Pseudo-Augustini Quaestiones Veteris et Novi Testamenti CXXVII

This, therefore, is the difference between the substance of God and that of man: the substance of God is always blessed with the security of its invincible eternity; but the substance of man becomes blessed in another way, through labor. And it is necessary that one blessedness be impassible, and another that of one who is worn down by tribulations, so that he may at some time rejoice. For impassible blessedness is always in a state of being blessed, but passible blessedness, after great exertions, rejoices to have escaped death. Therefore it is saddened, so that it may rejoice, and is not perpetually secure because of the passibility of its nature; but the impassible is always blessed, because it neither knows sadness nor suspects that it could be saddened. For the nature of men, even if it attains blessedness through labor, will not, however, be untouched, nor will scars be absent from it. For how can it be that one who has often engaged in conflict and has sometimes been defeated is not wounded? But the impassible always remains untouched, unharmed, inviolable.

Therefore, Abraham would not be called the least in relation to Melchisedech unless the nature of Melchisedech were more powerful than that of Abraham. For these things we have mentioned may seem to be matters of intellect; but if we look to the law, many more and more powerful things will be said. For this Melchisedech, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and who blessed him, is first interpreted as king of righteousness, then king of Salem, which is king of peace, having no father, no mother, and no genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life; and being likened to the Son of God, he remains a priest forever. And to commend these things by the passages in which he had signified them, he added concerning him: "You see," he says, "how great he is, to whom Abraham gave tithes from the firstfruits, the prince of the patriarchs." For to show by what power and how great Melchisedech is, he praises Abraham, saying that he is the prince of the patriarchs, that is, better than all others is Abraham, but the least in relation to Melchisedech.

Is it not clear that this man is not a man, but something better? For what is it that it says about him, that he is king of peace and king of justice? Draw nearer and see. For from afar, seeing the sun, you think it a lamp, and looking at silver, you judge it to be tin. Can any human being be called king of peace and justice? Peace is proclaimed for men, and likewise justice; but he is called king of peace and justice for this reason, that justice and peace may be known to have their origin from him. For it cannot be said that what is ruled by him is above him. For men are instructed by justice as a teacher and by peace to merit God. Therefore, Melchisedech has as king these things which are the teacher of men. How much better, then, is Melchisedech than a man, when the governess of men is under him! This is to be king of kings. Therefore, when he is called king of justice and peace, he is signified to be their author. So that just as the Lord Jesus is the author of life, so also Melchisedech is the author of justice and peace, because those who live through Christ are governed by the dispensing of justice and peace. For he pours justice and peace into the hearts of the servants of God to adorn the Lord's discipline. We read written in the eighty-fourth psalm that justice and peace embraced each other and truth arose from the earth, and, to show of which justice it spoke, it says that justice looked down from heaven.

This the Scripture shows concerning the time of the Savior, when the justice of God was given to the world through Christ in the knowledge of the mystery of the one God, which He had previously promised — for it is just that the creature should know the truth of its creator —, which justice, manifested on earth, removed the discord that had been generated from the injustice of the unknown God, and made the discordant peaceful, while it established those long divided in one faith. Thus justice and peace and the truth of the one God embraced each other, and from the earth arose justice as teacher. For the incarnation of Christ showed what truth about God Himself was to be known. Therefore this is certainly the justice of God. Similarly also peace, as the apostle says: "But the God of peace Himself will crush Satan." How this can be distinguished, I do not perceive, so that, while the God of peace is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and also Christ Himself — for He says: "I give you my peace" —, it is said of Melchizedek that he is king of justice and peace; by what reasoning this is distinguished, I do not understand. For I think there is no difference, as far as the matter is concerned, between a king of peace and a God of peace. For because in the world no one ought to be called God, so that this name might be reserved for the one alone from whom all things come, He nevertheless instituted a king who would have His image, who, except for the name of God, would have all His power. But because he is earthly, he is king of men, not however of peace and justice, because he himself also has justice as his leader, which he is not permitted to despise. For justice is God to him.

