, are reckoned blamable, we charge the
sin on our Maker; to which it is only answered that, though we cannot
understand God's ways, we must not arraign His justice. In the rest of
the book, Atticus alone speaks, going through the Old Testament, and
showing that each of the saints falls into some sin, which, though done
in ignorance or half-consciousness, yet brings condemnation with it.
Prologue.
------------------------
1. After writing the [5128] letter to Ctesiphon, in which I replied to
the questions propounded, I received frequent expostulations from the
brethren, who wanted to know why I any longer delayed the promised work
in which I undertook to answer all the subtleties of the preachers of
Impassibility. [5129] For every one knows what was the contention of
the Stoics and Peripatetics, that is, the old Academy, some of them
asserted that the pathe, which we may call emotions, such as sorrow,
joy, hope, fear, can be thoroughly eradicated from the minds of men;
others that their power can be broken, that they can be governed and
restrained, as unmanageable horses are held in check by peculiar kinds
of bits. Their views have been explained by Tully in the "Tusculan
Disputations," and Origen in his "Stromata" endeavours to blend them
with ecclesiastical truth. I pass over Manichæus, [5130] Priscillianus,
[5131] Evagrius of Ibora, Jovinianus, and the heretics found throughout
almost the whole of Syria, who, by a perversion of the import of their
name, are commonly called [5132] Massalians, in Greek, Euchites, all of
whom hold that it is possible for human virtue and human knowledge to
attain perfection, and arrive, I will not say merely at a likeness to,
but an equality with God; and who go the length of asserting that, when
once they have reached the height of perfection, even sins of thought
and ignorance are impossible for them. And although in my former letter
addressed to Ctesiphon and aimed at their errors, so far as time
permitted, I touched upon a few points in the book which I am now
endeavouring to hammer out, I shall adhere to the method of Socrates.
What can be said on both sides shall be stated; and the truth will thus
be clear when both sides express their opinions. Origen is peculiar in
maintaining on the one hand that it is impossible for human nature to
pass through life without sin, and on the other, that it is possible
for a man, when he turns to better things, to become so strong that he
sins no more.
2. I shall add a few words in answer to those who say that I am writing
this work because I am inflamed with envy. I have never spared
heretics, and I have done my best to make the enemies of the Church my
own. [5133] Helvidius wrote against the perpetual virginity of Saint
Mary. Was it envy that led me to answer him, whom I had never seen in
the flesh? [5134] Jovinianus, whose heresy is now being fanned into
flame, and who disturbed the faith of Rome in my absence, was so devoid
of gifts of utterance, and had such a pestilent style that he was a
fitter object for pity than for envy. So far as I could, I answered him
also. [5135] Rufinus did all in his power to circulate the blasphemies
of Origen and the treatise "On First Principles" (Peri 'Archon), not in
one city, but throughout the whole world. He even published the first
book of [5136] Eusebius' "Apology for Origen" under the name of [5137]
Pamphilus the martyr, and, as though Origen had not said enough, [5138]
vomited forth a fresh volume on his behalf. Am I to be accused of envy
because I answered him? and was his eloquence such a rushing torrent as
to deter me through fear from writing or dictating anything in reply?
[5139] Palladius, no better than a villainous slave, tried to impart
energy to the same heresy, and to excite against me fresh prejudice on
account of my translation of the Hebrew. Was I [5140] envious of such
distinguished ability and nobility? Even now the [5141] mystery of
iniquity worketh, and every one chatters about his views: yet I, it
seems, am the only one who is filled with envy at the glory of all the
rest; I am so poor a creature that I envy even those who do not deserve
envy. And so, to prove to all that I do not hate the men but their
errors, and that I do not wish to vilify any one, but rather lament the
misfortune of men who are deceived by knowledge falsely so-called, I
have made use of the names of Atticus and Critobulus in order to
express our own views and those of our opponents. The truth is that all
we who hold the Catholic faith, wish and long that, while the heresy is
condemned, the men may be reformed. At all events, if they will
continue in error, the blame does not attach to us who have written,
but to them, since they have preferred a lie to the truth. And one
short answer to our calumniators, whose curses fall upon their own
heads, is this, that the Manichæan doctrine condemns the nature of man,
destroys free will, and does away with the help of God. And again, that
it is manifest madness for man to speak of himself as being what God
alone is. Let us so walk along the royal road that we turn neither to
the right hand nor to the left; and let us always believe that the
eagerness of our wills is governed by the help of God. Should any one
cry out that he is slandered and boast that he thinks with us; he will
then show that he assents to the true faith, when he openly and
sincerely condemns the opposite views. Otherwise his case will be that
described by the prophet: [5142] "And yet for all this her treacherous
sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but
feignedly." It is a smaller sin to follow evil which you think is good,
than not to venture to defend what you know for certain is good. If we
cannot endure threats, injustice, poverty, how shall we overcome the
flames of Babylon? Let us not lose by hollow peace what we have
preserved by war. I should be sorry to allow my fears to teach me
faithlessness, when Christ has put the true faith in the power of my
choice.
__________________________________________________________________
[5128] Letter CXXXIII.
[5129] 'Apatheia.
[5130] Priscillian was a Spaniard, who began to propagate his views,
which were a mixture of various heresies, about the year 370. See
Robertson, p. 295 sq., and Note on Jerome, Letter CXXXIII.
[5131] Evagrius Iberita. The name is taken either from a town named
Ibera or Ibora in Pontus, or from the province of Iberia. Jerome, in
the letter to which he refers, styles Evagrius Hyperborita, but this is
thought to be an error for Hyborita. It has been suggested that Jerome
was playing on the word Iberita. He was born in 345. He wrote, amongst
many other works, a treatise Peri apatheias (On Impassibility), and no
doubt Jerome refers to this a few lines above. He was a zealous
champion of Origen. See also Jerome, Letter CXXXIII. and note.
[5132] The Massalians or Euchites derived their name from their habit
of continual prayer. The words are etymological equivalents
(Massalians, from tsl' to pray). The perversity lay in the
misinterpretation of such texts as Luke xviii. 1, and 1 Thess. v. 17.
[5133] He was a Roman lawyer. His treatise was written about a.d. 383.
See Jerome's treatise against him in this volume.
[5134] See introduction to Jerome's treatise against Jovinianus in this
volume.
[5135] See Rufinus' works, especially the Prolegomena, and Jerome's
controversy with him in vol. iii. of this series.
[5136] That is, Eusebius of Cæsarea (a.d. 267-338), who was called
Pamphilus from his friendship with Pamphilus the martyr.
[5137] Suffered martyrdom a.d. 309. He erected a library at Cæsarea of
30,000 volumes. See Rufinus' Preface to his Apology in this series,
vol. iii., with introductory note.
[5138] See Rufinus on the adulteration of the works of Origen, in this
series, vol. iii. p. 421.
[5139] Palladius, bishop of Hellenopolis, the biographer and trusted
friend of Chrysostom, was born about 367. He visited Bethlehem about
387 and formed a very unfavourable opinion of Jerome. He highly
commended Rufinus. According to Epiphanius, as well as Jerome, he was
tainted with Origenism. Tillemont, however, thinks that another
Palladius may be referred to in these passages. His accounts of Jerome
and Rufinus are given in his "Historia Lausiaca," c. 78 and 118.
[5140] Jerome was accused of envy or ill-will by Palladius. "Tanta fuit
ejus invidia ut ab ea obrueretur virtus doctrinæ. Cum ergo multis
diebus cum eo versatus esset sanctus Posidonius, dicit mihi in aurem,
"Ingenua quidem Paula, quæ ejus curam gerit, præmorietur, liberata ab
ejus invidia. Ut autem arbitror, propter hunc virum non habitabit vir
sanctus in his locis, sed ejus pervadet invidia usque ad proprium
fratrem."--Pallad. Hist. Laus., § 78, cf. § 82.
[5141] 2 Thess. ii. 7.
[5142] Jer. iii. 10.
__________________________________________________________________
Book I.
------------------------
1. Atticus. I hear, Critobulus, that you have written that man can be
without sin, if he chooses; and that the commandments of God are easy.
Tell me, is it true?
Critobulus. It is true, Atticus; but our rivals do not take the words
in the sense I attached to them.
A. Are they then so ambiguous as to give rise to a difference as to
their meaning? I do not ask for an answer to two questions at once. You
laid down two propositions; the one, that [5143] man can be without
sin, if he chooses: the other, that God's commandments are easy.
Although, therefore, they were uttered together, let them be discussed
separately, so that, while our faith appears to be one, no strife may
arise through our misunderstanding each other.
C. I said, Atticus, that man can be without sin, if he chooses; not, as
some maliciously make us say, without the grace of God (the very
thought is impiety), but simply that he can, if he chooses; the aid of
the grace of God being presupposed.
A. Is God, then, the author of your evil works?
C. By no means. But if there is any good in me, it is brought to
perfection through His impulse and assistance.
A. My question does not refer to natural constitution, but to action.
For who doubts that God is the Creator of all things? I wish you would
tell me this: the good you do, is it your's or God's?
C. It is mine and God's: I work and He assists.
A. How is it then that everybody thinks you do away with the grace of
God, and maintain that all our actions proceed from our own will?
C. I am surprised, Atticus, at your asking me for the why and wherefore
of other people's mistakes, and wanting to know what I did not write,
when what I did write is perfectly clear. I said that man can be
without sin, if he chooses. Did I add, without the grace of God?
A. No; but the fact that you added nothing implies your denial of the
need of grace.
C. Nay, rather, the fact that I have not denied grace should be
regarded as tantamount to an assertion of it. It is unjust to suppose
we deny whatever we do not assert.
A. You admit then that man can be sinless, if he chooses, but with the
grace of God.
C. I not only admit it, but freely proclaim it.
A. So then he who does away with the grace of God is in error.
C. Just so. Or rather, he ought to be thought impious, seeing that all
things are governed by the pleasure of God, and that we owe our
existence and the faculty of individual choice and desire to the
goodness of God, the Creator. For that we have free will, and according
to our own choice incline to good or evil, is part of His grace who
made us what we are, in His own image and likeness.
2. A. No one doubts, Critobulus, that all things depend on the judgment
of Him Who is Creator of all, and that whatever we have ought to be
attributed to His goodness. But I should like to know respecting this
faculty, which you attribute to the grace of God, whether you reckon it
as part of the gift bestowed in our creation, or suppose it energetic
in our separate actions, so that we avail ourselves of its assistance
continually; or is it the case that, having been once for all created
and endowed with free will, we do what we choose by our own choice or
strength? For I know that very many of your party refer all things to
the grace of God in such a sense that they understand the power of the
will to be a gift not of a particular, but of a general character, that
is to say, one which is bestowed not at each separate moment, but once
for all at creation.
C. It is not as you affirm; but I maintain both positions, that it is
by the grace of God we were created such as we are, and also that in
our several actions we are supported by His aid.
A. We are agreed, then, that in good works, besides our own power of
choice, we lean on the help of God; in evil works we are prompted by
the devil.
C. Quite so; there is no difference of opinion on that point.
A. They are wrong, then, who strip us of the help of God in our
separate actions. The Psalmist sings: [5144] "Except the Lord build the
house, they labour in vain who build it. Except the Lord keep the city,
the watchman waketh but in vain;" and there are similar passages. But
these men endeavour by perverse, or rather ridiculous interpretations,
to twist his words to a different meaning.
3. C. Am I bound to contradict others when you have my own answer?
A. Your answer to what effect? That they are right, or wrong?
C. What necessity compels me to set my opinion against other men's?
A. You are bound by the rules of discussion, and by respect for truth.
Do you not know that every assertion either affirms, or denies, and
that what is affirmed or denied ought to be reckoned among good or bad
things? You must, therefore, admit, and no thanks to you, that the
statement to which my question relates is either a good thing or a bad.
C. If in particular actions we must have the help of God, does it
follow that we are unable to make a pen, [5145] or mend it when it is
made? Can we not fashion the letters, be silent or speak, sit, stand,
walk or run, eat or fast, weep or laugh, and so on, without God's
assistance?
A. From my point of view it is clearly impossible.
C. How then have we free will, and how can we guard the grace of God
towards us, if we cannot do even these things without God?
4. A. The bestowal of the grace of free will is not such as to do away
with the support of God in particular actions.
C. The help of God is not made of no account; inasmuch as creatures are
preserved through the grace of free will once for all given to them.
For if without God, and except He assist me in every action, I can do
nothing. He can neither with justice crown me for my good deeds, nor
punish me for my evil ones, but in each case He will either receive His
own or will condemn the assistants He gave.
A. Tell me, then, plainly, why you do away with the grace of God. For
whatever you destroy in the parts you must of necessity deny in the
whole.
C. I do not deny grace when I assert that I was so created by God, that
by the grace of God it was put within the power of my choice either to
do a thing or not to do it.
A. So God falls asleep over our good actions, when once the faculty of
free will has been given; and we need not pray to Him to assist us in
our separate actions, since it depends upon our own choice and will
either to do a thing if we choose, or not to do it if we do not choose.
5. C. As in the case of other creatures, the conditions of elicit
creation are observed; so, when once the power of free will was
granted, everything was left to our own choice.
A. It follows, as I said, that I ought not to beg the assistance of God
in the details of conduct, because I consider it was given once for
all.
C. If He co-operates with me in everything the result is no longer
mine, but His Who assists, or rather works in and with me; and all the
more because I can do nothing without Him.
A. Have you not read, pray, [5146] "that it is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy!" From this we
understand that to will and to run is ours, but the carrying into
effect our willing and running pertains to the mercy of God, and is so
effected that on the one hand in willing and running free will is
preserved; and on the other, in consummating our willing and running,
everything is left to the power of God. Of course, I ought now to
adduce the frequent testimony of Scripture to show that in the details
of conduct the saints intreat the help of God, and in their several
actions desire to have Him for their helper and protector. Read through
the Psalter, and all the utterances of the saints, and you will find
their actions never unaccompanied by prayer to God. And this is a clear
proof that you either deny the grace which you banish from the parts of
life; or if you concede its presence in the parts, a concession plainly
much against your will, you must have come over to the views of us who
preserve free will for man, but so limit it that we do not deny the
assistance of God in each action.
6. C. That is a sophistical conclusion and a mere display of logical
skill. No one can strip me of the power of free will; otherwise, if God
were really my helper in what I do, the reward would not be due to me,
but to Him who wrought in me.
A. Make the most of your free will; arm your tongue against God, and
therein prove yourself free, if you will, to blaspheme. But to go a
step farther, there is no doubt as to your sentiments, and the
delusions of your profession have become as clear as day. Now, let us
turn back to the starting-point of our discussion. You said just now
that, granted God's assistance, man may be sinless if he chooses. Tell
me, please, for how long? For ever, or only for a short time?
C. Your question is unnecessary. If I say for a short time, for ever
will none the less be implied. For whatever you allow for a short time,
you will admit may last for ever.
A. I do not quite understand your meaning.
C. Are you so senseless that you do not recognize plain facts?
7. A. I am not ashamed of my ignorance. And both sides ought to be well
agreed on a definition of the subject of dispute.
C. I maintain this: he who can keep himself from sin one day, may do so
another day: if he can on two, he may on three; if on three, on thirty:
and so on for three hundred, or three thousand, or as long as ever he
chooses to do so.
A. Say then at once that a man may be without sin for ever, if he
chooses. Can we do anything we like?
C. Certainly not, for I cannot do all I should like; but all I say is
this, that a man can be without sin, if he chooses.
A. Be so good as to tell me this: do you think I am a man or a beast?
C. If I had any doubt as to whether you were a man, or a beast, I
should confess myself to be the latter.
A. If then, as you say, I am a man, how is it that when I wish and
earnestly desire not to sin, I do transgress?
C. Because your choice is imperfect. If you really wished not to sin,
you really would not.
A. Well then, you who accuse me of not having a real desire, are you
free from sin because you have a real desire?
C. As though I were talking of myself whom I admit to be a sinner, and
not of the few exceptional ones, if any, who have resolved not to sin.
8. A. Still, I who question, and you who answer, both consider
ourselves sinners.
C. But we are capable of not being so, if we please.
A. I said I did not wish to sin, and no doubt your feeling is the same.
How is it then that what we both wish we can neither do?
C. Because we do not wish perfectly.
A. Show me any of our ancestors who had a perfect will and the power in
perfection.
C. That is not easy. And when I say that a man may be without sin if he
chooses, I do not contend that there ever have been such; I only
maintain the abstract possibility--if he chooses. For possibility of
being is one thing, and is expressed in Greek by te dunamei
(possibility); being is another, the equivalent for which is te
energei& 139; (actuality). I can be a physician; but meanwhile I am
not. I can be an artisan; but I have not yet learnt a trade. So,
whatever I am able to be, though I am not that yet, I shall be if I
choose.
9. A. Art is one thing, that which is [5147] above art is another.
Medical skill, craftsmanship, and so on, are found in many persons; but
to be always without sin is a characteristic of the Divine power only.
Therefore, either give me an instance of those who were for ever
without sin; or, if you cannot find one, confess your impotence, lay
aside bombast, and do not mock the ears of fools with this being and
possibility of being of yours. For who will grant that a man can do
what no man was ever able to do? You have not learnt even the rudiments
of logic. For if a man is able, he is no longer unable. Either grant
that some one was able to do what you maintain was possible to be done;
or if no one has had this power, you must, though against your will, be
held to this position, that no one is able to effect what yet you
profess to be possible. That was the point at issue between the
powerful logicians, [5148] Diodorus and [5149] Chrysippus, in their
discussion of possibility. Diodorus says that alone can possibly happen
which is either true or will be true. And whatever will be, that, he
says, must of necessity happen. But whatever will not be, that cannot
possibly happen. Chrysippus, however, says that things which will not
be might happen; for instance, this pearl might be broken, even though
it never will. They, therefore, who say that a man can be without sin
if he chooses, will not be able to prove the truth of the assertion,
unless they show that it will come to pass. But whereas the whole
future is uncertain, and especially such things as have never occurred,
it is clear that they say something will be which will not be. And
Ecclesiastes supports this decision: "All that shall be, has already
been in former ages."
10. C. Pray answer this question: has God given possible or impossible
commands?
A. I see your drift. But I must discuss it later on, that we may not,
by confusing different questions, leave our audience in a fog. I admit
that God has given possible commands, for otherwise He would Himself be
the author of injustice, were He to demand the doing of what cannot
possibly be done. Reserving this until later, finish your argument that
a man can be without sin, if he chooses. You will either give instances
of such ability, or, if no one has had the power, you will clearly
confess that a man cannot avoid sin always.
C. Since you press me to give what I am not bound to give, consider
what our Lord says, [5150] "That it is easier for a camel to go through
a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of
heaven." And yet he said a thing might possibly happen, which never has
happened. For no camel has ever gone through a needle's eye.
A. I am surprised at a prudent man submitting evidence which goes
against himself. For the passage in question does not speak of a
possibility, but one impossibility is compared with another. As a camel
cannot go through a needle's eye, so neither will a rich man enter the
kingdom of heaven. Or, if you should be able to show that a rich man
does enter the kingdom of heaven, it follows, also, that a camel goes
through a needle's eye. You must not instance Abraham and other rich
men, about whom we read in the Old Testament, who, although they were
rich, entered the kingdom of heaven; for, by spending their riches on
good works, they ceased to be rich; nay, rather, inasmuch as they were
rich, not for themselves, but for others, they ought to be called God's
stewards rather than rich men. But we must seek evangelical perfection,
according to which there is the command, [5151] "If thou wilt be
perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and
come, follow Me."
11. C. You are caught unawares in your own snare.
A. How so?
C. You quote our Lord's utterance to the effect that a man can be
perfect. For when He says, "If thou wilt be perfect, sell all that thou
hast, and give to the poor, and come, follow Me," He shows that a man,
if he chooses, and if he does what is commanded, can be perfect?
A. You have given me such a terrible blow that I am almost dazed. But
yet the very words you quote, "If thou wilt be perfect," were spoken to
one who could not, or rather would not, and, therefore, could not; show
me now, as you promised, some one who would and could.
C. Why am I compelled to produce instances of perfection, when it is
clear from what the Saviour said to one, and through one to all, "If
thou wilt be perfect" that it is possible for men to be perfect?
A. That is a mere shuffle. You still stick fast in the mire. For,
either, if a thing is possible, it has occurred at some time or other;
or, if it never has happened, grant that it is impossible.
12. C. Why do I any longer delay? You must be vanquished by the
authority or Scripture. To pass over other passages, you must be
silenced by the two in which we read the praises of Job, and of
Zacharias and Elizabeth. For, unless I am deceived, it is thus written
in the book of Job: [5152] "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose
name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, a true worshipper
of God, and one who kept himself from every evil thing." And again:
[5153] "Who is he that reproveth one that is righteous and free from
sin, and speaketh words without knowledge?" Also, in the Gospel
according to Luke, we read: [5154] "There was in the days of Herod,
king of Judæa, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of
Abijah: and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was
Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." If a true
worshipper of God is also without spot and without offence, and if
those who walked in all the ordinances of the Lord are righteous before
God, I suppose they are free from sin, and lack nothing that pertains
to righteousness.
A. You have cited passages which have been detached not only from the
rest of Scripture, but from the books in which they occur. For even
Job, after he was stricken with the plague, is convicted of having
spoken many things against the ruling of God, and to have summoned Him
to the bar: [5155] "Would that a man stood with God in the judgment as
a son of man stands with his fellow." And again: [5156] "Oh that I had
one to hear me! that the Almighty might hear my desire, and that the
judge would himself write a book!" And again: [5157] "Though I be
righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn me: though I be perfect, it
shall prove me perverse. If I wash myself with snow-water, and make my
hands never so clean, Thou hast dyed me again and again with filth.
Mine own clothes have abhorred me." And of Zacharias it is written,
that when the angel promised the birth of a son, he said: [5158]
"Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well
stricken in years." For which answer he was at once condemned to
silence: [5159] "Thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak, until the
day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believest not my
words, which shall be fulfilled in their season." From this it is clear
that men are called righteous, and said to be without fault; but that,
if negligence comes over them, they may fall; and that a man always
occupies a middle place, so that he may slip from the height of virtue
into vice, or may rise from vice to virtue; and that he is never safe,
but must dread shipwreck even in fair weather; and, therefore, that a
man cannot be without sin. Solomon says, [5160] "There is not a
righteous man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not"; and likewise
in the book of Kings: [5161] "There is no man that sinneth not." So,
also, the blessed David says: [5162] "Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse Thou me from hidden faults, and keep back Thy servant from
presumptuous sins." And again: [5163] "Enter not into judgment with Thy
servant, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified." Holy
Scripture is full of passages to the same effect.
13. C. But what answer will you give to the famous declaration of John
the Evangelist: [5164] "We know that whosoever is begotten of God
sinneth not; but the begetting of God keepeth him, and the evil one
toucheth him not. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth
in the evil one?"
A. I will requite like with like, and will show that, according to you,
the little epistle of the Evangelist contradicts itself. For, if
whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not because His seed abideth in
him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God, how is it that the
writer says in the same place: [5165] "If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us?" You cannot explain.
You hesitate and are confused. Listen to the same Evangelist telling us
that [5166] "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." We are then
righteous when we confess that we are sinners, and our righteousness
depends not upon our own merits, but on the mercy of God, as the Holy
Scripture says, [5167] "The righteous man accuseth himself when he
beginneth to speak," and elsewhere, [5168] "Tell thy sins that thou
mayest be justified." [5169] "God hath shut up all under sin, that He
may have mercy upon all." And the highest righteousness of man is
this--whatever virtue he may be able to acquire, not to think it his
own, but the gift of God. He then who is born of God does not sin, so
long as the seed of God remains in him, and he cannot sin, because he
is born of God. But seeing that, while the householder slept, an enemy
sowed tares, and that when we know not, a sower by night scatters in
the Lord's field darnel and wild oats among the good corn, this parable
of the householder in the Gospel should excite our fears. He cleanses
his floor, and gathers the wheat into his garner, but leaves the chaff
to be scattered by the winds, or burned by the fire. And so we read in
Jeremiah, [5170] "What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord." The
chaff, moreover, is separated from the wheat at the end of the world, a
proof that, while we are in the mortal body, chaff is mixed with the
wheat. But if you object, and ask why did the Apostle say "and he
cannot sin, because he is born of God," I reply by asking you what
becomes of the reward of his choice? For if a man does not sin because
he cannot sin, free will is destroyed, and goodness cannot possibly be
due to his efforts, but must be part of a nature unreceptive of evil.
14. C. The task I set you just now was an easy one by way of practice
for something more difficult. What have you to say to my next argument?
Clever as you are, all your skill will not avail to overthrow it. I
shall first quote from the Old Testament, then from the New. Moses is
the chief figure in the Old Testament, our Lord and Saviour in the New.
Moses says to the people, [5171] "Be perfect in the sight of the Lord
your God." And the Saviour bids the Apostles [5172] "Be perfect as your
heavenly Father is perfect." Now it was either possible for the hearers
to do what Moses and the Lord commanded, or, if it be impossible, the
fault does not lie with them who cannot obey, but with Him who gave
impossible commands.
A. This passage to the ignorant, and to those who are unaccustomed to
meditate on Holy Scripture, and who neither know nor use it, does
appear at first sight to favour your opinion. But when you look into
it, the difficulty soon disappears. And when you compare passages of
Scripture with others, that the Holy Spirit may not seem to contradict
Himself with changing place and time, according to what is written,
[5173] "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water spouts," the
truth will show itself, that is, that Christ did give a possible
command when He said: "Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is
perfect," and yet that the Apostles were not perfect.
C. I am not talking of what the Apostles did, but of what Christ
commanded. And the fault does not lie with the giver of the command,
but with the hearers of it, because we cannot admit the justice of him
who commands without conceding the possibility of doing what is
commanded.
A. Good! Don't tell me then that a man can be without sin if he
chooses, but that a man can be what the Apostles were not.
C. Do you think me fool enough to dare say such a thing?
A. Although you do not say it in so many words, however reluctant you
may be to admit the fact, it follows by natural sequence from your
proposition. For if a man can be without sin, and it is clear the
Apostles were not without sin, a man can be higher than the Apostles:
to say nothing of patriarchs and prophets whose righteousness under the
law was not perfect, as the Apostle says, [5174] "For all have sinned,
and fall short of the glory of God: being justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth to
be a propitiator."
14a. C. This way of arguing is intricate and brings the simplicity
which becomes the Church into the tangled thickets of philosophy. What
has Paul to do with Aristotle? or Peter with Plato? For as the latter
was the prince of philosophers, so was the former chief of the
Apostles: on him the Lord's Church was firmly founded, and neither
rushing flood nor storm can shake it.
A. Now you are rhetorical, and while you taunt me with philosophy, you
yourself cross over to the camp of the orators. But listen to what your
same favourite orator says: [5175] "Let us have no more commonplaces:
we get them at home."
C. There is no eloquence in this, no bombast like that of the orators,
who might be defined as persons whose object is to persuade, and who
frame their language accordingly. We are seeking unadulterated truth,
and use unsophisticated language. Either the Lord did not give
impossible commands, so that they are to blame who did not do what was
possible; or, if what is commanded cannot be done, then not they who do
not things impossible are convicted of unrighteousness, but He Who
commanded things impossible, and that is an impious statement.
A. I see you are much more disturbed than is your wont; so I will not
ply you with arguments. But let me briefly ask what you think of the
well-known passage of the Apostle when he wrote to the Philippians:
[5176] "Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect:
but I press on, if so be that I may apprehend that for which also I was
apprehended by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have yet
apprehended: but one thing I do; forgetting the things which are
behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press
on towards the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus. Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if
in anything ye are otherwise minded, even this shall God reveal unto
you," and so on; no doubt you know the rest, which, in my desire to be
brief, I omit. He says that he had not yet apprehended, and was by no
means perfect; but, like an archer, aimed his arrows at the mark set up
(more expressively called [5177] skopos in Greek), lest the shaft,
turning to one side or the other, might show the unskilfulness of the
archer. He further declares that he always forgot the past, and ever
stretched forward to the things in front, thus teaching that no heed
should be paid to the past, but the future earnestly desired; so that
what to-day he thought perfect, while he was stretching forward to
better things and things in front, to-morrow proves to have been
imperfect. And thus at every step, never standing still, but always
running, he shows that to be imperfect which we men thought perfect,
and teaches that our only perfection and true righteousness is that
which is measured by the excellence of God. "I press on towards the
goal," he says, "unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus." Oh, blessed Apostle Paul, pardon me, a poor creature who
confess my faults, if I venture to ask a question. You say that you had
not yet obtained, nor yet apprehended, nor were yet perfect, and that
you always forgot the things behind, and stretched forward to the
things in front, if by any means you might have part in the
resurrection of the dead, and win the prize of your high calling. How,
then, is it that you immediately add, "As many therefore as are perfect
are thus minded"? (or, let us be thus minded, for the copies vary). And
what mind is it that we have, or are to have? that we are perfect? that
we have apprehended that which we have not apprehended, received what
we have not received, are perfect who are not yet perfect? What mind
then have we, or rather what mind ought we to have who are not perfect?
To confess that we are imperfect, and have not yet apprehended, nor yet
obtained, this is true wisdom in man: know thyself to be imperfect;
and, if I may so speak, the perfection of all who are righteous, so
long as they are in the flesh, is imperfect. Hence we read in Proverbs:
[5178] "To understand true righteousness." For if there were not also a
false righteousness, the righteousness of God would never be called
true. The Apostle continues: "and if ye are otherwise minded, God will
also reveal that to you." This sounds strange to my ears. He who but
just now said, "Not that I have already obtained, or am already
perfect"; the chosen vessel, who was so confident of Christ's dwelling
in him that he dared to say "Do ye seek a proof of Christ that speaketh
in me? "and yet plainly confessed that he was not perfect; he now gives
to the multitude what he denied to himself in particular, he unites
himself with the rest and says, "As many of us as are perfect, let us
be thus minded." But why he said this, he explains presently. Let us,
he means, who wish to be perfect according to the poor measure of human
frailty, think this, that we have not yet obtained, nor yet
apprehended, nor are yet perfect, and inasmuch as we are not yet
perfect, and, perhaps, think otherwise than true and perfect perfection
requires, if we are minded otherwise than is dictated by the full
knowledge of God, God will also reveal this to us, so that we may pray
with David and say, [5179] "Open Thou mine eyes that I may behold
wondrous things out of Thy law."
15. All this makes it clear that in Holy Scripture there are two sorts
of perfection, two of righteousness, and two of fear. The first is that
perfection, and incomparable truth, and perfect righteousness [5180]
and fear, which is the beginning of wisdom, and which we must measure
by the excellence of God; the second, which is within the range not
only of men, but of every creature, and is not inconsistent with our
frailty, as we read in the Psalms: [5181] "In Thy sight shall no man
living be justified," is that righteousness which is said to be
perfect, not in comparison with God, but as recognized by God. Job, and
Zacharias, and Elizabeth, were called righteous, in respect of that
righteousness which might some day turn to unrighteousness, and not in
respect of that which is incapable of change, concerning which it is
said, [5182] "I am God, and change not." And this is that which the
Apostle elsewhere writes: [5183] "That which hath been made glorious
hath not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory
that surpasseth"; because, that is, the righteousness of the law, in
comparison of the grace of the Gospel, does not seem to be
righteousness at all. [5184] "For if," he says, that which passeth away
was with glory, much more that which remaineth is in glory. [5185] And
again, "We know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which
is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away." And,
[5186] "For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now
I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I have been known."
And in the Psalms, [5187] "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it
is high, I cannot attain unto it." And again, [5188] "When I thought
how I might know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the
sanctuary of God, and considered their latter end." And in the same
place, [5189] "I was as a beast before thee: nevertheless I am
continually with thee." And Jeremiah says, [5190] "Every man is become
brutish and without knowledge." And to return to the Apostle Paul,
[5191] "The foolishness of God is wiser than men." And much besides,
which I omit for brevity's sake.
16. C. My dear Atticus, your speech is really a clever feat of memory.
But the labour you have spent in mustering this host of authorities is
to my advantage. For I do not any more than you compare man with God,
but with other men, in comparison with whom he who takes the trouble
can be perfect. And so, when we say that man, if he chooses, can be
without sin, the standard is the measure of man, not the majesty of
God, in comparison with Whom no creature can be perfect.
A. Critobulus, I am obliged to you for reminding me of the fact. For it
is just my own view that no creature can be perfect in respect of true
and finished righteousness. But that one differs from another, and that
one man's righteousness is not the same as another's, no one doubts;
nor again that one may be greater or less than another, and yet that,
relatively to their own status and capacity, men may be called
righteous who are not righteous when compared with others. For
instance, the Apostle Paul, the chosen vessel who laboured more than
all the Apostles, was, I suppose, righteous when he wrote to Timothy,
[5192] "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I
have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at
that day: and not only to me, but also to all them that love His
appearing." Timothy, his disciple and imitator, whom he taught the
rules of action and the limits of virtue, was also righteous. Are we to
think there was one and the same righteousness in them both, and that
he had not more merit who laboured more than all? "In my Father's house
are many mansions." I suppose there are also different degrees of
merit. "One star differeth from another star in glory," and in the one
body of the Church there are different members. The sun has its own
splendour, the moon tempers the darkness of the night; and the five
heavenly bodies which are called planets traverse the sky in different
tracks and with different degrees of luminousness. There are countless
other stars whose movements we trace in the firmament. Each has its own
brightness, and though each in respect of its own is perfect, yet, in
comparison with one of greater magnitude, it lacks perfection. In the
body also with its different members, the eye has one function, the
hand another, the foot another. Whence the Apostle says, [5193] "The
eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: or again the head
to the feet, I have no need of you. Are all Apostles? are all prophets?
are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? have all gifts of
healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But desire
earnestly the greater gifts. But all these worketh the one and the same
Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as He will." And here mark
carefully that he does not say, as each member desires, but as the
Spirit Himself will. For the vessel cannot say to him that makes it,
[5194] "Why dost thou make me thus or thus? Hath not the potter a right
over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto
honour, and another unto dishonour?" And so in close sequence he added,
"Desire earnestly the greater gifts," so that, by the exercise of faith
and diligence, we may win something in addition to other gifts, and may
be superior to those who, compared with us, are in the second or third
class. In a great house there are different vessels, some of gold, some
of silver, brass, iron, wood. And yet while in its kind a vessel of
brass is perfect, in comparison with one of silver it is called
imperfect, and again one of silver, compared with one of gold, is
inferior. And thus, when compared with one another, all things are
imperfect and perfect. In a field of good soil, and from one sowing,
there springs a crop thirty-fold, sixty-fold, or a hundred-fold. The
very numbers show that there is disparity in the parts of the produce,
and yet in its own kind each is perfect. Elizabeth and Zacharias, whom
you adduce and with whom you cover yourself as with an impenetrable
shield, may teach us how far they are beneath the holiness of blessed
Mary, the Lord's Mother, who, conscious that God was dwelling in her,
proclaims without reserve, [5195] "Behold, from henceforth all
generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done to
me great things; and holy is His name. And His mercy is unto
generations and generations of them that fear Him: He hath showed
strength with His arm." Where, observe, she says she is blessed not by
her own merit and virtue, but by the mercy of God dwelling in her. And
John himself, a greater than whom has not arisen among the sons of men,
is better than his parents. For not only does our Lord compare him with
men, but with angels also. And yet he, who was greater on earth than
all other men, is said to be less than the least in the kingdom of
heaven.
17. Need we be surprised that, when saints are compared, some are
better, some worse, since the same holds good in the comparison of
sins? To Jerusalem, pierced and wounded with many sins, it is said,
[5196] "Sodom is justified by thee." It is not because Sodom, which has
sunk for ever into ashes, is just in herself, that it is said by
Ezekiel, [5197] "Sodom shall be restored to her former estate"; but
that, in comparison with the more accursed Jerusalem, she appears just.
For Jerusalem killed the Son of God; Sodom through fulness of bread and
excessive luxury carried her lust beyond all bounds. The publican in
the Gospel who smote upon his breast as though it were a magazine of
the worst thoughts, and, conscious of his offences, dared not lift up
his eyes, is justified rather than the proud Pharisee. And Thamar in
the guise of a harlot deceived Judah, and in the estimation of this man
himself who was deceived, was worthy of the words, [5198] "Thamar is
more righteous than I." All this goes to prove that not only in
comparison with Divine majesty are men far from perfection, but also
when compared with angels, and other men who have climbed the heights
of virtue. You may be superior to some one whom you have shown to be
imperfect, and yet be outstripped by another; and consequently may not
have true perfection, which, if it be perfect, is absolute.
18. C. How is it then, Atticus, that the Divine Word urges us to
perfection?
A. I have already explained that in proportion to our strength each
one, with all his power, must stretch forward, if by any means he may
attain to, and apprehend the reward of his high calling. In short
Almighty God, to whom, as the Apostle teaches, the Son must in
accordance with the dispensation of the Incarnation be subjected, that
[5199] "God may be all in all," clearly shows that all things are by no
means subject to Himself. Hence the prophet anticipates his own final
subjection, saying, [5200] "Shall not my soul be subject to God alone?
for of Him cometh my salvation." And because in the body of the Church
Christ is the head, and some of the members still resist, the body does
not appear to be subject even to the head. For if one member suffer,
all the members suffer with it, and the whole body is tortured by the
pain in one member. My meaning may be more clearly expressed thus. So
long as we have the treasure in earthen vessels, and are clothed with
frail flesh, or rather with mortal and corruptible flesh, we think
ourselves fortunate if, in single virtues and separate portions of
virtue, we are subject to God. But when this mortal shall have put on
immortality, and this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and
death shall be swallowed up in the victory of Christ, then will God be
all in all: and so there will not be merely wisdom in Solomon,
sweetness in David, zeal in Elias and Phinees, faith in Abraham,
perfect love in Peter, to whom it was said, [5201] "Simon, son of John,
lovest thou me?" zeal for preaching in the chosen vessel, and two or
three virtues each in others, but God will be wholly in all, and the
company of the saints will rejoice in the whole band of virtues, and
God will be all in all.
19. C. Do I understand you to say that no saint, so long as he is in
this poor body, can have all virtues?
A. Just so, because now we prophesy in part, and know in part. It is
impossible for all things to be in all men, for no son of man is
immortal.
C. How is it, then, that we read that he who has one virtue appears to
have all?
A. By partaking of them, not possessing them, for individuals must
excel in particular virtues. But I confess I don't know where to find
what you say you have read.
C. Are you not aware that the philosophers take that view?
A. The philosophers may, but the Apostles do not. I heed not what
Aristotle, but what Paul, teaches.
C. Pray does not James the Apostle [5202] write that he who stumbles in
one point is guilty of all?
A. The passage is its own interpreter. James did not say, as a
starting-point for the discussion, he who prefers a rich man to a poor
man in honour is guilty of adultery or murder. That is a delusion of
the Stoics who maintain the equality of sins. But he proceeds thus: "He
who said, Thou shalt not commit adultery, said also, Thou shalt not
kill: but although thou dost not kill, yet, if thou commit adultery,
thou art become a transgressor of the law." Light offences are compared
with light ones, and heavy offences with heavy ones. A fault that
deserves the rod must not be avenged with the sword; nor must a crime
worthy of the sword, be checked with the rod.
C. Suppose it true that no saint has all the virtues: you will surely
grant that within the range of his ability, if a man do what he can, he
is perfect.
A. Do you not remember what I said before?
C. What was it?
A. That a man is perfect in respect of what he has done, imperfect in
respect of what he could not do.
C. But as he is perfect in respect of what he has done, because he
willed to do it, so in respect of that which constitutes him imperfect,
because he has not done it, he might have been perfect, had he willed
to do it.
A. Who does not wish to do what is perfect? Or who does not long to
grow vigorously in all virtue? If you look for all virtues in each
individual, you do away with the distinctions of things, and the
difference of graces, and the variety of the work of the Creator, whose
prophet cries aloud in the sacred song: [5203] "In wisdom hast thou
made them all." Lucifer may be indignant because he has not the
brightness of the moon. The moon may dispute over her eclipses and
ceaseless toil, and ask why she must traverse every month the yearly
orbit of the sun. The sun may complain and want to know what he has
done that he travels more slowly than the moon. And we poor creatures
may demand to know why it is that we were made men and not angels;
although your teacher, [5204] the Ancient, the fountain from which
these streams flow, asserts that all rational creatures were created
equal and started fairly, like charioteers, either to succumb halfway,
or to pass on rapidly and reach the wished-for goal. Elephants, with
their huge bulk, and griffins, might discuss their ponderous frames and
ask why they must go on four feet, while flies, midges, and other
creatures like them have six feet under their tiny wings, and there are
some creeping things which have such an abundance of feet that the
keenest vision cannot follow their countless and simultaneous
movements. Marcion and all the heretics who denied the Creator's works
might speak thus. Your principle goes so far that while its adherents
attack particular points, they are laying hands on God; they are asking
why He only is God, why He envies the creatures, and why they are not
all endowed with the same power and importance. You would not say so
much (for you are not mad enough to openly fight against God), yet this
is your meaning in other words, when you give man an attribute of God,
and make him to be without sin like God Himself. Hence the Apostle,
with his voice of thunder, says, concerning different graces: [5205]
"There are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit; and differences
of ministrations, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of
workings, but the same God, Who worketh all things in all."
20. C. You push this one particular point too far in seeking to
convince me that a man cannot have all excellences at the same time. As
though God were guilty of envy, or unable to bestow upon His image and
likeness a correspondence in all things to his Creator.
A. Is it I or you who go too far? You revive questions already settled,
and do not understand that likeness is one thing, equality another;
that the former is a painting, the latter, reality. A real horse
courses over the plains; the painted one with his chariot does not
leave the wall. The Arians do not allow to the Son of God what you give
to every man. Some do not dare to confess the perfect humanity of
Christ, lest they should be compelled to accept the belief that He had
the sins of a man as though the Creator were unequal to the act of
creating, and the title Son of Man were co-extensive with the title Son
of God. So either set me something else to answer, or lay aside pride
and give glory to God.
C. You forget a former answer of yours, and have been so busy forging
your chain of argument, and careering through the wide fields of
Scripture, like a horse that has slipped its bridle, that you have not
said a single word about the main point. Your forgetfulness is a
pretext for escaping the necessity of a reply. It was foolish in me to
concede to you for the nonce what you asked, and to suppose that you
would voluntarily give up what you had received, and would not need a
reminder to make you pay what you owed.
A. If I mistake not, it was the question of possible commands of which
I deferred the answer. Pray proceed as you think best.