Justice is a matter of God, and whoever transgresses it becomes guilty in God’s judgment. Melchisedech, however, as can be understood, is not called king in the manner of men, because he has justice under him, which rules over kings. For no one can have justice under him unless he is of such a nature that he cannot sin. But it is said to be under him because it was discovered by him in the manner of a law, by which those who can sin are governed. Therefore, the king of justice is the moderator of the words discovered by him, by which one can live and believe well and blessedly. We labor long and hard, and still we say too little about Melchisedech, unless we return to the scripture, which itself long knocks and cries out, to rouse those pressed down by a heavy sleep to an understanding not of night, but of day. It says, therefore, that Melchisedech is without father, without mother, without genealogy, and, lest it be understood otherwise than is fitting, it added: having neither beginning of days nor end of life. By this it shows that Melchisedech was neither born nor died. What does human subtlety argue against such clear things? What craftiness of ingenuity is so cunning that it dares to resist the manifest, so as not to grasp the sense from the reading, but to impose a sense upon the reading? Violence is done to the Lord’s scriptures, so that they feel even those as enemies who seem to bow to their authority.

Some say that one should not believe about Melchisedech as it is reported in the scriptures, and through this they twist the scriptures to their own meaning; it would be better for them not to receive the scriptures openly than to act deceitfully against them, so that under the name of peace war is prepared and under the cover of friendship an enemy lies hidden. They say, therefore, that it does not pertain to the nobility of Melchisedech, but to the lowliness of his lineage, because he is read to have been without father and mother. For they claim that this was written thus in order to show that he was from foreigners, not from the tribe from which Abraham arose, because his lineage is not found in the law. 'Whence also it added,' they say, 'and without genealogy, so that it might be understood that his origin was not described in the law at all, so that he might be believed to have become a good man through himself, from whatever parents.' But the scripture is so incautious that it sets down everything arranged in order necessary for the case! For first it says: without father, without mother. Let us see if the mothers of others are mentioned in the law; the wife of Nachor, the grandmother of Abraham, the mother of Thare is not read, nor what was the mother of Abraham, to say nothing of the rest. Are these to be said to have been without mothers? If it had said 'without father,' would that not have been a color? Because all who existed have fathers recorded in the law, it adds: and without genealogy.

If he said this in order to show that his genealogy is not in the Law, it would have sufficed to say 'without a father,' because for one whose father no one knows, his grandfather is all the more unknown. For the sake of clarity he says: 'having neither a beginning of days nor an end of life.' Tell me, whoever you are who are violent, how do you interpret this? What does it mean to have neither a beginning of days nor an end of life? It would certainly have sufficed to have said that his genealogy is not written in the Law, and on this account his origin would have to be believed to be from among the foreigners. It can be said that he was 'translated' like Enoch and therefore did not die. Granted. What does it mean to have no beginning of the days of life? Perhaps you will say, because his birthday is not written. For whose birthday is written in the Law? And is this a reason, that for one whose birthday is not written, it is denied that he has a beginning of the days of life? So the same could be said about the others as well. And even if he had been translated like a man, he would still not be without an end of life, because whatever is under the hope of death has an end.

Stop, whoever you are who are eager for contention. For it is better to be conquered by the truth than to conquer the truth through falsehoods. For it is to lose, not to conquer, because, even if truth seems to be lost among men, it nevertheless conquers before God, since its rationale is invincible. Therefore, the mind ought to be conquered by the Law, so that it perceives what the Law signifies, not so that it imposes its own meaning on the Law by its own judgment, violently subjecting the Law to itself. And listen to Zorobabel, who says: "Truth conquers all." Now Melchisedech prefigures the future mystery of the incarnation and passion of the Lord, when he first gave to Abraham, as to the father of the faithful, the Eucharist of the body and blood of the Lord. So that what was to be the truth in the sons might be prefigured in the father. If he is thought to be a human priest in the manner in which Aaron was or priests now are, let the place of his habitation be shown or read, or if there was some temple or synagogue in which he gathered the people and offered their sacrifices, or what people came to him. For if he was a priest on earth, he undoubtedly had a people. And before Abraham, or at his time, there was surely a people who served God. And how was Abraham made the head of the faith, so that from him the people would have knowledge of God? For similarly, if Melchisedech existed, who would teach the fear of the one God on earth, Abraham was chosen in vain, so that the people of God would be named from him. For they could have been among those who gathered to Melchisedech.

And what of that which is read in the Song of Deuteronomy, that when the Most High divided the nations, as he scattered the sons of Adam, he established the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God, and the people of him, Jacob, became the portion of the Lord? Therefore, if there was no people of God in the world except the sons of Abraham, by what reasoning is it thought that there was another people, which had descended from the teaching of Melchizedek, the prophet denying? For when he names all the nations that are in the world and says that the people of God are only the sons of Abraham, what remains except that, except for these, it is denied that the rest had knowledge of God, because God is known in Judea? But Melchizedek, 'priest of the Most High God,' appeared to bless Abraham as a presage of future saints, because the blessing was to be given in the future to the people of God through the priest of God, whom we call a priest. Therefore, this Melchizedek appeared as a precursor of the future sacrament of the Son of God, because he who is subsequent in order precedes in service. Therefore, what we have said about Melchizedek should not be wondered at, when Scripture, to confound the clamorous, adds more and says: after all things worthy of praise, to confound the malicious: 'But he, being made like the Son of God, remains a priest forever.

Now see what you are contending to think ill of, and if you do not fear this one, at least fear Christ, to whom he is reported as similar by the authority of Scripture. For step by step it comes to his natural merit, so that, if the earlier statements moved anyone—by which he was signified as king of justice and peace, and because he was seen in the flesh and had neither father nor mother, that is, he appeared unbegotten, having neither rising nor setting—he would demonstrate the earlier statements to be credible by those things which he set down last. For who would dare to say, except a madman, that all these things, which have been spoken sublimely, are incongruous for him who is designated as similar to the Son of God, remaining a priest forever? But one cannot be similar to the Son of God unless he is of the same nature. And what seems incredible, if Melchisedech appeared as a man, when he is understood to be the third person? For if Christ, who is the second person, has frequently been seen in the form of a man, what is there to doubt about those things which have been said? For we read in the Psalm: "You are," it says, "priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech." No one of us doubts that this pertains to the person of Christ, because Christ is a priest forever in the same manner as Melchisedech, but Christ is the high priest, Melchisedech the second. For if Melchisedech is a man, how does it befit that Christ is a priest forever according to his order? For both are read to be similar and to be of one dispensation, because they are also of one nature.

Since the authority of the one God must be preserved in every way, for that reason the second and third persons are subjected to the paternal name. Christ, however, is the vicar of the Father and the antistes, and for this reason he is also called priest. Similarly, the Holy Spirit, sent as a kind of antistes, has been called the priest of the Most High God, not the high priest, as our people presume in the offering, because, although Christ and the Holy Spirit are of one substance, the order of each must nevertheless be preserved. They are therefore called priests or legates because they show forth in themselves the one whose legates they are; for they are his image. And for this reason Christ and the Holy Spirit, naturally possessing the image of God, are called his priests. In them God is seen, as the Lord says: He who has seen me has seen the Father also; and if in the deeds of the Lord God was seen, the deeds of the Holy Spirit are the works, the Lord signifying, because I cast out demons in the spirit of God, and in the Holy Spirit God was seen.

CHAPTER 110. ON THE FIRST PSALM. When the prophet David signified spiritual meaning through the medium of carnal things, he proclaimed psalms of various kinds and merit for the praise of God and for the sacrament with an eager mind. He covered the first psalm with no veil and assigned it to no one, but established it as a general one, so that it might belong to those who, separated from the wicked, have fortified themselves by association with the good. For the beginning, and especially of this grace, ought not to have been sung in obscurity—for light comes before darkness, and the head of each thing is manifest—nor does a question arise from that, but from the subjects. Hence he began, saying: "Blessed is the man who has not gone into the council of the impious." The council of the impious is the conspiracy of the wicked, to be understood in many ways. For this reason the impious differ from sinners—for impiety is the gravest sin—because every impiety is a sin, but not every sin is impiety. How then does one go into the council of the impious? Certainly when one is called by it. For by saying this he shows that, as long as one does not depart from nature, he does not incur sin. For this reason, he says, "Blessed is the man who has not gone into the council of the impious." For impiety, begun by the devil with the consent of his satellites, entices men, so that it makes them participants in his impiety. For he himself, having first sinned against God while wishing to usurp primacy for himself through tyranny, was cast down from his sacred seats and considered this a consolation: if he could acquire as many companions as possible for his own perdition.