21. C. The commands which God has given are either possible or
impossible. If possible, it is in our power to do them, if we choose.
If impossible, we cannot be held guilty for omitting duties which it is
not given us to fulfill. Hence it results that, whether God has given
possible or impossible commands, a man can be without sin if he
chooses.
A. I beg your patient attention, for what we seek is not victory over
an opponent, but the triumph of truth over falsehood. God has put
within the power of mankind all arts, for we see that a vast number of
men have mastered them. To pass over those which the Greeks call [5206]
banausoi, as we may say, the manual arts, I will instance grammar,
rhetoric, the three sorts of philosophy--physics, ethics,
logic--geometry also, and astronomy, astrology, arithmetic, music,
which are also parts of philosophy; medicine, too, in its threefold
division--theory, investigation, practice; a knowledge of law in
general and of particular enactments. Which of us, however clever he
may be, will be able to understand them all, when the most eloquent of
orators, discussing rhetoric and jurisprudence, said: "A few may excel
in one, in both no one can." You see, then, that God has commanded what
is possible, and yet, that no one can by nature attain to what is
possible. Similarly he has given different rules and various virtues,
all of which we cannot possess at the same time. Hence it happens that
a virtue which in one person takes the chief place, or is found in
perfection, in another is but partial; and yet, he is not to blame who
has not all excellence, nor is he condemned for lacking that which he
has not; but he is justified through what he does possess. The Apostle
described the character of a bishop when he wrote to Timothy, [5207]
"The bishop, therefore, must be without reproach, the husband of one
wife, temperate, modest, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
no brawler, no striker; but gentle, not contentious, no lover of money;
one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection
with all modesty." And again, "Not a novice, lest, being puffed up, he
fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must have good
testimony from them that are without, lest he fall into reproach and
the snare of the devil." Writing also to his disciple Titus, he briefly
points out what sort of bishops he ought to ordain: [5208] "For this
cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things
that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee
charge; if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having
children that believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly. For the
bishop must be blameless (or free from accusation, for so much is
conveyed by the original) as God's steward; not self-willed, not soon
angry, no brawler, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but given to
hospitality, kind, modest, just, holy, temperate; holding to the
faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able
both to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers." I
will not now say anything of the various rules relating to different
persons, but will confine myself to the commands connected with the
bishop.
22. God certainly wishes bishops or priests to be such as the chosen
vessel teaches they should be. As to the first qualification it is
seldom or never that one is found without reproach; for who is it that
has not some fault, like a mole or a wart on a lovely body? If the
Apostle himself says of Peter that he did not tread a straight path in
the truth of the Gospel, and was so far to blame that even Barnabas was
led away into the same dissimulation, who will be indignant if that is
denied to him which the chief of the Apostles had not? Then, supposing
you find one, "the husband of one wife, sober-minded, orderly, given to
hospitality," the next attribute--didaktikon , apt to teach, not merely
as the Latin renders the word, apt to be taught--you will hardly find
in company with the other virtues. A bishop or priest that is a
brawler, or a striker, or a lover of money, the Apostle rejects, and in
his stead would have one gentle, not contentious, free from avarice,
one that rules well his own house, and what is very hard, one who has
his children in subjection with all modesty, whether they be children
of the flesh or children of the faith. "With all modesty," he says. It
is not enough for him to have his own modesty unless it be enhanced by
the modesty of his children, companions, and servants, as David says,
[5209] "He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall minister unto me."
Let us consider, also, the emphasis laid on modesty by the addition of
the words "having his children in subjection with all modesty." Not
only in deed but in word and gesture must he hold aloof from immodesty,
lest perchance the experience of Eli be his. Eli certainly rebuked his
sons, saying, [5210] "Nay, my sons, nay; it is not a good report which
I hear of you." He chided them, and yet was punished, because he should
not have chided, but cast them off. What will he do who rejoices at
vice or lacks the courage to correct it? Who fears his own conscience,
and therefore pretends to be ignorant of what is in everybody's mouth?
The next point is that the bishop must be free from accusation, that he
have a good report from them who are without, that no reproaches of
opponents be levelled at him, and that they who dislike his doctrine
may be pleased with his life. I suppose it would not be easy to find
all this, and particularly one "able to resist the gain-sayers," to
check and overcome erroneous opinions. He wishes no novice to be
ordained bishop, and yet in our time we see the youthful novice sought
after as though he represented the highest righteousness. If baptism
immediately made a man righteous, and full of all righteousness, it was
of course idle for the Apostle to repel a novice; but baptism annuls
old sins, does not bestow new virtues; it looses from prison, and
promises rewards to the released if he will work. Seldom or never, I
say, is there a man who has all the virtues which a bishop should have.
And yet if a bishop lacked one or two of the virtues in the list, it
does not follow that he can no longer be called righteous, nor will he
be condemned for his deficiencies, but will be crowned for what he has.
For to have all and lack nothing is the virtue of Him [5211] "Who did
no sin; neither was guile found in His mouth; Who, when He was reviled,
reviled not again;" Who, confident in the consciousness of virtue,
said, [5212] "Behold the prince of this world cometh, and findeth
nothing in me;" [5213] "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the
form of a servant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Wherefore God gave Him the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things on earth, and things under the earth." If, then, in the
person of a single bishop you will either not find at all, or with
difficulty, even a few of the things commanded, how will you deal with
the mass of men in general who are bound to fulfil all the
commandments?
23. Let us reason from things bodily to things spiritual. One man is
swift-footed, but not strong-handed. That man's movements are slow, but
he stands firm in battle. This man has a fine face, but a harsh voice:
another is repulsive to look at, but sings sweetly and melodiously.
There we see a man of great ability, but equally poor memory; here is
another whose memory serves him, but whose wits are slow. In the very
discussions with which when we were boys we amused ourselves, all the
disputants are not on a level, either in introducing a subject, or in
narrative, or in digressions, or wealth of illustration, and charm of
peroration, but their various oratorical efforts exhibit different
degrees of merit. Of churchmen I will say more. Many discourse well
upon the Gospels, but in explaining an Apostle's meaning are unequal to
themselves. Others, although most acute in the New Testament are dumb
in the Psalms and the Old Testament. I quite agree with Virgil--Non
omnia possumus omnes; and seldom or never is the rich man found who in
the abundance of his wealth has everything in equal proportions. That
God has given possible commands, I admit no less than you. But it is
not for each one of us to make all these possible virtues our own, not
because our nature is weak, for that is a slander upon God, but because
our hearts and minds grow weary and cannot keep all virtues
simultaneously and perpetually. And if you blame the Creator for having
made you subject to weariness and failure, I shall reply, your censure
would be still more severe if you thought proper to accuse Him of not
having made you God. But you will say, if I have not the power, no sin
attaches to me. You have sinned because you have not done what another
could do. And again, he in comparison with whom you are inferior will
be a sinner in respect of some other virtue, relatively to you or to
another person; and thus it happens that whoever is thought to be
first, is inferior to him who is his superior in some other particular.
24. C. If it is impossible for man to be without sin, what does the
Apostle Jude mean by writing, [5214] "Now unto Him that is able to keep
you without sin, and to set you before the presence of His glory
without blemish"? This is clear proof that it is possible to keep a man
without sin and without blemish.
A. You do not understand the passage. We are not told that a man can be
without sin, which is your view, but that God, if He chooses, can keep
a man free from sin, and of His mercy guard him so that he may be
without blemish. And I say that all things are possible with God; but
that everything which a man desires is not possible to him, and
especially, an attribute which belongs to no created thing you ever
read of.
C. I do not say that a man is without sin, which, perhaps, appears to
you to be possible; but that he may be, if he chooses. For actuality is
one thing, possibility another. In the actual we look for an instance;
possibility implies that our power to act is real.
A. You are trifling, and forget the proverb, "Don't do what is done."
You keep turning in the same mire, [5215] and only make more dirt. I
shall, therefore, tell you, what is clear to all, that you are trying
to establish a thing that is not, never was, and, perhaps, never will
be. To employ your own words, and show the folly and inconsistency of
your argument, I say that you are maintaining an impossible
possibility. For your proposition, that a man can be without sin if he
chooses, is either true or false. If it be true, show me who the man
is; if it be false, whatever is false can never happen. But let us have
no more of these notions. Hissed off the stage, and no longer daring to
appear in public, they should stay on the book shelves, and not let
themselves be heard.
25. Let us proceed to other matters. And here I must speak
uninterruptedly, so far, at least, as is consistent with giving you an
opportunity of refuting me, or asking any question you think fit.
C. I will listen patiently, though I cannot say gladly. The ability of
your reasoning will strike me all the more, while I am amazed at its
falsity.
A. Whether what I am going to say is true or false, you will be able to
judge when you have heard it.
C. Follow your own method. I am resolved, if I am unable to answer, to
hold my tongue rather than assent to a lie.
A. What difference does it make whether I defeat you speaking or
silent, and, as it is in the [5216] story of Proteus, catch you asleep
or awake?
C. When you have said what you like, you shall hear what you will
certainly not like. For though truth may be put to hard shifts it
cannot be subdued.
A. I want to sift your opinions a little, that your followers may know
what an inspired genius you are. You say, "It is impossible for any but
those who have the knowledge of the law to be without sin"; and you,
consequently, shut out from righteousness a large number of Christians,
and, preacher of sinlessness though you are, declare nearly all to be
sinners. For how many Christians have that knowledge of the law which
you can find but seldom, or hardly at all, in many doctors of the
Church? But your liberality is so great that, in order to stand well
with your Amazons, you have elsewhere written, "Even women ought to
have a knowledge of the law," although the Apostle preaches that women
ought to keep silence in the churches, and if they want to know
anything consult their husbands at home. And you are not content with
having given your cohort a knowledge of Scripture, but you must delight
yourself with their songs and canticles, for you have a heading to the
effect that "Women also should sing unto God." Who does not know that
women should sing in the privacy of their own rooms, away from the
company of men and the crowded congregation? But you allow what is not
lawful, and the consequence is, that, with the support of their master,
they make an open show of that which should be done with modesty, and
with no eye to witness.
26. You go on to say, "The servant of God should utter from his lips no
bitterness, but ever that which is sweet and pleasant"; and as though a
servant of God were one thing, a doctor and priest of the Church
another, forgetting what was previously laid down, you say in another
heading, "A priest or doctor ought to watch the actions of all, and
confidently rebuke sinners, lest he be responsible for them and their
blood be required at his hands." And, not satisfied with saying it
once, you repeat it, and inculcate that, "A priest or doctor should
flatter no one, but boldly rebuke all, lest he destroy both himself and
those who hear him." Is there so little harmony in one and the same
work that you do not know what you have previously said? For if the
servant of God ought to utter no bitterness from his mouth, but always
that which is sweet and pleasant, it follows either that a priest and
doctor will not be servants of God who ought to confidently rebuke
sinners, and flatter no one, but boldly reprove all: or, if a priest
and a doctor are not only servants of God, but have the chief place
among His servants, it is idle to reserve smooth and pleasant speeches
for the servants of God, for these are characteristic of heretics and
of them who wish to deceive; as the Apostle says, [5217] "They that are
such serve not our Lord Christ but their own belly, and by their smooth
and fair speech they beguile the hearts of the innocent." Flattery is
always insidious, crafty, and smooth. And the flatterer is well
described by the philosophers as "a pleasant enemy." Truth is bitter,
of gloomy visage and wrinkled brow, and distasteful to those who are
rebuked. Hence the Apostle says, [5218] "Am I become your enemy,
because I tell you the truth?" And the comic poet tells us that
"Obsequiousness is the mother of friendship, truth of enmity."
Wherefore we also eat the Passover with bitter herbs, and the chosen
vessel teaches that the Passover should be kept with truth and
sincerity. Let truth in our case be plain speaking, and bitterness will
instantly follow.
27. In another place you maintain that "All are governed by their own
free choice." What Christian can bear to hear this? For if not one, nor
a few, nor many, but all of us are governed by our own free choice,
what becomes of the help of God? And how do you explain the text,
[5219] "A man's goings are ordered by the Lord"? And [5220] "A man's
way is not in himself"; and [5221] "No one can receive anything, unless
it be given him from above"; and elsewhere, [5222] "What hast thou
which thou didst not receive? But if thou didst receive it, why dost
thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?" Our Lord and Saviour
says: [5223] "I am come down from heaven not to do Mine own will, but
the will of the Father who sent Me." And in another place, [5224]
"Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not
My will, but Thine be done." And in the Lord's prayer, [5225] "Thy will
be done as in heaven, so on earth." How is it that you are so rash as
to do away with all God's help? Elsewhere, you make a vain attempt to
append the words "not without the grace of God"; but in what sense you
would have them understood is clear from this passage, for you do not
admit His grace in separate actions, but connect it with our creation,
the gift of the law, and the power of free will.
28. The argument of the next section is, "In the day of judgment, no
mercy will be shown to the unjust and to sinners, but they must be
consumed in eternal fire." Who can bear this, and suffer you to
prohibit the mercy of God, and to sit in judgment on the sentence of
the Judge before the day of judgment, so that, if He wished to show
mercy to the unjust and the sinners, He must not, because you have
given your veto? For you say it is written in the one hundred and
fourth Psalm, [5226] "Let sinners cease to be in the earth, and the
wicked be no more." And in Isaiah, [5227] "The wicked and sinners shall
be burned up together, and they who forsake God shall be consumed." Do
you not know that mercy is sometimes blended with the threatenings of
God? He does not say that they must be burnt with eternal fires, but
let them cease to be in the earth, and the wicked be no more. For it is
one thing for them to desist from sin and wickedness, another for them
to perish for ever and be burnt in eternal fire. And as for the passage
which you quote from Isaiah, "Sinners and the wicked shall be burned up
together," he does not add for ever. "And they who forsake God shall be
consumed." This properly refers to heretics, who leave the straight
path of the faith, and shall be consumed if they will not return to the
Lord whom they have forsaken. And the same sentence is ready for you if
you neglect to turn to better things. Again, is it not marvellous
temerity to couple the wicked and sinners with the impious, for the
distinction between them is great? Every impious person is wicked and a
sinner; but we cannot conversely say every sinner and wicked person is
also impious, for impiety properly belongs to those who have not the
knowledge of God, or, if they have once had it, lose it by
transgression. But the wounds of sin and wickedness, like faults in
general, admit of healing. Hence, it is written, [5228] "Many are the
scourges of the sinner"; it is not said that he is eternally destroyed.
And through all the scourging and torture the faults of Israel are
corrected, [5229] "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." It is one thing to smite with
the affection of a teacher and a parent; another to be madly cruel
towards adversaries. Wherefore, we sing in the first Psalm, [5230] "The
impious do not rise in the judgment," for they are already sentenced to
destruction; "nor sinners in the counsel of the just." To lose the
glory of the resurrection is a different thing from perishing for ever.
"The hour cometh," he says, [5231] "In which all that are in the tombs
shall hear His voice, and shall come forth: they that have done good
unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done ill unto the
resurrection of judgment." And so the Apostle, in the same sense,
because in the same Spirit, says to the Romans, [5232] "As many as have
sinned without law shall also perish without law; and as many as have
sinned under law, shall be judged by law." The man without law is the
unbeliever who will perish for ever. Under the law is the sinner who
believes in God, and who will be judged by the law, and will not
perish. If the wicked and sinners are to be burned with everlasting
fire, are you not afraid of the sentence you pass on yourself, seeing
that you admit you are wicked and a sinner, while still you argue that
a man is not without sin, but that he may be. It follows that the only
person who can be saved is an individual who never existed, does not
exist, and perhaps never will, and that all our predecessors of whom we
read must perish. Take your own case. You are puffed up with all the
pride of Cato, and have [5233] Milo's giant shoulders; but is it not
amazing temerity for you, who are a sinner, to take the name of a
teacher? If you are righteous, and, with a false humility, say you are
a sinner, we may be surprised, but we shall rejoice at having so unique
a treasure, and at reckoning amongst our friends a personage unknown to
patriarch, prophet, and Apostle. And if Origen does maintain that no
rational creatures ought to be lost, and allows repentance to the
devil, what is that to us, who say that the devil and his attendants,
and all impious persons and transgressors, perish eternally, and that
[5234] Christians, if they be overtaken by sin, must be saved after
they have been punished?
29. [5235] Besides all this you add two chapters which contradict one
another, and which, if true, would effectually close your mouth.
"Except a man have learned, he cannot be acquainted with wisdom and
understand the Scriptures." And again, "He that has not been taught,
ought not to assume that he knows the law." You must, then, either
produce the master from whom you learned, if you are lawfully to claim
the knowledge of the law; or, if your master is a person who never
learned from any one else, and taught you what he did nor know himself,
it follows that you are not acting rightly in claiming a knowledge of
Scripture, when you have not been taught, and in starting as a master
before you have been a disciple. And yet, perhaps, with your customary
humility, you make your boast that the Lord Himself, Who teaches all
knowledge, was your master, and that, like Moses in the cloud and
darkness, face to face, you hear the words of God, and so, with the
[5236] halo round your head, take the lead of us. And even this is not
enough, but all at once you turn Stoic, and thunder in our ears Zeno's
proud maxims. "A Christian ought to be so patient that if any one
wished to take his property he would let it go with joy." Is it not
enough for us patiently to lose what we have, without returning thanks
to him who ill-treats and plunders us, and sending after him all
blessings? The Gospel teaches that to him who would go to law with us,
and by strife and litigation take away our coat, we must give our cloak
also. It does not enjoin the giving of thanks and joy at the loss of
our property. What I say is this, not that there is any enormity in
your view, but that everywhere you are prone to exaggeration, and
indulge in ambitious flights. This is why you add that "The bravery of
dress and ornament is an enemy of God." What enmity, I should like to
know, is there towards God if my tunic is cleaner than usual, or if the
bishop, priest, or deacon, or any other ecclesiastics, at the offering
of the sacrifices walk in white? Beware, ye clergy; beware, ye monks;
widows and virgins, you are in peril unless the people see you begrimed
with dirt, and clad in rags. I say nothing of lay-men, who proclaim
open war and enmity against God if they wear costly and elegant
apparel.
30. Let us hear the rest. "We must love our enemies as we do our
neighbours"; and immediately, falling into a deep slumber, you lay down
this proposition: "We must never believe an enemy." Not a word is
needed from me to show the contradiction here. You will say that both
propositions are found in Scripture, but you do not observe the
particular connection in which the passages occur. I am told to love my
enemies and pray for my persecutors. Am I bidden to love them as though
they were my neighbours, kindred, and friends, and to make no
difference between a rival and a relative? If I love my enemies as my
neighbours, what more affection can I show to my friends? If you had
maintained this position, you ought to have taken care not to
contradict yourself by saying that we must never believe an enemy. But
even the law teaches us how an enemy should be loved. [5237] If an
enemy's beast be fallen, we must raise it up. And the Apostle tells us,
[5238] "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink.
For by so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head," not by
way of curse and condemnation, as most people think, but to chasten and
bring him to repentance, so that, overcome by kindness, and melted by
the warmth of love, he may no longer be an enemy.
31. Your next point is that "the kingdom of heaven is promised even in
the Old Testament," and you adduce evidence from the Apocrypha,
although it is clear that the kingdom of heaven was first preached
under the Gospel by John the Baptist, and our Lord and Saviour, and the
Apostles. Read the Gospels. John the Baptist cries in the desert,
[5239] "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"; and concerning
the Saviour it is written, [5240] "From that time He began to preach
and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And again,
[5241] "Jesus went round about the towns and villages, teaching in
their synagogues, and preaching the kingdom of God." And He commanded
His Apostles to [5242] "go and preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is
at hand." But you call us Manichæans because we prefer the Gospel to
the law, and say that in the latter we have the shadow, in the former,
the substance, and you do not see that your foolishness goes hand in
hand with impudence. It is one thing to condemn the law, as Manichæus
did; it is another to prefer the Gospel to the law, for this is in
accordance with apostolic teaching. In the law the servants of the Lord
speak, in the Gospel the Lord Himself; in the former are the promises,
in the latter their fulfilment; there are the beginnings, here is
perfection; in the law the foundations of works are laid; in the Gospel
the edifice is crowned with the top-stone of faith and grace. I have
mentioned this to show the character of the teaching given by our
distinguished professor.
32. The hundredth heading runs thus: "A man can be without sin, and
easily keep the commandments of God if he chooses," as to which enough
has already been said. And although he professes to imitate, or rather
complete the work of the blessed martyr Cyprian in the treatise which
the latter wrote to [5243] Quirinus, he does not perceive that he has
said just the opposite in the work under discussion. Cyprian, in the
fifty-fourth heading of the third book, lays it down that no one is
free from stain and without sin, and he immediately gives proofs, among
them the passage in Job, [5244] "Who is cleansed from uncleanness? Not
he who has lived but one day upon the earth." [5245] And in the
fifty-first Psalm, "Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my
mother conceive me." And in the Epistle of John, [5246] "If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." You,
on the other hand, maintain that "A man can be without sin," and that
you may give your words the semblance of truth, you immediately add,
"And easily keep the commandments of God, if he chooses," and yet they
have been seldom or never kept by any one. Now, if they were easy, they
ought to have been kept by all. But if, to concede you a point, at rare
intervals some one may be found able to keep them, it is clear that
what is rare is difficult. And by way of supplementing this and
displaying the greatness of your own virtues (we are to believe,
forsooth, that you bring forth the sentiment out of the treasure of a
good conscience), you have a heading to the effect that: "We ought not
to commit even light offences." And for fear some one might think you
had not explained in the work the meaning of light, you add that, "We
must not even think an evil thought," forgetting the words, [5247] "Who
understands his offences? Clear thou me from hidden faults, and keep
back thy servant from presumptuous sins, O Lord." You should have known
that the Church admits even failures through ignorance and sins of mere
thought to be offences; so much so that she bids sacrifices be offered
for errors, and the high priest who makes intercession for the whole
people previously offers victims for himself. Now, if he were not
himself righteous, he would never be commanded to offer for others.
Nor, again, would he offer for himself if he were free from sins of
ignorance. If I were to attempt to show that error and ignorance is
sin, I must roam at large over the wide fields of Scripture.
33. C. Pray have you not read that [5248] "He who looks upon a woman to
lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart?"
It seems that not only are the look and the allurements to vice
reckoned as sin, but whatever it be to which we give assent. For either
we can avoid an evil thought, and consequently may be free from sin;
or, if we cannot avoid it, that is not reckoned as sin which cannot be
avoided.
A. Your argument is ingenious, but you do not see that it goes against
Holy Scripture, which declares that even ignorance is not without sin.
Hence it was that Job offered sacrifices for his sons, lest, perchance,
they had unwittingly sinned in thought. And if, when one is cutting
wood, the axe-head flies from the handle and kills a man, the owner is
[5249] commanded to go to one of the cities of refuge and stay there
until the high priest dies; that is to say, until he is redeemed by the
Saviour's blood, either in the baptistery, or in penitence which is a
copy of the grace of baptism, through the ineffable mercy of the
Saviour, who [5250] would not have any one perish, nor delights in the
death of sinners, but would rather that they should be converted and
live.
C. It is surely strange justice to hold me guilty of a sin of error of
which my conscience does not accuse itself. I am not aware that I have
sinned, and am I to pay the penalty for an offence of which I am
ignorant? What more can I do, if I sin voluntarily?
A. Do you expect me to explain the purposes and plans of God? The Book
of Wisdom gives an answer to your foolish question: [5251] "Look not
into things above thee, and search not things too mighty for thee." And
elsewhere, [5252] "Make not thyself overwise, and argue not more than
is fitting." And in the same place, "In wisdom and simplicity of heart
seek God." You will perhaps deny the authority of this book; listen
then to the Apostle blowing the Gospel trumpet: [5253] "O the depth of
the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable
are His judgments, and His ways past tracing out! For who hath known
the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor?" Your questions
are such as he elsewhere describes: [5254] "But foolish and ignorant
questioning avoid, knowing that they gender strifes." And in
Ecclesiastes (a book concerning which there can be no doubt) we read,
[5255] "I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me. That which is
exceeding deep, who can find it out?" You ask me to tell you why the
potter makes one vessel to honour, another to dishonour, and will not
be satisfied with Paul, who replies on behalf of his Lord, [5256] "O
man, who art thou that repliest against God?"
The remainder of this book is occupied by a series of quotations from
the Old Testament, designed to show that it is not only the outer and
conscious act which is reckoned sinful, but the opposition to the
Divine will, which is often implicit and half-conscious. Occasionally,
also, the speaker shows how the texts quoted enforce the argument which
he has before used, that men may be spoken of as righteous in a general
sense, yet by no means free from sins of thought or desire, if not of
act.
The passages quoted are:
Gen. viii. 21. I will not curse the ground....for the mind of man is
set on evil from his youth.
xvii. 17, xviii. 12. Abraham and Sarah laughing at the promise.
xxxvii. 35. Jacob's excessive grief.
Exod. xxi. 12, 13. The guilt of one who slays another unawares.
Lev. iv. 2, 27. Offerings for sins of ignorance.
v. 3. Offerings for ceremonial uncleanness.
ix. 1. Offerings for Aaron at his consecration.
xii. 6. Offerings for women after childbirth.
xiv. 1, 6, xvi. 6, xii. 7. Offerings for the leper.
xv. 31, xvi. 2, 5. Offerings for the people on the day of atonement.
xxii. 14. Eating the hallowed things ignorantly; compared with 1 Cor.
xi. 27, 28, of careless participation in Sacrament.
Numbers vi. 1. Offerings for the Nazarite.
xiv. 7, vii. 28, 29. Offerings for imploring God's Mercy.
xxviii. 15, 22, xxix. 5, v. 11, 17. Offerings at the feast.
Numbers xxxv. 13. The cities of refuge provided for manslayers.
Deut. ix. 6, xviii. 13. Israel warned not to boast of righteousness.
xviii. 9-12, v. 14, 15. Perfection used only of avoiding idolatry.
xxii. 8. The housetop without a parapet makes a man guilty.
xxiii. 2. Defilement from unconscious personal acts.
Josh. vii. 12. The people made guilty by the sin of Achan.
xi. 19, 20. The racial guilt of the Canaanites.
1 Sam. xiv. 27. Jonathan made guilty by tasting the honey.
xvi. 6. The Lord sees the heart, not the outward appearance.
2 Sam. iv. 11. Ishbosheth spoken of as righteous.
vi. 7, 8. Uzzah smitten for carelessness.
2 Sam. xxiv. 10. David's numbering the people.
1 Kings viii. 46. Solomon's Prayer--There is none that sinneth not.
xiv. 5. The prophet detecting the motive of Jeroboam's wife.
2 Kings iv. 27. Elijah seeing the Shunamite's heart.
1 Chron. ii. 32. Sept. Half-prophets.
Habakkuk iii. 1. Vulgate. A prayer "for sins of ignorance" ("upon
Shigionoth"), supposed to be in recognition of over-boldness in i. 2-4.
Ezek. xlvi. 20. The sacrifice of Ezekiel's restored temple.
Jer. x. 23. The way of man not in himself.
xvii. 9. The heart deceitful.
Prov. xiv. 12. A way that seemeth right to a man.
xix. 21. Many devices in a man's heart.
xx. 9. Who can say, I have a clean heart?
17. Who will boast that he is clean?
Eccl. vii. 16. The heart of a man is full of wickedness.
__________________________________________________________________
[5143] See S. Aug. De Sp. et Lit., c. i.
[5144] Ps. cxxvii. 1.
[5145] Pumice terere.
[5146] Rom. ix. 16.
[5147] Reading quod super artes est.
[5148] That is, Diodorous, surnamed Cronus, who lived at Alexandria in
the reign of Ptolemy Soter (b.c. 323-285). He was the teacher of Philo.
For his discussions On the Possible, Zeller's "Socrates and the
Socratic Schools," Reichel's translation, pp. 272, 273, and authorities
there cited, may be consulted.
[5149] Died b.c. 207, aged 73. He was the first to base the Stoic
doctrine on something like systematic reasoning.
[5150] S. Matt. xix. 24.
[5151] S. Matt. xix. 21.
[5152] Job i. 1.
[5153] This appears to be an inaccurate quotation made from memory.
[5154] S. Luke i. 5 sqq.
[5155] Job xvi. 21. Vulg. R.V. Margin--"That one might plead for a man
with God as a son of man pleadeth for his neighbour."
[5156] Job xxxi. 35.
[5157] Job ix. 20, 30, 31.
[5158] S. Luke i. 18.
[5159] Ib. 20.
[5160] Eccles. vii. 21.
[5161] 2 Chron vi. 36.
[5162] Ps. xix. 12, 13.
[5163] Ps. cxliii. 2.
[5164] 1 John v. 18, 19.
[5165] 1 John i. 8.
[5166] 1 John i. 9.
[5167] Prov. xviii. 17, Vulg. nearly.
[5168] Is. xliii. 26, Sept.
[5169] Rom. xi. 32.
[5170] Jer. xxiii. 28.
[5171] Deut. xviii. 13.
[5172] S. Matt. v. 48.
[5173] Ps. xli. 7.
[5174] Rom. iii. 23, 24. So R.V. Margin--"To be propitiatory."
[5175] Cic. Lib. iv. Acad. Quæst.
[5176] Phil. iii. 12-16.
[5177] From scheptomai , to keep watch.
[5178] Prov. i. 3, Sept.
[5179] Ps. cxix. 18.
[5180] The reading is much disputed.
[5181] Ps. cxliii. 2.
[5182] Malach. iii. 6.
[5183] 2 Cor. iii. 10.
[5184] Ib. 11.
[5185] 1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10.
[5186] 1 Cor. xiii. 12.
[5187] cxxxix. 6.
[5188] Ps. lxxiii. 16, 17.
[5189] Ibid. 22, 23.
[5190] Jer. x. 14.
[5191] 1 Cor. i. 25.
[5192] 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8.
[5193] 1 Cor. xii. 21, 29, 11.
[5194] Rom. ix. 21.
[5195] S. Luke i. 48 sq.
[5196] Lam. iv. 6.
[5197] Ezek. xvi. 55.
[5198] Gen. xxxviii. 26.
[5199] 1 Cor. xv. 28.
[5200] Ps. lxii. 2.
[5201] S. John xxi. 15-17.
[5202] James ii. 10.
[5203] Ps. civ. 24.
[5204] According to some, Plato: more probably, Origen, the word
archaios being an allusion to the title of his chief work, Peri
'Archon.
[5205] 1 Cor. xii. 4, 5.
[5206] That is, mean.
[5207] 1 Tim. iii. 2 sq.
[5208] Titus i. 5 sq.
[5209] Ps. ci. 6.
[5210] 1 Sam. ii. 24.
[5211] 1 Pet. ii. 22.
[5212] S. John xiv. 30.
[5213] Phil. ii. 6 sq.
[5214] Verse 24.
[5215] Literally, wash a brick (that has not been burnt). Hence (1)
labour in vain, or (2) make bad worse. The latter appears to be the
meaning here.
[5216] Virg. Georg., iv.
[5217] Rom. xvi. 18.
[5218] Gal. iv. 16.
[5219] Prov. xx. 24.
[5220] Jer. x. 23.
[5221] S. John xx. 11.
[5222] 1 Cor. iv. 7.
[5223] S. John vi. 38.
[5224] S. Luke xxii. 42.
[5225] S. Matt. vi. 10.
[5226] Ps. civ. 35.
[5227] Is. i. 28.
[5228] Ps. xxxii. 10.
[5229] Heb. xii. 6.
[5230] Verse 5. Sept.
[5231] S. John v. 28, 29.
[5232] Rom. ii. 12.
[5233] The reference is to the stature of Pelagius.
[5234] The sense of this passage is much disputed. St. Jerome was,
possibly, speaking of persons who upon the whole are sincere and not
merely covenanted Christians.
[5235] Jerome seems here to speak in his own person and to address
Pelagius directly.
[5236] Cornuta fronte. Literally, "with horned brow." The allusion is
to the rays of light which beamed from the face of Moses, the Hebrew
word bearing both meanings, ray and horn. Hence the portraiture of him
with horns.
[5237] Deut. xxii. 4.
[5238] Rom. xii. 20.
[5239] S. Matt. iii. 2.
[5240] iv. 17.
[5241] iv. 23.
[5242] x. 7.
[5243] A Christian of Carthage who, together with Cyprian, sent relief
to the bishops and martyrs in the Mines of Sigus, in Numidia, and
elsewhere (a.d. 257).
[5244] Job xiv. 4.
[5245] Ps. li. 5.
[5246] 1 John i. 8.
[5247] Ps. xix. 12, 13.
[5248] S. Matt. v. 28.
[5249] Numb. xxxv. 6.
[5250] Ezek. xviii. 23.
[5251] iii. 21.
[5252] Eccles. vii. 16.
[5253] Rom. xi. 33, 34.
[5254] 2 Tim. ii. 23.
[5255] Eccles. vii. 24, 25.
[5256] Rom. ix. 20.
__________________________________________________________________
Book II.
This book can hardly be said to form part of a dialogue. It is rather
an argument from Scripture to prove the point of the Augustinian
arguer, Atticus. From the fourth chapter onwards it consists, like the
last five chapters of Book I., of a chain of Scripture texts, taken
from the New Testament and the Prophets, to show the universality of
sin, and thus to refute the Pelagian assertion that a man can be
without sin if he wills. We shall, therefore, give, as in the previous
case, a list of the texts and the first words of them, only giving
Jerome's words where he introduces some original remark of his own, or
some noteworthy comment.
The Pelagian begins by reiterating the dilemma: If the commandments are
given to be obeyed, then man can be without sin; if he is, by his
creation, such that he must be a sinner, then God, not he, is the
author of sin. To the argument that sacrifices are enjoined for sins of
ignorance, he replies by appealing from the Old Testament to the New,
which leads to a discussion (2, 3) on St. Paul's description of the
conflict with sin, in Romans vii. Paul, it is argued, speaks not as a
sinner, but as a man, and thus confesses the sinfulness of humanity.
That men may be without ingrained vice is possible; that they can be
without sin is not. This leads the Augustinian, Atticus, resuming his
list of testimonies, to the fact that, though men are found who are
righteous as avoiding wickedness (kakia), yet none is without sin
(anamartetos ).
In Psalm xxxii. 5. One who speaks of himself as "holy," yet confesses
his transgression.
Prov. xxiv. 16. Explains this, "The righteous falls, but sins again."
xviii. 17, LXX. and Vulgate. A righteous man accuses himself when he
begins to speak.
Ps. lviii. 3. Sinners are estranged from the womb; that is, either, as
St. Paul says (Rom. v. 14), they sin "after the similitude of Adam";
or, "when Christ, as the firstborn, opened the virgin's womb" (Exod.
xiii. 2). The heretics refused to acknowledge the mystery, which was
prefigured by the Eastern door of the Temple (Ezek. xliv. 2), which
closed again when once the High Priest had gone through it. [5257]
Job iv. 17-21. Shall mortal man be just with God?
vii. 1. The life of man is temptation.
20, 21. If I have sinned, what can I do?
ix. 15, 16. If I were righteous, he would not hear me.
29-31. If I wash myself with snow water, etc.
x. 15. If I be righteous, etc.
xiv. 4, 5. Who will be free from uncleanliness? Not one.
Prov. xvi. 26, LXX. Man toileth in sorrow.
Job xl. 4. What shall I answer thee?
Prov. xx. 9. "Who will boast that he has a clean heart?" which shows at
least that the commandments are not easy, as Pelagius says they are.
1 John v. 3. "His commandments are not grievous," and
Matt. xi. 30. "My yoke is easy," are true only in comparison with
Judaism, and should be compared with
Acts xv. 10. A yoke ...which neither our fathers nor we are able to
bear.
James iv. 11. "Thou judgest the law," that is, if you say that the
condemnation of sins of ignorance is unreasonable. That we all sin in
such ways is evident from
James i. 20. "The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."
But anger is constantly condemned as in
Prov. xv. 1, LXX. "Wrath destroys even wise men."
Eph. iv. 26. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.
Matt. v. 22. He who is angry...shall be in danger of council.
Eccles. xi. 19. "I am the most foolish of all men." This is said by
Christ in the person of humanity. So
Ps. lxix. 5. "God, Thou knowest my foolishness." But
1 Cor. i. 25. The foolishness of God is wiser than men.
Ecclus. i. 18. "In much wisdom is much grief," shows the wise man's
sense of imperfection. So
viii. 7. "I hated my life," and
14. "There be righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the
work of the wicked;" that is, God sees evil where we do not.
17. "However much a man may labor, yet he shall not find it;" and
ix. 2, 3. There is one event to all. The heart...is full of evil.
x. 1. "Dead flies cause the ointment to stink;" That is, almost
everyone is defiled by heresy or other faults.
1 Pet. ii. 17, 18. Judgement must begin at the house of God.
6. There are four emotions which agitate mankind, two relating to the
present, two to the future; two to good, and two to evil. There is
sorrow, called in Greek lupe, and joy, in Greek chara or hedone,
although many translate the latter word by voluptas, pleasure; the one
of which is referred to evil, the other to good. And we go too far if
we rejoice over such things as we ought not, as, for example, riches,
power, distinctions, the bad fortune of enemies, or their death; or, on
the other hand, if we are tortured with grief on account of present
evils, adversity, exile, poverty, weakness, and the death of kindred,
all of which is forbidden by the Apostle. And again, if we covet those
things which we consider good, inheritance, distinctions, unvaried
prosperity, bodily health, and the like, in the possession of which we
rejoice and find enjoyment; or if we fear those things which we deem
adverse. Now, according to the Stoics, Zeno that is to say and
Chrysippus, it is possible for a perfect man to be free from these
emotions; according to the Peripatetics, it is difficult and even
impossible, an opinion which has the constant support of all Scripture.
Hence Josephus, the historian of the Maccabees, said that the emotions
can be subdued and governed, not extirpated, and Cicero's five books of
"Tusculan Disputations" are full of these discussions. [5258] According
to the Apostle, the weakness of the body and spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places fight against us. And the same writer
[5259] tells us that the works of the flesh and the works of the spirit
are manifest, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that we
do not the things that we would. If we do not what we would, but what
we would not, how can you say that a man can be without sin if he
chooses? You see that neither an Apostle, nor any believer can perform
what he wishes. [5260] "Love covereth a multitude of sins," not so much
sins of the past as sins of the present, that we may not sin any more
while the love of God abideth in us. Wherefore it is said concerning
the woman that was a sinner, [5261] "Her sins which are many are
forgiven her, for she loved much." And this shows us that the doing
what we wish does not depend merely upon our own power, but upon the
assistance which God in His mercy gives to our will.
7. The quotations from Scripture are now continued:
In 1 John i. 5, John i. 7, 8, Matt. v. 14, Christ and the Apostles are
called the Light of the world. The world therefore is darkness.
1 Tim. vi. 16. God only hath immortality and is "only wise"; yet
others, like the Prince of Tyre (Ezek. xxviii. 3), are wise
derivatively. So we are pure, but only by grace. Thus
1 John i. 7. The blood of Christ cleanses us.
Job xxv. 5, 6. The stars are not pure in his sight.
Gal. ii. 16. "By the law no flesh shall be justified;" but
Rom. iii. 1, 24, 28, 30. Being justified freely through His grace, etc.
vi. 14. Not under the law, but under grace.
ix. 16. Not of him that willeth, but of God which showeth mercy.
ix. 30-32. The Gentiles...attained to the righteousness by faith.
x. 2. Christ is the end of the law to every one that believeth.
8. The Apostle confesses his need of this grace for his work.
1 Cor. i. 1-3. Grace to you from God.
7, 8. That ye come behind in no gift--that no flesh may glory in His
sight.
1 Cor. iii. 6-10. Paul planted...but God gave the increase.
18, 19. If any man thinketh himself to be wise, let him become a fool.
iv. 4. I know nothing against myself, yet I am not hereby justified.
7. What have ye that ye did not receive?
19. I will come to you, if the Lord will.
9. The Apostle shows also his need of grace himself.
1 Cor. xv. 9, 10. By the grace of God I am what I am, etc.
2 Cor. iii. 4-6. Our sufficiency is of God.
Gal. ii. 16. We have believed, that we might, be justified by faith.
ii. 21. If righteousness come by the law, Christ is dead for nought.
iii. 10, 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.
24. The law our teacher to bring us to Christ.
v. 4. Ye are severed from Christ, ye that would be justified by the
law.
10.
Phil. ii. 13. It is God that worketh in you.
2 Thess. iii. 3. The Lord is faithful, He shall establish you.
1 Tim. vi. 20, 21. O Timothy, guard that which is committed unto thee.
Tit. iii. 4-7. The kindness and mercy of God our Saviour saved us.
11. We now turn to the Gospels "and supplement the flickering flame of
the Apostolic light with the brightness of the lamp of Christ."
Matt. v. 22. "Every man who is angry...shall be in danger of the
council." Which of us is not here condemned?
23, 24. "First be reconciled to thy brother." Who is there that finds
this command easy?
37. "Let your speech be Yea, yea, Nay, nay." Who has ever kept this
commandment? The Psalmist says Ps. cxvi. 11. All men are liars.
12.
Matt. vi. 34. "Be not anxious for to-morrow." Do you fulfil this?
vii. 14. "Narrow is the gate which leadeth to life." How can you say
that the commandments are easy?
Luke ix. 58. "The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." This is
interpreted by
Is. xxviii. 12. "Receive him that is weary, and this is my rest;" and
Is. lxvi. 1, 2. "On whom shall I rest but on him that is humble?"
Christ finds few on whom to rest. How then can His commands be said to
be easy?
Matt. ix. 12, 13. "I came not to call the righteous." "They that are
whole need not the physician." Had the world not been full of sin,
Christ would not have come. So
Ps. xii. 1. Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth.
xiv. 1, 3. They are corrupt...none doeth good.
Matt. x. 9. "Get you no gold...nor shoes." Who has fulfilled this? Not
even the Apostles, for
Acts xii. 8. The angel bids Peter to bind on his sandals.
13.
Matt. x. 22-34. Describes the persecutions of Christ's followers, and
gives the command to take up the cross. Are these easy?
xiv. 31. Even Peter's faith fails, and he begins to sink.
xv. 19, 20. Out of the heart came evil thoughts, etc.
xvi. 25. Whosoever will lose his life will find it.
xviii. 7. "Woe to the man through whom stumbling cometh." But
James iii. 2. In many things we all stumble or err.
Phil. ii. 21. All seek their own.
Matt. xix. 21. The young lawyer had kept all the law, yet failed.
xxiii. 26-28. The woes on the Pharisees fall in their measure upon all.
14.