Therefore, he says, "Blessed is the man who did not go into the counsel of the impious." For they always entice men, those who, acting under this prince, are our enemies, as the apostle says: "For your struggle," he says, "is not against flesh and blood, but against princes and powers," and in another epistle he says of their tyrant, among other things: "so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God." For because sin seems sweet and evil is not felt until there is loss—and through this, deceivers are not apparent as long as they are ensnaring, but when they have deceived, then they are recognized—for that reason, he calls blessed the man who was not enticed into the counsel of the impious, so as to go into the fellowship of their impiety. The first cause of impiety, therefore, is this, by which rebels against God began to exist in a malignant conspiracy, by which imitation idolatry began. For the prevarication begun in the heavens descended to the earth. For while they were not content to be subject to one God and creator, they became impious by dividing his majesty among others, so that, having spurned him, they chose others for themselves to worship. This is indeed the first cause of offense to the human race, from which, neglected by God, they are handed over to be mocked by various enticements and passions, according to the faith of the apostle Paul. For what inviolate work remains that has not acknowledged its author?

Then the evil that had been sown renounced its custom and, like a shoot, spread its branches into many parts, so that those who had not spared God more readily rushed into insult and murder of their parents—for, to say nothing of others, as the apostle says: "For what concern is it of mine to judge those who are outside?"—Reuben committed adultery with his father's concubine to his father's shame, and Absalom unlawfully usurped the kingdom, seeking to deprive his father of both rule and life. Impiety also has other aspects, for it is impiety to disregard someone who asks for help when one could be of use in a time of danger, and to give counsel in a harsh and wicked matter so that it may be carried out—nor did this sort of thing escape even at the present time, along with other things that could be found along these lines. Therefore, it is not without reason that the man is blessed who did not go into the counsel of the impious. For it is a great peril to a man and an incurable wound, after the knowledge of God, to be joined to these errors. For one who, after having received true knowledge, turns to falsehood must necessarily be treated worse; and the man is blessed who, having obtained the knowledge of truth, flees the counsels of the impious, because the head of error is impiety.

And it follows: "and he did not stand in the way of sinners," because it is impossible not to sin, just as it is possible not to be impious, since the gravest sin can be avoided, but the others creep in of necessity. For human intercourse itself frequently, while it does not think of sinning, unexpectedly incurs sin. And thus blessed is he who does not go into the counsel of the impious; that is, he does not even begin evil. But because sin cannot but be begun, as I said, he declared blessed the one who does not persist in it; that is, he does not stand in the way of sinners. For the way of sinners is a life lived in sins. For one is said to walk badly who proceeds to the point of seeking to sin. For while his mind does not stand in God's law, but wanders, he is said to walk in the way of sinners, because this wandering seeks to sin. And therefore, "blessed is he who does not stand in the way of sinners," that is, who, with subsequent repentance, grieves that he was ensnared and withdraws from the conspiracy of sinful men. Therefore, just as he is blessed who did not go into the counsel of the impious, so he will be incorrigible if he did go, as Solomon says: "The foot of the impious will perish" and: "Blessed is the man who did not stand in the way of sinners." But if he has stood, he is no longer blessed, but guilty and worthy of blows. For he seems to have some hope of correction, because he is not impious, but a sinner. But if there is one who neither went into the counsel of the impious nor stands in the way of sinners, he is blessed in a twofold manner.