Matt. xxvi. 39. "Not as I will, but as Thou wilt." Yet Critobulus says,
by his own will he can do right.
Mark xiv. 37. "Could ye not watch with me one hour?" They could not.
vi. 5. He could do no mighty works because of their unbelief.
vii. 24. "He went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon." If Christ could
not do as he wished, how can we?
ix. 5. Peter's request at the Transfiguration shows his ignorance.
xiii. 32. Even the Son knows not all things; how then can we?
xiv. 35. If it be possible. How can you say it is possible every hour
to avoid sin?
15.
Mark xvi. 14. Even the Apostles showed unbelief and hardness of heart.
1 John v. 19. The world lieth in the evil one.
Luke i. 20. Even Zacharias disbelieved God's message.
Matt. xvii. 15. The disciples could not relieve the lunatic, because of
unbelief.
Mark iv. 34. The disciple's dispute about precedence.
Luke ix. 54. James and John show a vindictive spirit.
xiv. 26, 27. The commands to forsake all and take up the cross are not
easy.
xvi. 15. That which is exalted among men is abomination in the sight of
God.
xvii. 1. It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should come.
xvii. 6. The Apostles' faith was not even like a grain of mustard seed.
James iii. 2.
Matt. xvii. 19.
16.
Luke xviii. 1. We are always to pray. This shows our weakness.
27. Who, then, can be saved? It is possible, but to God only.
xxii. 24. The contest for precedence at the last supper.
31, 32. Peter's faith almost overcome by Satan.
Luke xxii. 43. Even Christ in his agony needs an angel to strengthen
Him.
46. Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
17.
John v. 30. Even Christ says, "I cannot do anything by myself"; and
vii. 10. Was irresolute about going up to the Feast of Tabernacles.
19. None of you doeth the law.
viii. 3. None of the accusers of the woman taken in adultery were
without sin. Christ wrote their names in the earth (Jerem. xvii. 13).
x. 8. All who came (not who were sent; Jerem. xiv. 15) before Christ
were robbers.
xvii. 12. I kept them--they did not keep themselves.
Acts xv. 39. Paul and Barnabas quarrelled.
xvi. 6, 7. They were forbidden to preach where they chose.
18. Even the Apostles, with their full light, show their dependence on
grace.
Acts xvii. 30. The times before Christ were times of ignorance.
1 Cor. iv. 19. I will come if the Lord will.
James ii. 10. To stumble in one point is to be guilty of all.
iii. 2. In many things we all stumble.
8. The tongue is a deadly poison.
19.
James iv. 1. Wars arise from our lust. David indeed said,
Ps. xxvi. 2. "Examine me and prove me," etc. This self-confidence led
to his fall.
li. 1. Have mercy on me, O God.
lxxx. 5. "Thou feedest us with the bread of tears." Similarly
Ps. xxx. 6, 7. I said I shall never be moved...Thou didst hide Thy
face.
xxxii. 5. I said I will confess my sin,
xxxvii. 5, 6. He shall make thy righteousness as the light.
39. The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord.
xxxviii. 7. There is no soundness in my flesh.
Rom. vii. 18. In my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
Ps. xxxviii. 8. Vulgate. My loins are filled with deceits.
xxxix. 5. He hath made our days as handbreadths.
lxix. 5. My sins are not hid from thee.
lxxvii. 2. My soul refused to be comforted.
10. This is the changing of the right hand of the Most High. [5262]
20.
Ps. lxxxix. 2. Mercy shall be built up forever.
xci. 6. From "the thing [5263] that walketh in darkness" who can be
free? For
xi. 2. "The wicked bend their bow"--an image of the heretics.
xcii. 14. Those that are planted in the house of the Lord shall
flourish.
ciii. 8, 10. The Lord is full of compassion.
2 Sam. viii. 13, 14. David receives the promises with the humble
confession of his weakness. "Is this the law of man, O God?"
xvi. 10. He humbles himself under Abishai's violence and Shimei's
curse.
xvii. 14. And is delivered only by God's confounding the counsel of
Ahithophel.
1 Kings xiv. 8. It was God who gave Jeroboam the kingdom.
21.
1 Kings xv. 11. Asa, though a good man, was faulty.
xix. 4. Elijah fled from Jezebel.
Ps. cxviii. 6. The Lord is my keeper.
2 Chron. xvii. 3. Jehoshaphat prospers because the Lord is with him.
Yet
xix. 2. He is rebuked for joining with Ahab.
2 Chron. xxii. 9. Ahaziah received burial among kings because descended
from righteous Jehoshaphat.
2 Kings xviii. 3, 4, 7. Hezekiah did great things, but only through the
Lord's help.
14. He gave the consecrated gold to the king of Assyria.
22. Even the best kings of Judah were imperfect.
2 Kings xx. 1, 5. Hezekiah wept when death was at hand, and recovered
through special mercy.
13, 17. But he sinned in receiving the Babylonian envoys.
2 Chron. xxxii. 26. He fell by the lifting up of his heart.
xxxiv. 2. Josiah was a righteous man; yet
22, 23. He needed the aid of Huldah; and
xxxv. 22. He was slain through not heeding God's warning; and
23. The prophets also are weak and sinful.
Lam. iv. 20. Jeremiah [5264] lamented his fall.
Numb. xx. 10, 12. Moses is punished for his sin at Meribah. This is the
meaning of Ps. cxli. 6. Vulgate. Their judges were swallowed up, joined
to the Rock, etc.
Hosea ii. 19. God in mercy forgives Israel's unfaithfulness.
xi. 9. "I will not enter into the city." Only the Holy One is not
joined to the mass of ungodliness.
Amos vi. 13. We turn righteousness into wormwood.
Jonah i. 14. The sailors confess that God is just in raising the storm.
Micah vii. 2. The godly man is perished from the earth, etc.
vi. 8. The command of justice, mercy, and a humble walk with God is
only possible to humble faith, for
Ps. cxl. 6. "The wicked walk on every side," and
James iv. 6. God giveth grace to the humble.
24.
Habakkuk iii. 16. Let rottenness enter into my bones, if only I may
rest, etc.
Zech. iii. 1. Joshua is represented as clothed in filthy garments, and
is freed through God's mercy.
But Jovinian's heir says "I am quite free from sin, I have no filthy
garments, I am governed by my own will, I am greater than an Apostle.
The Apostle does what he would not, and what he would he does not; but
I do what I will, and what I would not I do not: the kingdom of heaven
has been prepared for me, or rather I have by my virtuous life prepared
it for myself. Adam was subject to punishment, and so are others who
think themselves guilty after the similitude of Adam's transgressions;
I and my crew alone have nothing to fear. Other men shut up in their
cells and who never see women, because, poor creatures! they do not
listen to my words, are tormented with desire: crowds of women may
surround me, I feel no stirring of concupiscence. For to me may be
applied the [5265] words, Holy stones are rolled upon the ground,' and
the reason why I am insensible to the attraction of sin is that in the
power of free will I carry Christ's trophy about with me." But let us
listen to God [5266] proclaiming by the mouth of Isaiah: "O my people,
they which call thee happy cause thee to err, and destroy the way of
thy paths." Who is the greatest subverter of the people of God--he who,
relying on the power of free choice, despises the help of the Creator,
and is satisfied with following his own will, or he who dreads to be
judged by the details of the Lord's commandments? To men of this sort,
God [5267] says, "Woe unto you that are wise in your own eyes, and
prudent in your own sight." Isaiah, if we follow the Hebrew, laments
[5268] and says, "Woe is me because I have been silent, because I am a
man of unclean lips: and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips, for mine eyes have seen the Lord of Hosts." He for his
meritorious and virtuous life enjoyed the sight of God, and conscious
of his sins confessed that he had unclean lips. Not that he had said
anything repugnant to the will of God, but because, either from fear,
or from a deep sense of shame, he had been [5269] silent, and had not
reproved the errors of the people so freely as a prophet should. When
do we sinners rebuke offenders, we who flatter wealth and accept the
persons of sinners for the sake of filthy lucre? for we shall hardly
say that we speak with perfect frankness to men of whose assistance we
stand in need. Suppose that we do not such things as they, suppose we
keep ourselves from every form of sin; to refrain from speaking the
truth is certainly sin. In the Septuagint, however, we do not find the
words "because I have been silent," but "because I was pricked," that
is with the consciousness of sin; and thus the words of the [5270]
prophet are fulfilled. "My life was turned into misery while I was
pierced by the thorn." He was pricked by the thorn of sin: you are
decked with the flowers of virtue. [5271] "The moon shall be ashamed,
and the sun confounded, when the Lord shall punish the host of heaven
on high." This is explained by another passage. [5272] "Even the stars
are unclean in His sight," and again, [5273] "He chargeth His angels
with folly." The moon is ashamed, the sun is confounded, and the sky
covered with sackcloth, and shall we fearlessly and joyously, as though
we were free from all sin, face the majesty of the Judge, when the
mountains shall melt away, that is, all who are lifted up by pride, and
all the host of the heavens, whether they be stars, or angelic powers,
when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all their
host shall fade away like leaves?
The argument is now carried on mostly by the quotation of passages from
the prophets:
25.
Is. xxxiv. 5. "My sword hath drunk its fill in the heavens. It will
come down in Edom." How much more is there wrath against sin on earth!
Edom means blood, which cannot inherit the kingdom (1 Cor. xv. 50).
xlv. 9. Woe unto him who striveth with his Maker.
liii. 6. We have all gone astray like sheep.
Ezek. xvi. 14. Jerusalem is perfect in beauty; yet
Ezek. xvi. 60, 61. Her salvation is not of merit but of mercy.
Nahum i. 3. Though he cleanse, [5274] yet will he not make thee
innocent.
1 Cor. xv. 9. I am not worthy--because I persecuted.
Ezek. xx. 43, 44. When pardoned, Jerusalem will still remember her sin.
Let us confess with shame that these are the utterances of men who have
already won their reward; sinners upon earth, and still in our frail
and mortal bodies let us adopt the language of the saints in heaven who
have even been endowed with incorruption and immortality. [5275] "And
ye say the way of the Lord is not equal, when your ways are not equal."
It is Pharisaic pride to attribute to the injustice of the Creator sins
which are due to our own will, and to slander His righteousness. The
sons of Zadok, the priests of the spiritual temple, that is the Church,
[5276] go not out to the people in their ministerial robes, lest by
human intercourse they may lose their holiness and be defiled. And do
you suppose that you, in the thick of the throng, and an ordinary
individual, are pure?
26. Let us hastily run through the prophet Jeremiah:
Jerem. v. 1, 2. Is there any that doeth justly, etc.
vii. 21, 22. God rejects the sacrifices, because of the worshippers'
evil lives.
xiii. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin?
27.
Jerem. xvii. 14. "Heal me, O Lord." Otherwise Jeremiah could only say,
as in the text next quoted,
xx. 14, 17, 18. Cursed be the day wherein I was born, etc.
xxiii. 23. Am I a God at hand, etc. So conscious is he of God's power.
xxiv. 6, 7. God, not they themselves, will plant them, etc.
xxvi. 21-24. Jeremiah needed the help of Ahikam. How much more do we
need that of God.
28.
Jerem. xxxi. 34. The promise of the new covenant.
xxxii. 30. The children of Israel have perpetually done evil.
xxxvii. 18, 19. Yet Jeremiah himself trembled before Zedekiah.
Jerem. xxx. 10, 11. Fear not, O Jacob, for I am with thee.
29.
Amos vi. 14. "We have taken us horns by our own strength." These are
the boasts of heretics. But
Is. xvi. 6. His strength (Moab's) is by no means according to his
arrogance. [5277]
Jerem. i. 7, 20. Men's sin will only be abolished because God is
gracious to them. If you will abandon your assertions of natural
ability, I will concede that your whole contention stands good, but
only by the gift of God.
Lam. iii. 26-42. It is good that a man should quietly wait for the
salvation of the Lord.
30.
Dan. iv. 17. The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men.
Ps. cxiii. 7, 8. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust.
Is. xl. 17. He doeth what He will in heaven and in earth.
The words of 2 Maccabees v. 17, which say that Antiochus Epiphanes had
power to overthrow the Temple, "because of the multitude of sins," are
quoted in connection with the confessions of Daniel.
Dan. ix. 5. "We have sinned and dealt perversely," which is shown by
20. "While I was yet praying," etc., to be a personal, not only a
national confession.
24. The prophecy of the seventy weeks shows that the prophet looked to
God alone for the establishment of righteousness.
So then, until that end shall come, and this corruptible and mortal
shall put on incorruption and immortality, we must be liable to sin;
not, as you falsely say, owing to the fault of our nature and creation,
but through the frailty and fickleness of human will, which varies from
moment to moment; because God alone changeth not. You ask in what
respects Abel, Enoch, Joshua the son of Nun, or Elisha, and the rest of
the saints have sinned. There is no need to look for a knot in a
bulrush; I freely confess I do not know; and I only wish that, when
sins are manifest, I might still be silent. [5278] "I know nothing
against myself," says St. Paul, "yet am I not hereby justified." [5279]
"Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the
heart." Before Him no man is justified. And so Paul says confidently,
[5280] "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"; and
[5281] "God hath shut up all under sin that He may have mercy upon
all"; and similarly in other passages which we have repeated again and
again.
__________________________________________________________________
[5257] There was an early and widespread belief, afterwards confirmed
by a decree of the Council of Ephesus, that the birth of Christ was by
miracle, not by a true and proper parturition.
[5258] Eph. vi. 12.
[5259] Gal. v. 19.
[5260] 1 Pet. iv. 8.
[5261] Luke vii. 47.
[5262] Vulgate, Rev. V. I will remember the years, etc. Marg.--The
right hand of the Most High doth change.
[5263] LXX. A.V. Pestilence.
[5264] The words of the Lamentations refer to Zedekiah.
[5265] Zech. ix. 16, Sept. Correctly, they (God's people) shall be as
the stones of a crown lifting themselves up (or glittering) upon His
land.
[5266] Is. iii. 12.
[5267] v. 21.
[5268] vi. 5.
[5269] That is, according to Jerome's rendering of the Hebrew. R.V. has
"I am undone." For the Sept. rendering see below.
[5270] Ps. xxxii. 4.
[5271] Is. xxiv. 21.
[5272] Job xxv. 5.
[5273] Job iv. 18.
[5274] Mundans: not in the Vulgate nor in A.V.
[5275] Ezek. xxxii. 17.
[5276] Ibid. xliv. 15, 16.
[5277] This is the sense of the Vulgate, but not the exact words.
[5278] 1 Cor. iv. 4.
[5279] 1 Sam. xvi. 7.
[5280] Rom. iii. 23.
[5281] Gal. iii. 22.
__________________________________________________________________
Book III.
1. Critob. I am charmed with the exuberance of your eloquence, but at
the same time I would remind you that, [5282] "In the multitude of
words there wanteth not transgression." And how does it bear upon the
question before us? You will surely admit that those who have received
Christian baptism are without sin. And that being free from sin they
are righteous. And that once they are righteous, they can, if they take
care, preserve their righteousness, and so through life avoid all sin.
Attic. Do you not blush to follow the opinion of Jovinian, which has
been exploded and condemned? For he relies upon just the same proofs
and arguments as you do; nay, rather, you are all eagerness for his
inventions, and desire to preach in the East what was formerly [5283]
condemned at Rome, and not long ago in [5284] Africa. Read then the
reply which was given to him, and you will there find the answer to
yourself. For in the discussion of doctrines and disputed points, we
must have regard not to persons but to things. And yet let me tell you
that baptism condones past offences, and does not preserve
righteousness in the time to come; the keeping of that is dependent on
toil and industry, as well as earnestness, and above all on the mercy
of God. It is ours to ask, to Him it belongs to bestow what we ask;
ours to begin, His it is to finish; ours to offer what we can, His to
fulfil what we cannot perform. [5285] "For except the Lord build the
house, they labour in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the
city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Wherefore the Apostle [5286]
bids us so run that we may attain. All indeed run, but one receiveth
the crown. And in the [5287] Psalm it is written, "O Lord, thou hast
crowned us with thy favour as with a shield." For our victory is won
and the crown of our victory is gained by His protection and through
His shield; and here we run that hereafter we may attain; there he
shall receive the crown who in this world has proved the conqueror. And
when we have been baptized we are told, [5288] "Behold thou art made
whole; sin no more lest a worse thing happen unto thee." And again,
[5289] "Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of
God dwelleth in you? If any man profane the temple of God, him shall
God destroy." And in another place, [5290] "The Lord is with you so
long as ye are with Him: if ye forsake Him, He will also forsake you."
Where is the man, do you suppose, in whom as in a shrine and sanctuary
the purity of Christ is permanent, and in whose case the serenity of
the temple is saddened by no cloud of sin? We cannot always have the
same countenance, though the philosophers falsely boast that this was
the experience of Socrates; how much less can our minds be always the
same! As men have many expressions of countenance, so also do the
feelings of their hearts vary. If it were possible for us to be always
immersed in the waters of baptism, sins would fly over our heads and
leave us untouched. The Holy Spirit would protect us. But the enemy
assails us, and when conquered does not depart, but is ever lying in
ambush, that he may secretly shoot the upright in heart.
2. In the Gospel according to the Hebrews, which is written in the
Chaldee and Syrian language, but in Hebrew characters, and is used by
the Nazarenes to this day (I mean the Gospel according to the Apostles,
or, as is generally maintained, the Gospel according to Matthew, a copy
of which is in the library at Cæsarea), we find, "Behold, the mother of
our Lord and His brethren said to Him, John Baptist baptizes for the
remission of sins; let us go and be baptized by him. But He said to
them, what sin have I committed that I should go and be baptized by
him? Unless, haply, the very words which I have said are only
ignorance." And in the same volume, "If thy brother sin against thee in
word, and make amends to thee, receive him seven times in a day."
Simon, His disciple, said to Him, "Seven times in a day?" The Lord
answered and said to him, "I say unto thee until seventy times seven."
Even the prophets, after they were anointed with the Holy Spirit, were
guilty of sinful words. Ignatius, an apostolic man and a martyr, boldly
writes, [5291] "The Lord chose Apostles who were sinners above all
men." It is of their speedy conversion that the Psalmist sings, [5292]
"Their infirmities were multiplied; afterwards they made haste." If you
do not allow the authority of this evidence, at least admit its
antiquity, and see what has been the opinion of all good churchmen.
Suppose a person who has been baptized to have been carried off by
death either immediately, or on the very day of his baptism, and I will
generously concede that he neither thought nor said anything whereby,
through error and ignorance, he fell into sin. Does it follow that he
will, therefore, be without sin, because he appears not to have
overcome, but to have avoided sin? Is not the true reason rather that
by the mercy of God he was released from the prison of sins and
departed to the Lord? We also say this, that God can do what He wills;
and that man of himself and by his own will cannot, as you maintain, be
without sin. If he can, it is idle for you now to add the word grace,
for, with such a power, he has no need of it. If, however, he cannot
avoid sin without the grace of God, it is folly for you to attribute to
him an ability which he does not possess. For whatever depends upon
another's will, is not in the power of him whose ability you assert,
but of him whose aid is clearly indispensable.
3. C. What do you mean by this perversity, or, rather, senseless
contention? Will you not grant me even so much--that when a man leaves
the waters of baptism he is free from sin?
A. Either I fail to express my meaning clearly, or you are slow of
apprehension.
C. How so?
A. Remember both what you maintained and also what I say. You argued
that a man can be free from sin if he chooses. I reply that it is an
impossibility; not that we are to think that a man is not free from sin
immediately after baptism, but that that time of sinlessness is by no
means to be referred to human ability, but to the grace of God. Do not,
therefore, claim the power for man, and I will admit the fact. For how
can a man be able who is not able of himself? Or what is that
sinlessness which is conditioned by the immediate death of the body?
Should the man's life be prolonged, he will certainly be liable to sins
and to ignorance.
C. Your logic stops my mouth. You do not speak with Christian
simplicity, but entangle me in some fine distinctions between being and
ability to be.
A. Is it I who play these tricks with words? The article came from your
own workshop. For you say, not that a man is free from sin, but that he
is able to be; I, on the other hand, will grant what you deny, that a
man is free from sin by the grace of God, and yet will maintain that he
is not able of himself.
C. It is useless to give commandments if we cannot keep them.
A. No one doubts that God commanded things possible. But because men do
not what they might, therefore the whole world is subject to the
judgment of God, and needs His mercy. On the other hand, if you can
produce a man who has fulfilled the whole law, you will certainly be
able to show that there is a man who does not need the mercy of God.
For everything which can happen must either take place in the past, the
present, or the future. As to your assertion that a man can be without
sin if he chooses, show that it has happened in the past, or at all
events that it does happen at the present day; the future will reveal
itself. If, however, you can point to no one who either is, or has
been, altogether free from sin, it remains for us to confine our
discussion to the future. Meanwhile, you are vanquished and a captive
as regards two out of three periods of time, the past and the present.
If anyone hereafter shall be greater than patriarchs, prophets,
apostles, inasmuch as he is without sin, then you may perhaps be able
to convince future generations as to their time.
4. C. Talk as you like, argue as you please, you will never wrest from
me free will, which God bestowed once for all, nor will you be able to
deprive me of what God has given, the ability if I have the will.
A. By way of example let us take one proof: [5293] "I have found David,
the Son of Jesse, a man after Mine own heart, who shall do all My
will." There is no doubt that David was a holy man, and yet he who was
chosen that he might do all God's will is blamed for certain actions.
Of course it was possible for him who was chosen for the purpose to do
all God's will. Nor is God to blame Who beforehand spoke of his doing
all His will as commanded, but blame does attach to him who did not
what was foretold. For God did not say that He had found a man who
would unfailingly do His bidding and fulfil His will, but only one who
would do all His will. And we, too, say that a man can avoid sinning,
if he chooses, according to his local and temporal circumstances and
physical weakness, so long as his mind is set upon righteousness and
the string is well stretched upon the lyre. But if a man grow a little
remiss it is with him as with the boatman pulling against the stream,
who finds that, if he slackens but for a moment, the craft glides back
and he is carried by the flowing waters whither he would not. Such is
the state of man; if we are a little careless we learn our weakness,
and find that our power is limited. Do you suppose that the Apostle
Paul, when he wrote [5294] "the coat (or cloak) that I left at Troas
with Carpus, bring when thou comest, and the books, especially the
parchments," was thinking of heavenly mysteries, and not of those
things which are required for daily life and to satisfy our bodily
necessities? Find me a man who is never hungry, thirsty, or cold, who
knows nothing of pain, or fever, or the torture of strangury, and I
will grant you that a man can think of nothing but virtue. When the
Apostle was [5295] struck by the servant, he delivered himself thus
against the High Priest who commanded the blow to be given: "God shall
strike thee, thou whited wall." We miss the patience of the Saviour Who
was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and opened not His mouth, but
mercifully said to the smiter, [5296] "If I have spoken evil, bear
witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou Me?" We do not
disparage the Apostle, but declare the glory of God Who suffered in the
flesh and overcame the evil inflicted on the flesh and the weakness of
the flesh--to say nothing of what the Apostle says elsewhere: [5297]
"Alexander, the coppersmith, did me much evil; the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will recompense him in that day."
5. C. I have been longing to say something, but have checked the words
as they were bursting from my lips. You compel me to say it.
A. Who hinders you from saying what you think? Either what you are
going to say is good--and you ought not to deprive us of what is
good--or it is bad, and, therefore, it is not regard for us, but shame
that keeps you silent.
C. I will say, I will say after all, what I think. Your whole argument
tends to this: You accuse nature, and blame God for creating man such
as he is.
A. Is this what you wished, and yet did not wish, to say? Pray speak
out, so that all may have the benefit of your wisdom. Are you censuring
God because he made man to be man? Let the angels also complain because
they are angels. Let every creature discuss the question, Why it is as
it was created? and not what the Creator could have made it. I must now
amuse myself with the rhetorical exercises of childhood, and passing
from the gnat and the ant to cherubim and seraphim, inquire why each
was not created with a happier lot. And when I reach the exalted
powers, I will argue the point: Why God alone is only God, and did not
make all things gods? For, according to you, He will either be unable
to do so, or will be guilty of envy. Censure Him, and demand why He
allows the devil to be in this world, and carry off the crown when you
have won the victory.
C. I am not so senseless as to complain of the existence of the devil,
through whose malice death entered into the world; but what grieves me
is this: that dignitaries of the Church, and those who usurp the title
of master, destroy free will; and once that is destroyed, the way is
open for the Manichæans.
A. Am I the destroyer of free will because, throughout the discussion,
my single aim has been to maintain the omnipotence of God as well as
free will?
C. How can you have free will, and yet say that man can do nothing
without God's assistance?
A. If he is to be blamed who couples free will and God's help, it
follows that we ought to praise him who does away with God's help.
C. I am not making God's help unnecessary, for to His grace we owe all
our ability; but I and those who think with me keep both within their
own bounds. To God's grace we assign the gift of the power of free
choice; to our own will, the doing, or the not doing, of a thing; and
thus rewards and punishments for doing or not doing can be maintained.
6. A. You seem to me to be lost in forgetfulness, and to be going over
the lines of argument already traversed as though not a word had been
previously said. For, by this long discussion, it has been established
that the Lord, by the same grace wherewith He bestowed upon us free
choice, assists and supports us in our individual actions.
C. Why, then, does He crown and praise what He has Himself wrought in
us?
A. That is to say, our will which offered all it could, the toil which
strove in action, and the humility which ever looked to the help of
God.
C. So, then, if we have not done what He commanded, either God was
willing to assist us, or He was not. If He was willing and did assist
us, and yet we have not done what we wished, then He, and not we, has
been overcome. But if He would not help, the man is not to be blamed
who wished to do His will, but God, who was able to help, but would
not.
A. Do you not see that your dilemma has landed you in a deep abyss of
blasphemy? Whichever way you take it, God is either weak or malevolent,
and He is not so much praised because He is the author of good and
gives His help, as abused for not restraining evil. Blame Him, then,
because He allows the existence of the devil, and has suffered, and
still suffers, evil to be done in the world. This is what Marcion asks,
and the whole pack of heretics who mutilate the Old Testament, and have
mostly spun an argument something like this: Either God knew that man,
placed in Paradise, would transgress His command, or He did not know.
If He knew, man is not to blame, who could not avoid God's
foreknowledge, but He Who created him such that he could not escape the
knowledge of God. If He did not know, in stripping Him of foreknowledge
you also take away His divinity. Upon the same showing God will be
deserving of blame for choosing Saul, who was to prove one of the worst
of kings. And the Saviour must be convicted either of ignorance, or of
unrighteousness, inasmuch as He said in the Gospel, [5298] "Did I not
choose you the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" Ask Him why He chose
Judas, a traitor? Why He entrusted to him the bag when He knew that he
was a thief? Shall I tell you the reason? God judges the present, not
the future. He does not make use of His foreknowledge to condemn a man
though He knows that he will hereafter displease Him; but such is His
goodness and unspeakable mercy that He chooses a man who, He perceives,
will meanwhile be good, and who, He knows, will turn out badly, thus
giving him the opportunity of being converted and of repenting. This is
the Apostle's meaning when he says, [5299] "Dost thou not know that the
goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? but after thy hardness and
impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath
and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, Who will render to
every man according to his works." For Adam did not sin because God
knew that he would do so; but God inasmuch as He is God, foreknew what
Adam would do of his own free choice. You may as well accuse God of
falsehood because He said by the mouth of Jonah: [5300] "Yet three
days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." But God will reply by the mouth
of Jeremiah, [5301] "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation,
and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to break down, and to
destroy it; if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from
their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a
kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it
obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I
would benefit them." Jonah, on a certain occasion, was indignant
because, at God's command, he had spoken falsely; but his sorrow was
proved to be ill founded, since he would rather speak truth and have a
countless multitude perish, than speak falsely and have them saved. His
position was thus illustrated: [5302] "Thou grievest over the ivy (or
gourd), for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow,
which came up in a night, and perished in a night; and should not I
have pity on Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score
thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their
left hand?" If there was so vast a number of children and simple folk,
whom you will never be able to prove sinners, what shall we say of
those inhabitants of both sexes who were at different periods of life?
According to Philo, and the wisest of philosophers, Plato (so the
"Timæus" tells us), in passing from infancy to decrepit old age, we go
through seven stages, which so gradually and so gently follow one
another that we are quite insensible of the change.
C. The drift of your whole argument is this--what the Greeks call
autexousion , and we free will, you admit in terms, but in effect
destroy. For you make God the author of sin, in asserting that man can
of himself do nothing, but that he must have the help of God to Whom is
imputed all we do. But we say that, whether a man does good or evil, it
is imputed to him on account of the faculty of free choice, inasmuch as
he did what he chose, and not to Him Who once for all gave him free
choice.
A. Your shuffling is to no purpose; you are caught in the snares of
truth. For upon this showing, even if He does not Himself assist,
according to you He will be the author of evil, because He might have
prevented it and did not. It is an old maxim that if a man can deliver
another from death and does not, he is a homicide.
C. I withdraw and yield the point; you have won; provided, however,
that victory is the subverting of the truth by specious words, that is
to say, not by truth, but by falsehood. For I might make answer to you
in the Apostle's words, [5303] "Though I be rude in speech, yet not in
knowledge." When you speak, your rhetorical tricks are too much for me,
and I seem to agree with you; but when you stop speaking, it all goes
out of my head, and I see quite clearly that your argument does not
flow from the fountains of truth and Christian simplicity, but rests on
the laboured subtleties of the philosophers.
A. Do you wish me, then, once more to resort to the evidence of
Scripture? If so, what becomes of the boast of your disciples that no
one can answer your arguments or solve the questions you raise?
C. I not only wish, but am eager that you should do so. Show me any
place in Holy Scripture where we find that, the power of free choice
being lost, a man does what of himself he either would not, or could
not do.
8. A. We must use the words of Scripture not as you propose, but as
truth and reason demand. Jacob says in his prayer, [5304] "If the Lord
God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will
give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my
father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God, and this stone,
which I have set up for a token, shall be God's house; and of all that
Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee." He did not
say, If thou preserve my free choice, and I gain by my toil food and
raiment, and return to my father's house. He refers everything to the
will of God, that he may be found worthy to receive that for which he
prays. On Jacob's return from Mesopotamia [5305] an army of angels met
him, who are called God's camp. He afterwards contended with an angel
in the form of a man, and was strengthened by God; whereupon, instead
of Jacob, the supplanter, he received the name, the most upright of
God. For he would not have dared to return to his cruel brother unless
he had been strengthened and secured by the Lord's help. In the sequel
we read, [5306] "The sun rose upon him after he passed over Phanuel,"
which is, being interpreted, the face of God. Hence [5307] Moses also
says, "I have seen the Lord face to face, and my life is preserved,"
not by any natural quality--but by the condescension of God, Who had
mercy. So then the Sun of Righteousness rises upon us when God makes
His face to shine upon us and gives us strength. Joseph in Egypt was
shut up in prison, and we next hear that the keeper of the prison,
believing in his fidelity, committed everything to his hand. And the
reason is given: [5308] "Because the Lord was with him: and whatsoever
he did, the Lord made it to prosper." Wherefore, also, dreams were
suggested to Pharaoh's attendants, and Pharaoh had one which none could
interpret, that so Joseph might be released, and his father and
brethren fed, and Egypt saved in the time of famine. Moreover, God
[5309] said to Israel, in a vision of the night, "I am the God of thy
fathers; fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will make of thee there
a great nation, and I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will
also surely bring thee up again, and Joseph shall put his hand upon
thine eyes." Where in this passage do we find the power of free choice?
Is not the whole circumstance that he ventured to go to his son, and
entrust himself to a nation that knew not the Lord, due to the help of
the God of his fathers? The people was released from Egypt with a
strong hand and an outstretched arm; not the hand of Moses and Aaron,
but of Him who set the people free by signs and wonders, and at last
smote the firstborn of Egypt, so that they who at [5310] first were
persistent in keeping the people, eagerly urged them to depart. Solomon
[5311] says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not upon
thine own understanding: in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall
direct thy paths." Understand what He says--that we must not trust in
our wisdom, but in the Lord alone, by Whom the steps of a man are
directed. Lastly, we are bidden to show Him our ways, and make them
known, for they are not made straight by our own labour, but by His
assistance and mercy. And so it is written, [5312] "Make my way right
before Thy face," so that what is right to Thee may seem also right to
me. Solomon says the same-- [5313] "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and
thy thoughts shall be established." Our thoughts are then established
when we commit all we do to the Lord our helper, resting it, as it
were, upon the firm and solid rock, and attribute everything to Him.
9. The Apostle Paul, rapidly recounting the benefits of God, ended with
the words, [5314] "And who is sufficient for these things?" Wherefore,
also, in another place he [5315] says, "Such confidence have we through
Christ to Godward; not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; Who also
made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter
but of the spirit; for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."
Do we still dare to pride ourselves on free will, and to abuse the
benefits of God to the dishonour of the giver? Whereas the same chosen
vessel openly [5316] writes, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from
ourselves." Therefore, also, in another place, checking the impudence
of the heretics, he [5317] says, "He that glorieth, let him glory in
the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the
Lord commendeth." And again, [5318] "In nothing was I behind the very
chiefest Apostles, though I be nothing." Peter, disturbed by the
greatness of the miracles he witnessed, said to the Lord, [5319]
"Depart from me, for I am a sinful man." And the Lord said to His
disciples, [5320] "I am the vine and ye are the branches: He that
abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit, for apart from
Me ye can do nothing." Just as the vine branches and shoots immediately
decay when they are severed from the parent stem, so all the strength
of men fades and perishes, if it be bereft of the help of God. "No
one," [5321] He says, "can come unto Me except the Father Who sent Me
draw him." When He says, "No one can come unto Me," He shatters the
pride of free will; because, even if a man will to go to Christ, except
that be realized which follows--"unless My heavenly Father draw
him"--desire is to no purpose, and effort is in vain. At the same time
it is to be noted that he who is drawn does not run freely, but is led
along either because he holds back and is sluggish, or because he is
reluctant to go.
10. Now, how can a man who cannot by his own strength and labour come
to Jesus, at the same time avoid all sins? and avoid them perpetually,
and claim for himself a name which belongs to the might of God? For if
He and I are both without sin, what difference is there between me and
God? One more proof only I will adduce, that I may not weary you and my
hearers. [5322] Sleep was removed from the eyes of Ahasuerus, whom the
Seventy call Artaxerxes, that he might turn over the memoirs of his
faithful ministers and come upon Mordecai, by whose evidence he was
delivered from a conspiracy; and that thus Esther might be more
acceptable, and the whole people of the Jews escape imminent death.
There is no doubt that the mighty sovereign to whom belonged the whole
East, from India to the North and to Ethiopia, after feasting
sumptuously on delicacies gathered from every part of the world would
have desired to sleep, and to take his rest, and to gratify his free
choice of sleep, had not the Lord, the provider of all good things,
hindered the course of nature, so that in defiance of nature the
tyrant's cruelty might be overcome. If I were to attempt to produce all
the instances in Holy Writ, I should be tedious. All that the saints
say is a prayer to God; their whole prayer and supplication a strong
wrestling for the pity of God, so that we, who by our own strength and
zeal cannot be saved, may be preserved by His mercy. But when we are
concerned with grace and mercy, free will is in part void; in part, I
say, for so much as this depends upon it, that we wish and desire, and
give assent to the course we choose. But it depends on God whether we
have the power in His strength and with His help to perform what we
desire, and to bring to effect our toil and effort.
11. C. I simply said that we find the help of God not in our several
actions, but in the grace of creation and of the law, that free will
might not be destroyed. But there are many of us who maintain that all
we do is done with the help of God.
A. Whoever says that must leave your party. Either, then, say the same
yourself and join our side, or, if you refuse, you will be just as much
our enemy as those who do not hold our views.
C. I shall be on your side if you speak my sentiments, or rather you
will be on mine if you do not contradict them. You admit health of
body, and deny health of the soul, which is stronger than the body. For
sin is to the soul what disease or a wound is to the body. If then you
admit that a man may be healthy so far as he is flesh, why do you not
say he may be healthy so far as he is spirit?
A. I will follow in the line you point out,
"and you to-day
Shall ne'er escape; where'r you call, I come."
C. I am ready to listen.
A. And I to speak to deaf ears. I will therefore reply to your
argument. Made up of soul and body, we have the nature of both
substances. As the body is said to be healthy if it is troubled with no
weakness, so the soul is free from fault if it is unshaken and
undisturbed. And yet, although the body may be healthy, sound, and
active, with all the faculties in their full vigour, yet it suffers
much from infirmities at more or less frequent intervals, and, however
strong it may be, is sometimes distressed by various humours; so the
soul, bearing the onset of thoughts and agitations, even though it
escape shipwreck, does not sail without danger, and remembering its
weakness, is always anxious about death, according as it is written,
[5323] "What man is he that shall live and not see death?"--death,
which threatens all mortal men, not through the decay of nature, but
through the death of sin, according to the prophet's words, [5324] "The
soul that sinneth, it shall die." Besides, we know that Enoch and Elias
have not yet seen this death which is common to man and the brutes.
Show me a body which is never sick, or which after sickness is ever
safe and sound, and I will show you a soul which never sinned, and
after acquiring virtues will never again sin. The thing is impossible,
and all the more when we remember that vice borders on virtue, and
that, if you deviate ever so little, you will either go astray or fall
over a precipice. How small is the interval between obstinacy and
perseverance, miserliness and frugality, liberality and extravagance,
wisdom and craft, intrepidity and rashness, caution and timidity! some
of which are classed as good, others as bad. And the same applies to
bodies. If you take precautions against biliousness, the phlegm
increases. If you dry up the humours too quickly, the blood becomes
heated and vitiated with bile, and a sallow hue spreads over the
countenance. Without question, however much we may exercise all the
care of the physician, and regulate our diet, and be free from
indigestion and whatever fosters disease, the causes of which are in
some cases hidden from us and known to God alone, we shiver with cold,
or burn with fever, or howl with colic, and implore the help of the
true physician, our Saviour, and [5325] say with the Apostles, "Master,
save us, we perish."
12. C. Granted that no one could avoid all sin in boyhood, youth, and
early manhood; can you deny that very many righteous and holy men,
after falling into vice, have heartily devoted themselves to the
acquisition of virtue and through these have escaped sin?
A. This is what I told you at the beginning--that it rests with
ourselves either to sin or not to sin, and to put the hand either to
good or evil; and thus free will is preserved, but according to
circumstances, time, and the state of human frailty; we maintain,
however, that perpetual freedom from sin is reserved for God only, and
for Him Who being the Word was made flesh without incurring the defects
and the sins of the flesh. And, because I am able to avoid sin for a
short time, you cannot logically infer that I am able to do so
continually. Can I fast, watch, walk, sing, sit, sleep perpetually?
C. Why then in Holy Scripture are we stimulated to aim at perfect
righteousness? For example: [5326] "Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall see God," and [5327] "Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
who walk in the law of the Lord." And God says to Abraham, [5328] "I am
thy God, be thou pleasing in My sight, and be thou without spot, or
blame, and I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will
multiply thee exceedingly." If that is impossible which Scripture
testifies, it was useless to command it to be done.
A. You play upon Scripture until you wear a question threadbare, and
remind me of the platform tricks of a conjurer who assumes a variety of
characters, and is now Mars, next moment Venus; so that he who was at
first all sternness and ferocity is dissolved into feminine softness.
For the objection you now raise with an air of novelty--"Blessed are
the pure in heart," "Blessed are the undefiled in the way," and "Be
without spot," and so forth--is refuted when the Apostle replies,
[5329] "We know in part, and we prophesy in part," and, "Now we see
through a mirror darkly, but when that which is perfect is come, that
which is in part shall be done away." And therefore we have but the
shadow and likeness of the pure heart, which hereafter is destined to
see God, and, free from spot or stain, to live with Abraham. However
great the patriarch, prophet, or Apostle may be, it is [5330] said to
them, in the words of our Lord and Saviour, "If ye being evil, know how
to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father
Which is in heaven give good things to them which ask Him?" Then again
even Abraham, to whom it was said, [5331] "Be thou without spot and
blame," in the consciousness of his frailty fell upon his face to the
earth. And when God had spoken to Him, saying, "Thy wife Sarai shall no
longer be called Sarai, but Sara shall her name be, and I will give
thee a son by her, and I will bless him and he shall become a great
nation, and kings of nations shall spring from him," the narrative at
once proceeds to say, "Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and
said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred
years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" And
Abraham said unto God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before thee!" And
God said, "Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou
shalt call his name Isaac," and so on. He certainly had heard the words
of God, "I am thy God, be thou pleasing in My sight, and without spot";
why then did he not believe what God promised, and why did he laugh in
his heart, thinking that he escaped the notice of God, and not daring
to laugh openly? Moreover he gives the reasons for his unbelief, and
says, "How is it possible for a man that is an hundred years old to
beget a son of a wife that is ninety years old?" "Oh, that Ishmael
might live before thee," he says. "Ishmael whom thou once gavest me. I
do not ask a hard thing, I am content with the blessing I have
received." God convinced him by a mysterious reply. He said, "Yea." The
meaning is, that shall come to pass which you think shall not be. Your
wife Sara shall bear you a son, and before she conceives, before he is
born, I will give the boy a name. For, from your error in secretly
laughing, your son shall be called Isaac, that is laughter. But if you
think that God is seen by those who are pure in heart in this world,
why did Moses, who had previously said, "I have seen the Lord face to
face, and my life is preserved," afterwards entreat that he might see
him distinctly? And because he said that he had seen God, the Lord told
him, [5332] "Thou canst not see My face. For man shall not see My face,
and live." Wherefore also the Apostle [5333] calls Him the only
invisible God, Who dwells in light unapproachable, and Whom no man hath
seen, nor can see. And the Evangelist John in holy accents testifies,
saying, [5334] "No man hath at any time seen God. The only begotten Son
Who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." He Who sees,
also declares, not how great He is Who is seen, nor how much He knows
Who declares; but as much as the capacity of mortals can receive.
13. And whereas you think he is blessed who is undefiled in the way,
and walks in His law, you must interpret the former clause by the
latter. From the many proofs I have adduced you have learnt that no one
has been able to fulfil the law. And if the Apostle, in comparison with
the grace of Christ, reckoned those things as filth which formerly,
under the law, he counted gain, so that he might win Christ, how much
more certain ought we to be that the reason why the grace of Christ and
of the Gospel has been added is that, under the law, no one could be
justified? Now if, under the law, no one is justified, how is he
perfectly undefiled in the way who is still walking and hastening to
reach the goal? Surely, he who is in the course, and who is advancing
on the road, is inferior to him who has reached his journey's end. If,
then, he is undefiled and perfect who is still walking in the way and
advancing in the law, what more shall he have who has arrived at the
end of life and of the law? Hence the Apostle, speaking of our Lord,
says that, at the end of the world, when all virtues shall receive
their consummation, He will present His holy Church to Himself without
spot or wrinkle, and yet you think that Church perfect, while yet in
the flesh, which is subject to death and decay. You deserve to be told,
with the Corinthians, [5335] "Ye are already perfect, ye are already
made rich: ye reign without us, and I would that ye did reign, that we
might also reign with you"--since true and stainless perfection belongs
to the inhabitants of heaven, and is reserved for that day when the
bridegroom shall say to the bride, [5336] "Thou art all fair, my love;
and there is no spot in thee." And in this sense we must understand the
words: [5337] "That ye may be blameless and harmless, as children of
God, without blemish"; for He did not say ye are, but may be. He is
contemplating the future, not stating a case pertaining to the present;
so that here is toil and effort, in that other world the rewards of
labour and of virtue. Lastly, John writes: [5338] "Beloved, we are sons
of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that
when He shall be manifested, we shall be like Him: for we shall see Him
even as He is." Although, then, we are sons of God, yet likeness to
God, and the true contemplation of God, is promised us then, when He
shall appear in His majesty.
14. From this swelling pride springs the audacity in prayer which marks
the directions in your letter to a [5339] certain widow as to how the
saints ought to pray. "He," you say, [5340] "rightly lifts up his hands
to God; he pours out supplications with a good conscience who can say,
Thou knowest, Lord, how holy, how innocent, how pure from all deceit,
wrong, and robbery are the hands which I spread out unto Thee; how
righteous, how spotless, and free from all falsehood are the lips with
which I pour forth my prayers unto Thee, that Thou mayest pity me.'" Is
this the prayer of a Christian, or of a proud Pharisee like him who
[5341] says in the Gospel, "God, I thank Thee that I am not as other
men are, robbers, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican: I fast
twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess." Yet he merely
thanks God because, by His mercy, he is not as other men: he execrates
sin, and does not claim his righteousness as his own. But you say, "Now
Thou knowest how holy, how innocent, how pure from all deceit, wrong,
and robbery are the hands which I spread out before Thee." He says that
he fasts twice in the week, that he may afflict his vicious and wanton
flesh, and he gives tithes of all his substance. For [5342] "the ransom
of a man's life is his riches." You join the devil in boasting, [5343]
"I will ascend above the stars, I will place my throne in heaven, and I
will be like the Most High." David says, [5344] "My loins are filled
with illusions"; and [5345] "My wounds stink and are corrupt because of
my foolishness"; and [5346] "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant";
and [5347] "In Thy sight no man living shall be justified." You boast
that you are holy, innocent, and pure, and spread out clean hands unto
God. And you are not satisfied with glorying in all your works, unless
you say that you are pure from all sins of speech; and you tell us how
righteous, how spotless, how free from all falsehood your lips are. The
Psalmist sings, [5348] "Every man is a liar"; and this is supported by
apostolical authority: "That God may be true," says St. Paul, [5349]
"and every man a liar"; and yet you have lips righteous, spotless, and
free from all falsehood. Isaiah laments, saying, [5350] "Woe is me! for
I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the
midst of a people of unclean lips"; and afterwards one of the seraphim
brings a hot coal, taken with the tongs, to purify the prophet's lips,
for he was not, according to the tenor of your words, arrogant, but he
confessed his own faults. Just as we read in the Psalms, [5351] "What
shall be due unto thee, and what shall be done more unto thee in
respect of a deceitful tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals
that make desolate." And after all this swelling with pride, and
boastfulness in prayer, and confidence in your holiness, like one fool
trying to persuade another, you finish with the words "These lips with
which I pour out my supplication that Thou mayest have pity on me." If
you are holy, if you are innocent, if you are cleansed from all
defilement, if you have sinned neither in word nor deed--although James
says, [5352] "He who offends not in word is a perfect man," and "No one
can curb his tongue"--how is it that you sue for mercy? so that,
forsooth, you bewail yourself, and pour out prayers because you are
holy, pure, and innocent, a man of stainless lips, free from all
falsehood, and endowed with a power like that of God. Christ prayed
thus on the cross: [5353] "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
Why art Thou so far from helping Me?" And, again, [5354] "Father, into
Thy hands I commend My spirit," and [5355] "Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do." And this is He, who, returning thanks for
us, had said, [5356] "I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth."
15. Our Lord so instructed His Apostles that, daily at the sacrifice of
His body, believers make bold to say, "Our Father, Which art in Heaven,
hallowed be Thy name"; they earnestly desire the name of God, which in
itself is holy, to be hallowed in themselves; you say, "Thou knowest,
Lord, how holy, how innocent, and how pure are my hands." Then they
say: "Thy Kingdom come," anticipating the hope of the future kingdom,
so that, when Christ reigns, sin may by no means reign in their mortal
body, and to this they couple the words, "Thy will be done in earth as
it is in Heaven"; so that human weakness may imitate the angels, and
the will of our Lord may be fulfilled on earth; you say, "A man can, if
he chooses, be free from all sin." The Apostles prayed for the daily
bread, or the bread better than all food, which was to come, so that
they might be worthy to receive the body of Christ; and you are led by
your excess of holiness and well established righteousness to boldly
claim the heavenly gifts. Next comes, "Forgive us our debts, as we also
forgive our debtors." No sooner do they rise from the baptismal font,
and by being born again and incorporated into our Lord and Saviour thus
fulfil what is written of them, [5357] "Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered," than at the first
communion of the body of Christ they say, "Forgive us our debts,"
though these debts had been forgiven them at their confession of
Christ; but you in your arrogant pride boast of the cleanness of your
holy hands and of the purity of your speech. However thorough the
conversion of a man may be, and however perfect his possession of
virtue after a time of sins and failings, can such persons be as free
from fault as they who are just leaving the font of Christ? And yet
these latter are commanded to say, "Forgive us our debts, as we also
forgive our debtors"; not in the spirit of a false humility, but
because they are afraid of human frailty and dread their own
conscience. They say, "Lead us not into temptation"; you and Jovinian
unite in saying that those who with a full faith have been baptized
cannot be further tempted or sin. Lastly, they add, "But deliver us
from the evil one." Why do they beg from the Lord what they have
already by the power of free will? Oh, man, now thou hast been made
clean in the laver, and of thee it is said, "Who is this that cometh up
all white, leaning upon her beloved?" The bride, therefore, is washed,
yet she cannot keep her purity, unless she be supported by the Lord.
How is it that you long to be set free by the mercy of God, you who but
a little while ago were released from your sins? The only explanation
is the principle by which we maintain that, when we have done all, we
must confess we are unprofitable.
16. So then your prayer outdoes the pride of the Pharisee, and you are
condemned when compared with the Publican. He, standing afar off, did
not dare to lift up his eyes unto Heaven, but smote upon his breast,
saying, [5358] "God be merciful unto me a sinner." And on this is based
our Lord's declaration, "I say unto you this man went down to his house
justified rather than the other. For every one that exalteth himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." The
Apostles are humbled that they may be exalted. Your disciples are
lifted up that they may fall. In your flattery of the widow previously
mentioned you are not ashamed to say that piety such as is found on
earth, and truth which is everywhere a stranger, had made their home
with her in preference to all others. You do not recollect the familiar
words, [5359] "O my people, they which call thee blessed cause thee to
err, and destroy the paths of thy feet"; and you expressly praise her
and say, "Happy beyond all thought are you! how blessed! if
righteousness, which is believed to be now nowhere but in Heaven, is
found with you alone on earth." Is this teaching or slaying? Is it
raising from earth, or casting down from heaven, to attribute that to a
poor creature of a woman, which angels would not dare arrogate to
themselves? If piety, truth, and righteousness are found on earth
nowhere but in one woman, where shall we find your righteous followers,
who, you boast, are sinless on earth? These two chapters on prayer and
praise you and your disciples are wont to swear are none of yours, and
yet your brilliant style is so clearly seen in them, and the elegance
of your Ciceronian diction is so marked that, although you strut about
with the slow pace of a tortoise, you have not the courage to
acknowledge what you teach in private and expose for sale. Happy man!
whose books no one writes out but your own disciples, so that whatever
appears to be unacceptable, you may contend is not your own but some
one else's work. And where is the man with ability enough to imitate
the charm of your language?
17. C. I can put it off no longer; my patience is completely overcome
by your iniquitous words. Tell me, pray, what sin have little infants
committed. Neither the consciousness of wrong nor ignorance can be
imputed to those who, according to the prophet Jonah, know not their
right hand from their left. They cannot sin, and they can perish; their
knees are too weak to walk, they utter inarticulate cries; we laugh at
their attempts to speak; and, all the while, poor unfortunates! the
torments of eternal misery are prepared for them.
A. Ah! now that your disciples have turned masters you begin to be
fluent, not to say eloquent. Antony, [5360] an excellent orator, whose
praises Tully loudly proclaims, says that he had seen many fluent men,
but so far never an eloquent speaker; so don't amuse me with flowers of
oratory which have not grown in your own garden, and with which the
ears of inexperience and of boyhood are wont to be tickled, but plainly
tell me what you think.
C. What I say is this--you must at least allow that they have no sin
who cannot sin.
A. I will allow it, if they have been baptized into Christ; and if you
will not then immediately bind me to agree with your opinion that a man
can be without sin if he chooses; for they neither have the power nor
the will; but they are free from all sin through the grace of God,
which they received in their baptism.
C. You force me to make an invidious remark and ask, Why, what sin have
they committed? that you may immediately have me stoned in some popular
tumult. You have not the power to kill me, but you certainly have the
will.
A. He slays a heretic who allows him to be a heretic. But when we
rebuke him we give him life; you may die to your heresy, and live to
the Catholic faith.
C. If you know us to be heretics, why do you not accuse us?
A. Because the [5361] Apostle teaches me to avoid a heretic after the
first and second admonition, not to accuse him. The Apostle knew that
such an one is perverse and self-condemned. Besides, it would be the
height of folly to make my faith depend on another man's judgment. For
supposing some one were to call you a Catholic, am I to immediately
give assent? Whoever defends you, and says that you rightly hold your
perverse opinions, does not succeed in rescuing you from infamy, but
charges himself with perfidy. Your numerous supporters will never prove
you to be a Catholic, but will show that you are a heretic. But I would
have such opinions as these suppressed by ecclesiastical authority;
otherwise we shall be in the case of those who show some dreadful
picture to a crying child. May the fear of God grant us this--to
despise all other fears. Therefore, either defend your opinions, or
abandon what you are unable to defend. Whoever may be called in to
defend you must be enrolled as a partisan, not as a patron.
18. C. Tell me, pray, and rid me of all doubts, why little children are
baptized.
A. That their sins may be forgiven them in baptism.
C. What sin are they guilty of? How can any one be set free who is not
bound?
A. You ask me! The Gospel trumpet will reply, the teacher of the
Gentiles, the golden vessel shining throughout the world: [5362] "Death
reigned from Adam even unto Moses: even over those who did not sin
after the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of Him
that was to come." And if you object that some are spoken of who did
not sin, you must understand that they did not sin in the same way as
Adam did by transgressing God's command in Paradise. But all men are
held liable either on account of their ancient forefather Adam, or on
their own account. He that is an infant is released in baptism from the
chain which bound his father. He who is old enough to have discernment
is set free from the chain of his own or another's sin by the blood of
Christ. You must not think me a heretic because I take this view, for
the blessed martyr Cyprian, whose rival you boast of being in the
classification of Scripture proofs, in the [5363] epistle addressed to
Bishop Fidus on the Baptism of Infants speaks thus: "Moreover, if even
the worst offenders, and those who previous to baptism sin much against
God, once they believe have the gift of remission of sins, and no one
is kept from baptism and from grace, how much more ought not an infant
to be kept from baptism seeing that, being only just born, he has
committed no sin? He has only, being born according to the flesh among
Adam's sons, incurred the taint of ancient death by his first birth.
And he is the more easily admitted to remission of sins because of the
very fact that not his own sins but those of another are remitted to
him. And so, dearest brother, it was our decision in council that no
one ought to be kept by us from baptism and from the grace of God, Who
is merciful to all, and kind, and good. And whereas this rule ought to
be observed and kept with reference to all, bear in mind that it ought
so much the more to be observed with regard to infants themselves and
those just born, for they have the greater claims on our assistance in
order to obtain Divine mercy, because their cries and tears from the
very birth are one perpetual prayer."
19. That holy man and eloquent bishop Augustin not long ago wrote to
[5364] Marcellinus (the same that was afterwards, though innocent, put
to death by heretics on the pretext of his taking part in the tyranny
of Heraclian [5365] ) two treatises on infant baptism, in opposition to
your heresy which maintains that infants are baptized not for remission
of sins, but for admission to the kingdom of heaven, according as it is
written in the Gospel, [5366] "Except a man be born again of water and
of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." He
addressed a [5367] third, moreover, to the same Marcellinus, against
those who say as do you, that a man can be free from sin, if he
chooses, without the help of God. And, recently, a [5368] fourth to
Hilary against this doctrine of yours, which is full of perversity. And
he is said to have others on the anvil with special regard to you,
which have not yet come to hand. Wherefore, I think I must abandon my
task, for fear Horace's words may be thrown at me, [5369] "Don't carry
firewood into a forest." For we must either say the same as he does,
and that would be superfluous; or, if we wished to say something fresh,
we should [5370] find our best points anticipated by that splendid
genius. One thing I will say and so end my discourse, that you ought
either to give us a new creed, so that, after baptizing children into
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you may baptize them into
the kingdom of heaven; or, if you have one baptism both for infants and
for persons of mature age, it follows that infants also should be
baptized for the remission of sins after the likeness of the
transgression of Adam. But if you think the remission of another's sins
implies injustice, and that he has no need of it who could not sin,
cross over to Origen, your special favourite, who says that ancient
offences [5371] committed long before in the heavens are loosed in
baptism. You will then be not only led by his authority in other
matters, but will be following his error in this also.
__________________________________________________________________
[5282] Prov. x. 19.
[5283] By a Synod under Siricius in a.d. 390.
[5284] The allusion is to the African Synod, held a.d. 412, at which
Celestius was condemned and excommunicated.
[5285] Ps. cxxvii. 1.
[5286] 1 Cor. ix. 24.
[5287] v. 12.
[5288] John v. 14.
[5289] 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17.
[5290] 2 Chron. xv. 2.
[5291] The words are those of S. Barnabas. Possibly in Jerome's copy
the passage may have been attributed to Ignatius.
[5292] Ps. xvi. 4. Sept. and Vulgate.
[5293] Acts xiii. 32; Ps. lxxxviii. 21.
[5294] 2 Tim. iv. 13.
[5295] Acts xxiii. 2 sq.
[5296] S. John xviii. 23.
[5297] 2 Tim. iv. 14.
[5298] S. John vi. 70.
[5299] Rom. ii. 4, 5.
[5300] iii. 4.
[5301] Jerem. xviii. 7, 8.
[5302] Jonah iv. 10, 11.
[5303] 1 Cor. xi. 6.
[5304] Gen. xxviii. 20 sq.
[5305] Gen. xxxii. 2.
[5306] Gen. xxxii. 31. L. R.V. Penuel. Comp. Mt. xix. 4.
[5307] Ib. 30. The words are Jacob's, but they are attributed to Moses
as author.
[5308] Gen. xxxix. 23.
[5309] Gen. xlvi. 3, 4.
[5310] Ex. xi. and xii.
[5311] Prov. iii. 5, 6.
[5312] Ps. v. 8.
[5313] Prov. xvi. 3.
[5314] 2 Cor. ii. 16.
[5315] 2 Cor. iii. 4-6.
[5316] 2 Cor. iv. 7.
[5317] 2 Cor. x. 17, 18.
[5318] 2 Cor. xii. 11.
[5319] S. Luke v. 8.
[5320] S. John xv. 5.
[5321] S. John vi. 44.
[5322] Esther vi. 1.
[5323] Ps. lxxxix. 48.
[5324] Ezek. xviii. 4.
[5325] S. Matt. viii. 25.
[5326] S. Matt. v. 8.
[5327] Ps. cxix. 1.
[5328] Gen. xvii. 1, 2.
[5329] 1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10.
[5330] S. Matt. vii. 11.
[5331] Gen. xvii. 1 sq.
[5332] Ex. xxxiii. 20.
[5333] 1 Tim. i. 17; vi. 16.
[5334] i. 18.
[5335] 1 Cor. iv. 8.
[5336] Cant. iv. 7.
[5337] Phil. ii. 15.
[5338] 1 John iii. 2.
[5339] See S. Aug. De Gest. Pelag. § 16. The widow was Juliana, mother
to Demetrias (to whom Jerome addressed his Letter CXXX. "On the keeping
of Virginity"). Pelagius' letter to Demetrias is found in Jerome's
works (Ed. Vall.), vol. xi. col. 15.
[5340] The whole passage, as quoted by Augustin, runs as follows: "May
piety find with thee a place which it has never found elsewhere. May
truth, which no one now knows, be thy household friend; and the law of
God, which is despised by almost all men, be honoured by thee alone."
"How happy, how blessed art thou, if that justice which we are to
believe exists only in heaven is found with thee alone upon earth."
Then follow the words quoted above.
[5341] S. Luke xviii. 11.
[5342] Prov. xiii. 8.
[5343] Is. xiv. 13, 14. Spoken of the King of Babylon.
[5344] Ps. xxxviii. 7. Vulg.
[5345] Ibid. 5.
[5346] Ps. cxliii. 2.
[5347] Ibid. 4.
[5348] Ps. cxvi. 11.
[5349] Rom. iii. 4.
[5350] Is. vi. 5.
[5351] Ps. cxx. 3. Vulg.
[5352] James iii. 2.
[5353] Ps. xxii. 2; Sept. and Vulgate. S. Matt xxvii. 46, R.V., "and
from the words of my roaring."
[5354] S. Luke xxiii. 46.
[5355] S. Luke xxiii. 34.
[5356] S. Matt. xi. 25.
[5357] Ps. xxi. 1.
[5358] S. Luke xviii. 13.
[5359] Is. iii. 12.
[5360] The grandfather of the Triumvir, born b.c. 142, died in the
civil conflict excited by Marius, b.c. 87.
[5361] Tit. iii. 10.
[5362] Rom. v. 14.
[5363] Cyp. Ep. 64 (al. 59). S. Augustine preaching at Carthage on June
27, 413, quoted the same letter, which was a Synodical letter of a.d.
253. See Bright's Anti-Pelagian Treatises, Introduction, p. xxi.
[5364] Marcellinus was the lay imperial commissioner appointed to
superintend the discussion between the Catholics and Donatists at the
Council of Carthage, a.d. 411. In 413 Heraclian, governor of Africa,
revolted against Honorius, the Emperor, and invaded Italy. The
enterprise failed, and on his return to Africa the promoter of it was
put to death. The Donatists, called by Jerome "heretics," are supposed
to have accused Marcellinus of taking part in the rebellion. He was
executed in 414.
[5365] "On the Deserts and Remission of Sins, and the Baptism of
Infants," in three books, the earliest of S. Augustin's Anti-Pelagian
treatises. It was composed in reply to a letter from his friend
Marcellinus, who was harassed by Pelagianising disputants. See S. Aug.
"De Gest. Pel." § 25.
[5366] S. John iii. 3.
[5367] The "De Spiritu et Littera." Marcellinus found a difficulty in
Augustin's view of the question of sinlessness. See Bright's
Anti-Pelagian Treatises, Introduction, p. xix.
[5368] Whether he who was made Bishop of Arles, in 429, is disputed.
The treatise was the "De Natura et Gratia," written early in 415.
[5369] Sat. i. 10.
[5370] Or, better positions have been occupied.
[5371] Origen held the pre-existence of souls, endowed with free will,
and supposed their condition in this world to be the result of their
conduct in their previous state of probation.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Prefaces.
------------------------
The Prefaces to Jerome's works have in many cases a special value. This
value is sometimes personal; they are the free expressions of his
feelings to those whom he trusts. Sometimes it lies in the mention of
particular events; sometimes in showing the special difficulties he
encountered as a translator, or the state of mind of those for whom he
wrote; sometimes in making us understand the extent and limits of his
own knowledge, and the views on points such as the inspiration of
Scripture which actuated him as a translator or commentator; sometimes,
again, in the particular interpretations which he gives. These things
gain a great importance from the fact that Jerome's influence and that
of his Vulgate was preponderant in Western Europe for more than a
thousand years.
We have had to make a selection, not only from want of space, but also
because the Prefaces are of very unequal value, and sometimes are mere
repetitions of previous statements. We have therefore given specimens
of each class of Preface; we have given also all which bears on the
better understanding of the life and views of Jerome; but where a
Preface repeats what has been said before, or where it gives facts or
interpretations which are well known or of no particular value, we have
contented ourselves with a short statement of its contents.
The Prefaces fall under three heads: 1st. Those prefixed to Jerome's
early works bearing on Church history or Scripture. 2d. The Prefaces to
the Vulgate translation. 3d. Those prefixed to the Commentaries.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Prefaces to Jerome's Early Works.
Preface to the Chronicle of Eusebius.
The "Chronicle" is a book of universal history, giving the dates from
the call of Abraham, and the Olympiads. For an account of it the reader
is referred to the article of Dr. Salmon in the "Dictionary of
Christian Antiquities." It was translated by Jerome in the years
381-82, at Constantinople, where he was staying for the Council. This
Preface shows that Jerome was already becoming aware of the
difficulties arising from the various versions of the Old Testament,
and of the necessity of going back to the Hebrew.
Jerome to his friends [5372] Vincentius and Gallienus, Greeting:
1. It has long been the practice of learned men to exercise their minds
by rendering into Latin the works of Greek writers, and, what is more
difficult, to translate the poems of illustrious authors though
trammelled by the farther requirements of verse. It was thus that our
Tully literally translated whole books of Plato; and after publishing
an edition of [5373] Aratus (who may now be considered a Roman) in
hexameter verse, he amused himself with the economics of Xenophon. In
this latter work the golden river of eloquence again and again meets
with obstacles, around which its waters break and foam to such an
extent that persons unacquainted with the original would not believe
they were reading Cicero's words. And no wonder! It is hard to follow
another man's lines and everywhere keep within bounds. It is an arduous
task to preserve felicity and grace unimpaired in a translation. Some
word has forcibly expressed a given thought; I have no word of my own
to convey the meaning; and while I am seeking to satisfy the sense I
may go a long way round and accomplish but a small distance of my
journey. Then we must take into account the ins and outs of
transposition, the variations in cases, the diversity of figures, and,
lastly, the peculiar, and, so to speak, the native idiom of the
language. A literal translation sounds absurd; if, on the other hand, I
am obliged to change either the order or the words themselves, I shall
appear to have forsaken the duty of a translator.
2. So, my dear Vincentius, and you, Gallienus, whom I love as my own
soul, I beseech you, whatever may be the value of this hurried piece of
work, to read it with the feelings of a friend rather than with those
of a critic. And I ask this all the more earnestly because, as you
know, I dictated with great rapidity to my amanuensis; and how
difficult the task is, the sacred records testify; for the old flavour
is not preserved in the Greek version by the Seventy. It was this that
stimulated Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion; and the result of their
labors was to impart a totally different character to one and the same
work; one strove to give word for word, another the general meaning,
while the third desired to avoid any great divergency from the
ancients. A fifth, sixth, and seventh edition, though no one knows to
what authors they are to be attributed, exhibit so pleasing a variety
of their own that, in spite of their being anonymous, they have won an
authoritative position. Hence, some go so far as to consider the sacred
writings somewhat harsh and grating to the ear; which arises from the
fact that the persons of whom I speak are not aware that the writings
in question are a translation from the Hebrew, and therefore, looking
at the surface not at the substance, they shudder at the squalid dress
before they discover the fair body which the language clothes. In fact,
what can be more musical than the Psalter? Like the writings of our own
[5374] Flaccus and the Grecian Pindar it now trips along in iambics,
now flows in sonorous alcaics, now swells into sapphics, now [5375]
marches in half-foot metre. What can be more lovely than the strains of
Deuteronomy and Isaiah? What more grave than Solomon's words? What more
finished than Job? All these, as Josephus and Origen tell us, were
composed in hexameters and pentameters, and so circulated amongst their
own people. When we read these in Greek they have some meaning; when in
Latin they are utterly incoherent. But if any one thinks that the grace
of language does not suffer through translation, let him render Homer
word for word into Latin. I will go farther and say that, if he will
translate this author into the prose of his own language, the order of
the words will seem ridiculous, and the most eloquent of poets almost
dumb.
3. What is the drift of all this? I would not have you think it strange
if here and there we stumble; if the language lag; if it bristle with
consonants or present gaping chasms of vowels; or be cramped by
condensation of the narrative. The most learned among men have toiled
at the same task; and in addition to the difficulty which all
experience, and which we have alleged to attend all translation, it
must not be forgotten that a peculiar difficulty besets us, inasmuch as
the history is manifold, is full of barbarous names, circumstances of
which the Latins know nothing, dates which are tangled knots, critical
marks blended alike with the events and the numbers, so that it is
almost harder to discern the sequence of the words than to come to a
knowledge of what is related.
[Here follows a long passage showing an arrangement according to which
the dates are distinguished by certain colours as belonging to one or
another of the kingdoms, the history of which is dealt with. This
passage seems unintelligible in the absence of the coloured figures,
and would be of no use unless the book with its original arrangement
were being studied.]
I am well aware that there will be many who, with their customary
fondness for universal detraction (from which the only escape is by
writing nothing at all), will drive their fangs into this volume. They
will cavil at the dates, change the order, impugn the accuracy of
events, winnow the syllables, and, as is very frequently the case, will
impute the negligence of copyists to the authors. I should be within my
right if I were to rebut them by saying that they need not read unless
they choose; but I would rather send them away in a calm state of mind,
so that they may attribute to the Greek author the credit which is his
due, and may recognize that any insertions for which we are responsible
have been taken from other men of the highest repute. The truth is that
I have partly discharged the office of a translator and partly that of
a writer. I have with the utmost fidelity rendered the Greek portion,
and at the same time have added certain things which appeared to me to
have been allowed to slip, particularly in the Roman history, which
Eusebius, the author of this book, as it seems to me, only glanced at;
not so much because of ignorance, for he was a learned man, as because,
writing in Greek, he thought them of slight importance to his
countrymen. So again from Ninus and Abraham, right up to the captivity
of Troy, the translation is from the Greek only. From Troy to the
twentieth year of Constantine there is much, at one time separately
added, at another intermingled, which I have gleaned with great
diligence from Tranquillus and other famous historians. Moreover, the
portion from the aforesaid year of Constantine to the sixth consulship
of the Emperor Valens and the second of Valentinianus is entirely my
own. Content to end here, I have reserved the remaining period, that of
Gratianus and Theodosius, for a wider historical survey; not that I am
afraid to discuss the living freely and truthfully, for the fear of God
banishes the fear of man; but because while our country is still
exposed to the fury of the barbarians everything is in confusion.
__________________________________________________________________
[5372] Vincentius appears to have attached himself to Jerome at
Constantinople and remained with him till the end of the century.
(Jerome, Against John of Jerusalem, 41; Apol., iii. 22; Letter
LXXXVIII.) Nothing is known of Gallienus.
[5373] Flourished b.c. 270.
[5374] That is, Horace.
[5375] Sublimia debent ingredi.--Quint, 9, 4 fin.
__________________________________________________________________
Preface to the Translation of Origen's Two Homilies on the Song of
Songs.
Written at Rome, a.d. 383.
Jerome to the most holy Pope Damasus:
Origen, whilst in his other books he has surpassed all others, has in
the Song of Songs surpassed himself. He wrote ten volumes upon it,
which amount to almost twenty thousand lines, and in these he
discussed, first the version of the Seventy Translators, then those of
Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, and lastly, a fifth version which he
states that he found on the coast of Atrium, with such magnificence and
fulness, that he appears to me to have realized what is said in the
poem: "The king brought me into his chamber." I have left that work on
one side, since it would require almost boundless leisure and labour
and money to translate so great a work into Latin, even if it could be
worthily done; and I have translated these two short treatises, which
he composed in the form of daily lectures for those who were still like
babes and sucklings, and I have studied faithfulness rather than
elegance. You can conceive how great a value the larger work possesses,
when the smaller gives you such satisfaction.
__________________________________________________________________
Preface to the Book on Hebrew Names.
The origin and scope of this book is described in the Preface itself.
It was written in the year 388, two years after Jerome had settled at
Bethlehem. He had, immediately on arriving in Palestine, three years
previously, set to work to improve his knowledge of Hebrew, with a view
to his translation of the Old Testament, which was begun in 391. This
book, therefore, and the two which follow, may be taken as records of
studies preparatory to the Vulgate.
Philo, the most erudite man among the Jews, is declared by Origen to
have done what I am now doing; he set forth a book of Hebrew Names,
classing them under their initial letters, and placing the etymology of
each at the side. This work I originally proposed to translate into
Latin. It is well known in the Greek world, and is to be found in all
libraries. But I found that the copies were so discordant to one
another, and the order so confused, that I judged it to be better to
say nothing, rather than to write what would justly be condemned. A
work of this kind, however, appeared likely to be of use; and my
friends Lupulianus and Valerianus [5376] urged me to attempt it,
because, as they thought, I had made some progress in the knowledge of
Hebrew. I, therefore, went through all the books of Scripture in order,
and in the restoration which I have now made of the ancient fabric, I
think that I have produced a work which may be found valuable by Greeks
as well as Latins.
I here in the Preface beg the reader to take notice that, if he finds
anything omitted in this work, it is reserved for mention in another. I
have at this moment on hand a book of Hebrew Questions, an undertaking
of a new kind such as has never until now been heard of amongst either
the Greeks or the Latins. I say this, not with a view of arrogantly
puffing up my own work, but because I know how much labour I have spent
on it, and wish to provoke those whose knowledge is deficient to read
it. I recommend all those who wish to possess both that work and the
present one, and also the book of Hebrew Places, which I am about to
publish, to make no account of the Jews and all their ebullitions of
vexation. Moreover, I have added the meaning of the words and names in
the New Testament, so that the fabric might receive its last touch and
might stand complete. I wished also in this to imitate Origen, whom all
but the ignorant acknowledge as the greatest teacher of the Churches
next to the Apostles; for in this work, which stands among the noblest
monuments of his genius, he endeavoured as a Christian to supply what
Philo, as a Jew, had omitted.
__________________________________________________________________
[5376] Nothing is known of these men. It is very improbable that this
Valerianus was the bishop of Apuleia, who must, however, have been
known to Jerome.
__________________________________________________________________
Preface to the Book on the Sites and Names of Hebrew Places.
For the scope and value of this book see Prolegomena. It was written
a.d. 388.
Eusebius, who took his second name from the blessed Martyr Pamphilus,
after he had written the ten books of his "Ecclesiastical History," the
Chronicle of Dates, of which I published a Latin version, the book in
which he set forth the names of the different nations and those given
to them of old by the Jews and by those of the present day, the
topography of the land of Judæa and the portions allotted to the
tribes, together with a representation of Jerusalem itself and its
temple, which he accompanied with a very short explanation, bestowed
his labour at the end of his life upon this little work, of which the
design is to gather for us out of the Holy Scriptures the names of
almost all the cities, mountains, rivers, hamlets, and other places,
whether they remain the same or have since been changed or in some
degree corrupted. I have taken up the work of this admirable man, and
have translated it, following the arrangement of the Greeks, and taking
the words in the order of their initial letters, but leaving out those
names which did not seem worthy of mention, and making a considerable
number of alterations. I have explained my method once for all in the
Preface to my translation of the Chronicle, where I said that I might
be called at once a translator and the composer of a new work; but I
repeat this especially because one who had hardly the first tincture of
letters has ventured upon a translation of this very book into Latin,
though his language is hardly to be called Latin. His lack of
scholarship will be seen by the observant reader as soon as he compares
it with my translation. I do not pretend to a style which soars to the
skies; but I hope that I can rise above one which grovels on the earth.
__________________________________________________________________
Preface to the Book of Hebrew Questions.
Written a.d. 388. For the scope and character of this work, see
Prolegomena.
The object of the Preface to a book is to set forth the argument of the
work which follows; but I am compelled to begin by answering what has
been said against me. My case is somewhat like that of Terence, who
turned the scenic prologues of his plays into a defence of himself. We
have a [5377] Luscius Lanuvinus, like the one who worried him, and who
brought charges against the poet as if he had been a plunderer of the
treasury. The bard of Mantua suffered in the same way; he had
translated a few verses of Homer very exactly, and they said that he
was nothing but a plagiarist from the ancients. But he answered them
that it was no small proof of strength to wrest the club of Hercules
from his hands. Why, even Tully, who stands on the pinnacle of Roman
eloquence, that king of orators and glory of the Latin tongue, has
actions for embezzlement [5378] brought against him by the Greeks. I
cannot, therefore, be surprised if a poor little fellow like me is
exposed to the gruntings of vile swine who trample our pearls under
their feet, when some of the most learned of men, men whose glory ought
to have hushed the voice of ill will, have felt the flames of envy. It
is true, this happened by a kind of justice to men whose eloquence had
filled with its resonance the theatres and the senate, the public
assembly and the rostra; hardihood always courts detraction, and (as
Horace says):
"The [5379] highest peaks invoke
The lightning's stroke."
But I am in a corner, remote from the city and the forum, and the
wranglings of crowded courts; yet, even so (as Quintilian says)
ill-will has sought me out. Therefore, I beseech the reader,
"If [5380] one there be, if one,
Who, rapt by strong desire, these lines shall read,"
not to expect eloquence or oratorical grace in those Books of Hebrew
Questions, which I propose to write on all the sacred books; but
rather, that he should himself answer my detractors for me, and tell
them that a work of a new kind can claim some indulgence. I am poor and
of low estate; I neither possess riches nor do I think it right to
accept them if they are offered me; and, similarly, let me tell them
that it is impossible for them to have the riches of Christ, that is,
the knowledge of the Scriptures, and the world's riches as well. It
will be my simple aim, therefore, first, to point out the mistakes of
those who suspect some fault in the Hebrew Scriptures, and, secondly,
to correct the faults, which evidently teem in the Greek and Latin
copies, by a reference to the original authority; and, further, to
explain the etymology of things, names, and countries, when it is not
apparent from the sound of the Latin words, by giving a paraphrase in
the vulgar tongue. To enable the student more easily to take note of
these emendations, I propose, in the first place, to set out the true
[5381] reading itself, as I am now able to do, and then, by bringing
the later readings into comparison with it, to [5382] indicate what has
been omitted or added or altered. It is not my purpose, as snarling
ill-will pretends, to convict the LXX. of error, nor do I look upon my
own labour as a disparagement of theirs. The fact is that they, since
their work was undertaken for King Ptolemy of Alexandria, did not
choose to bring to light all the mysteries which the sacred writings
contain, and especially those which give the promise of the advent of
Christ, for fear that he who held the Jews in esteem because they were
believed to worship one God, would come to think that they worshipped a
second. But we find that the Evangelists, and even our Lord and
Saviour, and the Apostle Paul, also, bring forward many citations as
coming from the Old Testament which are not contained in our copies;
and on these I shall dilate more fully in their proper places. But it
is clear from this fact that those are the best mss. which most
correspond with the authoritative words of the New Testament. Add to
this that Josephus, who gives the story of the Seventy Translators,
reports them as translating only the five books of Moses; and we also
acknowledge that these are more in harmony with the Hebrew than the
rest. And, further, those who afterward came into the field as
translators--I mean Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion--give a version
very different from that which we use. [5383]
I have but one word more to say, and it may calm my detractors. Foreign
goods are to be imported only to the regions where there is a demand
for them. Country people are not obliged to buy balsam, pepper, and
dates. As to Origen, I say nothing. His name (if I may compare small
things with great) is even more than my own the object of ill-will,
because, though following the common version in his Homilies, which
were spoken to common people, yet, in his Tomes, [5384] that is, in his
fuller discussion of Scripture, he yields to the Hebrew as the truth,
and, though surrounded by his own forces, occasionally seeks the
foreign tongue as his ally. I will only say this about him: that I
should gladly have his knowledge of the Scriptures, even if accompanied
with all the ill-will which clings to his name, and that I do not care
a straw for these shades and spectral ghosts, whose nature is said to
be to chatter in dark corners and be a terror to babies.
__________________________________________________________________
[5377] Terence's rival, to whom he makes allusions in the Prologi to
the Eunuchus, Heoutontimoroumenos and Phormio.
[5378] Repetundarum. Properly an action to compel one who has left
office to restore public money which he had embezzled.
[5379] Hor. Odes II., x. 19, 20.
[5380] Virgil, Ec., vi. 10.
[5381] Ipsa testimonia. This is what he calls in other places Hebraica
veritas. Jerome was right in the main in correcting the LXX, and other
Greek versions by the Hebrew. He was not aware (as has been since made
clear) that there are various readings in the Hebrew itself, and that
these may sometimes be corrected by the LXX., which was made from older
mss.
[5382] That is, by the obeli (), to show what has been left out, and
the asterisk (*), to show what has been inserted.
[5383] That is, from the copies of the LXX. commonly used in the fourth
century.
[5384] Larger Commentaries.
__________________________________________________________________
Preface to the Commentary on Ecclesiastes.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, Bethlehem, a.d. 388.
I remember that, about five years ago, when I was still living at Rome,
I read Ecclesiastes to the saintly Blesilla, [5385] so that I might
provoke her to the contempt of this earthly scene, and to count as
nothing all that she saw in the world; and that she asked me to throw
my remarks upon all the more obscure passages into the form of a short
commentary, so that, when I was absent, she might still understand what
she read. She was withdrawn from us by her sudden death, while girding
herself for our work; we were not counted worthy to have such an one as
the partner of our life; and, therefore, Paula and Eustochium, I kept
silence under the stroke of such a wound. But now, living as I do in
the smaller community of Bethlehem, I pay what I owe to her memory and
to you. I would only point out this, that I have followed no one's
authority. I have translated direct from the Hebrew, adapting my words
as much as possible to the form of the Septuagint, but only in those
places in which they did not diverge far from the Hebrew. I have
occasionally referred also to the versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and
Theodotion, but so as not to alarm the zealous student by too many
novelties, nor yet to let my commentary follow the side streams of
opinion, turning aside, against my conscientious conviction, from the
fountainhead of truth.
__________________________________________________________________
[5385] Daughter of Paula. See Letter XXXIX.
__________________________________________________________________
Prefaces to the Vulgate Version of the New Testament.
This version was made at Rome between the years 382 and 385. The only
Preface remaining is that to the translation of the Gospels, but Jerome
speaks of, and quotes from, his version of the other parts also. The
work was undertaken at the request and under the sanction of Pope
Damasus, who had consulted Jerome in a.d. 383 on certain points of
Scriptural criticism, and apparently in the same year urged him to
revise the current Latin version by help of the Greek original. It is
to be observed that Jerome's aim was "to revise the old Latin, and not
to make a new version. When Augustin expressed to him his gratitude for
his translation of the Gospels,' he tacitly corrected him by
substituting for this phrase the correction of the New Testament.' Yet,
although he proposed to himself this limited object, the various forms
of corruption which had been introduced were, as he describes, so
numerous that the difference of the old and revised (Hieronymian) text
is throughout clear and striking." See article by Westcott in
"Dictionary of Bible," on the Vulgate, and Fremantle's article on
Jerome in "Dictionary of Christian Biography."
__________________________________________________________________
The Four Gospels.
Addressed to Pope [5386] Damasus, a.d. 383.
You urge me to revise the old Latin version, and, as it were, to sit in
judgment on the copies of the Scriptures which are now scattered
throughout the whole world; and, inasmuch as they differ from one
another, you would have me decide which of them agree with the Greek
original. The labour is one of love, but at the same time both perilous
and presumptuous; for in judging others I must be content to be judged
by all; and how can I dare to change the language of the world in its
hoary old age, and carry it back to the early days of its infancy? Is
there a man, learned or unlearned, who will not, when he takes the
volume into his hands, and perceives that what he reads does not suit
his settled tastes, break out immediately into violent language, and
call me a forger and a profane person for having the audacity to add
anything to the ancient books, or to make any changes or corrections
therein? Now there are two consoling reflections which enable me to
bear the odium--in the first place, the command is given by you who are
the supreme bishop; and secondly, even on the showing of those who
revile us, readings at variance with the early copies cannot be right.
For if we are to pin our faith to the Latin texts, it is for our
opponents to tell us which; for there are almost as many forms of texts
as there are copies. If, on the other hand, we are to glean the truth
from a comparison of many, why not go back to the original Greek and
correct the mistakes introduced by inaccurate translators, and the
blundering alterations of confident but ignorant critics, and, further,
all that has been inserted or changed by copyists more asleep than
awake? I am not discussing the Old Testament, which was turned into
Greek by the Seventy elders, and [5387] has reached us by a descent of
three steps. I do not ask what [5388] Aquila and [5389] Symmachus
think, or why [5390] Theodotion takes a middle course between the
ancients and the moderns. I am willing to let that be the true
translation which had apostolic approval. I am now speaking of the New
Testament. This was undoubtedly composed in Greek, with the exception
of the work of Matthew the Apostle, who was the first to commit to
writing the Gospel of Christ, and who published his work in Judæa in
Hebrew characters. We must confess that as we have it in our language
it is marked by discrepancies, and now that the stream is distributed
into different channels we must go back to the fountainhead. I pass
over those manuscripts which are associated with the names of [5391]
Lucian and Hesychius, and the authority of which is perversely
maintained by a handful of disputatious persons. It is obvious that
these writers could not amend anything in the Old Testament after the
labours of the Seventy; and it was useless to correct the New, for
versions of Scripture which already exist in the languages of many
nations show that their additions are false. I therefore promise in
this short Preface the four Gospels only, which are to be taken in the
following order, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, as they have been revised
by a comparison of the Greek manuscripts. Only early ones have been
used. But to avoid any great divergences from the Latin which we are
accustomed to read, I have used my pen with some restraint, and while I
have corrected only such passages as seemed to convey a different
meaning, I have allowed the rest to remain as they are.
The Preface concludes with a description of lists of words made by
Eusebius and translated by Jerome, designed to show what passages occur
in two or more of the Gospels.
__________________________________________________________________
[5386] Made pope 366, died 384. Jerome had been his secretary at the
Council held at Rome in 382, and continued is literary services till
the pope's death, in 385.
[5387] That is, after being translated from Hebrew into Greek, and from
Greek into Latin.
[5388] Aquila belonged to the second century, but whether to the first
half, or to the early part of the second half, cannot be determined. He
was a Jewish proselyte, of Sinope in Pontus, and is supposed to have
translated the books of the Old Testament into Greek in order to assist
the Hellenistic Jews in their controversies with Christians. Jerome's
estimate of him varied from time to time. In his commentary on Hos.
ii., Is. xlix., and Letter XXVIII., etc., he treats him as worthy of
credit. On the other hand, in the letter to Pammachius, De Opt. Gen.
Interp. (LVII. 11), he describes him as contentiosus; but in Letter
XXXVI. 12, he denies that he is such. In the preface to Job he speaks
of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion as "Judaising heretics, who by
their deceitful translation have concealed many mysteries of
salvation." The second edition of Aquila's version, which was extremely
literal, was highly esteemed by the Jews, and was called by them the
Hebrew verity. See Davidson's "Biblical Criticism," p. 215, etc.
[5389] Symmachus was the author of the third Greek version. He is said
to have been a Samaritan by birth. The date of his version cannot be
accurately fixed; but, apparently, it appeared after Theodotion's. "He
does not adhere to the text so closely as to render it verbatim into
Greek; but chooses to express the same in perspicuous and intelligible
language."--Davidson.
[5390] Theodotion, the author of the second Greek version, was a native
of Ephesus. His version is thought to have been made before 160. "The
mode of translation adopted by him holds an intermediate place between
the scrupulous literality of Aquila and the free interpretation of
Symmachus," and his work was more highly valued by Christians than that
of either Aquila or Symmachus. Daniel was read in his version in the
churches (Pref. to Joshua).
[5391] Lucian in Syria and Hesychius in Egypt attempted their
recensions about the middle of the third century, the time when Origen
also began to labour in the same direction. Lucian's recension, also
called the Constantinopolitan, and to which the Slavonian and Gothic
versions belong, spread over Asia Minor and Thrace. See the Preface to
the Chronicles. It was decreed by a council held under Pope Gelasius,
a.d. 494, that "the Gospels which Lucian and Hesychius falsified are
apocryphal."
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Prefaces to the Books of the Vulgate Version of the Old Testament.
This version was not undertaken with ecclesiastical sanction as was the
case with the Gospels, but at the request of private friends, or from
Jerome's "own sense of the imperious necessity of the work." It was
wholly made at Bethlehem, and was begun about a.d. 391, and finished
about a.d. 404. The approximate dates of the several books are given
before each Preface in the following pages.
__________________________________________________________________
Preface to Genesis.
This Preface was addressed to Desiderius, but which of the three
correspondents of Jerome who bore this name is uncertain (See Article
Desiderius in Smith and Wace's "Dictionary of Christian Biography"). We
do not give it because it has been given at length as a specimen of the
rest, in Jerome's "Apology," book ii., vol. iii. of this series, pp.
515-516. Jerome in it complains that he is accused of forging a new
version. He justifies his undertaking by showing that in the versions
then current many passages were left out (though they exist in our
copies of the LXX.), such as "Out of Egypt" (Hos. xi. 1); "They shall
look on him whom they pierced" (Zech. xii. 10), etc., which are quoted
in the New Testament and are found in the Hebrew. He accounts for these
omissions by the suggestion that the LXX. were afraid of offending
Ptolemy Lagus for whom they worked, and who was a Platonist. He rejects
the fable of the LXX. being shut up in separate cells and producing an
identical version, and protests against the notion that they were
inspired, and he urges his calumniators, by applying to those who knew
Hebrew, to test the correctness of his version.
There is no Preface to the other books of the Pentateuch. From the
allusion to the work on the Pentateuch as lately finished, in the
Preface to Joshua, which was published in 404, it is presumed that the
date of the translation of the Pentateuch is 403.
__________________________________________________________________
Joshua, Judges, and Ruth.
The Preface to these books was written a.d. 404; Jerome speaks of the
death of Paula, which took place in that year, and the work is
addressed to Eustochium alone. The Preface is chiefly occupied with a
defence of his translation. He tells those who carp at it that they are
not bound to read it, and mentions that the Church had given no final
sanction to the LXX., but read the book of Daniel in Theodotion's
version. The books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, were probably the last
of the Vulgate translation; the Preface declares Jerome's intention of
devoting himself henceforward to the Commentaries on the Prophets, a
work which took up the remainder of his life.
__________________________________________________________________
The Books of Samuel and Kings.
This Preface was the first in order of publication. It was set forth as
an exposition of the principles adopted by Jerome in all his
translations from the Hebrew--the "Helmeted Preface," as he calls it in
the beginning of the last paragraph, with which he was prepared to do
battle against all who impugn his design and methods. It was addressed
to Paula and Eustochium, and published about a.d. 391.
That the Hebrews have twenty-two letters is testified by the Syrian and
Chaldæan languages which are nearly related to the Hebrew, for they
have twenty-two elementary sounds which are pronounced the same way,
but are differently written. The Samaritans also employ just the same
number of letters in their copies of the Pentateuch of Moses, and
differ only in the shape and outline of the letters. And it is certain
that Esdras, the scribe and teacher of the law, after the capture of
Jerusalem and the restoration of the temple by Zerubbabel, invented
[5392] other letters which we now use, although up to that time the
Samaritan and Hebrew characters were the same. In the [5393] book of
Numbers, also, where we have the census of the Levites and priests, the
mystic teaching of Scripture conducts us to the same result. And we
find the four-lettered name of the Lord in certain Greek books written
to this day in the ancient characters. The thirty-seventh Psalm,
moreover, the one hundred and eleventh, the one hundred and twelfth,
the one hundred and nineteenth, and the one hundred and forty-fifth,
although they are written in different metres, have for their [5394]
acrostic framework an alphabet of the same number of letters. The
Lamentations of Jeremiah, and his Prayer, the Proverbs of Solomon also,
towards the end, from the place where we read "Who will find a brave
woman?" are instances of the same number of letters forming the
division into sections. And, again, five are double letters, viz.,
Caph, Mem, Nun, Phe, Sade, for at the beginning and in the middle of
words they are written one way, and at the end another way. Whence it
happens that, by most people, five of the books are reckoned as double,
viz., Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Jeremiah, with Kinoth, i.e., his
Lamentations. As, then, there are twenty-two elementary characters by
means of which we write in Hebrew all we say, and the compass of the
human voice is contained within their limits, so we reckon twenty-two
books, by which, as by the alphabet of the doctrine of God, a righteous
man is instructed in tender infancy, and, as it were, while still at
the breast.
The first of these books is called Bresith, to which we give the name
Genesis. The second, Elle Smoth, which bears the name Exodus; the
third, Vaiecra, that is Leviticus; the fourth, Vaiedabber, which we
call Numbers; the fifth, Elle Addabarim, which is entitled Deuteronomy.
These are the five books of Moses, which they properly call [5395]
Thorath, that is law.
The second class is composed of the Prophets, and they begin with Jesus
the son of Nave, who among them is called Joshua the son of Nun. Next
in the series is Sophtim, that is the book of Judges; and in the same
book they include Ruth, because the events narrated occurred in the
days of the Judges. Then comes Samuel, which we call First and Second
Kings. The fourth is Malachim, that is, Kings, which is contained in
the third and fourth volumes of Kings. And it is far better to say
Malachim, that is Kings, than Malachoth, that is Kingdoms. For the
author does not describe the Kingdoms of many nations, but that of one
people, the people of Israel, which is comprised in the twelve tribes.
The fifth is Isaiah, the sixth, Jeremiah, the seventh, Ezekiel, the
eighth is the book of the Twelve Prophets, which is called among the
Jews [5396] Thare Asra.
To the third class belong the Hagiographa, of which the first book
begins with Job, the second with David, whose writings they divide into
five parts and comprise in one volume of Psalms; the third is Solomon,
in three books, Proverbs, which they call Parables, that is Masaloth,
Ecclesiastes, that is Coeleth, the Song of Songs, which they denote by
the title Sir Assirim; the sixth is Daniel; the seventh, Dabre Aiamim,
that is, Words of Days, which we may more expressively call a chronicle
of the whole of the sacred history, the book that amongst us is called
First and Second [5397] Chronicles; the eighth, Ezra, which itself is
likewise divided amongst Greeks and Latins into [5398] two books; the
ninth is Esther.
And so there are also twenty-two books of the Old Testament; that is,
five of Moses, eight of the prophets, nine of the Hagiographa, though
some include Ruth and Kinoth (Lamentations) amongst the Hagiographa,
and think that these books ought to be reckoned separately; we should
thus have twenty-four books of the old law. And these the Apocalypse of
John represents by the twenty-four elders, who adore the Lamb, and with
downcast looks offer their crowns, while in their presence stand the
four living creatures with eyes before and behind, that is, looking to
the past and the future, and with unwearied voice crying, Holy, Holy,
Holy, Lord God Almighty, who wast, and art, and art to come.
This preface to the Scriptures may serve as a "helmeted" introduction
to all the books which we turn from Hebrew into Latin, so that we may
be assured that what is not found in our list must be placed amongst
the Apocryphal writings. Wisdom, therefore, which generally bears the
name of Solomon, and the book of Jesus, the Son of Sirach, and Judith,
and Tobias, and the Shepherd are not in the canon. The first book of
Maccabees I have found to be Hebrew, the second is Greek, as can be
proved from the very style. Seeing that all this is so, I beseech you,
my reader, not to think that my labours are in any sense intended to
disparage the old translators. For the service of the tabernacle of God
each one offers what he can; some gold and silver and precious stones,
others linen and blue and purple and scarlet; we shall do well if we
offer skins and goats' hair. And yet the Apostle pronounces our more
contemptible parts more necessary than others. Accordingly, the beauty
of the tabernacle as a whole and in its several kinds (and the
ornaments of the church present and future) was covered with skins and
goats'-hair cloths, and the heat of the sun and the injurious rain were
warded off by those things which are of less account. First read, then,
my Samuel and Kings; mine, I say, mine. For whatever by diligent
translation and by anxious emendation we have learnt and made our own,
is ours. And when you understand that whereof you were before ignorant,
either, if you are grateful, reckon me a translator, or, if ungrateful,
a paraphraser, albeit I am not in the least conscious of having
deviated from the Hebrew original. At all events, if you are
incredulous, read the Greek and Latin manuscripts and compare them with
these poor efforts of mine, and wherever you see they disagree, ask
some Hebrew (though you ought rather to place confidence in me), and if
he confirm our view, I suppose you will not think him a soothsayer and
suppose that he and I have, in rendering the same passage, divined
alike. But I ask you also, the [5399] handmaidens of Christ, who anoint
the head of your reclining Lord with the most precious ointment of
faith, who by no means seek the Saviour in the tomb, for whom Christ
has long since ascended to the Father--I beg you to confront with the
shields of your prayers the mad dogs who bark and rage against me, and
go about the city, and think themselves learned if they disparage
others. I, knowing my lowliness, will always remember what we are told.
[5400] "I said, I will take heed to my ways that I offend not in my
tongue. I have set a guard upon my mouth while the sinner standeth
against me. I became dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence from good
words."
__________________________________________________________________
[5392] That is, the square character which was of Assyrian origin. As
to how far the tradition is true, see Davidson's "Biblical Criticisms"
(1854), p. 22, and the authorities there referred to.
[5393] iii. 39. All the males from a month old and upwards are said to
have been twenty-two thousand.
[5394] These are the alphabetical Psalms which, being mainly didactic,
were written acrostically to assist the memory. Others partially
acrostic are ix., x., xxv., xxxiv., to make the alphabet complete in
xxxvii. in verse 28 must be supposed to be represented by lrlm, and t
in verse 39 by rtshych
[5395] More correctly Torah.
[5396] The laws or instructions of Ezra. By many of the Jews Ezra was
regarded as the author of the Twelve Prophets.
[5397] Jerome has in the text the Greek equivalent paraleipomenon .
[5398] That is, Ezra and Nehemiah.
[5399] Paula and Eustochium.
[5400] Ps. xxxix. 2 sq.
__________________________________________________________________
Chronicles.
This Preface is almost wholly a repetition of the arguments adduced in
the Preface to Genesis. It is addressed to Chromatius, bishop of
Aquileia, who took great interest in the work and provided funds for
its continuance. The date is a.d. 395.
__________________________________________________________________
Ezra and Nehemiah.
This Preface is addressed to Domnio (a Roman presbyter. See Letters L.,
and XLVII. 3, Paulinus, Ep. 3) and Rogatianus, of whom nothing is
known. It was written a.d. 394. It is a repetition of his constant
ground of self-defence, and contains a noble expression of his
determination to carry the work through. "The serpent may hiss, and
"Victorious Sinon hurl his brand of fire,'
but never shall my mouth be closed. Cut off my tongue; it will still
stammer out something.
__________________________________________________________________
Esther.
To Paula and Eustochium, early in 404. Merely assures them that he is
acting as a faithful translator, adding nothing of his own; whereas in
the version then in common use (vulgata), "the book is drawn out into
all kinds of perplexing entanglements of language."
__________________________________________________________________
Job.
This was put into circulation about the same time as the sixteen
prophets, that is, about the year 393. It was written in 392. It has no
dedication, but is full of personal interest, and shows the deplorable
state in which the text of many parts of Scripture was before his time,
thus justifying his boast, "I have rescued Job from the dunghill."
I am compelled at every step in my treatment of the books of Holy
Scripture to reply to the abuse of my opponents, who charge my
translation with being a censure of the Seventy; as though Aquila among
Greek authors, and Symmachus and Theodotion, had not rendered word for
word, or paraphrased, or combined the two methods in a sort of
translation which is neither the one nor the other; and as though
Origen had not marked all the books of the Old Testament with obeli and
asterisks, which he either introduced or adopted from Theodotion, and
inserted in the old translation, thus showing that what he added was
deficient in the older version. My detractors must therefore learn
either to receive altogether what they have in part admitted, or they
must erase my translation and at the same time their own asterisks. For
they must allow that those translators who it is clear have left out
numerous details, have erred in some points; especially in the book of
Job, where, if you withdraw such passages as have been added and marked
with asterisks, the greater part of the book will be cut away. This, at
all events, will be so in Greek. On the other hand, previous to the
publication of our recent translation with asterisks and obeli, about
seven or eight hundred lines were missing in the Latin, so that the
book, mutilated, torn, and disintegrated, exhibits its deformity to
those who publicly read it. The present translation follows no ancient
translator, but will be found to reproduce now the exact words, now the
meaning, now both together of the original Hebrew, Arabic, and
occasionally the Syriac. For an indirectness and a slipperiness
attaches to the whole book, even in the Hebrew; and, as orators say in
Greek, it [5401] is tricked out with figures of speech, and while it
says one thing, it does another; just as if you close your hand to hold
an eel or a little [5402] muræna, the more you squeeze it, the sooner
it escapes. I remember that in order to understand this volume, I paid
a not inconsiderable sum for the services of a teacher, a native of
Lydda, who was amongst the Hebrews reckoned to be in the front rank;
whether I profited at all by his teaching, I do not know; of this one
thing I am sure, that I could translate only that which I previously
understood. Well, then, from the beginning of the book to the words of
Job, the Hebrew version is in prose. Further, from the words of Job
where he says, [5403] "May the day perish wherein I was born, and the
night in which it was said, a man-child is conceived," to the place
where before the close of the book it is written [5404] "Therefore I
blame myself and repent in dust and ashes," we have hexameter verses
running in dactyl and spondee: and owing to the idiom of the language
other feet are frequently introduced not containing the same number of
syllables, but the same quantities. Sometimes, also, a sweet and
musical rhythm is produced by the breaking up of the verses in
accordance with the laws of metre, a fact better known to prosodists
than to the ordinary reader. But from the aforesaid verse to the end of
the book the small remaining section is a prose composition. And if it
seem incredible to any one that the Hebrews really have metres, and
that, whether we consider the Psalter or the Lamentations of Jeremiah,
or almost all the songs of Scripture, they bear a resemblance to our
Flaccus, and the Greek Pindar, and Alcæus, and Sappho, let him read
Philo, Josephus, Origen, Eusebius of Cæsarea, and with the aid of their
testimony he will find that I speak the truth. Wherefore, let my
barking critics listen as I tell them that my motive in toiling at this
book was not to censure the ancient translation, but that those
passages in it which are obscure, or those which have been omitted, or
at all events, through the fault of copyists have been corrupted, might
have light thrown upon them by our translation; for we have some slight
knowledge of Hebrew, and, as regards Latin, my life, almost from the
cradle, has been spent in the company of grammarians, rhetoricians, and
philosophers. But if, since the version of the Seventy was published,
and even now, when the Gospel of Christ is beaming forth, the Jewish
Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, judaising heretics, have been
welcomed amongst the Greeks--heretics, who, by their deceitful
translation, have concealed many mysteries of salvation, and yet, in
the Hexapla are found in the Churches and are expounded by churchmen;
ought not I, a Christian, born of Christian parents, and who carry the
standard of the cross on my brow, and am zealous to recover what is
lost, to correct what is corrupt, and to disclose in pure and faithful
language the mysteries of the Church, ought not I, let me ask, much
more to escape the reprobation of fastidious or malicious readers? Let
those who will keep the old books with their gold and silver letters on
purple skins, or, to follow the ordinary phrase, in "uncial
characters," loads of writing rather than manuscripts, if only they
will leave for me and mine, our poor pages and copies which are less
remarkable for beauty than for accuracy. I have toiled to translate
both the Greek versions of the Seventy, and the Hebrew which is the
basis of my own, into Latin. Let every one choose which he likes, and
[5405] he will find out that what he objects to in me, is the result of
sound learning, not of malice.
__________________________________________________________________
[5401] eschematismenos .
[5402] A small fish well known to the ancients, but apparently not
identified with any species known to us.
[5403] Job iii. 3.
[5404] xlii. 6.
[5405] Reading studiosum me magis quam malevolum probet. Substituting
se for me, according to some manuscripts, we must translate "and thus
show that he is actuated more by a love of learning than by malice."
__________________________________________________________________
Psalms.
Dedicated to Sophronius about the year 392. Jerome had, while at Rome,
made a translation of the Psalms from the LXX., which he had afterwards
corrected by collation with the Hebrew text (see the Preface addressed
to Paula and Eustochium, infra). His friend Sophronius, in quoting the
Psalms to the Jews, was constantly met with the reply, "It does not so
stand in the Hebrew." He, therefore, urged Jerome to translate them
direct from the original. Jerome, in presenting the translation to his
friend, records the intention which he had expressed of translating the
new Latin version into Greek. This we know was done by Sophronius, not
only for the Psalms, but also for the rest of the Vulgate, and was
valued by the Greeks (Apol. ii. 24, vol. iii. of this series, p. 515).
__________________________________________________________________
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs.
Dedicated to Chromatius and Heliodorus, a.d. 393. The Preface is
important as showing the help given to Jerome by his friends, the
rapidity of his work, and his view of the Apocrypha. We give the two
chief passages.
It is well that my letter should couple those who are coupled in the
episcopate; and that I should not separate on paper those who are bound
in one by the law of Christ. I would have written the commentaries on
Hosea, Amos, Zechariah, and the Kings, which you ask of me, if I had
not been prevented by illness. You give me comfort by the supplies you
send me; you support my secretaries and copyists, so that the efforts
of all my powers may be given to you. And then all at once comes a
thick crowd of people with all sorts of demands, as if it was just that
I should neglect your hunger and work for others, or as if, in the
matter of giving and receiving, I had a debt to any one but you. And
so, though I am broken by a long illness, yet, not to be altogether
silent and dumb amongst you this year, I have dedicated to you three
days' work, that is to say, the translation of the three books of
Solomon.
After speaking of the books of the Wisdom of Solomon and
Ecclesiasticus, which were sent at the same time, the Preface
continues:
As, then, the Church reads Judith, Tobit, and the books of Maccabees,
but does not admit them among the canonical Scriptures, so let it read
these two volumes for the edification of the people, not to give
authority to doctrines of the Church. If any one is better pleased with
the edition of the Seventy, there it is, long since corrected by me.
For it is not our aim in producing the new to destroy the old. And yet
if our friend reads carefully, he will find that our version is the
more intelligible, for it has not turned sour by being poured three
times over into different vessels, but has been drawn straight from the
press, and stored in a clean jar, and has thus preserved its own
flavour.
__________________________________________________________________
Isaiah.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, about a.d. 393. This Preface speaks
of Isaiah as using the polished diction natural to a man of rank and
refinement, as an Evangelist more than a prophet, and a poet rather
than a prose writer. He then reiterates his defence of his translation,
saying that now, "The Jews can no longer scoff at our Churches because
of the falsity of our Scriptures."
__________________________________________________________________
Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Short Prefaces without dedication, but probably addressed to Paula and
Eustochium, about a.d. 393.
__________________________________________________________________
Daniel.
The Preface is interesting as showing the difficulties caused by the
incorporation of apocryphal matter into this book, the fact that
Theodotion's version, not the LXX., was read in the Churches, and that
the book was reckoned by the Jews not among the prophets but among the
Hagiographa. It was addressed to Paula and Eustochium about a.d. 392.
The Septuagint version of Daniel the prophet is not read by the
Churches of our Lord and Saviour. They use Theodotion's version, but
how this came to pass I cannot tell. Whether it be that the language is
Chaldee, which differs in certain peculiarities from our speech, and
the Seventy were unwilling to follow those deviations in a translation;
or that the book was published in the name of the Seventy, by some one
or other not familiar with Chaldee, or if there be some other reason, I
know not; this one thing I can affirm--that it differs widely from the
original, and is rightly rejected. For we must bear in mind that Daniel
and Ezra, the former especially, were written in Hebrew letters, but in
the Chaldee language, as was [5406] one section of Jeremiah; and,
further, that Job has much affinity with Arabic. As for myself, when,
in lily youth, after reading the flowery rhetoric of Quintilian and
Tully, I entered on the vigorous study of this language, the
expenditure of much time and energy barely enabled me to utter the
puffing and hissing words; I seemed to be walking in a sort of
underground chamber with a few scattered rays of light shining down
upon me; and when at last I met with Daniel, such a sense of weariness
came over me that, in a fit of despair, I could have counted all my
former toil as useless. But there was a certain Hebrew who encouraged
me, and was for ever quoting for my benefit the saying that "Persistent
labour conquers all things"; and so, conscious that among Hebrews I was
only a smatterer, I once more began to study Chaldee. And, to confess
the truth, to this day I can read and understand Chaldee better than I
can pronounce it. I say this to show you how hard it is to master the
book of Daniel, which in Hebrew contains neither the history of
Susanna, nor the hymn of the three youths, nor the fables of Bel and
the Dragon; because, however, they are to be found everywhere, we have
formed them into an appendix, prefixing to them an obelus, and thus
making an end of them, so as not to seem to the uninformed to have cut
off a large portion of the volume. I heard a certain Jewish teacher,
when mocking at the history of Susanna, and saying that it was the
fiction of some Greek or other, raise the same objection which
Africanus brought against Origen--that these etymologies of [5407]
schisai from [5408] schinos, and [5409] prisai from [5410] prinos, are
to be traced to the Greek. To make the point clear to Latin readers: It
is as if he were to say, playing upon the word ilex, illico pereas; or
upon lentiscus, may the angel make a lentil of you, or may you perish
nan lente, or may you lentus (that is pliant or compliant) be led to
death, or anything else suiting the name of the tree. Then he would
captiously maintain that the three youths in the furnace of raging fire
had leisure enough to amuse themselves with making poetry, and to
summon all the elements in turn to praise God. Or what was there
miraculous, he would say, or what indication of divine inspiration, in
the slaying of the dragon with a lump of pitch, or in frustrating the
schemes of the priests of Bel? Such deeds were more the results of an
able man's forethought than of a prophetic spirit. But when he came to
[5411] Habakkuk and read that he was carried from Judæa into Chaldæa to
bring a dish of food to Daniel, he asked where we found an instance in
the whole of the Old Testament of any saint with an ordinary body
flying through the air, and in a quarter of an hour traversing vast
tracts of country. And when one of us who was rather too ready to speak
adduced the instance of Ezekiel, and said that he was transported from
Chaldæa into Judæa, he derided the man and proved from the book itself
that Ezekiel, in spirit, saw himself carried over. And he argued that
even our own Apostle, being an accomplished man and one who had been
taught the law by Hebrews, had not dared to affirm that he was bodily
rapt away, but had said: [5412] "Whether in the body, or out of the
body, I know not; God knoweth." By these and similar arguments he used
to refute the apocryphal fables in the Church's book. Leaving this for
the reader to pronounce upon as he may think fit, I give warning that
Daniel in Hebrew is not found among the prophets, but amongst the
writers of the Hagiographa; for all Scripture is by them divided into
three parts: the law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa, which have
respectively five, eight, and eleven books, a point which we cannot now
discuss. But as to the objections which [5413] Porphyry raises against
this prophet, or rather brings against the book, [5414] Methodius,
Eusebius, and Apollinaris may be cited as witnesses, for they replied
to his folly in many thousand lines of writing, whether with
satisfaction to the curious reader I know not. Therefore, I beseech
you, Paula and Eustochium, to pour out your supplications for me to the
Lord, that so long as I am in this poor body, I may write something
pleasing to you, useful to the Church, worthy of posterity. As for my
contemporaries, I am indifferent to their opinions, for they pass from
side to side as they are moved by love or hatred.
__________________________________________________________________
[5406] x. 11.
[5407] To split. The word has no sort of etymological connection with
schinos. Susanna 54, 55, 58, 59. When the first elder says the crime
was committed under a mastich tree (schinos), Daniel answers, "God
shall cut thee in two" (schisei).
[5408] The mastich tree.
[5409] To saw.
[5410] The holm-oak.
[5411] In the LXX. the story of Bel and the Dragon bears a special
heading as "part of the prophecy of Habakkuk."--Westcott. The angel is
said to have carried Habakkuk with a dish of food in his hand for
Daniel from Judæa to Babylon.
[5412] 2 Cor. xii. 2.
[5413] The bitter enemy of the Christian faith. Born at Tyre 223. Died
at Rome about 304.
[5414] Bishop of Patara in Lycia, and afterwards of Tyre. Suffered
martyrdom 302 or 303.
__________________________________________________________________
The Twelve Minor Prophets.
This Preface, dedicated to Paula and Eustochium in a.d. 392, contains
nothing of importance, merely mentioning the dates of a few of the
prophets. and the fact that the Twelve Prophets were counted by the
Hebrews as forming a single book.
__________________________________________________________________
Translations from the Septuagint and Chaldee.
There are three stages of Jerome's work of Scripture Translation. The
first is during his stay at Rome, a.d. 382-385, when he translated only
from the Greek--the New Testament from the Greek mss., and the Book of
Psalms from the LXX. The second is the period immediately after his
settlement at Bethlehem, when he translated still from the LXX., but
marked with obeli and asterisks the passages in which that version
differed from the Hebrew: the third from a.d. 390-404, in which he
translated directly from the Hebrew. The work of the second period is
that which is now before us. The whole of the Old Testament was
translated from the LXX. (see his Apology, book ii. c. 24), but most of
it was lost during his lifetime (see Letters CXXXIV. (end) and CXVI. 34
(in Augustin Letter, 62)). What remains is the Book of Job, the Psalms,
Chronicles, the Books of Solomon, and Tobit and Judith.
__________________________________________________________________
Chronicles.
This book was dedicated to [5415] Domnion and Rogatianus, about a.d.
388. Jerome points out the advantages he enjoyed, in living in
Palestine, for obtaining correct information on matters illustrative of
Scripture, especially the names of places. The mss. of the LXX. on such
points were so corrupt that occasionally three names were run into one,
and "you would think that you had before you, not a heap of Hebrew
names, but those of some foreign and Sarmatian tribe." Jerome had sent
for a Jew, highly esteemed among his brethren, from Tiberias, and,
after "examining him from top to toe," had, by his aid, emended the
text and made the translation. But he had not the critical knowledge to
guard him against supposing that the Books of Chronicles are "the Book
of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah," referred to in the Books of
Kings.
__________________________________________________________________
[5415] See Preface to Ezra (Vulgate).
__________________________________________________________________
Book of Job.
This translation was dedicated to Paula and Eustochium, about the year
388. He complains that even the revision he was now making was the
subject of many cavils. Men prefer ancient faults to new truths, and
would rather have handsome copies than correct ones; but he boasts that
"the blessed Job, who, as far as the Latins are concerned, was till now
lying amidst filth and swarming with the worms of error, is now whole
and free from stain."
__________________________________________________________________
The Psalms.
Jerome first undertook a revision of the Psalter with the help of the
Septuagint about the year 383, when living at Rome. This revision,
which obtained the name of the Roman Psalter "probably because it was
made for the use of the Roman Church at the request of Damasus," was
retained until the pontificate of Pius V. (a.d. 1566). Before long "the
old error prevailed over the new correction," the faults of the old
version crept in again through the negligence of copyists; and at the
request of Paula and Eustochium, Jerome commenced a new and more
thorough revision. The exact date is not known; the work was in all
probability done at Bethlehem in the years 387 and 388. This edition,
which soon became popular, was introduced by Gregory of Tours into the
services of the Church of France, and thus obtained the name of the
Gallican Psalter. In 1566 it superseded the Roman in all churches
except those of the Vatican, Milan, and St. Mark's, Venice.
Long ago, when I was living at Rome, I revised the Psalter, and
corrected it in a great measure, though but cursorily, in accordance
with the Septuagint version. You now find it, Paula and Eustochium,
again corrupted through the fault of copyists, and realise the fact
that ancient error is more powerful than modern correction; and you
therefore urge me, as it were, to cross-plough the land which has
already been broken up, and, by means of the transverse furrows, to
root out the thorns which are beginning to spring again; it is only
right, you say, that rank and noxious growths should be cut down as
often as they appear. And so I issue my customary admonition by way of
preface both to you, for whom it happens that I am undertaking the
labour, and to those persons who desire to have copies such as I
describe. Pray see that what I have carefully revised be transcribed
with similar painstaking care. Every reader can observe for himself
where there is placed either a horizontal line or mark issuing from the
centre, that is, either an obelus () or an asterisk (*). And wherever
he sees the former, he is to understand that between this mark and the
two stops (:) which I have introduced, the Septuagint translation
contains superfluous matter. But where he sees the asterisk (*), an
addition to the Hebrew books is indicated, which also goes as far as
the two stops.
__________________________________________________________________
Books of Solomon.
This is addressed to Paula and Eustochium. Jerome describes the
numerous emendations he has had to make in what was then the received
Latin text, but says he has not found the same necessity in dealing
with Ecclesiasticus. He adds, "All I aim at is to give you a revised
edition of the Canonical Scriptures, and to employ my Latin on what is
certain rather than on what is doubtful."
__________________________________________________________________
Tobit and Judith.
The Preface is to Chromatius and Heliodorus. It recognizes that the
books are apocryphal. After his usual complaints of "the Pharisees" who
impugned his translations, he says: "Inasmuch as the Chaldee is closely
allied to the Hebrew, I procured the help of the most skilful speaker
of both languages I could find, and gave to the subject one day's hasty
labour, my method being to explain in Latin, with the aid of a
secretary, whatever an interpreter expressed to me in Hebrew words." As
to Judith, he notes that the Council of Nicæa had, contrary to the
Hebrew tradition, included it in the Canon of Scripture, and this, with
his friends' requests, had induced him to undertake the labour of
emendation and translation.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
The Commentaries.
The extant commentaries by Jerome on the books of Holy Scripture may be
arranged thus, chronological sequence being observed as far as
possible:
A. New Testament:
The Epistles to Philemon, Galatians, Ephesians, Titus. a.d. 387.
Origen on St. Luke. a.d. 389.
St. Matthew. a.d. 398.
B. Old Testament:
Ecclesiastes. a.d. 388.
1. The Twelve Minor Prophets:
Nahum, Michah, Zephaniah, Haggai, Habakkuk. a.d. 392.
Jonah. Begun three years after the foregoing (Preface). Finished
between a.d. 395 and a.d. 397.
Obadiah. a.d. 403.
Zechariah, Malachi, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Finished by a.d. 406.
2. The Four Greater Prophets:
Daniel. a.d. 407.
Isaiah. a.d. 408-410.
Ezekiel. a.d. 410-414.
Jeremiah. Commenced after the death of Eustochium in a.d. 418. The
commentary on this book, which stops short at chapter xxxii., was
therefore written in a.d. 419, the year which intervened between
Eustochium's death and Jerome's own.
We have thought it best to give the Prefaces, as in those to the
Vulgate, in the order of the books as they stand in our Bible, not in
the order in which they were written.
__________________________________________________________________
Matthew.
The Preface, addressed to Eusebius of Cremona, was written a.d. 398.
Eusebius was at this time starting for Rome, and he was charged to give
a copy of this Commentary to Principia, the friend of Marcella, for
whom he had been unable through sickness to write on the Song of Songs
as he had wished. Jerome begins by distinguishing the Canonical from
the Apocryphal Gospels, quoting the words of St. Luke, that many had
taken in hand to write the life of Christ. He gives his view of the
origin of the Gospels as follows:
The first evangelist is Matthew, the publican, who was surnamed Levi.
He published his Gospel in Judæa in the Hebrew language, chiefly for
the sake of Jewish believers in Christ, who adhered in vain to the
shadow of the law, although the substance of the Gospel had come. The
second is Mark, the [5416] amanuensis of the Apostle Peter, and first
bishop of the Church of Alexandria. He did not himself see our Lord and
Saviour, but he related the matter of his Master's preaching with more
regard to minute detail than to historical sequence. The third is Luke,
the physician, by birth a native of Antioch, in Syria, whose praise is
in the Gospel. He was himself a disciple of the Apostle Paul, and
composed his book in Achaia and Boeotia. He thoroughly investigates
certain particulars and, as he himself confesses in the preface,
describes what he had heard rather than what he had seen. The last is
John, the Apostle and Evangelist, whom Jesus loved most, who, reclining
on the Lord's bosom, drank the purest streams of doctrine, and was the
only one thought worthy of the words from the cross, "Behold! thy
mother." When he was in Asia, at the time when the seeds of heresy were
springing up (I refer to Cerinthus, Ebion, and the rest who say that
Christ has not come in the flesh, whom he in his own epistle calls
Antichrists, and whom the Apostle Paul frequently assails), he was
urged by almost all the bishops of Asia then living, and by deputations
from many Churches, to write more profoundly concerning the divinity of
the Saviour, and to break through all obstacles so as to attain to the
very Word of God (if I may so speak) with a boldness as successful as
it appears audacious. Ecclesiastical history relates that, when he was
urged by the brethren to write, he replied that he would do so if a
general fast were proclaimed and all would offer up prayer to God; and
when the fast was over, the narrative goes on to say, being filled with
revelation, he burst into the heaven-sent Preface: "In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: this was
in the beginning with God."
Jerome then applies the four symbolical figures of Ezekiel to the
Gospels: the Man is Matthew, the Lion, Mark, the Calf, Luke, "because
he began with Zacharias the priest," and the Eagle, John. He then
describes the works of his predecessors: Origen with his twenty-five
volumes, Theophilus of Antioch, Hippolytus the martyr, Theodorus of
Heraclea, Apollinaris of Laodicæa, Didymus of Alexandria, and of the
Latins, Hilary, Victorinus, and Fortunatianus; from these last, he
says, he had gained but little. He continues as follows:
But you urge me to finish the composition in a fortnight, when Easter
is now rapidly approaching, and the spring breezes are blowing; you do
not consider when the shorthand writers are to take notes, when the
sheets are to be written, when corrected, how long it takes to make a
really accurate copy; and this is the more surprising, since you know
that for the last three months I have been so ill that I am now hardly
beginning to walk; and I could not adequately perform so great a task
in so short a time. Therefore, neglecting the authority of ancient
writers, since I have no opportunity of reading or following them, I
have confined myself to the brief exposition and translation of the
narrative which you particularly requested; and I have sometimes thrown
in a few of the flowers of the [5417] spiritual interpretation, while I
reserve the perfect work for a future day.
__________________________________________________________________
[5416] Interpres.
[5417] That is, the allegorical or mystical sense.
__________________________________________________________________
Preface to Translation of Origen on St. Luke.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, a.d. 388.
A few days ago you told me that you had read some commentaries on
Matthew and Luke, of which one was equally dull in perception and
expression, the other frivolous in expression, sleepy in sense.
Accordingly you requested me to translate, without regarding such
rubbish, our Adamantius' thirty-nine "homilies" on Luke, just as they
are found in the original Greek; I replied that it was an irksome task
and a mental torment to write, as Cicero phrases it, with another man's
heart [5418] not one's own; but yet I will undertake it, as your
requests reach no higher than this. The demand which the sainted
Blesilla once made, at Rome, that I should translate into our language
his twenty-five volumes on Matthew, five on Luke, and thirty-two on
John is beyond my powers, my leisure, and my energy. You see what
weight your influence and wishes have with me. I have laid aside for a
time my books on Hebrew Questions because you think my labour will not
be in vain, and turn to the translation of these commentaries, which,
good or bad, are his work and not mine. I do this all the more readily
because I hear on the left of me the raven--that ominous bird--croaking
and mocking in all extraordinary way at the colours of all the other
birds, though he himself is nothing if not a bird of gloom. And so,
before he change his note, I confess that in these treatises Origen is
like a boy amusing himself with the dice-box; there is a wide
difference between his mature efforts and the serious studies of his
old age. If my proposal meet with your approbation, if I am still able
to undertake the task, and if the Lord grant me opportunity to
translate them into Latin after completing the work I have now
deferred, you will then be able to see--aye, and all who speak Latin
will learn through you--how much good they knew not, and how much they
have now begun to know. Besides this, I have arranged to send you
shortly the Commentaries of Hilary, that master of eloquence, and of
the blessed martyr Victorinus, on the Gospel of Matthew. Their style is
different, but the grace of the Spirit which wrought in them is one.
These will give you some idea of the study which our Latins also have,
in former days, bestowed upon the Holy Scriptures.
__________________________________________________________________
[5418] Alieno stomacho.
__________________________________________________________________
Galatians.
The Commentary is in three books, with full Prefaces.
Book I., Ch. i. 1-iii. 9.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, a.d. 387.
The Preface to this book begins with a striking description of the
noble Roman lady Albina, which is as follows:
Only a few days have elapsed since, having finished my exposition of
the Epistle of Paul to Philemon, I had passed to Galatians, turning my
course backwards and passing over many intervening subjects. But all at
once letters unexpectedly arrived from Rome with the news that the
venerable Albina has been recalled to the presence of the Lord, and
that the saintly Marcella, bereft of the company of her mother, demands
more than ever such solace as you can give, my dear Paula and
Eustochium. This for the present is impossible on account of the great
distance to be traversed by sea and land, and I could, therefore, wish
to apply to the wound so suddenly inflicted at least the healing virtue
of Scripture. I know full well her zeal and faith; I know how brightly
the fire burns in her bosom, how she rises superior to her sex, and
soars so far above human nature itself, that she crosses the Red Sea of
this world, sounding the loud timbrel of the inspired volumes.
Certainly, when I was at Rome, she never saw me for ever so short a
time without putting some question to me respecting the Scriptures, and
she did not, like the Pythagoreans, accept the "Ipse dixit" of her
teacher, nor did authority, unsupported by the verdict of reason,
influence her; but she tested all things, and weighed the whole matter
so sagaciously that I perceived I had not a disciple so much as a
judge. And so, believing that my labours would be most acceptable to
her who is at a distance, and profitable for you who are with me here,
I will approach a work unattempted by any writers in our language
before me, and which scarcely any of the Greeks themselves have handled
in a manner worthy of the dignity of the subject.
Jerome then speaks of Victorinus, who had published a commentary on St.
Paul, but "was busily engaged with secular literature and knew nothing
of the Scriptures," and of the great Greek writers, Origen, [5419]
Didymus, and [5420] Appolinaris, Eusebius of Emessa, and Theodorus of
Heraclea, and says he has plucked flowers out of their gardens, so that
the Commentary is more theirs than his. The expository part of the
Preface is chiefly remarkable as giving the view of St. Paul's rebuke
of St. Peter in Galatians ii., which occasioned the controversy between
Jerome and Augustin. Jerome says:
Paul does not go straight to the point, but is like a man walking in
secret passages: his object is to exhibit Peter as doing what was
expedient for the people of the circumcision committed to him, since,
if a too sudden revolt took place from their ancient mode of life, they
might be offended and not believe in the Cross; he wished, moreover, to
show, inasmuch as the evangelisation of the Gentiles had been entrusted
to himself that he had justice on his side in defending as true that
which another only pretended was a dispensation. That wretch Porphyry
[5421] Bataneotes by no means understood this, and, therefore, in the
first book of the work which he wrote against us, he raised the
objection that Peter was rebuked by Paul for not walking uprightly as
an evangelical teacher. His desire was to brand the former with error
and the latter with impudence, and to bring against us as a body the
charge of erroneous notions and false doctrine, on the ground that the
leaders of the Churches are at variance among themselves.
In the Preface to Book II. Jerome describes the origin of the Galatians
as a Gaulish tribe settled in Asia; but he takes them as slow of
understanding, and says that the Gauls still preserve this character,
just as the Roman Church preserves the character for which it was
praised by St. Paul, for it still has crowds frequenting its churches
and the tombs of its martyrs, and "nowhere else does the Amen resound
so loudly, like spiritual thunder, and shake the temples of the idols";
and similarly the traits of the churches of Corinth and Thessalonica
are still preserved; in the first, the looseness of behaviour and of
doctrine, and the conceit of worldly knowledge; in the second, the love
of the brethren side by side with the disorderly conduct of busybodies.
And he speaks of the condition of Galatia in his own day as follows:
Any one who has seen by how many schisms Ancyra, the metropolis of
Galatia, is rent and torn, and by how many differences and false
doctrines the place is debauched, knows this as well as I do. I say
nothing of [5422] Cataphrygians, [5423] Ophites, Borborites, and
Manichæans; for these are familiar names of human woe. Who ever heard
of Passaloryncitæ, and [5424] Ascodrobi, and [5425] Artotyritæ, and
other portents--I can hardly call them names--in any part of the Roman
Empire? The traces of the ancient foolishness remain to this day. One
remark I must make, and so fulfil the promise with which I started.
While the Galatians, in common with the whole East, speak Greek, their
own language is almost identical with that of the [5426] Treviri; and
if through contact with the Greek they have acquired a few corruptions,
it is a matter of no moment. The Africans have to some extent changed
the Phenician language, and Latin itself is daily undergoing changes
through differences of place and time.
The Preface to Book III. opens with the following passage, describing,
in contrast with his own simple exposition, the arts of the preachers
of his day.
We are now busily occupied with our third book on Galatians, and, my
friends, Paula and Eustochium, we are well aware of our weakness, and
are conscious that our slender ability flows in but a small stream and
makes little roar and rattle. For these are the qualities (to such a
pass have we come) which are now expected even in the Churches; the
simplicity and purity of apostolic language is neglected; we meet as if
we were in the [5427] Athenæum, or the lecture rooms, to kindle the
applause of the bystanders; what is now required is a discourse painted
and tricked out with spurious rhetorical skill, and which, like a
strumpet in the streets, does not aim at instructing the public, but at
winning their favour; like a psaltery or a sweet-sounding lute, it must
soothe the ears of the audience; and the passage of the prophet Ezekiel
is suitable for our times, where the Lord says to him, "Thou art become
unto them as the sound of a pleasant lute which is well made, for they
hear thy words but do them not."
Jerome then speaks of the composition of his commentaries as follows:
How far I have profited by my unflagging study of Hebrew I leave to
others to decide; what I have lost in my own language, I can tell. In
addition to this, on account of the weakness of my eyes and bodily
infirmity generally, I do not write with my own hand; and I cannot make
up for my slowness of utterance by greater pains and diligence, as is
said to have been the case with Virgil, of whom it is related that he
treated his books as a bear treats her cubs, and licked them into
shape. I must summon a secretary, and either say whatever comes
uppermost; or, if I wish to think a little and hope to produce
something superior, my helper silently reproves me, clenches his fist,
wrinkles his brow, and plainly declares by his whole bearing that he
has come for nothing.
He then points out how the Scriptures have dispossessed the great
writers of the pre-Christian world.
How few there are who now read Aristotle. How many are there who know
the books, or even the name of Plato? You may find here and there a few
old men, who have nothing else to do, who study them in a corner.
[5428] But the whole world speaks the language of our Christian
peasants and fishermen, the whole world re-echoes their words. And so
their simple words must be set forth with simplicity of style; for the
word simple applies to their words, not their meaning. But if, in
response to your prayers, I could, in expounding their epistles, have
the same spirit which they had when they dictated them, you would then
see in the Apostles as much majesty and breadth of true wisdom as there
is arrogance and vanity in the learned men of the world. To make a
brief confession of the secrets of my heart, I should not like any one
who wished to understand the Apostle to find a difficulty in
understanding my writings, and so be compelled to find some one to
interpret the interpreter.
__________________________________________________________________
[5419] Didymus, the blind teacher of Alexandria.
[5420] He became bishop of Laodicea about 362. About 376 his followers
became a sect, and about the same time he set up bishops of his own at
Antioch and elsewhere.
[5421] Probably from Batanea, the ancient Bashan, where Porphyry is
said to have been born.
[5422] "The patriarch (of the Montanists) resided at Pepuza, a small
town or village in Phrygia, to which the sectaries gave the mystical
name of Jerusalem, as believing that it would be the seat of the
Millennial Kingdom, which was the chief subject of their hopes. Hence
they derived the names of Pepuzians and Cataphrygians."--Robertson, Ch.
Hist., vol. i. p. 76.
[5423] The Ophites, who took their name from ophis, a serpent, supposed
the serpent of Genesis iii. to have been either the Divine Wisdom or
the Christ Himself, come to set men free from the ignorance in which
the Demiurge wished to keep them. The sect began in the second century
and lasted until the sixth.
[5424] The Ben. editor prefers the form Tascodrogi, and states that it
is the Phrygian or Galatian equivalent for Passaloryncitæ. The sect is
said to have been so called from their habit of putting the finger to
the nose when praying.
[5425] Heretics who made offerings of bread and cheese (arto-turos.
Arto-tyros).--Aug. de Hæres, No. 28.
[5426] The people who lived between the Moselle and the Forest of
Ardennes in and about the modern Treves.
[5427] The Athenæum was the name specially given to a school founded by
the Emperor Hadrian at Rome, about a.d. 133, for the promotion of
literary and scientific studies. The word denoted in general any place
consecrated to the goddess Athena.
[5428] Angulis. So. Cic. Rep. i. 2.
__________________________________________________________________
Ephesians.
This Commentary was specially prized by Jerome as exhibiting his true
views (Letter LXXXIV. 2), and they became in consequence one of the
chief subjects of controversy between him and Rufinus, who traced in
them, not unjustly, the influence of Origen. It was written immediately
after that on the Epistle to the Galatians, in a.d. 387, and, like
that, addressed to Paula and Eustochium. In the Preface to Book i.
Jerome defends himself against various accusations. He declares that he
has been, in the main, his own instructor, but yet that he has
constantly consulted others as to Scriptural difficulties, and that he
had, not long before, been to Alexandria to consult Didymus. "I
questioned him about everything which was not clear to me in the whole
range of Scripture." As to his indebtedness to Origen, he speaks as
follows, certainly not blaming his doctrines: "I remark in the
Prefaces, for your information, that Origen composed three volumes on
this Epistle, and I have partly followed him. Apollinaris and Didymus
also published some commentaries, and, though we have gleaned a few
things from them, we have added or omitted such as we thought fit. The
studious reader will, therefore, understand at the outset that this
work is partly my own, and that I am in part indebted to others." The
Preface to Books ii. and iii. is short. It speaks in praise of
Marcella, who had invited him to his task, and declares that he in his
monastery could not accomplish as much as that noble woman amidst the
cares of her household. "I beseech you," he says, "to bear in mind that
the language of this publication has not been long thought over or
highly polished. In revealing the mysteries of Scripture I use almost
the language of the street, and sometimes get through a thousand lines
a day, in order that the explanation of the Apostle which I have begun
may be completed with the aid of the prayers of Paul himself, whose
Epistles I am endeavouring to explain."
__________________________________________________________________
Philemon.
Written for Paula and Eustochium, a.d. 387. The Preface is a defence of
the genuineness of the Epistle against those who thought its subject
beneath the dignity of inspiration. "There are many degrees of
inspiration," Jerome says, "though in Christ alone it is seen in its
fulness." Many of the other Epistles touch upon small affairs of life,
like the cloak left at Troas. To suppose that common life is separate
from God is Manichæanism. Jerome mentions that Marcion, who altered
many of the Epistles, did not touch that of Philemon; and brevity in a
document which has in it so much of the beauty of the Gospel is a mark
of its inspiration.
__________________________________________________________________
Titus.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, a.d. 387. The Preface speaks of the
rejection of the Epistle by Marcion and Basilides, its acceptance by
Tatius, but without assigning reasons. It ought, Jerome says, to be of
special interest to Paula and Eustochium, as being written from
Nicopolis, near Actium, where their property lay.
__________________________________________________________________
Isaiah.
The Commentary in eighteen books, each with its Preface. It was written
in the years 404-410, and addressed to Eustochium alone, her mother
Paula having died in 404.
The Preface to Book i. touches generally upon the character and
contents of Isaiah, asserting that many of the prophecies are directly
applicable to Christ, and that the nations who are dealt with have a
spiritual meaning. Those to the following books mostly give a short
statement of the contents of the chapters commented on, and entreat the
prayers of Eustochium for the work. The Fifth Book (or chapters xiii.
to xxiii.) had been published before by itself, at the instance of a
bishop named Amabilis, but he says he must add the metaphorical and
spiritual meaning of the Visions of the various nations, which is done
in Books vi. and vii. The Preface to Book x. contains a bitter allusion
to Rufinus, "the Scorpion, a dumb and poisonous brute, still grumbling
over my former reply," and speaks of Pammachius as joining in the
request for the continuation of the Commentaries.
The Preface to Book xi. intimates that his commentary upon Daniel,
which expounded the statue with feet of iron and clay as the Roman
Empire, and announced its fall, had been known at the court and
resented by Stilicho, but that all danger from that source had been
removed by the judgment of God, that is, through the death of Stilicho
by the command of his son in-law Honorius. The Preface to Book xiii.
records a severe illness which had stopped his work, though he was
restored to health suddenly; and that to Book xiv. thanks Eustochium
for her kind offices during this illness. The remaining Prefaces,
though they have occasionally some interest in the history of the
interpretation of Scripture, need not delay us.
__________________________________________________________________
Jeremiah.
The Commentary on Jeremiah is in six books; but Jerome did not live to
finish it. It was written between the years 317 and 319, but only
extends to chapter xxxii. It was dedicated to Eusebius of Cremona. The
Prefaces, which are full of vigour, contain many allusions to the
events and controversies of the last years of Jerome's life. In the
Preface to Book i., after speaking of the Book of Daniel and the
apocryphal Letter of Jeremiah as not belonging to the prophet's
writings, he continues:
I pay little heed to the ravings of disparaging critics who revile not
only my words, but the very syllables of my words, and suppose they
give evidence of some little knowledge if they discredit another man's
work, as was exemplified in that [5429] ignorant traducer who lately
broke out, and thought it worth his while to censure my commentaries on
Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians. He does not understand the rules of
commenting (for he is more asleep than awake and seems utterly dazed),
and is not aware that in our books we give the opinions of many
different writers, the authors' names being either expressed or
understood, so that it is open to the reader to decide which he may
prefer to adopt; although I must add that, in my Preface to the First
Book of that work, I gave fair notice that my remarks would be partly
my own, partly those of other commentators, and that thus the
commentary would be the work conjointly of the ancient writers and of
myself. [5430] Grunnius, his precursor, overlooked the same fact, and
once upon a time did his best to cavil. I replied to him in two books,
and there I cleared away the objections which he adduced in his own
name, though the real traducer was some one else; to say nothing of my
treatises against Jovinianus where, you may remember, I show that he
(Jovinianus) laments that virginity is preferred to marriage, single
marriage to digamy, digamy to polygamy. The stupid fool, [5431]
labouring under his load of Scotch porridge, does not recollect that we
said, in that very work, "I do not condemn the twice married, nor the
thrice married, and, if it so be, the eight times married; I will go a
step farther, and say that I welcome even a penitent whoremonger; for
things equally lawful must be weighed in an even balance." Let him read
the Apology [5432] for the same work which was directed against his
[5433] master, and was received by Rome with acclamation many years
ago. He will then observe that his revilings are but the echoes of
other men's voices, and that his ignorance is so deep that even his
abuse is not his own, but that he employs against us the ravings of
foes long since dead and buried.
The Preface to Book ii. is short and contains nothing of special
importance. In that to Book iii. Jerome declares that he will, like
Ulysses with the Sirens, close his ears to the adversary. The devil,
who once spoke through Jovinianus, "now barks through the hound of
Albion (Pelagius), who is like a mountain of fat, and whose fury is
more in his heels than in his teeth; for his offspring is among the
Scots, in the neighbourhood of Britain; and, according to the fables of
the poet, he must, like Cerberus, be smitten to death with a spiritual
club, that, in company with his master Pluto, he may forever hold his
peace."
In the Preface to Book iv. Jerome says he has been hindered in his work
by the harassing of the Pelagian controversy. He regards Pelagius as
reproducing the doctrines of impassibility and sinlessness taught by
Pythagoras and Zeno, and revived by Origen, Rufinus, Evagrius Ponticus,
and Jovinian. Their doctrines, he says, were promulgated chiefly in
Sicily, Rhodes, and other islands; they were propagated secretly, and
denied in public. They were full of malice, but were but dumb dogs, and
were refuted in "certain writings," probably those of Augustin; but he
declares his intention of writing against them, which he did in his
anti-Pelagian Dialogue.
The Prefaces to Books v. and vi. contain nothing noteworthy.
__________________________________________________________________
[5429] Pelagius.
[5430] That is, Rufinus. See Preface to Book xii. of Isaiah, where
Rufinus is called Grunnius Corocotta Porcellus, and Preface to Book iv.
of Jeremiah.
[5431] Scotorum pultibus prægravatus. The words have been translated
"made fat with Scotch flummery" (Stillingfleet). Another rendering is,
"having his belly filled and his head bedulled with Scotch porridge"
(Wall on Infant Baptism, pt. i. c. 19, § 3). Some think the words refer
to Celestius, Pelagius' supporter.
[5432] The letter to Pammachius (Jer. Letter XLVIII.) in defence of the
book against Jovinianus.
[5433] Jovinian was condemned in a Synod at Rome about 390. Thirty
years had thus passed since the events occurred to which Jerome refers.
See Preface to the treatise against Jovinian.
__________________________________________________________________
Ezekiel.
The Commentary on Ezekiel is in fourteen Books. It was dedicated to
Eustochium, and was written between the years 410 and 414. The Prefaces
gain a special interest from their descriptions of the sack of Rome by
Alaric and the consequent immigration into Palestine. We give several
passages.
In Preface to Book i.
Having completed the eighteen books of the exposition of Isaiah, I was
very desirous, Eustochium, Christ's virgin, to go on to Ezekiel, in
accordance with my frequent promises to you and your mother Paula, of
saintly memory, and thus, as the saying is, put the finishing touches
to the work on the prophets; but alas! intelligence was suddenly
brought me of the death of Pammachius and [5434] Marcella, [5435] the
siege of Rome, and the falling asleep of many of my brethren and
sisters. I was so stupefied and dismayed that day and night I could
think of nothing but the welfare of the community; it seemed as though
I was sharing the captivity of the saints, and I could not open my lips
until I knew something more definite; and all the while, full of
anxiety, I was wavering between hope and despair, and was torturing
myself with the misfortunes of other people. But when the bright light
of all the world was put out, or, rather, when the Roman Empire was
decapitated, and, to speak more correctly, the whole world perished in
one city, [5436] "I became dumb and humbled myself, and kept silence
from good words, but my grief broke out afresh, my heart glowed within
me, and while I meditated the fire was kindled;" and I thought I ought
not to disregard the saying, [5437] "An untimely story is like music in
a time of grief." But seeing that you persist in making this request,
and a wound, though deep, heals by degrees; and [5438] the scorpion
lies beneath the ground with [5439] Enceladus and Porphyrion, and the
many-headed Hydra has at length ceased to hiss at us; and since
opportunity has been given me which I ought to use, not for replying to
insidious heretics, but for devoting myself to the exposition of
Scripture, I will resume my work upon the prophet Ezekiel.
Book ii. has, instead of a Preface, merely a line calling the attention
of Eustochium to its opening words.
The Preface to Book iii. has a noteworthy passage on the sack of Rome
and its results.
Who would believe that Rome, built up by the conquest of the whole
world, had collapsed, that the mother of nations had become also their
tomb; that the shores of the whole East, of Egypt, of Africa, which
once belonged to the imperial city, were filled with the hosts of her
men-servants and maid-servants, that we should every day be receiving
in this holy Bethlehem men and women who once were noble and abounding
in every kind of wealth but are now reduced to poverty? We cannot
relieve these sufferers: all we can do is to sympathise with them, and
unite our tears with theirs. The burden of this holy work was as much
as we could carry; the sight of the wanderers, coming in crowds, caused
us deep pain; and we therefore abandoned the exposition of Ezekiel, and
almost all study, and were filled with a longing to turn the words of
Scripture into action, and not to say holy things but to do them. Now,
however, in response to your admonition, Eustochium, Christ's virgin,
we resume the interrupted labour, and approach our third Book.
The Prefaces to Books iv., v., and vi. contain nothing remarkable. The
following is the important part of the Preface to Book vii.
There is not a single hour, nor a single moment, in which we are not
relieving crowds of brethren, and the quiet of the monastery has been
changed into the bustle of a guest house. And so much is this the case
that we must either close our doors, or abandon the study of the
Scriptures on which we depend for keeping the doors open. And so,
turning to profit, or rather stealing the hours of the nights, which,
now that winter is approaching, begin to lengthen somewhat, I am
endeavouring by the light of the lamp to dictate these comments,
whatever they maybe worth, and am trying to mitigate with exposition
the weariness of a mind which is a stranger to rest. I am not boasting,
as some perhaps suspect, of the welcome given to the brethren, but I am
simply confessing the causes of the delay. Who could boast when the
flight of the people of the West, and the holy places, crowded as they
are with penniless fugitives, naked and wounded, plainly reveal the
ravages of the Barbarians? We cannot see what has occurred, without
tears and moans. Who would have believed that mighty Rome, with its
careless security of wealth, would be reduced to such extremities as to
need shelter, food, and clothing? And yet, some are so hard-hearted and
cruel that, instead of showing compassion, they break up the rags and
bundles of the captives, and expect to find gold about those who are
nothing than prisoners. In addition to this hindrance to my dictating,
my eyes are growing dim with age and to some extent I share the
suffering of the saintly Isaac: I am quite unable to go through the
Hebrew books with such light as I have at night, for even in the full
light of day they are hidden from my eyes owing to the smallness of the
letters. In fact, it is only the voice of the brethren which enables me
to master the commentaries of Greek writers.
The Prefaces to Books viii. to xiv. contain nothing of special
interest.
__________________________________________________________________
[5434] Under whose care Eustochium had been trained.
[5435] By the Goths under Alaric. The city was taken in a.d. 410.
[5436] Ps. xxxix. 3, 4.
[5437] Ecclus. xxii. 6.
[5438] Rufinus who died a.d. 410, in Sicily, on his way to the Holy
Land from Aquileia and Rome, whence he had been driven by the troubles
in Italy.
[5439] The giants who bore those names. See Hor. III. od. 4.
__________________________________________________________________
Daniel.
The Commentary on Daniel was dedicated to Pammachius and Marcella in
the year 407. It is in a single book, and is aimed at the criticisms of
Porphyry, who, like most modern critics, took the predictions in the
Book of Daniel as relating to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes and the
Maccabees, and written near that date. The Preface is very similar to
that prefixed to the Vulgate translation of Daniel.
__________________________________________________________________
Prefaces to the Commentaries on the Minor Prophets.
For the order and date of writing of these Commentaries see the Preface
to Amos, Book iii., and the note there.
Hosea.
This Commentary was dedicated to Pammachius, a.d. 406 (sixth consulate
of Arcadius--Preface to Amos, Book iii. The Preface to Book i. is
chiefly taken up with a discussion on Hosea's "wife of whoredoms." He
takes the story as allegorical; it cannot be literal, for "God commands
nothing but what is honourable, nor does he, by bidding men do
disgraceful things, make that conduct honourable which is disgraceful."
Jerome then describes, as in former Prefaces, the chief Greek
commentators, of whom Apollinaris and Origen had written very shortly
on Hosea, Pierius at great length, but to little purpose; and says that
he had himself obtained from Didymus of Alexandria that he should
complete the Commentary of Origen. He had himself often judged
independently, though with little knowledge of Hebrew, but he had been
in earnest, while most scholars were "more concerned for their bellies
than their hearts, and thought themselves learned if in the doctors'
waiting rooms they could disparage other men's works."
In the Preface to Book ii. Jerome complains of his detractors, and
appeals from the present favour of high-placed men to the posthumous
authority of sound ability.
In Book iii. he claims Pammachius as his defender, though he fears the
judgment of his great learning.
Joel.
This Commentary also is addressed to Pammachius, a.d. 406. It is in one
book. It gives the order of the Twelve Prophets adopted by the LXX. and
the Hebrew respectively, the Hebrew order being that now in use. It
also gives the etymological meaning of their names.
Amos.
In three books, addressed also to Pammachius, a.d. 406 (Preface to
Amos, Book iii.). The Preface to Book i. merely gives a description of
Tekoa, Amos' birthplace. That to Book ii. speaks of old age, with its
advantages for self-control and its trials in various infirmities, such
as phlegm, dim eyesight, loosened teeth, colic, and gout. That to Book
iii. contains the passage several times referred to for the order of
these Commentaries, which is as follows:
We have not discussed them in regular sequence from the first to the
ninth, as they are read, but as we have been able, and in accordance
with requests made to us. Nahum, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, [5440] I
first addressed to Paula and Eustochium, her daughter, who are never
weary; I next dedicated two books on Habakkuk to Chromatius, bishop of
Aquileia; I then proceeded to explain, at your command, Pammachius, and
after a long interval of silence, Obadiah and Jonah. [5441] In the
[5442] present year, which bears in the calendar the name of the sixth
consulate of Arcadius Augustus and Anitius Probus, I interpreted
Malachi for Exsuperius, bishop of Toulouse, and Minervius and
Alexander, monks of that city. Unable to refuse your request I
immediately went back to the beginning of the volume, and expounded
Hosea, Joel, and Amos. A severe sickness followed, and I showed my
rashness in resuming the dictation of this work too hastily; and,
whereas others hesitate to write and frequently correct their work, I
entrusted mine to the fortune which attends those who employ a
secretary, and hazarded my reputation for ability and orthodoxy; for,
as I have often testified, I cannot endure the toil of writing with my
own hand; and, in expounding the Holy Scriptures, what we want is not a
polished style and oratorical flourishes, but learning and simple
truth.
Obadiah.
Addressed to Pammachius a.d. 403. The Preface records how in early
youth (some thirty years before), he had attempted an allegorical
commentary of Obadiah, of which he was now ashamed, though it has
lately been praised by a youth of similar years.
Jonah.
This was addressed to Chromatius, [5443] but belongs to the year 395.
It is said in the Preface to be three years after the commentary on
Micah, Nahum, etc. The Preface merely touches on the various places of
Scripture in which Jonah is named.
Micah.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium. a.d. 392. It is in two books. In the
Preface to Book ii., Jerome vindicates himself against the charge of
making mere compilations from Origen. He confesses, however, his great
admiration for him. "What they consider a reproach," he says, "I regard
as the highest praise, since I desire to imitate him who, I doubt not,
is acceptable to all wise men, and to you."
Nahum.
Also to Paula and Eustochium, a.d. 392. The Preface contains little of
importance. Jerome mentions that the village of Elkosh, Nahum's
birthplace, was pointed out to him by a guide in Galilee.
Habakkuk.
Addressed to Chromatius, a.d. 392. The commentary is in two books. The
Preface to Book i. is long, but merely describes the contents of the
book. That to Book ii. mentions among his adversaries, "The Serpent,
and Sardanapalus, whose character is worse than his name"--expressions
which have been referred to Rufinus; but the enmity between Jerome and
Rufinus had not broken out in 392.
Zephaniah.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, a.d. 392. In the Preface Jerome
defends himself for writing for women, bringing many examples from
Scripture and from classical writers to show the capacity of women.
Haggai.
Also to Paula and Eustochium, a.d. 392. The preface merely describes
the occasion of the book, but says that Haggai's prophecy was
contemporary with the reign of Tarquinius Superbus (b.c. 535-510).
Zechariah.
Addressed to Exsuperius, bishop of Toulouse, a.d. 406, in three books,
and sent, "in the closing days of autumn, by the monk, Sisinnius, who
had been sent with presents for the poor saints at Jerusalem, and was
hastening to Egypt on a similar errand." The Prefaces to the three
books mention these facts, but have nothing in them of note which has
not been said before.
Malachi.
Addressed, a.d. 406, to Minervius and Alexander, presbyters of the
diocese of Toulouse. The Jews, the Preface says, believe Malachi to be
a name for Ezra. Origen and his followers believe that (according to
his name) he was an angel. But we reject this view altogether, lest we
be compelled to accept the doctrine of the fall of souls from heaven.
__________________________________________________________________
[5440] These four and Habakkuk are mentioned in the De Vir. Ill. (a.d.
492), and were written about that date, Jonah three years after, but
Obadiah probably not till 403. The rest are fixed to the Sixth
Consulate of Arcadius, 406.
[5441] But see Preface to Jonah, which is addressed to Chromatius.
[5442] The year a.d. 406.
[5443] Chromatius is named in this Preface distinctly. But see Preface
to Amos, Book iii., which says that the Commentaries to Obadiah and
Jonah were written at the request of Pammachius.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Indexes
__________________________________________________________________
Index of Scripture References
Genesis
[1]1 [2]1:1 [3]1:2 [4]1:2 [5]1:7 [6]1:10 [7]1:26
[8]1:26 [9]1:27 [10]1:28 [11]1:28 [12]1:28 [13]1:28
[14]1:28 [15]1:28 [16]1:28 [17]1:28 [18]1:28 [19]1:28
[20]1:28 [21]1:31 [22]2 [23]2 [24]2:7 [25]2:8 [26]2:10
[27]2:10 [28]2:10-11 [29]2:11 [30]2:11 [31]2:13 [32]2:16
[33]2:17 [34]2:21-22 [35]2:21-22 [36]2:23 [37]2:24 [38]2:24
[39]3 [40]3 [41]3:1 [42]3:1-6 [43]3:7 [44]3:14 [45]3:14
[46]3:14 [47]3:16 [48]3:16 [49]3:16 [50]3:18 [51]3:18
[52]3:18-19 [53]3:19 [54]3:19 [55]3:20 [56]3:21 [57]3:21
[58]3:23 [59]3:24 [60]3:24 [61]3:24 [62]3:25 [63]4:5
[64]4:7 [65]4:7 [66]4:15 [67]4:17 [68]4:19 [69]4:25
[70]4:26 [71]5 [72]5:3 [73]5:27 [74]6:3 [75]6:3 [76]6:3
[77]6:4 [78]6:5 [79]7 [80]7:2 [81]7:2 [82]7:2 [83]7:11
[84]7:13 [85]7:23 [86]8 [87]8:8 [88]8:11 [89]8:20
[90]8:21 [91]8:21 [92]8:21 [93]9:1 [94]9:1 [95]9:3
[96]9:3 [97]9:4-6 [98]9:7 [99]9:7 [100]9:20-21 [101]9:20-21
[102]10 [103]10:11 [104]11 [105]11:2 [106]11:4 [107]11:9
[108]11:10-26 [109]11:31 [110]12:1 [111]12:1 [112]12:1
[113]12:1 [114]12:1 [115]12:1-4 [116]12:4 [117]13:5-11
[118]13:8 [119]13:10 [120]13:11 [121]14:2 [122]14:13-16
[123]14:14 [124]14:18 [125]15:16 [126]15:16 [127]16:12
[128]17:1 [129]17:1-2 [130]17:17 [131]18:1 [132]18:1
[133]18:1-8 [134]18:11 [135]18:12 [136]18:23 [137]18:23-33
[138]19:15-26 [139]19:17 [140]19:18-21 [141]19:26
[142]19:30-38 [143]19:30-38 [144]19:30-38 [145]20 [146]20:11
[147]21:3 [148]21:6 [149]21:12 [150]21:31 [151]22 [152]22
[153]22:1 [154]23 [155]23:19 [156]24 [157]24:15-16
[158]24:42 [159]25:1 [160]25:22 [161]25:22-23 [162]25:23
[163]25:34 [164]26 [165]26:8 [166]26:12 [167]26:15
[168]26:18 [169]27 [170]27 [171]27:36 [172]27:41-46
[173]28:1-5 [174]28:11-13 [175]28:12 [176]28:12 [177]28:12
[178]28:12-13 [179]28:12-13 [180]28:20 [181]28:20-21
[182]29:10-11 [183]29:11 [184]29:15 [185]29:17-18 [186]29:20
[187]30:1 [188]30:1-2 [189]30:2 [190]30:14-16 [191]30:33
[192]31:36-37 [193]31:40 [194]31:41 [195]31:46-49 [196]32:2
[197]32:5 [198]32:7 [199]32:10 [200]32:10 [201]32:14
[202]32:24-25 [203]32:25 [204]32:28 [205]32:30 [206]32:30
[207]32:31 [208]32:31 [209]33 [210]33:18-20 [211]34 [212]34
[213]34:30 [214]35:4 [215]35:16 [216]35:16 [217]35:18-19
[218]35:20 [219]35:21 [220]37:23 [221]37:23 [222]37:25
[223]37:28 [224]37:35 [225]37:35 [226]37:36 [227]38
[228]38:9 [229]38:12-18 [230]38:26 [231]38:26 [232]38:27-30
[233]38:28-29 [234]39:12 [235]39:12 [236]39:12 [237]39:12
[238]39:12-13 [239]39:23 [240]41:42-44 [241]41:45
[242]41:50-52 [243]43:16 [244]46 [245]46:3-4 [246]46:26
[247]46:26 [248]48:10 [249]49:10 [250]49:10 [251]49:11
[252]49:17 [253]49:27 [254]49:27 [255]49:27 [256]49:31
Exodus
[257]1:1 [258]2:16-17 [259]3:3 [260]3:3 [261]3:5 [262]3:5
[263]3:5 [264]3:14 [265]3:14 [266]3:14 [267]4:6 [268]4:20
[269]4:24-26 [270]5:2 [271]7:13 [272]7:16 [273]11 [274]12
[275]12:8 [276]12:8 [277]12:11 [278]12:11 [279]12:21-23
[280]12:22 [281]12:23 [282]12:29 [283]12:29 [284]12:29-30
[285]12:38 [286]12:46 [287]13:2 [288]13:2 [289]13:18
[290]13:18 [291]14:19 [292]15:1 [293]15:20-21 [294]15:21
[295]15:23 [296]15:23-25 [297]15:23-27 [298]15:27 [299]16:3
[300]17:4 [301]17:8 [302]17:8-14 [303]17:11 [304]18:3
[305]19:15 [306]20:5 [307]20:5 [308]20:12 [309]20:12
[310]21:2 [311]21:10 [312]21:12-13 [313]22:28 [314]23:20
[315]23:26 [316]25:11 [317]25:22 [318]27:20 [319]28
[320]31:2-3 [321]32:4 [322]32:6 [323]32:10 [324]32:30
[325]32:30-35 [326]32:31-32 [327]32:32 [328]33:3 [329]33:20
[330]33:21-23 [331]34:29 [332]34:33 [333]34:35 [334]37
[335]38:8
Leviticus
[336]2:11 [337]2:11 [338]2:13 [339]4:2 [340]4:27 [341]5:3
[342]9:1 [343]9:7 [344]10:6 [345]10:9 [346]10:9 [347]10:9
[348]10:12 [349]12:2-3 [350]12:6 [351]12:7 [352]14:1
[353]14:6 [354]15:31 [355]16:2 [356]16:2 [357]16:5
[358]16:6 [359]16:29 [360]18:9 [361]19:2 [362]19:15
[363]21:3 [364]21:7 [365]21:10-12 [366]21:12 [367]21:13
[368]21:13-14 [369]21:14 [370]21:17 [371]21:17-23
[372]22:12-13 [373]22:13 [374]22:14 [375]23:27 [376]23:29
[377]23:40-42 [378]25:8 [379]25:13
Numbers
[380]3:39 [381]4:3 [382]4:3 [383]4:23 [384]4:30 [385]4:35
[386]4:39 [387]5:11 [388]5:17 [389]6:1 [390]7:5 [391]7:24
[392]7:28-29 [393]11:4 [394]11:4-6 [395]11:16 [396]11:16
[397]11:20 [398]11:20 [399]11:31 [400]11:31-4 [401]11:34
[402]12:1 [403]12:3 [404]12:14 [405]13:23-24 [406]14:7
[407]14:18 [408]16:26 [409]16:46-48 [410]18:15 [411]18:16
[412]18:20 [413]18:20-24 [414]18:24 [415]19:1-10 [416]20:10
[417]20:12 [418]20:13 [419]20:17 [420]20:17 [421]20:29
[422]20:29 [423]21:9 [424]23:21 [425]23:21 [426]24:15-19
[427]25:6-8 [428]25:7-8 [429]28:15 [430]28:22 [431]29:5
[432]33 [433]33:47-48 [434]34:15 [435]35:6 [436]35:13
[437]35:30
Deuteronomy
[438]5:14-15 [439]5:31 [440]7:13 [441]8:3 [442]8:12-14
[443]8:15 [444]8:15 [445]9:6 [446]11:10 [447]11:11
[448]11:14 [449]13:3 [450]13:5 [451]13:6-9 [452]15:12
[453]15:21 [454]16:5 [455]17:5 [456]17:6 [457]17:9-11
[458]17:12 [459]17:15 [460]18:2 [461]18:9-12 [462]18:13
[463]18:13 [464]20:6-7 [465]20:7 [466]21:10-13 [467]21:11-12
[468]21:17 [469]22:1 [470]22:4 [471]22:8 [472]22:10
[473]22:23-24 [474]22:23-27 [475]22:24-25 [476]23:2 [477]23:3
[478]24:1-4 [479]27:9 [480]27:9 [481]29:23 [482]32:7
[483]32:15 [484]33:9 [485]34:5-6 [486]34:6 [487]34:6
[488]34:6-8 [489]34:8 [490]34:8
Joshua
[491]2:18 [492]3 [493]3:17 [494]4:3 [495]4:20 [496]5:2
[497]5:3 [498]5:9 [499]5:15 [500]5:15 [501]6:20 [502]7
[503]7:12 [504]7:24-26 [505]8 [506]9 [507]9:27 [508]10:1
[509]10:3 [510]10:12-14 [511]10:13 [512]10:16 [513]10:26
[514]11:10 [515]11:19-20 [516]14:3 [517]14:15 [518]15:13-15
[519]15:14 [520]19:50 [521]22:27 [522]24:28 [523]24:29
[524]24:30 [525]24:30 [526]24:30 [527]24:33
Judges
[528]1:13-15 [529]2:9 [530]5:21 [531]6:2 [532]6:36-40
[533]6:37 [534]11:1 [535]11:30-31 [536]11:34-40 [537]15:17-19
[538]17:5 [539]19 [540]20 [541]20:47 [542]21:19-23
Ruth
[543]1 [544]1:14 [545]1:16
1 Samuel
[546]1:3 [547]1:15 [548]1:17 [549]1:27-28 [550]2
[551]2:12-17 [552]2:12-17 [553]2:18 [554]2:18 [555]2:21
[556]2:22 [557]2:22 [558]2:22 [559]2:22 [560]2:24 [561]2:25
[562]2:27-36 [563]2:30 [564]4 [565]4 [566]4:18 [567]4:19-22
[568]7:7 [569]8:1-4 [570]8:3 [571]9 [572]9:9 [573]12:3
[574]12:3-5 [575]14:24 [576]14:24 [577]14:27 [578]15:11
[579]15:11 [580]15:17 [581]15:35 [582]16:6 [583]16:7
[584]16:7 [585]16:7 [586]16:7 [587]16:11-13 [588]17:49
[589]17:50-51 [590]18:6-7 [591]21:1 [592]21:4 [593]21:4-5
[594]21:10 [595]22:16-18 [596]22:17-19 [597]25:38 [598]28:13
[599]30:1
2 Samuel
[600]4:11 [601]5:7 [602]5:9 [603]6:6-7 [604]6:6-7
[605]6:7-8 [606]8:13-14 [607]11 [608]11:4 [609]12:13
[610]12:13 [611]12:16 [612]13 [613]13:14 [614]16:10
[615]17:1-4 [616]17:14 [617]18:33 [618]21:1 [619]24
[620]24:10
1 Kings
[621]1:1-4 [622]1:4 [623]1:38 [624]2:10 [625]3:3
[626]3:16-28 [627]4:33 [628]7:14 [629]8:9 [630]8:46
[631]8:46 [632]11:1-4 [633]11:3 [634]11:14 [635]12:10
[636]13:24 [637]14:5 [638]14:8 [639]15:11 [640]16:34
[641]17 [642]17:4 [643]17:6 [644]17:8-16 [645]17:9-16
[646]18:3-4 [647]18:4 [648]18:21 [649]18:40 [650]19:4
[651]19:4-6 [652]19:8-11 [653]19:11-13 [654]19:21 [655]21:10
[656]21:13 [657]21:19 [658]21:19 [659]21:21 [660]21:23
[661]21:25 [662]21:27 [663]21:27-29 [664]21:27-29
[665]21:28-29 [666]21:29 [667]22:19
2 Kings
[668]1:8 [669]2:11 [670]2:11 [671]2:11 [672]2:11 [673]2:13
[674]2:13 [675]2:13 [676]2:19-22 [677]4:27 [678]4:38-39
[679]4:38-41 [680]6:1-2 [681]6:1-2 [682]6:5-6 [683]6:16
[684]6:17 [685]6:18-23 [686]10:15-16 [687]13:21 [688]18
[689]18:3-4 [690]18:7 [691]18:14 [692]19:28 [693]19:35
[694]20 [695]20:1 [696]20:5 [697]20:12-13 [698]20:13
[699]20:17 [700]20:18 [701]22:14 [702]23:29 [703]23:29
[704]23:29
1 Chronicles
[705]2:32 [706]2:55 [707]6:34-38 [708]11:5-6 [709]15:21
[710]21:15 [711]21:18 [712]22:8 [713]23:14 [714]28:3
2 Chronicles
[715]3:1 [716]6:36 [717]8:5 [718]15:2 [719]17:3 [720]19:2
[721]20:5-25 [722]20:26 [723]22:9 [724]32:26 [725]32:30
[726]33:12-13 [727]33:12-13 [728]34:2 [729]34:22-23
[730]35:20 [731]35:20-24 [732]35:22
Nehemiah
[733]4:16
Esther
[734]2:1-4 [735]6:1 [736]7:10 [737]9:20-32 [738]14:11
[739]14:16
Job
[740]1:1 [741]1:16 [742]1:20-21 [743]1:21 [744]1:21
[745]1:21 [746]1:21 [747]1:21 [748]2:3 [749]2:3 [750]2:4-5
[751]2:4-5 [752]2:4-5 [753]2:6 [754]3:3 [755]3:3
[756]4:17-21 [757]4:18 [758]4:18 [759]5:17 [760]7:1
[761]7:1 [762]7:1 [763]7:20-21 [764]9:9 [765]9:15-16
[766]9:20 [767]9:20 [768]9:29-31 [769]9:30 [770]9:30
[771]9:31 [772]10:15 [773]14:4 [774]14:4-5 [775]14:4-5
[776]14:4-5 [777]14:5 [778]16:21 [779]18:14-15 [780]19:23
[781]19:25-27 [782]25:5 [783]25:5 [784]25:5-6 [785]25:5-6
[786]31:35 [787]38:3 [788]38:32 [789]40:4 [790]40:8
[791]40:16 [792]40:16 [793]40:16 [794]40:16 [795]40:21
[796]41:13 [797]41:27 [798]41:34 [799]42:6 [800]42:6
Psalms
[801]1 [802]1:2 [803]1:2 [804]1:2 [805]1:2 [806]1:2
[807]1:2 [808]1:2 [809]1:5 [810]2:4 [811]2:8 [812]2:9
[813]4:4 [814]4:4 [815]4:4 [816]4:6 [817]5:8 [818]5:12
[819]6 [820]6:5 [821]6:5 [822]6:5 [823]6:6 [824]6:6
[825]6:6 [826]7:9 [827]8:3 [828]8:5 [829]9:6 [830]10
[831]10:8-9 [832]11:2 [833]12 [834]12:1 [835]12:1 [836]12:7
[837]14:1 [838]14:1 [839]14:3 [840]14:4 [841]15:2-3
[842]16:4 [843]16:5 [844]16:5 [845]16:5-6 [846]16:7
[847]16:9 [848]17:4 [849]18:15 [850]18:37 [851]18:45
[852]19:4 [853]19:6 [854]19:9 [855]19:12-13 [856]19:12-13
[857]19:12-14 [858]19:13 [859]19:13 [860]20:7 [861]21:1
[862]22:1 [863]22:2 [864]22:22 [865]22:29-30 [866]23:5
[867]24:1 [868]24:1 [869]24:1 [870]25:7 [871]25:15
[872]26:1-2 [873]26:2 [874]26:8 [875]26:8 [876]27:4
[877]27:13 [878]27:13 [879]29:3 [880]29:10 [881]30:5
[882]30:6-7 [883]30:7 [884]30:9 [885]30:11 [886]32:1
[887]32:1-2 [888]32:4 [889]32:4 [890]32:5 [891]32:5
[892]32:5-6 [893]32:9 [894]32:9 [895]32:10 [896]33:6
[897]33:15 [898]34:2 [899]34:8 [900]34:8 [901]34:8
[902]34:14 [903]35:13 [904]35:13 [905]36:6 [906]36:6
[907]36:7 [908]36:27 [909]37:5-6 [910]37:25 [911]37:28
[912]37:39 [913]37:39 [914]38:2 [915]38:5 [916]38:5
[917]38:7 [918]38:7 [919]38:8 [920]38:13 [921]38:13-14
[922]38:14 [923]39:1-2 [924]39:1-2 [925]39:2 [926]39:3-4
[927]39:4 [928]39:5 [929]39:6 [930]39:6 [931]39:12
[932]39:12 [933]40:2 [934]40:2 [935]41 [936]41:3 [937]41:7
[938]41:9 [939]42:1-2 [940]42:1-3 [941]42:3 [942]42:6
[943]42:11 [944]42:11 [945]44:8 [946]44:17-18 [947]44:21
[948]44:21 [949]44:22 [950]44:22 [951]44:23 [952]44:23
[953]45 [954]45 [955]45:1 [956]45:1 [957]45:3 [958]45:9
[959]45:9 [960]45:10 [961]45:10 [962]45:10 [963]45:10-11
[964]45:10-11 [965]45:13 [966]45:13 [967]45:13 [968]45:13
[969]45:13 [970]45:14 [971]45:14 [972]45:16-17 [973]46:4
[974]47:7 [975]48:2 [976]48:8 [977]48:8 [978]48:8 [979]49:7
[980]50:16-17 [981]50:18 [982]50:20 [983]50:20 [984]50:20
[985]50:20-21 [986]51:1 [987]51:1 [988]51:1 [989]51:2-4
[990]51:4 [991]51:4 [992]51:4 [993]51:5 [994]51:5 [995]51:5
[996]51:5 [997]51:7 [998]51:7 [999]51:12 [1000]51:12
[1001]51:13 [1002]51:17 [1003]53:4 [1004]53:5 [1005]55:6
[1006]55:6 [1007]55:6 [1008]55:6 [1009]55:6 [1010]55:7-8
[1011]55:13 [1012]55:21 [1013]56:4 [1014]57:4 [1015]57:4
[1016]57:6 [1017]57:7-8 [1018]58:3 [1019]58:4 [1020]62:1
[1021]62:2 [1022]63:1 [1023]63:1-2 [1024]63:1-2 [1025]63:1-3
[1026]63:8 [1027]63:8 [1028]68:13 [1029]68:14 [1030]68:27
[1031]68:30 [1032]69:4 [1033]69:5 [1034]69:5 [1035]69:5
[1036]69:10 [1037]69:11 [1038]69:12 [1039]71:7 [1040]72:1
[1041]72:15 [1042]72:20 [1043]73 [1044]73 [1045]73:2
[1046]73:2-3 [1047]73:3-9 [1048]73:11 [1049]73:11-12
[1050]73:12 [1051]73:13 [1052]73:13 [1053]73:13-14
[1054]73:15 [1055]73:15 [1056]73:15 [1057]73:16-17
[1058]73:16-17 [1059]73:17 [1060]73:20 [1061]73:22-23
[1062]73:22-23 [1063]73:25 [1064]73:26 [1065]73:26
[1066]73:26 [1067]73:28 [1068]74:13-14 [1069]74:19 [1070]75:5
[1071]76:1 [1072]76:1 [1073]76:2 [1074]76:2 [1075]76:2
[1076]77:2 [1077]77:4 [1078]77:4 [1079]77:10 [1080]78:12
[1081]78:25 [1082]78:57 [1083]79:1 [1084]79:1-3 [1085]79:11
[1086]80:5 [1087]82:1 [1088]82:6-7 [1089]83:8 [1090]83:9-10
[1091]84:1-2 [1092]84:6 [1093]84:6 [1094]84:7 [1095]84:10
[1096]85:4 [1097]85:10 [1098]85:11 [1099]85:11-12
[1100]87:1-2 [1101]87:1-2 [1102]87:5 [1103]88:21 [1104]89:2
[1105]89:48 [1106]90:10 [1107]90:10 [1108]91:5-7 [1109]91:6
[1110]91:10 [1111]92:14 [1112]92:15 [1113]94:20 [1114]95:4-5
[1115]95:6 [1116]96:6 [1117]97:8 [1118]97:8 [1119]99:6
[1120]101:6 [1121]101:8 [1122]102:5 [1123]102:7 [1124]102:9
[1125]102:9 [1126]102:9 [1127]102:9 [1128]103:2-4 [1129]103:8
[1130]103:10 [1131]104:4 [1132]104:18 [1133]104:18
[1134]104:20-21 [1135]104:24 [1136]104:26 [1137]104:29
[1138]104:35 [1139]105:37 [1140]106:32 [1141]109:24
[1142]109:24 [1143]110:3 [1144]111:10 [1145]112:9
[1146]113:7-8 [1147]115:4 [1148]116:7 [1149]116:7 [1150]116:7
[1151]116:9 [1152]116:11 [1153]116:11 [1154]116:11
[1155]116:12-13 [1156]116:14-15 [1157]116:15 [1158]116:15
[1159]118:6 [1160]118:6 [1161]118:6 [1162]118:6 [1163]118:8-9
[1164]118:25 [1165]119 [1166]119:1 [1167]119:1 [1168]119:11
[1169]119:11 [1170]119:18 [1171]119:18 [1172]119:18
[1173]119:18 [1174]119:20 [1175]119:54 [1176]119:62
[1177]119:67 [1178]119:67 [1179]119:67 [1180]119:83
[1181]119:103 [1182]119:104 [1183]119:105 [1184]119:105
[1185]119:123 [1186]119:136 [1187]119:137 [1188]119:140
[1189]119:176 [1190]120 [1191]120 [1192]120 [1193]120:3
[1194]120:5 [1195]120:5 [1196]120:5-6 [1197]120:5-6
[1198]121:1 [1199]121:4 [1200]121:4 [1201]121:6 [1202]123:2
[1203]124:7 [1204]126:5 [1205]126:5 [1206]126:5-6 [1207]127
[1208]127:1 [1209]127:1 [1210]127:2 [1211]127:3 [1212]127:4
[1213]127:5 [1214]128:2 [1215]128:3 [1216]128:3 [1217]128:3
[1218]128:6 [1219]131:1 [1220]131:2 [1221]132:1 [1222]132:1
[1223]132:2-5 [1224]132:6 [1225]132:7 [1226]132:7
[1227]132:11 [1228]132:14 [1229]132:17 [1230]133:1
[1231]134:1 [1232]137:1 [1233]137:3 [1234]137:4 [1235]137:9
[1236]137:9 [1237]139:6 [1238]139:11-12 [1239]139:12
[1240]139:13 [1241]139:21 [1242]139:21-22 [1243]139:21-22
[1244]140:6 [1245]141:3-4 [1246]141:4 [1247]141:4 [1248]141:4
[1249]141:5 [1250]141:6 [1251]142:4 [1252]142:7 [1253]142:7
[1254]142:7 [1255]143:2 [1256]143:2 [1257]143:2 [1258]143:2
[1259]143:4 [1260]146:4 [1261]146:7 [1262]146:7-8 [1263]161:4
Proverbs
[1264]1:1-6 [1265]1:3 [1266]1:7 [1267]3:5-6 [1268]3:9
[1269]3:21 [1270]4:5-9 [1271]4:23 [1272]4:23 [1273]4:23
[1274]4:23 [1275]5:3 [1276]5:15 [1277]5:22 [1278]6:8
[1279]6:20 [1280]6:26 [1281]6:27-28 [1282]6:27-28 [1283]7:2
[1284]7:3 [1285]7:27 [1286]9:18 [1287]10:1 [1288]10:9
[1289]10:9 [1290]10:19 [1291]13:4 [1292]13:4 [1293]13:8
[1294]13:8 [1295]13:8 [1296]14:1 [1297]14:12 [1298]14:12
[1299]14:12 [1300]14:28 [1301]14:29 [1302]15:1 [1303]16:3
[1304]16:5 [1305]16:9 [1306]16:26 [1307]16:26 [1308]18:3
[1309]18:12 [1310]18:17 [1311]18:17 [1312]19:21 [1313]19:25
[1314]20:1 [1315]20:9 [1316]20:9 [1317]20:9 [1318]20:9
[1319]20:9 [1320]20:17 [1321]20:24 [1322]21:9 [1323]21:19
[1324]24:16 [1325]24:16 [1326]24:16 [1327]24:21-22
[1328]24:21-22 [1329]25:23 [1330]25:24 [1331]27:15
[1332]28:13 [1333]30:15-16 [1334]31:10-11
Ecclesiastes
[1335]1:2 [1336]1:9 [1337]1:9-10 [1338]1:13 [1339]1:18
[1340]3:1-2 [1341]3:4 [1342]3:5 [1343]3:5 [1344]3:5
[1345]3:7 [1346]3:10 [1347]3:16-22 [1348]4:9-12 [1349]4:12
[1350]7:10 [1351]7:12 [1352]7:16 [1353]7:16 [1354]7:16
[1355]7:16 [1356]7:16 [1357]7:20 [1358]7:21 [1359]7:24-25
[1360]7:28-29 [1361]8:63 [1362]9:2 [1363]9:4 [1364]9:8
[1365]9:8 [1366]9:8 [1367]9:8 [1368]9:8 [1369]9:8
[1370]9:51 [1371]9:54 [1372]9:55 [1373]10:1 [1374]10:4
[1375]10:4 [1376]10:4 [1377]10:11 [1378]11:2 [1379]11:19
[1380]12:7 [1381]12:7 [1382]12:7 [1383]35
Song of Solomon
[1384]1:3-4 [1385]1:4 [1386]1:4 [1387]1:4 [1388]1:4
[1389]1:4 [1390]1:5 [1391]1:7 [1392]1:7 [1393]1:7 [1394]1:7
[1395]1:7 [1396]1:7 [1397]1:8 [1398]1:10-11 [1399]1:13
[1400]2:1 [1401]2:1 [1402]2:1 [1403]2:1 [1404]2:3 [1405]2:4
[1406]2:5 [1407]2:6 [1408]2:6 [1409]2:10-11 [1410]2:10-12
[1411]2:10-12 [1412]2:12 [1413]2:13 [1414]2:13-14 [1415]2:15
[1416]2:16 [1417]2:16 [1418]3:1 [1419]3:1 [1420]3:1
[1421]3:1 [1422]3:2 [1423]3:2-3 [1424]3:4 [1425]3:4
[1426]3:7-8 [1427]4:2 [1428]4:6 [1429]4:7 [1430]4:7
[1431]4:8 [1432]4:9 [1433]4:9 [1434]4:9-10 [1435]4:12
[1436]4:12 [1437]4:12 [1438]4:12-13 [1439]5:1 [1440]5:2
[1441]5:2 [1442]5:2 [1443]5:2 [1444]5:2 [1445]5:2 [1446]5:2
[1447]5:2 [1448]5:2-3 [1449]5:3 [1450]5:4 [1451]5:6
[1452]5:6 [1453]5:7 [1454]5:7 [1455]5:8 [1456]5:10
[1457]5:10 [1458]5:10 [1459]5:16 [1460]6:8 [1461]6:8-9
[1462]6:9 [1463]6:9 [1464]6:10 [1465]7:1 [1466]8:5
[1467]8:5 [1468]8:5 [1469]8:6 [1470]8:7 [1471]8:10
Isaiah
[1472]1:3 [1473]1:9 [1474]1:15 [1475]1:21 [1476]1:28
[1477]3:12 [1478]3:12 [1479]3:12 [1480]3:16 [1481]4:3
[1482]5:20 [1483]5:20 [1484]5:20 [1485]5:21 [1486]6
[1487]6:2 [1488]6:2 [1489]6:2-3 [1490]6:5 [1491]6:5
[1492]6:6 [1493]7:14 [1494]7:14 [1495]7:14 [1496]7:14
[1497]7:14 [1498]7:14-15 [1499]7:20 [1500]8:1 [1501]8:1
[1502]8:1 [1503]8:3 [1504]8:18 [1505]8:20 [1506]9:6
[1507]11:1 [1508]11:1 [1509]11:1 [1510]11:1 [1511]11:3
[1512]11:6-8 [1513]11:10 [1514]13:21-22 [1515]13:22
[1516]14:12 [1517]14:12 [1518]14:12 [1519]14:12-13
[1520]14:13 [1521]14:13-14 [1522]14:13-14 [1523]14:13-14
[1524]14:14 [1525]14:14 [1526]15:1 [1527]15:5 [1528]16:1
[1529]16:1 [1530]16:6 [1531]18:2 [1532]19:18 [1533]19:19
[1534]19:21 [1535]20:2 [1536]21:9 [1537]22:12-13
[1538]22:12-14 [1539]23:15-16 [1540]24:2 [1541]24:16
[1542]24:21 [1543]26:12 [1544]26:18 [1545]26:20 [1546]26:20
[1547]27:11 [1548]28:9-10 [1549]28:9-11 [1550]28:12
[1551]28:15 [1552]28:16 [1553]28:24 [1554]29:1 [1555]29:11
[1556]29:14 [1557]30:15 [1558]30:15 [1559]30:17 [1560]31:6
[1561]31:9 [1562]31:9 [1563]32:6 [1564]32:6 [1565]32:9
[1566]32:20 [1567]32:20 [1568]33:15 [1569]33:15 [1570]34:5
[1571]34:5 [1572]34:5 [1573]34:14-16 [1574]34:15 [1575]37:22
[1576]38 [1577]38:19 [1578]38:19 [1579]40:3 [1580]40:3
[1581]40:5 [1582]40:6 [1583]40:12 [1584]40:12 [1585]40:15
[1586]40:17 [1587]41:8 [1588]42:14 [1589]43:26 [1590]45:9
[1591]45:21-22 [1592]46:4 [1593]46:8-9 [1594]47:1-2
[1595]47:1-3 [1596]47:14 [1597]49 [1598]49:2 [1599]49:8
[1600]50:6 [1601]50:6 [1602]51:7-8 [1603]53:6 [1604]53:8
[1605]54:1 [1606]54:1 [1607]54:1 [1608]56:3 [1609]56:3
[1610]58:3-4 [1611]58:5 [1612]58:5 [1613]60:1 [1614]60:6
[1615]63:1 [1616]63:3 [1617]63:3 [1618]64:4 [1619]65:5
[1620]65:5 [1621]65:13-14 [1622]65:17 [1623]66:1-2 [1624]66:2
[1625]66:2 [1626]66:2 [1627]66:5 [1628]66:7-8 [1629]66:22
[1630]66:24
Jeremiah
[1631]1 [1632]1 [1633]1:5 [1634]1:5 [1635]1:5 [1636]1:7
[1637]1:10 [1638]1:11 [1639]1:13 [1640]1:18 [1641]1:20
[1642]2 [1643]2:13 [1644]2:13 [1645]2:18 [1646]2:18
[1647]2:21 [1648]2:22 [1649]2:22 [1650]2:25 [1651]2:27
[1652]2:32 [1653]3:1 [1654]3:3 [1655]3:3 [1656]3:3
[1657]3:3 [1658]3:6-7 [1659]3:10 [1660]3:20 [1661]3:22
[1662]5:1-2 [1663]5:8 [1664]5:8 [1665]5:8 [1666]5:8
[1667]6:14 [1668]6:16 [1669]7:4 [1670]7:4 [1671]7:16
[1672]7:21-22 [1673]8:4 [1674]8:4 [1675]8:22 [1676]9:1
[1677]9:1 [1678]9:21 [1679]9:21 [1680]9:21 [1681]9:24
[1682]10:11 [1683]10:14 [1684]10:23 [1685]10:23 [1686]10:23
[1687]10:23 [1688]11:14 [1689]12:1 [1690]12:13 [1691]12:13
[1692]13:4-5 [1693]13:6-7 [1694]13:23 [1695]13:23 [1696]13:23
[1697]13:23 [1698]13:23 [1699]13:26 [1700]14:11-12
[1701]14:15 [1702]15:10 [1703]15:17 [1704]16:2 [1705]16:2
[1706]17:9 [1707]17:11 [1708]17:13 [1709]17:14 [1710]17:16
[1711]18:3-4 [1712]18:7-8 [1713]18:7-12 [1714]20:14
[1715]20:14 [1716]20:17 [1717]20:18 [1718]22:10 [1719]23:23
[1720]23:28 [1721]23:28 [1722]24:1-3 [1723]24:3 [1724]24:6-7
[1725]26:21-24 [1726]27:6 [1727]28:13 [1728]29:14-20
[1729]29:20-23 [1730]29:22 [1731]30:10-11 [1732]31:22
[1733]31:31 [1734]31:33 [1735]31:33-34 [1736]31:34
[1737]32:30 [1738]35 [1739]35:6-7 [1740]35:11 [1741]35:18
[1742]35:19 [1743]36 [1744]36:23 [1745]37:18-19 [1746]38:7
[1747]39:11 [1748]40 [1749]50:23 [1750]51:6 [1751]51:6
[1752]51:6
Lamentations
[1753]1 [1754]2:18 [1755]2:18 [1756]3:24 [1757]3:26-42
[1758]3:27-28 [1759]3:27-28 [1760]3:30 [1761]3:31 [1762]4:4
[1763]4:6 [1764]4:20
Ezekiel
[1765]1:4 [1766]1:7 [1767]1:7 [1768]1:11 [1769]1:14
[1770]1:15-20 [1771]1:16 [1772]1:18 [1773]1:20 [1774]1:22
[1775]2:1 [1776]2:6 [1777]2:9-10 [1778]2:10 [1779]3:1
[1780]3:8-9 [1781]4:9-16 [1782]5:1-5 [1783]8:1 [1784]8:3
[1785]8:14 [1786]10:8-22 [1787]10:18-19 [1788]12:27-28
[1789]13:10-16 [1790]14:14 [1791]14:14 [1792]14:20
[1793]16:1-10 [1794]16:4-6 [1795]16:6 [1796]16:11 [1797]16:12
[1798]16:14 [1799]16:25 [1800]16:25 [1801]16:25 [1802]16:42
[1803]16:55 [1804]16:55 [1805]16:60-61 [1806]16:62-63
[1807]18:4 [1808]18:4 [1809]18:4 [1810]18:4 [1811]18:4
[1812]18:20 [1813]18:20 [1814]18:20 [1815]18:23 [1816]18:23
[1817]18:23 [1818]18:30-32 [1819]20:25 [1820]20:43-44
[1821]23:3 [1822]24:15-18 [1823]24:16-18 [1824]24:18
[1825]24:27 [1826]25:13 [1827]28:3 [1828]28:13 [1829]32:17
[1830]33:10-11 [1831]33:11 [1832]33:11 [1833]33:11
[1834]33:12 [1835]33:12 [1836]33:12 [1837]34:17 [1838]34:18
[1839]34:20 [1840]34:21 [1841]34:31 [1842]36:24-26
[1843]36:31-32 [1844]37:1 [1845]44:2 [1846]44:2-3 [1847]44:10
[1848]44:15-16 [1849]44:22 [1850]46:20 [1851]47:1 [1852]47:8
Daniel
[1853]1 [1854]1:3-4 [1855]1:8 [1856]1:16 [1857]2 [1858]2:34
[1859]2:45 [1860]2:45 [1861]2:45 [1862]3:25 [1863]3:25
[1864]4:13 [1865]4:13 [1866]4:16 [1867]4:17 [1868]4:25
[1869]4:27 [1870]4:27 [1871]4:32 [1872]4:33-37 [1873]5:1-3
[1874]6 [1875]6:10 [1876]7:7-8 [1877]9:5 [1878]9:20
[1879]9:23 [1880]9:23 [1881]9:23 [1882]9:24 [1883]12:2
[1884]12:3
Hosea
[1885]1:2 [1886]1:2-3 [1887]1:2-4 [1888]2 [1889]2:6
[1890]2:7 [1891]2:7-9 [1892]2:19 [1893]3:1 [1894]3:3
[1895]3:3 [1896]3:4 [1897]6:5 [1898]7:4 [1899]7:4 [1900]7:6
[1901]7:11 [1902]9:4 [1903]9:11 [1904]9:14 [1905]11:1
[1906]11:1 [1907]11:8-9 [1908]11:9 [1909]13:14 [1910]13:14-15
[1911]13:15 [1912]13:15
Joel
[1913]1:4 [1914]1:14 [1915]2:12-13 [1916]2:15 [1917]2:15
[1918]2:29 [1919]3:13 [1920]3:18
Amos
[1921]1:1 [1922]1:1 [1923]1:3 [1924]1:3 [1925]2:12
[1926]3:2 [1927]3:83 [1928]4:1 [1929]5:2 [1930]5:19
[1931]6:4-6 [1932]6:11 [1933]6:13 [1934]6:14 [1935]7:1
[1936]7:7 [1937]7:12-13 [1938]7:14 [1939]7:14 [1940]8:1
[1941]8:11 [1942]8:13
Obadiah
[1943]1:4
Jonah
[1944]1:3 [1945]1:12 [1946]1:14 [1947]2:1-2 [1948]2:2-7
[1949]3:4 [1950]3:5 [1951]3:5-10 [1952]3:10 [1953]4:10-11
[1954]4:11
Micah
[1955]1:1 [1956]1:14 [1957]4:8 [1958]5:1 [1959]5:2
[1960]5:2-3 [1961]6:8 [1962]7:2 [1963]7:19
Nahum
[1964]1:3 [1965]1:9 [1966]1:15 [1967]3:1
Habakkuk
[1968]1:2-4 [1969]1:8 [1970]1:9 [1971]1:10 [1972]1:16
[1973]1:16 [1974]2:1 [1975]3:1 [1976]3:3 [1977]3:3-4
[1978]3:4 [1979]3:8 [1980]3:14 [1981]3:16
Zephaniah
[1982]1:10 [1983]1:11
Haggai
[1984]1:1 [1985]1:6 [1986]2:6-7 [1987]2:11
Zechariah
[1988]3:1 [1989]3:1 [1990]3:3 [1991]3:9 [1992]3:9
[1993]4:2-3 [1994]6:1-3 [1995]8:5 [1996]9:9 [1997]9:9
[1998]9:10 [1999]9:16 [2000]9:16 [2001]9:16 [2002]9:17
[2003]11:12-13 [2004]11:12-13 [2005]11:15 [2006]12:1
[2007]12:10 [2008]12:10 [2009]13:7
Malachi
[2010]1:2-3 [2011]1:2-3 [2012]1:6 [2013]1:10-11 [2014]2:11-12
[2015]3:1 [2016]3:6 [2017]3:7 [2018]3:14-15 [2019]3:18
[2020]4:2 [2021]4:2 [2022]4:2 [2023]4:2
Matthew
[2024]1:5 [2025]1:6 [2026]1:17 [2027]1:18-25 [2028]1:20
[2029]1:20 [2030]1:20 [2031]1:22-23 [2032]1:24-25 [2033]2:5-6
[2034]2:6 [2035]2:6 [2036]2:13-15 [2037]2:23 [2038]3:2
[2039]3:2 [2040]3:2 [2041]3:3 [2042]3:4 [2043]3:4 [2044]3:4
[2045]3:4 [2046]3:7 [2047]3:9 [2048]3:10 [2049]3:10
[2050]3:10 [2051]3:11 [2052]3:12 [2053]3:13 [2054]3:13
[2055]3:16 [2056]3:16 [2057]3:17 [2058]4:1 [2059]4:1
[2060]4:1-4 [2061]4:2-3 [2062]4:3 [2063]4:4 [2064]4:17
[2065]4:18-20 [2066]4:18-22 [2067]4:18-22 [2068]4:18-22
[2069]4:19 [2070]4:19 [2071]4:23 [2072]5:6 [2073]5:7
[2074]5:8 [2075]5:8 [2076]5:8 [2077]5:9 [2078]5:10
[2079]5:13 [2080]5:13 [2081]5:13 [2082]5:13 [2083]5:14
[2084]5:14 [2085]5:14 [2086]5:14 [2087]5:15 [2088]5:19
[2089]5:19 [2090]5:21-22 [2091]5:22 [2092]5:22 [2093]5:22
[2094]5:22 [2095]5:23-24 [2096]5:23-24 [2097]5:23-24
[2098]5:25 [2099]5:25-26 [2100]5:26 [2101]5:27 [2102]5:28
[2103]5:28 [2104]5:28 [2105]5:28 [2106]5:32 [2107]5:34
[2108]5:35 [2109]5:37 [2110]5:38-39 [2111]5:39 [2112]5:39
[2113]5:40 [2114]5:42 [2115]5:44 [2116]5:44 [2117]5:48
[2118]6:2 [2119]6:2 [2120]6:3 [2121]6:5 [2122]6:6
[2123]6:10 [2124]6:12 [2125]6:12 [2126]6:13 [2127]6:16
[2128]6:16-18 [2129]6:17 [2130]6:19-20 [2131]6:20 [2132]6:20
[2133]6:21 [2134]6:23 [2135]6:23-24 [2136]6:23-24 [2137]6:24
[2138]6:24 [2139]6:24 [2140]6:24 [2141]6:25 [2142]6:25
[2143]6:25-26 [2144]6:26 [2145]6:27 [2146]6:28 [2147]6:32
[2148]6:33 [2149]6:33 [2150]6:33 [2151]6:34 [2152]6:34
[2153]6:34 [2154]6:34 [2155]6:34 [2156]7:1 [2157]7:3
[2158]7:3-5 [2159]7:3-5 [2160]7:5 [2161]7:6 [2162]7:6
[2163]7:7 [2164]7:8 [2165]7:11 [2166]7:13 [2167]7:14
[2168]7:14 [2169]7:15 [2170]7:15 [2171]7:22 [2172]7:24-27
[2173]8 [2174]8:10 [2175]8:10 [2176]8:11 [2177]8:12
[2178]8:20 [2179]8:20-22 [2180]8:21 [2181]8:22 [2182]8:22
[2183]8:22 [2184]8:25 [2185]8:25 [2186]8:25 [2187]8:26
[2188]9:1-7 [2189]9:9 [2190]9:9 [2191]9:9 [2192]9:12-13
[2193]9:12-13 [2194]9:13 [2195]9:17 [2196]9:20 [2197]9:21
[2198]9:22 [2199]9:24 [2200]9:27 [2201]9:29 [2202]10:7
[2203]10:8 [2204]10:9 [2205]10:9 [2206]10:9-10 [2207]10:10
[2208]10:10 [2209]10:10 [2210]10:14 [2211]10:16
[2212]10:22-34 [2213]10:23 [2214]10:23 [2215]10:24-25
[2216]10:25 [2217]10:34 [2218]10:37 [2219]10:37 [2220]10:37
[2221]10:40 [2222]10:40 [2223]11:7-14 [2224]11:8 [2225]11:10
[2226]11:11 [2227]11:11 [2228]11:12 [2229]11:12 [2230]11:12
[2231]11:13 [2232]11:13 [2233]11:14 [2234]11:18 [2235]11:25
[2236]11:29 [2237]11:29 [2238]11:29 [2239]11:30 [2240]12:1-9
[2241]12:20 [2242]12:24 [2243]12:25-26 [2244]12:30
[2245]12:30 [2246]12:32 [2247]12:32 [2248]12:35 [2249]12:36
[2250]12:36 [2251]12:36 [2252]12:36 [2253]12:39-40
[2254]12:41 [2255]12:46 [2256]12:49 [2257]12:50 [2258]12:50
[2259]13:3 [2260]13:7 [2261]13:7 [2262]13:8 [2263]13:8
[2264]13:8 [2265]13:8 [2266]13:8 [2267]13:10-17 [2268]13:11
[2269]13:22 [2270]13:22-23 [2271]13:24 [2272]13:25
[2273]13:31 [2274]13:31-32 [2275]13:33 [2276]13:44
[2277]13:45 [2278]13:45-46 [2279]13:45-46 [2280]13:46
[2281]13:46 [2282]13:46 [2283]13:54-55 [2284]13:55
[2285]13:58 [2286]14:13-21 [2287]14:15 [2288]14:15-21
[2289]14:25 [2290]14:25-33 [2291]14:28 [2292]14:28
[2293]14:29 [2294]14:31 [2295]14:31 [2296]14:31 [2297]14:32
[2298]15:19 [2299]15:19-20 [2300]15:22 [2301]15:24
[2302]15:26 [2303]15:27 [2304]15:28 [2305]15:32 [2306]15:32
[2307]15:32-38 [2308]16:17-18 [2309]16:18 [2310]16:18
[2311]16:18 [2312]16:18 [2313]16:18 [2314]16:23 [2315]16:23
[2316]16:24 [2317]16:25 [2318]16:26 [2319]17:1-9 [2320]17:2
[2321]17:15 [2322]17:19 [2323]17:20 [2324]17:20 [2325]17:21
[2326]18:3 [2327]18:6 [2328]18:7 [2329]18:8-9 [2330]18:8-9
[2331]18:10 [2332]18:11 [2333]18:15-17 [2334]18:18
[2335]18:21-22 [2336]19:4 [2337]19:5 [2338]19:5 [2339]19:6
[2340]19:9 [2341]19:9 [2342]19:10 [2343]19:10-12
[2344]19:11-12 [2345]19:12 [2346]19:12 [2347]19:12
[2348]19:12 [2349]19:12 [2350]19:12 [2351]19:16 [2352]19:21
[2353]19:21 [2354]19:21 [2355]19:21 [2356]19:21 [2357]19:21
[2358]19:21 [2359]19:21 [2360]19:21 [2361]19:21 [2362]19:21
[2363]19:21 [2364]19:21 [2365]19:23-24 [2366]19:24
[2367]19:24 [2368]19:26 [2369]19:27 [2370]19:28 [2371]19:28
[2372]19:29 [2373]19:29 [2374]19:29 [2375]19:30 [2376]20:15
[2377]20:15 [2378]20:15 [2379]20:16 [2380]20:16 [2381]20:23
[2382]20:26 [2383]20:27 [2384]20:28 [2385]20:30-34
[2386]21:1-3 [2387]21:1-7 [2388]21:1-9 [2389]21:2-5
[2390]21:9 [2391]21:12-13 [2392]21:12-13 [2393]21:33
[2394]22:11-13 [2395]22:13 [2396]22:13 [2397]22:14
[2398]22:14 [2399]22:29-30 [2400]22:30 [2401]22:30
[2402]22:30 [2403]22:30 [2404]22:32 [2405]23:5 [2406]23:6-7
[2407]23:10 [2408]23:23-24 [2409]23:26-28 [2410]23:27
[2411]23:27 [2412]23:37 [2413]23:37 [2414]23:37-38
[2415]23:38 [2416]23:38 [2417]24:12 [2418]24:12 [2419]24:13
[2420]24:17-18 [2421]24:17-18 [2422]24:17-18 [2423]24:19
[2424]24:19 [2425]24:19 [2426]24:19-20 [2427]24:24
[2428]24:28 [2429]24:46 [2430]25:1 [2431]25:1 [2432]25:1-10
[2433]25:1-12 [2434]25:3 [2435]25:4 [2436]25:4 [2437]25:10
[2438]25:13 [2439]25:15 [2440]25:31 [2441]25:33 [2442]25:34
[2443]25:34-40 [2444]25:35-36 [2445]25:40 [2446]25:41
[2447]25:41 [2448]25:41 [2449]26 [2450]26:6 [2451]26:8
[2452]26:15 [2453]26:15 [2454]26:26 [2455]26:29 [2456]26:29
[2457]26:31 [2458]26:33-35 [2459]26:39 [2460]26:40
[2461]26:40-41 [2462]26:41 [2463]26:41 [2464]26:48-49
[2465]26:49 [2466]26:52 [2467]26:74 [2468]27:6 [2469]27:9-10
[2470]27:28-29 [2471]27:29 [2472]27:46 [2473]27:50-51
[2474]27:51 [2475]27:51 [2476]27:51 [2477]27:51 [2478]27:52
[2479]27:52-53 [2480]27:53 [2481]27:55-56 [2482]27:64
[2483]27:66 [2484]28:1 [2485]28:1 [2486]28:2 [2487]28:9
[2488]28:9 [2489]28:9 [2490]28:9 [2491]28:19 [2492]28:19
[2493]28:20
Mark
[2494]1:1-3 [2495]1:4 [2496]1:5 [2497]1:6 [2498]1:30-31
[2499]2:25-26 [2500]3:17 [2501]3:21 [2502]3:27 [2503]4:34
[2504]5 [2505]5 [2506]5:39 [2507]5:39 [2508]5:41 [2509]5:43
[2510]5:43 [2511]6:1-3 [2512]6:3 [2513]6:5 [2514]6:8
[2515]7:11 [2516]7:24 [2517]8:34 [2518]9:5 [2519]9:29
[2520]9:44 [2521]10:21 [2522]10:27 [2523]10:28-30
[2524]10:29-30 [2525]10:30 [2526]10:50 [2527]12:41-44
[2528]12:43 [2529]12:43-44 [2530]13:17 [2531]13:32 [2532]14
[2533]14:4 [2534]14:8 [2535]14:35 [2536]14:37 [2537]14:51-52
[2538]15:40-41 [2539]15:47 [2540]16:1 [2541]16:1-2 [2542]16:14
Luke
[2543]1 [2544]1:5 [2545]1:15 [2546]1:17 [2547]1:18
[2548]1:18 [2549]1:20 [2550]1:20 [2551]1:20-22 [2552]1:20-22
[2553]1:26-31 [2554]1:28 [2555]1:29 [2556]1:34 [2557]1:35
[2558]1:39 [2559]1:41 [2560]1:41 [2561]1:41 [2562]1:41
[2563]1:43 [2564]1:48 [2565]1:79 [2566]2:4 [2567]2:7
[2568]2:7 [2569]2:7 [2570]2:8 [2571]2:10 [2572]2:14
[2573]2:14 [2574]2:14 [2575]2:15 [2576]2:22 [2577]2:27
[2578]2:29 [2579]2:33 [2580]2:34 [2581]2:36 [2582]2:36
[2583]2:36 [2584]2:36 [2585]2:36-37 [2586]2:36-37
[2587]2:36-37 [2588]2:36-37 [2589]2:36-38 [2590]2:41
[2591]2:43 [2592]2:43-46 [2593]2:46 [2594]2:48 [2595]2:51
[2596]2:51 [2597]2:51 [2598]2:51-52 [2599]2:52 [2600]3:11
[2601]4:24 [2602]5:8 [2603]5:31 [2604]5:31 [2605]6
[2606]6:12 [2607]6:15 [2608]6:20 [2609]6:21 [2610]6:42
[2611]6:44 [2612]7 [2613]7:11 [2614]7:11-15 [2615]7:11-15
[2616]7:18-19 [2617]7:27 [2618]7:27 [2619]7:28 [2620]7:28
[2621]7:37 [2622]7:38 [2623]7:40 [2624]7:47 [2625]7:47
[2626]7:47 [2627]7:47 [2628]7:47 [2629]7:47 [2630]7:48
[2631]8:8 [2632]8:10 [2633]8:21 [2634]8:21 [2635]8:24
[2636]8:24 [2637]8:55 [2638]9:23 [2639]9:23 [2640]9:23
[2641]9:24 [2642]9:26 [2643]9:31 [2644]9:48 [2645]9:53
[2646]9:54 [2647]9:58 [2648]9:59-60 [2649]9:59-62
[2650]9:61-62 [2651]9:62 [2652]9:62 [2653]9:62 [2654]9:62
[2655]9:62 [2656]9:62 [2657]10 [2658]10:5 [2659]10:18
[2660]10:18 [2661]10:18 [2662]10:19 [2663]10:30
[2664]10:30-34 [2665]10:30-35 [2666]10:30-35 [2667]10:34
[2668]10:41-42 [2669]11:5 [2670]11:5-8 [2671]11:5-8
[2672]11:7-8 [2673]11:8 [2674]11:15 [2675]11:34 [2676]11:41
[2677]12:3 [2678]12:7 [2679]12:15 [2680]12:20 [2681]12:20
[2682]12:20 [2683]12:35 [2684]12:35 [2685]12:47-48
[2686]12:48 [2687]12:49 [2688]13:4 [2689]13:11-13 [2690]13:29
[2691]13:32 [2692]14:9 [2693]14:10 [2694]14:10 [2695]14:11
[2696]14:26 [2697]14:26 [2698]14:26-27 [2699]14:26-27
[2700]14:27 [2701]14:28 [2702]14:28 [2703]14:33 [2704]14:33
[2705]14:35 [2706]15:3 [2707]15:3-5 [2708]15:4-5 [2709]15:4-5
[2710]15:5 [2711]15:5 [2712]15:5 [2713]15:7 [2714]15:7
[2715]15:8-10 [2716]15:10 [2717]15:10 [2718]15:10
[2719]15:11-24 [2720]15:11-32 [2721]15:19-31 [2722]15:20
[2723]15:20 [2724]15:20-23 [2725]16:8 [2726]16:9 [2727]16:9
[2728]16:9 [2729]16:9 [2730]16:9 [2731]16:9 [2732]16:9
[2733]16:9 [2734]16:9 [2735]16:9 [2736]16:12 [2737]16:12
[2738]16:13 [2739]16:13 [2740]16:15 [2741]16:16 [2742]16:19
[2743]16:19-24 [2744]16:19-24 [2745]16:19-25 [2746]16:22
[2747]16:23 [2748]16:25 [2749]16:25 [2750]16:29 [2751]17:1
[2752]17:5 [2753]17:6 [2754]17:10 [2755]17:10 [2756]17:21
[2757]17:21 [2758]17:21 [2759]17:27-29 [2760]17:37 [2761]18:1
[2762]18:1 [2763]18:1 [2764]18:1-5 [2765]18:2-5 [2766]18:5
[2767]18:8 [2768]18:8 [2769]18:9 [2770]18:10-14 [2771]18:11
[2772]18:13 [2773]18:13 [2774]18:14 [2775]18:22 [2776]18:27
[2777]18:27 [2778]18:28 [2779]18:29-30 [2780]18:29-30
[2781]18:30 [2782]18:35-38 [2783]19:2-9 [2784]19:4 [2785]19:5
[2786]19:10 [2787]19:23 [2788]19:41 [2789]19:41 [2790]19:41
[2791]20:35 [2792]20:35-36 [2793]20:38 [2794]21:1-4
[2795]21:1-4 [2796]21:19 [2797]21:31 [2798]21:33 [2799]21:34
[2800]22:24 [2801]22:26 [2802]22:31 [2803]22:31-32
[2804]22:42 [2805]22:43 [2806]22:46 [2807]22:47
[2808]22:54-62 [2809]22:62 [2810]23:28 [2811]23:31
[2812]23:34 [2813]23:34 [2814]23:38 [2815]23:42-43
[2816]23:43 [2817]23:43 [2818]23:43 [2819]23:46 [2820]24:5
[2821]24:10 [2822]24:13 [2823]24:16 [2824]24:28-31
[2825]24:32 [2826]24:32 [2827]24:32 [2828]24:39 [2829]24:39
[2830]24:39-40 [2831]24:42 [2832]24:42-43 [2833]24:50-51
John
[2834]1:1 [2835]1:1 [2836]1:1 [2837]1:5 [2838]1:5
[2839]1:7-8 [2840]1:12-13 [2841]1:14 [2842]1:18 [2843]1:29
[2844]1:29 [2845]1:29 [2846]1:36 [2847]1:41 [2848]1:42
[2849]1:45 [2850]1:45 [2851]1:47 [2852]2:1 [2853]2:1-2
[2854]2:1-11 [2855]2:11 [2856]2:12 [2857]2:14-16 [2858]3:2
[2859]3:3 [2860]3:5 [2861]3:8 [2862]3:23 [2863]3:30
[2864]3:31 [2865]4 [2866]4:5 [2867]4:6 [2868]4:7
[2869]4:13-14 [2870]4:14 [2871]4:14 [2872]4:16-18 [2873]4:18
[2874]4:24 [2875]4:32 [2876]4:35 [2877]5:2 [2878]5:14
[2879]5:17 [2880]5:17 [2881]5:17 [2882]5:19 [2883]5:25
[2884]5:28-29 [2885]5:30 [2886]5:35 [2887]5:44 [2888]6:5-13
[2889]6:15 [2890]6:38 [2891]6:39 [2892]6:44 [2893]6:51
[2894]6:56 [2895]6:57 [2896]6:60 [2897]6:66 [2898]6:70
[2899]7:3-4 [2900]7:5 [2901]7:10 [2902]7:19 [2903]7:24
[2904]7:37 [2905]8:3 [2906]8:12 [2907]8:23 [2908]8:44
[2909]8:44 [2910]8:48 [2911]8:48 [2912]8:48 [2913]8:49
[2914]8:56 [2915]8:56 [2916]9:2 [2917]9:2-3 [2918]9:3
[2919]9:21 [2920]10:8 [2921]10:11 [2922]10:18 [2923]11:11
[2924]11:11 [2925]11:35 [2926]11:35-36 [2927]11:35-36
[2928]11:38 [2929]11:38-44 [2930]11:39 [2931]11:39
[2932]11:43 [2933]11:43 [2934]11:43 [2935]11:43-44
[2936]11:44 [2937]11:44 [2938]12 [2939]12 [2940]12:2
[2941]12:2 [2942]12:2 [2943]12:2 [2944]12:10 [2945]12:24
[2946]12:32 [2947]12:41 [2948]13:5 [2949]13:10 [2950]13:10
[2951]13:15 [2952]13:20 [2953]13:23 [2954]13:25 [2955]13:26
[2956]13:38 [2957]14:2 [2958]14:2 [2959]14:2 [2960]14:2-3
[2961]14:3 [2962]14:6 [2963]14:6 [2964]14:23 [2965]14:27
[2966]14:27 [2967]14:27 [2968]14:28 [2969]14:28 [2970]14:30
[2971]14:30 [2972]14:31 [2973]15:5 [2974]15:18 [2975]15:19
[2976]15:19 [2977]15:19 [2978]15:26 [2979]16:12-13
[2980]16:33 [2981]17:12 [2982]17:20-21 [2983]17:20-23
[2984]17:21 [2985]17:23 [2986]18:15-16 [2987]18:15-27
[2988]18:23 [2989]18:28 [2990]19:6 [2991]19:6 [2992]19:6
[2993]19:15 [2994]19:23 [2995]19:23 [2996]19:23-24
[2997]19:23-24 [2998]19:25 [2999]19:25 [3000]19:26-27
[3001]19:26-27 [3002]19:26-27 [3003]19:34 [3004]19:34
[3005]19:37 [3006]19:38 [3007]19:38 [3008]19:41 [3009]20
[3010]20:1-8 [3011]20:1-18 [3012]20:4 [3013]20:6-7
[3014]20:11 [3015]20:12 [3016]20:17 [3017]20:17 [3018]20:17
[3019]20:17 [3020]20:19 [3021]20:19 [3022]20:19 [3023]20:19
[3024]20:20 [3025]20:22 [3026]20:22-23 [3027]20:26-28
[3028]20:27 [3029]20:27 [3030]20:27 [3031]21:4 [3032]21:7
[3033]21:7 [3034]21:9 [3035]21:12 [3036]21:13 [3037]21:15-17
[3038]21:15-17 [3039]21:15-17 [3040]21:16 [3041]21:18
Acts
[3042]1:1 [3043]1:1 [3044]1:3 [3045]1:7 [3046]1:9
[3047]1:9-12 [3048]1:11 [3049]1:12 [3050]1:13 [3051]1:14
[3052]1:15 [3053]1:24 [3054]2:14-18 [3055]2:16-21 [3056]2:31
[3057]2:38 [3058]2:40 [3059]2:40 [3060]3:6 [3061]3:6
[3062]3:6 [3063]3:21 [3064]4:34-35 [3065]4:34-35 [3066]4:37
[3067]5 [3068]5 [3069]5:1-10 [3070]5:1-10 [3071]5:1-10
[3072]5:4 [3073]5:29 [3074]5:37 [3075]6 [3076]6:1-2
[3077]6:2 [3078]6:5 [3079]6:5 [3080]6:15 [3081]7:15-16
[3082]7:29-30 [3083]7:45 [3084]7:55 [3085]7:56 [3086]7:59-60
[3087]8:2 [3088]8:2 [3089]8:3 [3090]8:10 [3091]8:20
[3092]8:26 [3093]8:26-30 [3094]8:27 [3095]8:27 [3096]8:27-38
[3097]8:27-39 [3098]8:30-31 [3099]8:36 [3100]9:3-18 [3101]9:8
[3102]9:15 [3103]9:15 [3104]9:15 [3105]9:15 [3106]9:15
[3107]9:15 [3108]9:15 [3109]9:15 [3110]9:15 [3111]9:17
[3112]9:17 [3113]9:17-18 [3114]9:32-34 [3115]9:36-41
[3116]9:39 [3117]10 [3118]10:1 [3119]10:1-2 [3120]10:3-16
[3121]10:4 [3122]10:10 [3123]10:15 [3124]10:26 [3125]10:34-35
[3126]11:28 [3127]12 [3128]12:8 [3129]13:8-11 [3130]13:32
[3131]13:46 [3132]13:46 [3133]14:11 [3134]15:10
[3135]15:28-29 [3136]15:39 [3137]16:6-7 [3138]16:16
[3139]16:25-38 [3140]17:22 [3141]17:28 [3142]17:28
[3143]17:30 [3144]19:1 [3145]19:1-7 [3146]19:2 [3147]20:16
[3148]20:28 [3149]20:28 [3150]20:35 [3151]21:5 [3152]21:8-9
[3153]21:9 [3154]21:9 [3155]21:9 [3156]21:9 [3157]21:10-11
[3158]21:13 [3159]21:13 [3160]23:2 [3161]23:5 [3162]24:17-18
[3163]26:2-3 [3164]26:24 [3165]27:23 [3166]27:37 [3167]28:7
[3168]28:30
Romans
[3169]1:7 [3170]1:8 [3171]1:8 [3172]1:8 [3173]1:8 [3174]1:8
[3175]1:25 [3176]1:26-27 [3177]2:4-5 [3178]2:4-5 [3179]2:12
[3180]2:24 [3181]2:28-29 [3182]3:1 [3183]3:2 [3184]3:4
[3185]3:4 [3186]3:12 [3187]3:20 [3188]3:23 [3189]3:23
[3190]3:23-24 [3191]3:24 [3192]3:28 [3193]3:30 [3194]4:11
[3195]5:3-5 [3196]5:3-5 [3197]5:3-5 [3198]5:7 [3199]5:14
[3200]5:14 [3201]5:14 [3202]5:14 [3203]5:14 [3204]5:14
[3205]5:20 [3206]5:20 [3207]5:20 [3208]5:20 [3209]6:3-4
[3210]6:4 [3211]6:4 [3212]6:4 [3213]6:11 [3214]6:14
[3215]6:21-22 [3216]7 [3217]7:1-3 [3218]7:2 [3219]7:2
[3220]7:2 [3221]7:2-3 [3222]7:4 [3223]7:6 [3224]7:6
[3225]7:8 [3226]7:14 [3227]7:14 [3228]7:14 [3229]7:14-20
[3230]7:18 [3231]7:18 [3232]7:18 [3233]7:19 [3234]7:19
[3235]7:19 [3236]7:19 [3237]7:22-25 [3238]7:23 [3239]7:23
[3240]7:23 [3241]7:23 [3242]7:24 [3243]7:24 [3244]7:24
[3245]7:24 [3246]7:24 [3247]7:24 [3248]7:24 [3249]7:24
[3250]7:25 [3251]8:1-2 [3252]8:3 [3253]8:5 [3254]8:8
[3255]8:8-9 [3256]8:9 [3257]8:11 [3258]8:11 [3259]8:11
[3260]8:14 [3261]8:17 [3262]8:18 [3263]8:18 [3264]8:18
[3265]8:18 [3266]8:19-21 [3267]8:20 [3268]8:20 [3269]8:21
[3270]8:26 [3271]8:28 [3272]8:35 [3273]8:35-36 [3274]8:38
[3275]8:39 [3276]9:3 [3277]9:3 [3278]9:3-4 [3279]9:3-4
[3280]9:11 [3281]9:13 [3282]9:14-29 [3283]9:16 [3284]9:16
[3285]9:16 [3286]9:16 [3287]9:16 [3288]9:16 [3289]9:16
[3290]9:20 [3291]9:20-21 [3292]9:21 [3293]9:22-23
[3294]9:30-32 [3295]9:33 [3296]10:2 [3297]10:2 [3298]10:2
[3299]10:2 [3300]10:2 [3301]10:10 [3302]11:6 [3303]11:20
[3304]11:25-26 [3305]11:32 [3306]11:32 [3307]11:32
[3308]11:32 [3309]11:32 [3310]11:33 [3311]11:33
[3312]11:33-34 [3313]11:33-34 [3314]12:1 [3315]12:1
[3316]12:1 [3317]12:1 [3318]12:1 [3319]12:1 [3320]12:1-3
[3321]12:3 [3322]12:9 [3323]12:11 [3324]12:11-12 [3325]12:13
[3326]12:15 [3327]12:15 [3328]12:17 [3329]12:17 [3330]12:18
[3331]12:20 [3332]12:21 [3333]12:21 [3334]13:11-12
[3335]13:12 [3336]13:14 [3337]13:14 [3338]14:2 [3339]14:2
[3340]14:2 [3341]14:3 [3342]14:4 [3343]14:4 [3344]14:4
[3345]14:4 [3346]14:4 [3347]14:5 [3348]14:5 [3349]14:5
[3350]14:5 [3351]14:5 [3352]14:6 [3353]14:10 [3354]14:14
[3355]14:20 [3356]14:21 [3357]14:21 [3358]14:21 [3359]14:21
[3360]14:21 [3361]15:19 [3362]15:24 [3363]16:18 [3364]16:20
[3365]16:20
1 Corinthians
[3366]1:1-3 [3367]1:7-8 [3368]1:19 [3369]1:19 [3370]1:21
[3371]1:24 [3372]1:24 [3373]1:25 [3374]1:25 [3375]1:25
[3376]1:25 [3377]1:25 [3378]1:26 [3379]1:27 [3380]1:30
[3381]1:31 [3382]1:31 [3383]2:6-7 [3384]2:8-9 [3385]2:9
[3386]2:9 [3387]2:9 [3388]2:9 [3389]2:9 [3390]2:13
[3391]2:14 [3392]3:1-3 [3393]3:2 [3394]3:2 [3395]3:3
[3396]3:6 [3397]3:6 [3398]3:6 [3399]3:6-10 [3400]3:10
[3401]3:10 [3402]3:10-12 [3403]3:14 [3404]3:16 [3405]3:16-17
[3406]3:17 [3407]3:17 [3408]3:17 [3409]3:18-19 [3410]4:1-2
[3411]4:4 [3412]4:4 [3413]4:5 [3414]4:7 [3415]4:7 [3416]4:7
[3417]4:8 [3418]4:9 [3419]4:10 [3420]4:12 [3421]4:12
[3422]4:12 [3423]4:19 [3424]4:19 [3425]4:21 [3426]4:21
[3427]5:1 [3428]5:1-2 [3429]5:4-5 [3430]5:5 [3431]5:5
[3432]5:8 [3433]5:11 [3434]6:11 [3435]6:12 [3436]6:12
[3437]6:12 [3438]6:12 [3439]6:12 [3440]6:13 [3441]6:13
[3442]6:13 [3443]6:13 [3444]6:13-18 [3445]6:15 [3446]6:16
[3447]6:16 [3448]6:17 [3449]6:17 [3450]6:17 [3451]6:18
[3452]6:18 [3453]6:18 [3454]6:19 [3455]6:19 [3456]6:19
[3457]6:20 [3458]7 [3459]7 [3460]7:1 [3461]7:1 [3462]7:1
[3463]7:1-2 [3464]7:3 [3465]7:3 [3466]7:4 [3467]7:4
[3468]7:5 [3469]7:5 [3470]7:5 [3471]7:5 [3472]7:5 [3473]7:6
[3474]7:7 [3475]7:7 [3476]7:7 [3477]7:7 [3478]7:7
[3479]7:7-8 [3480]7:8 [3481]7:8 [3482]7:8-9 [3483]7:8-9
[3484]7:8-9 [3485]7:8-10 [3486]7:9 [3487]7:9 [3488]7:9
[3489]7:9 [3490]7:10 [3491]7:11 [3492]7:13-14 [3493]7:14
[3494]7:14 [3495]7:15 [3496]7:18 [3497]7:18 [3498]7:18
[3499]7:19 [3500]7:20 [3501]7:21 [3502]7:21 [3503]7:21-22
[3504]7:23 [3505]7:24 [3506]7:25 [3507]7:25 [3508]7:25
[3509]7:25 [3510]7:25 [3511]7:25 [3512]7:25-26 [3513]7:26
[3514]7:26 [3515]7:27 [3516]7:27 [3517]7:28 [3518]7:29
[3519]7:29 [3520]7:29 [3521]7:29 [3522]7:29 [3523]7:29
[3524]7:29 [3525]7:29 [3526]7:30 [3527]7:32-33 [3528]7:32-34
[3529]7:34 [3530]7:34 [3531]7:34 [3532]7:34 [3533]7:35
[3534]7:35 [3535]7:35 [3536]7:35 [3537]7:37-38 [3538]7:39
[3539]7:39 [3540]7:39 [3541]7:39 [3542]7:39-40 [3543]7:39-40
[3544]7:40 [3545]7:40 [3546]8:10 [3547]8:13 [3548]9:4-5
[3549]9:5 [3550]9:5 [3551]9:5 [3552]9:5 [3553]9:5 [3554]9:9
[3555]9:11 [3556]9:11 [3557]9:13 [3558]9:13 [3559]9:13
[3560]9:13-14 [3561]9:14 [3562]9:14 [3563]9:19 [3564]9:24
[3565]9:24 [3566]9:26 [3567]9:27 [3568]9:27 [3569]9:27
[3570]9:27 [3571]9:27 [3572]9:27 [3573]9:27 [3574]10:4
[3575]10:4 [3576]10:10 [3577]10:11 [3578]10:11 [3579]10:11
[3580]10:12 [3581]10:12 [3582]10:13 [3583]10:13 [3584]10:21
[3585]10:21 [3586]10:29 [3587]10:31 [3588]10:31 [3589]11:5-6
[3590]11:6 [3591]11:7 [3592]11:14 [3593]11:16 [3594]11:27
[3595]11:27 [3596]11:27-28 [3597]11:28 [3598]11:28
[3599]11:28 [3600]12:4 [3601]12:4 [3602]12:4-5 [3603]12:11
[3604]12:12 [3605]12:12-27 [3606]12:21 [3607]12:22-24
[3608]12:28 [3609]12:28 [3610]12:29 [3611]13:4 [3612]13:4-7
[3613]13:5 [3614]13:7 [3615]13:7 [3616]13:7 [3617]13:8
[3618]13:8-10 [3619]13:9 [3620]13:9 [3621]13:9-10
[3622]13:9-10 [3623]13:12 [3624]13:12 [3625]13:13 [3626]13:18
[3627]14:1 [3628]14:5 [3629]14:15 [3630]14:15 [3631]14:16
[3632]14:18 [3633]14:19 [3634]14:30-33 [3635]15:8-9
[3636]15:9 [3637]15:9-10 [3638]15:9-10 [3639]15:10
[3640]15:22 [3641]15:23 [3642]15:25-26 [3643]15:25-28
[3644]15:28 [3645]15:31 [3646]15:31 [3647]15:33 [3648]15:33
[3649]15:33 [3650]15:33 [3651]15:33 [3652]15:35 [3653]15:37
[3654]15:39 [3655]15:40 [3656]15:41 [3657]15:41 [3658]15:42
[3659]15:44 [3660]15:44 [3661]15:44 [3662]15:44 [3663]15:44
[3664]15:47 [3665]15:50 [3666]15:50 [3667]15:50 [3668]15:51
[3669]15:53 [3670]15:53 [3671]15:53 [3672]15:53
[3673]15:53-54 [3674]15:54 [3675]15:54 [3676]15:55
[3677]15:58 [3678]15:85
2 Corinthians
[3679]1:5 [3680]1:7 [3681]1:12 [3682]2:4 [3683]2:7
[3684]2:7 [3685]2:7 [3686]2:7 [3687]2:7 [3688]2:10
[3689]2:10 [3690]2:10 [3691]2:10-11 [3692]2:11 [3693]2:15
[3694]2:16 [3695]2:16 [3696]3:2 [3697]3:2 [3698]3:4-6
[3699]3:4-6 [3700]3:6 [3701]3:6 [3702]3:6 [3703]3:7
[3704]3:7 [3705]3:10 [3706]3:11 [3707]3:14-15 [3708]3:18
[3709]3:18 [3710]3:18 [3711]4:7 [3712]4:7 [3713]4:7
[3714]4:7 [3715]4:7 [3716]4:16 [3717]4:16 [3718]4:16
[3719]4:17-18 [3720]4:18 [3721]5:1 [3722]5:4 [3723]5:6
[3724]5:6 [3725]5:10 [3726]5:17 [3727]5:17 [3728]6:8
[3729]6:8 [3730]6:9 [3731]6:10 [3732]6:10 [3733]6:14
[3734]6:14 [3735]6:14-15 [3736]6:14-15 [3737]6:14-15
[3738]6:14-15 [3739]6:14-15 [3740]6:14-16 [3741]6:16
[3742]8:12 [3743]8:13-14 [3744]8:14 [3745]8:14 [3746]8:14
[3747]8:18 [3748]9:6 [3749]10:3 [3750]10:4-6 [3751]10:8
[3752]10:12 [3753]10:14 [3754]10:14 [3755]10:17-18 [3756]11:2
[3757]11:2 [3758]11:2 [3759]11:2 [3760]11:3 [3761]11:6
[3762]11:14 [3763]11:14-15 [3764]11:23-27 [3765]11:27
[3766]11:27 [3767]12:2 [3768]12:2 [3769]12:4 [3770]12:4
[3771]12:7 [3772]12:7 [3773]12:7 [3774]12:8-10 [3775]12:9
[3776]12:10 [3777]12:10 [3778]12:10 [3779]12:10 [3780]12:11
[3781]12:14 [3782]12:14 [3783]12:21 [3784]13:1 [3785]13:3
[3786]13:3
Galatians
[3787]1:8 [3788]1:8 [3789]1:8 [3790]1:10 [3791]1:10
[3792]1:10 [3793]1:10 [3794]1:15 [3795]1:16 [3796]1:17-18
[3797]1:18-19 [3798]1:19 [3799]2 [3800]2 [3801]2:1-2
[3802]2:2 [3803]2:2 [3804]2:9 [3805]2:9-10 [3806]2:13
[3807]2:16 [3808]2:16 [3809]2:16 [3810]2:20 [3811]2:21
[3812]3:3-4 [3813]3:10 [3814]3:13 [3815]3:13 [3816]3:22
[3817]3:24 [3818]3:27 [3819]3:27 [3820]3:28 [3821]4:16
[3822]4:16 [3823]4:16 [3824]4:19 [3825]4:19 [3826]4:22-26
[3827]4:26 [3828]4:26 [3829]4:26 [3830]4:26 [3831]5:4
[3832]5:7 [3833]5:15 [3834]5:15 [3835]5:15 [3836]5:16-17
[3837]5:16-17 [3838]5:17 [3839]5:17 [3840]5:17 [3841]5:19
[3842]5:19 [3843]5:19-23 [3844]5:24 [3845]5:24-25 [3846]6:2
[3847]6:7 [3848]6:7-8 [3849]6:10 [3850]6:10 [3851]6:10
[3852]6:10 [3853]6:14 [3854]6:14 [3855]6:15
Ephesians
[3856]1:4 [3857]1:10 [3858]1:21 [3859]1:21 [3860]1:23
[3861]2:3-4 [3862]2:5 [3863]2:14 [3864]3:10 [3865]3:20
[3866]4:7 [3867]4:11 [3868]4:13 [3869]4:14 [3870]4:14
[3871]4:22 [3872]4:22 [3873]4:26 [3874]4:26 [3875]4:26
[3876]4:26 [3877]5:5 [3878]5:5 [3879]5:8 [3880]5:13
[3881]5:14 [3882]5:14 [3883]5:18 [3884]5:18 [3885]5:18
[3886]5:18 [3887]5:18 [3888]5:19 [3889]5:22 [3890]5:23-24
[3891]5:25 [3892]5:27 [3893]5:27 [3894]5:27 [3895]5:31
[3896]5:31-32 [3897]5:31-32 [3898]5:32 [3899]6:1 [3900]6:4
[3901]6:6 [3902]6:12 [3903]6:12 [3904]6:12 [3905]6:12
[3906]6:12 [3907]6:13-17 [3908]6:14-17 [3909]6:16 [3910]6:16
[3911]6:16 [3912]6:16 [3913]6:24
Philippians
[3914]1:1 [3915]1:21 [3916]1:23 [3917]1:23 [3918]1:23
[3919]1:23 [3920]1:23 [3921]1:23 [3922]2:6 [3923]2:6-8
[3924]2:7-8 [3925]2:13 [3926]2:13 [3927]2:14-15 [3928]2:15
[3929]2:18 [3930]2:21 [3931]2:27 [3932]2:44 [3933]3:8
[3934]3:12-13 [3935]3:12-16 [3936]3:13 [3937]3:13 [3938]3:13
[3939]3:13 [3940]3:14 [3941]3:19 [3942]3:19 [3943]3:19
[3944]3:19 [3945]3:19 [3946]3:20 [3947]3:20 [3948]3:20
[3949]3:20 [3950]3:20-21 [3951]3:21 [3952]4:7 [3953]4:8
[3954]4:18
Colossians
[3955]1:16 [3956]1:18 [3957]1:21-22 [3958]1:26 [3959]2:5
[3960]2:5 [3961]2:11 [3962]2:11 [3963]2:13-14 [3964]2:14-15
[3965]2:18 [3966]3:1 [3967]3:5 [3968]3:5 [3969]3:5-6
[3970]3:9-11 [3971]3:14 [3972]4:2 [3973]4:6 [3974]4:14
1 Thessalonians
[3975]2:9 [3976]2:9 [3977]2:18 [3978]3:4 [3979]4:4
[3980]4:7 [3981]4:9 [3982]4:13 [3983]4:13 [3984]4:13
[3985]4:13 [3986]4:13 [3987]4:15 [3988]4:16 [3989]4:17
[3990]4:17 [3991]4:17 [3992]5:15 [3993]5:17 [3994]5:17
[3995]5:17 [3996]5:17 [3997]5:17 [3998]5:21 [3999]5:21
[4000]5:21 [4001]5:23 [4002]5:23
2 Thessalonians
[4003]2:3 [4004]2:7 [4005]2:7 [4006]2:7-8 [4007]3:3
[4008]3:10 [4009]3:10 [4010]3:10
1 Timothy
[4011]1:15 [4012]1:17 [4013]1:19 [4014]1:19-20 [4015]2:4
[4016]2:8 [4017]2:10 [4018]2:12 [4019]2:13 [4020]2:14
[4021]2:15 [4022]2:15 [4023]2:15 [4024]3:1 [4025]3:1
[4026]3:1-7 [4027]3:1-7 [4028]3:2 [4029]3:2 [4030]3:2
[4031]3:2 [4032]3:2 [4033]3:2-3 [4034]3:3 [4035]3:4
[4036]3:4 [4037]3:4 [4038]3:6 [4039]3:8-10 [4040]3:11
[4041]3:12 [4042]3:13 [4043]4:3 [4044]4:3 [4045]4:3
[4046]4:3 [4047]4:4 [4048]4:4 [4049]4:4 [4050]4:4 [4051]4:5
[4052]4:12 [4053]4:12 [4054]4:14 [4055]4:14 [4056]5:2
[4057]5:2 [4058]5:3 [4059]5:3-5 [4060]5:5 [4061]5:5
[4062]5:6 [4063]5:6 [4064]5:6 [4065]5:6 [4066]5:6 [4067]5:9
[4068]5:9 [4069]5:9-10 [4070]5:9-10 [4071]5:11 [4072]5:11
[4073]5:11 [4074]5:11-12 [4075]5:11-12 [4076]5:11-12
[4077]5:11-12 [4078]5:13 [4079]5:14 [4080]5:14 [4081]5:14
[4082]5:14-15 [4083]5:14-15 [4084]5:14-15 [4085]5:14-15
[4086]5:15 [4087]5:15 [4088]5:15 [4089]5:15 [4090]5:16
[4091]5:17 [4092]5:18 [4093]5:19-20 [4094]5:19-20 [4095]5:22
[4096]5:23 [4097]5:23 [4098]5:23 [4099]5:23 [4100]5:23
[4101]5:24 [4102]5:24-25 [4103]6:7 [4104]6:8 [4105]6:8
[4106]6:8 [4107]6:8 [4108]6:8 [4109]6:8 [4110]6:8 [4111]6:8
[4112]6:9 [4113]6:9 [4114]6:10 [4115]6:10 [4116]6:15
[4117]6:16 [4118]6:16 [4119]6:17-19 [4120]6:20-21
2 Timothy
[4121]1:15 [4122]2:4 [4123]2:20 [4124]2:20 [4125]2:20
[4126]2:20 [4127]2:20 [4128]2:20-21 [4129]2:20-21
[4130]2:20-21 [4131]2:21 [4132]2:23 [4133]3:6-7 [4134]3:6-7
[4135]3:6-7 [4136]3:7 [4137]3:14 [4138]3:14-15 [4139]4:2
[4140]4:3 [4141]4:7-8 [4142]4:7-8 [4143]4:7-8 [4144]4:13
[4145]4:14
Titus
[4146]1:5 [4147]1:5-7 [4148]1:5-9 [4149]1:6 [4150]1:6
[4151]1:7 [4152]1:7 [4153]1:9 [4154]1:9 [4155]1:9-14
[4156]1:12 [4157]1:12 [4158]1:15 [4159]1:15 [4160]2:11-12
[4161]2:15 [4162]3:4-7 [4163]3:10 [4164]3:10-11
Philemon
[4165]1:10 [4166]1:12 [4167]1:12
Hebrews
[4168]1:3 [4169]2:1 [4170]2:1 [4171]4:13 [4172]5:10 [4173]6
[4174]6:4 [4175]6:9 [4176]7:3 [4177]9:3-5 [4178]9:7
[4179]11:8 [4180]11:17-19 [4181]11:32 [4182]11:32 [4183]12:6
[4184]12:6 [4185]12:6 [4186]12:6 [4187]12:6 [4188]12:6
[4189]12:14 [4190]12:14 [4191]12:18 [4192]13 [4193]13:4
[4194]13:4 [4195]13:4 [4196]13:4 [4197]13:4 [4198]13:4
[4199]13:4
James
[4200]1:12 [4201]1:16-18 [4202]1:19 [4203]1:20 [4204]1:20
[4205]1:22 [4206]2:10 [4207]2:10 [4208]2:10 [4209]2:10
[4210]2:10 [4211]2:11 [4212]2:17 [4213]2:23 [4214]2:23
[4215]2:25 [4216]2:26 [4217]3:2 [4218]3:2 [4219]3:2
[4220]3:2 [4221]3:2 [4222]3:2 [4223]3:2 [4224]3:5 [4225]3:6
[4226]3:7 [4227]3:8 [4228]3:8-9 [4229]4:1 [4230]4:6
[4231]4:6 [4232]4:11 [4233]4:13-16
1 Peter
[4234]1:2 [4235]1:3-5 [4236]1:13-16 [4237]1:16 [4238]1:18-19
[4239]1:22-23 [4240]1:24 [4241]2:8 [4242]2:9 [4243]2:9
[4244]2:9 [4245]2:17-18 [4246]2:21 [4247]2:22 [4248]2:22
[4249]2:22 [4250]2:22 [4251]2:23 [4252]2:23 [4253]3:2-3
[4254]3:3 [4255]3:7 [4256]3:7 [4257]3:7 [4258]3:7 [4259]3:7
[4260]3:15 [4261]3:15 [4262]3:20 [4263]3:20 [4264]3:20-21
[4265]3:20-21 [4266]4:1 [4267]4:8 [4268]4:10 [4269]4:10
[4270]5:1 [4271]5:1-2 [4272]5:4 [4273]5:5 [4274]5:5
[4275]5:6 [4276]5:8 [4277]5:8 [4278]5:8
2 Peter
[4279]1:4 [4280]1:4 [4281]2:4 [4282]2:7-8 [4283]2:9
[4284]2:9 [4285]2:17-18 [4286]3:3 [4287]3:9
1 John
[4288]1:5 [4289]1:7 [4290]1:8 [4291]1:8 [4292]1:8 [4293]1:9
[4294]2:1 [4295]2:1-2 [4296]2:4 [4297]2:6 [4298]2:6
[4299]2:6 [4300]2:15 [4301]2:15-17 [4302]2:19 [4303]2:27
[4304]3:2 [4305]3:2 [4306]3:2-3 [4307]3:8 [4308]3:9-10
[4309]3:15 [4310]4:3 [4311]4:7 [4312]4:13 [4313]4:15
[4314]4:18 [4315]4:18 [4316]4:18 [4317]5:3 [4318]5:16
[4319]5:18 [4320]5:18-19 [4321]5:19 [4322]5:19 [4323]5:19
[4324]5:21 [4325]14:6
2 John
[4326]1:1 [4327]1:1 [4328]1:10
3 John
[4329]1:1
Jude
[4330]1:5 [4331]1:5 [4332]1:6 [4333]1:6 [4334]1:7 [4335]1:9
[4336]1:23 [4337]1:24
Revelation
[4338]1:4 [4339]1:5 [4340]1:6 [4341]1:7 [4342]1:8
[4343]1:9-10 [4344]1:12 [4345]1:14 [4346]1:15 [4347]1:16
[4348]2:2 [4349]2:4 [4350]2:5 [4351]2:6 [4352]2:6 [4353]2:6
[4354]2:8 [4355]2:8 [4356]2:9 [4357]2:9 [4358]2:10
[4359]2:13 [4360]2:14 [4361]2:14 [4362]2:15 [4363]2:15
[4364]2:15 [4365]2:16 [4366]2:17 [4367]2:20 [4368]2:23
[4369]2:25-26 [4370]2:27 [4371]3:4 [4372]3:4 [4373]3:7
[4374]3:7 [4375]3:15-16 [4376]3:16 [4377]3:17 [4378]3:19
[4379]3:20 [4380]3:22 [4381]3:33 [4382]3:33 [4383]5:1
[4384]6:10 [4385]7:5 [4386]10:9-10 [4387]10:9-10 [4388]11:2
[4389]11:7-8 [4390]11:7-8 [4391]12:9 [4392]14:1 [4393]14:1
[4394]14:1-4 [4395]14:3 [4396]14:3 [4397]14:3-4 [4398]14:4
[4399]14:4 [4400]14:4 [4401]14:4 [4402]14:4 [4403]14:4
[4404]14:4 [4405]14:4 [4406]14:6 [4407]17 [4408]17:4-5
[4409]17:9 [4410]18 [4411]18:2 [4412]18:4 [4413]19:11-16
[4414]21:2 [4415]21:14 [4416]21:14 [4417]21:16-18
[4418]21:19-20 [4419]21:19-21 [4420]22:13 [4421]22:14
[4422]22:18-19
Judith
[4423]13 [4424]13 [4425]13
Wisdom of Solomon
[4426]1:11 [4427]1:11 [4428]2:23 [4429]2:24 [4430]3:21
[4431]4:9 [4432]4:9 [4433]4:9 [4434]4:11 [4435]4:11
[4436]4:11 [4437]4:11-14 [4438]4:13 [4439]4:13 [4440]4:14
[4441]4:14 [4442]4:14 [4443]5:4 [4444]6:6 [4445]6:7
[4446]7:1 [4447]8:7 [4448]8:7 [4449]9:15 [4450]10:1
[4451]10:1 [4452]10:7
Baruch
[4453]5:5 [4454]6
Susanna
[4455]1:54 [4456]1:55 [4457]1:58 [4458]1:59
Bel and the Dragon
[4459]1:33-36 [4460]1:33-39
2 Maccabees
[4461]5:17 [4462]7
2 Esdras
[4463]1:30
Sirach
[4464]1:18 [4465]2:1 [4466]2:1 [4467]3:30 [4468]3:30
[4469]3:30 [4470]4:25 [4471]7:36 [4472]8:7 [4473]8:14
[4474]8:17 [4475]9:2-3 [4476]10:1 [4477]10:9 [4478]10:30
[4479]11:25 [4480]13:1 [4481]13:2 [4482]22:6 [4483]22:6
[4484]25:9 [4485]27:5 [4486]27:25 [4487]46:1
__________________________________________________________________
Index of Greek Words and Phrases
* agapetos: [4488]1
* agonothetes: [4489]1
* adiaphora: [4490]1
* aei: [4491]1
* anamartetos: [4492]1
* anachorein: [4493]1
* apo tou ponerou: [4494]1
* aperispastos: [4495]1
* aponia: [4496]1
* arto-turos: [4497]1
* archaios: [4498]1
* ataraxia: [4499]1
* autarkes: [4500]1
* eis to sophronein: [4501]1
* ento poneeo: [4502]1
* episkopos: [4503]1
* eschematismenos: [4504]1
* erhista: [4505]1
* hedone: [4506]1
* ono lura: [4507]1
* onterione: [4508]1
* ho protoplastos: [4509]1
* omoiousios: [4510]1
* ophis: [4511]1 [4512]2
* homoousios: [4513]1
* hudrophobous: [4514]1
* hupostasis: [4515]1 [4516]2
* hupotuposeis: [4517]1
* 'olbios: [4518]1
* 'Adamantios: [4519]1
* 'Apatheia: [4520]1
* 'Arche: [4521]1
* 'Iesous Christos Theou Uos Soter: [4522]1
* 'agoranmoi: [4523]1
* 'epitome: [4524]1
* Edei hemas, agapete, me te oi& 208;sei ton kleron pheresthai:
[4525]1
* onos luras ekouse kai salpingos hus: [4526]1
* Ono lura: [4527]1
* A'genealogetos: [4528]1
* Theoboule: [4529]1
* Therapeia: [4530]1 [4531]2
* IChThUS: [4532]1
* Meden agan: [4533]1
* Meden 'agan: [4534]1
* Oidema: [4535]1
* Peri apatheias: [4536]1
* Peri apoches empsuchion: [4537]1
* Peri 'Archon: [4538]1 [4539]2 [4540]3 [4541]4
* Peri Archon: [4542]1
* Pros to euschemon kai euprosedron to Kuri& 251; aperispastos':
[4543]1
* aidesimotate Pappa: [4544]1
* autexousion: [4545]1
* anamartetos: [4546]1
* banausoi: [4547]1
* gumnastikos: [4548]1
* gune: [4549]1
* gunaikas: [4550]1
* demas: [4551]1
* deo: [4552]1
* diapsalma: [4553]1
* didaktikon: [4554]1
* dogmatikos: [4555]1
* episkopountes: [4556]1
* kai memeristai: [4557]1
* kosmion: [4558]1
* kairo: [4559]1
* kakia: [4560]1 [4561]2 [4562]3
* kakozelian: [4563]1
* kakosin: [4564]1
* katastreniasosi: [4565]1
* kleros: [4566]1 [4567]2 [4568]3 [4569]4
* koinos bios: [4570]1
* kurio: [4571]1
* logos: [4572]1
* lupe: [4573]1
* logismoi: [4574]1
* meden agan: [4575]1
* nephaleon: [4576]1
* nephalios: [4577]1
* nephalios: [4578]1
* nous: [4579]1
* oidema: [4580]1
* oi& 208;sis: [4581]1
* oiesis: [4582]1
* ouk erista: [4583]1
* ousia: [4584]1 [4585]2 [4586]3 [4587]4
* pathe: [4588]1 [4589]2
* piptein: [4590]1
* parakeklemene: [4591]1
* paraleipomenon: [4592]1
* pararruomai: [4593]1
* patria: [4594]1
* perates: [4595]1
* peri archon: [4596]1
* peri 'Archon: [4597]1 [4598]2 [4599]3 [4600]4
* peri 'Archon: [4601]1
* pelos: [4602]1
* poikile: [4603]1
* poikiles: [4604]1
* polu pleiona: [4605]1
* prinos: [4606]1
* prisai: [4607]1
* proarthra: [4608]1
* prosopon: [4609]1
* proegmena: [4610]1
* propatheiai: [4611]1
* ptoma: [4612]1
* rema: [4613]1
* sabbaton deuteroproton: [4614]1
* sun ton ouranon kai sun ten gen: [4615]1
* sunodos: [4616]1
* sophrona: [4617]1
* sema: [4618]1
* soma: [4619]1
* skopos: [4620]1
* stromateis: [4621]1
* stromateis: [4622]1
* scheptomai: [4623]1
* schinos: [4624]1
* schisai: [4625]1
* schinos: [4626]1
* sophrosune: [4627]1
* to prepon: [4628]1
* tomoi: [4629]1
* te energei& 139;: [4630]1
* te dunamei: [4631]1
* ton anabaOmon: [4632]1
* tou gar kai genos esmen: [4633]1
* chalkenteros: [4634]1
* chara: [4635]1
* cheima oporismos stilpnotes: [4636]1
* psuchai apo tou psuchesthai: [4637]1
__________________________________________________________________
Index of Hebrew Words and Phrases
* 'lh smvt: [4638]1
* hrs: [4639]1
* lrlm: [4640]1
* nll: [4641]1
* nlh: [4642]1
* nmy: [4643]1
* ntmy: [4644]1
* : [4645]1
* l ssygyt: [4646]1
* yr: [4647]1
* tsl': [4648]1
* qvl: [4649]1
* rtshych: [4650]1
* t: [4651]1
__________________________________________________________________
Index of Pages of the Print Edition
[4652]i [4653]iii [4654]v [4655]xi [4656]xii [4657]xiii
[4658]xiv [4659]xv [4660]xvi [4661]xvii [4662]xviii [4663]xix
[4664]xx [4665]xxi [4666]xxii [4667]xxiii [4668]xxiv [4669]xxv
[4670]xxvi [4671]xxvii [4672]xxviii [4673]xxix [4674]xxx
[4675]xxxi [4676]xxxii [4677]xxxiii [4678]xxxiv [4679]1 [4680]2
[4681]3 [4682]4 [4683]5 [4684]6 [4685]7 [4686]8 [4687]9
[4688]10 [4689]11 [4690]12 [4691]13 [4692]14 [4693]15 [4694]16
[4695]17 [4696]18 [4697]19 [4698]20 [4699]21 [4700]22 [4701]23
[4702]24 [4703]25 [4704]26 [4705]27 [4706]28 [4707]29 [4708]30
[4709]31 [4710]32 [4711]33 [4712]34 [4713]35 [4714]36 [4715]37
[4716]38 [4717]39 [4718]40 [4719]41 [4720]42 [4721]43 [4722]44
[4723]45 [4724]46 [4725]47 [4726]48 [4727]49 [4728]50 [4729]51
[4730]52 [4731]53 [4732]54 [4733]55 [4734]56 [4735]57 [4736]58
[4737]59 [4738]60 [4739]61 [4740]62 [4741]63 [4742]64 [4743]65
[4744]66 [4745]67 [4746]68 [4747]69 [4748]70 [4749]71 [4750]72
[4751]73 [4752]74 [4753]75 [4754]76 [4755]77 [4756]78 [4757]79
[4758]80 [4759]81 [4760]82 [4761]83 [4762]84 [4763]85 [4764]86
[4765]87 [4766]88 [4767]89 [4768]90 [4769]91 [4770]92 [4771]93
[4772]94 [4773]95 [4774]96 [4775]97 [4776]98 [4777]99 [4778]100
[4779]101 [4780]102 [4781]103 [4782]104 [4783]105 [4784]106
[4785]107 [4786]108 [4787]109 [4788]110 [4789]111 [4790]112
[4791]113 [4792]114 [4793]115 [4794]116 [4795]117 [4796]118
[4797]119 [4798]120 [4799]121 [4800]122 [4801]123 [4802]124
[4803]125 [4804]126 [4805]127 [4806]128 [4807]129 [4808]130
[4809]131 [4810]132 [4811]133 [4812]134 [4813]135 [4814]136
[4815]137 [4816]138 [4817]139 [4818]140 [4819]141 [4820]142
[4821]143 [4822]144 [4823]145 [4824]146 [4825]147 [4826]148
[4827]149 [4828]150 [4829]151 [4830]152 [4831]153 [4832]154
[4833]155 [4834]156 [4835]157 [4836]158 [4837]159 [4838]160
[4839]161 [4840]162 [4841]163 [4842]164 [4843]165 [4844]166
[4845]167 [4846]168 [4847]169 [4848]170 [4849]171 [4850]172
[4851]173 [4852]174 [4853]175 [4854]176 [4855]177 [4856]178
[4857]179 [4858]180 [4859]181 [4860]182 [4861]183 [4862]184
[4863]185 [4864]186 [4865]187 [4866]188 [4867]189 [4868]190
[4869]191 [4870]192 [4871]193 [4872]194 [4873]195 [4874]196
[4875]197 [4876]198 [4877]199 [4878]200 [4879]201 [4880]202
[4881]203 [4882]204 [4883]205 [4884]206 [4885]207 [4886]208
[4887]209 [4888]210 [4889]211 [4890]212 [4891]213 [4892]214
[4893]215 [4894]216 [4895]217 [4896]218 [4897]219 [4898]220
[4899]221 [4900]222 [4901]223 [4902]224 [4903]225 [4904]226
[4905]227 [4906]228 [4907]229 [4908]230 [4909]231 [4910]232
[4911]233 [4912]234 [4913]235 [4914]236 [4915]237 [4916]238
[4917]239 [4918]240 [4919]241 [4920]242 [4921]243 [4922]244
[4923]245 [4924]246 [4925]247 [4926]248 [4927]249 [4928]250
[4929]251 [4930]252 [4931]253 [4932]254 [4933]255 [4934]256
[4935]257 [4936]258 [4937]259 [4938]260 [4939]261 [4940]262
[4941]263 [4942]264 [4943]265 [4944]266 [4945]267 [4946]268
[4947]269 [4948]270 [4949]271 [4950]272 [4951]273 [4952]274
[4953]275 [4954]276 [4955]277 [4956]278 [4957]279 [4958]280
[4959]281 [4960]282 [4961]283 [4962]284 [4963]285 [4964]286
[4965]287 [4966]288 [4967]289 [4968]290 [4969]291 [4970]292
[4971]293 [4972]294 [4973]295 [4974]297 [4975]299 [4976]300
[4977]301 [4978]302 [4979]303 [4980]304 [4981]305 [4982]306
[4983]307 [4984]308 [4985]309 [4986]310 [4987]311 [4988]312
[4989]313 [4990]314 [4991]315 [4992]316 [4993]317 [4994]318
[4995]319 [4996]320 [4997]321 [4998]322 [4999]323 [5000]324
[5001]325 [5002]326 [5003]327 [5004]328 [5005]329 [5006]330
[5007]331 [5008]332 [5009]333 [5010]334 [5011]335 [5012]336
[5013]337 [5014]338 [5015]339 [5016]340 [5017]341 [5018]342
[5019]343 [5020]344 [5021]345 [5022]346 [5023]347 [5024]348
[5025]349 [5026]350 [5027]351 [5028]352 [5029]353 [5030]354
[5031]355 [5032]356 [5033]357 [5034]358 [5035]359 [5036]360
[5037]361 [5038]362 [5039]363 [5040]364 [5041]365 [5042]366
[5043]367 [5044]368 [5045]369 [5046]370 [5047]371 [5048]372
[5049]373 [5050]374 [5051]375 [5052]376 [5053]377 [5054]378
[5055]379 [5056]380 [5057]381 [5058]382 [5059]383 [5060]384
[5061]385 [5062]386 [5063]387 [5064]388 [5065]389 [5066]390
[5067]391 [5068]392 [5069]393 [5070]394 [5071]395 [5072]396
[5073]397 [5074]398 [5075]399 [5076]400 [5077]401 [5078]402
[5079]403 [5080]404 [5081]405 [5082]406 [5083]407 [5084]408
[5085]409 [5086]410 [5087]411 [5088]412 [5089]413 [5090]414
[5091]415 [5092]416 [5093]417 [5094]418 [5095]419 [5096]420
[5097]421 [5098]422 [5099]423 [5100]424 [5101]425 [5102]426
[5103]427 [5104]428 [5105]429 [5106]430 [5107]431 [5108]432
[5109]433 [5110]434 [5111]435 [5112]436 [5113]437 [5114]438
[5115]439 [5116]440 [5117]441 [5118]442 [5119]443 [5120]444
[5121]445 [5122]446 [5123]447 [5124]448 [5125]449 [5126]450
[5127]451 [5128]452 [5129]453 [5130]454 [5131]455 [5132]456
[5133]457 [5134]458 [5135]459 [5136]460 [5137]461 [5138]462
[5139]463 [5140]464 [5141]465 [5142]466 [5143]467 [5144]468
[5145]469 [5146]470 [5147]471 [5148]472 [5149]473 [5150]474
[5151]475 [5152]476 [5153]477 [5154]478 [5155]479 [5156]480
[5157]481 [5158]482 [5159]483 [5160]484 [5161]485 [5162]486
[5163]487 [5164]488 [5165]489 [5166]490 [5167]491 [5168]492
[5169]493 [5170]494 [5171]495 [5172]496 [5173]497 [5174]498
[5175]499 [5176]500 [5177]501 [5178]502
__________________________________________________________________
This document is from the Christian Classics Ethereal
Library at Calvin College, http://www.ccel.org,
generated on demand from ThML source.
References
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3. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=2#v.LXIX-p52.1
4. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=2#vi.iv-p68.1
5. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=7#v.LI-p54.1
6. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=10#v.XLVIII-p165.1
7. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=26#v.LI-p67.1
8. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=26#v.XLIII-p11.1
9. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=27#v.CXXIV-p60.1
10. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=28#v.XXII-p151.1
11. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=28#v.LI-p35.1
12. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=28#v.XLVIII-p16.1
13. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=28#v.LII-p84.1
14. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=28#v.LXVI-p21.1
15. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=28#v.LXIX-p31.1
16. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=28#v.CVII-p78.1
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19. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=28#vi.vi.I-p30.1
20. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=28#vi.vi.I-p46.1
21. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=1&scrV=31#v.XLVIII-p110.1
22. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=2&scrV=0#v.LIII-p73.1
23. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=2&scrV=0#vi.vi.I-p130.1
24. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=2&scrV=7#v.LXIX-p55.1
25. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=2&scrV=8#v.LXIX-p58.1
26. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=2&scrV=10#v.LI-p49.1
27. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=2&scrV=10#v.LXIX-p58.1
28. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=2&scrV=10#v.LI-p50.1
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30. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=2&scrV=11#v.CXXV-p23.1
31. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=2&scrV=13#v.LI-p50.1
32. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=2&scrV=16#v.LI-p52.1
33. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=2&scrV=17#v.XXII-p149.1
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44. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=14#v.VII-p13.1
45. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=14#v.XXII-p24.1
46. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=14#v.XXXVIII-p27.1
47. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=16#v.XXII-p148.1
48. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=16#v.XLVIII-p126.1
49. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=16#v.CXXX-p85.1
50. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=18#v.XXII-p24.1
51. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=18#v.CXXV-p44.1
52. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=18#v.XXII-p152.1
53. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=19#v.XVII-p18.1
54. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=19#v.LXXIX-p49.1
55. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=20#v.CXXIII-p73.1
56. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=3&scrV=21#v.LI-p42.1
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75. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=6&scrV=3#vi.vi.II-p156.1
76. file:///ccel/s/schaff/npnf206/cache/npnf206.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=6&scrV=3#vi.viii-p104.1
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