For neither can he be blessed, if he does not go into the council of the impious and stand in the way of sinners, because, if not to perdition, he is nevertheless subject to punishment. Then he added: "and he did not sit in the chair of pestilence." He says that this is blessedness, which consists of these three grades and is fortified by a threefold reasoning, that is, that one should neither go into the council of the impious, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the chair of pestilence. But since only two kinds are held, of the impious and of sinners, in the reproach which were mentioned above, to which did he wish to assign this third, which he added saying: "and he did not sit in the chair of pestilence"? Of the impious or of sinners? But let us see what it is to sit in the chair of pestilence, and then we will understand to which kind he assigns this. We call that the chair of pestilence which is outside the ordination of God, which was invented for this purpose, that unjust judgments might issue from it; for that reason it is called the chair of pestilence, which is a corruption that begets death, just as iniquity begets damnation. Therefore, the chair of death is not from God; for Moses received the chair of life. For it was given for this purpose, that authority might be in it of a just judge or of the creator God. Whence the Lord says: "Scribes and Pharisees sat upon the chair of Moses"; and the Apostle says: "There is no power," he says, "except from God; for those that exist are ordained by God"—

He says to the leader of the people: "You indeed sit judging according to the law, and contrary to the law you order me to be struck." What he said, "according to the law," signified the just and salutary authority of the chair. But that which he said, "contrary to the law you order me to be struck," shows that very same unjust judge, so that, sitting in the chair of God, he would judge unjustly. Hence it is that Daniel also says: "The kingdom is God's, and He gives it to whom He wills." Therefore, just as the authority of an earthly emperor runs through all, so that reverence for him is in all, so God has established that the authority of God begins from the king himself and runs through all. Although the world often does not understand this and, placed in power, submits itself to another than it ought, nevertheless the institution is that there is one who is feared. Where, therefore, this institution is not, there the chair of pestilence is found. Nowhere is the authority of the one God denied, except among those who preach the fear and reverence of many gods. These are those who sit in the chair of pestilence, because what their pontiffs preach is death. For they teach this, that the worshippers of the one God, as if foolish and enemies, are either to be held in contempt or removed from this life. This very matter is impiety, which also extends into other parts, through which it displays the laws of its impiety.

For by the command of Jezebel, the priests of iniquity sat in the seat of pestilence, who, though they were not judges, devising wicked schemes against the innocent Naboth with suborned false witnesses, pronounced a sentence of death. Hence in another psalm it says: "And I will not sit with the impious." For this judgment is of the same nature as the seat of pestilence. Therefore, if those sitting in the seat of God oppress the innocent, the judgment will be unjust, not the seat. For where the seat of pestilence is, the judgment cannot but be iniquitous, although some apply to themselves certain veils, as it were, with which they conceal their impiety, so that onlookers are deceived. For impiety cannot be presented on its own, because it finds no buyer; and where the law of the devil is, if he himself is named, he is abhorred. Just as poison is mixed with something through which it is concealed, so too do they mix certain just things with the law of the devil and apply the name of truth; but the sense of each individual is to be judged, because sometimes it shows something true in order to deceive, so that when it preaches evil things, they are thought to be good. Since we have asserted that the seat of pestilence is not from God's ordinance, we also say that the seats of those who have established sees for themselves outside the Church or against the Church are the seat of pestilence. For whoever presumes upon what is not granted is guilty; how much more so if he also corrupts the tradition of the one whose seat he usurps!

For the order begun by the apostle Peter and preserved up to this time through the succession of bishops is disturbed by those who claim an order for themselves without origin, that is, professing a body without a head; hence it is fitting also to call their seat the chair of pestilence. Nor, indeed, will it go unpunished because they do these things under the name of God. For it is evident that they conduct their own causes under the name of God. For they do not do these things out of zeal for God, but wishing to defend their own position, when we know that Korah and the two hundred fifty men, offering to God through presumption, were swallowed up by a gap in the earth, and that King Uzziah, when he unlawfully offered to God, was struck with leprosy on his forehead. Since it has become clear that the chair of pestilence pertains to the impiety mentioned above, let us proceed with the rest. For he added: "but his will is in the law of the Lord." He says that the will of him who, having spurned the impious and abandoned sinners, refusing the chair of pestilence, establishes his will in the law of God, is in the law of the Lord. For this reason he called this man 'blessed.

And it follows: “and he will meditate on his law day and night.” It is clear that someone free from all enticements and immune to those things which are contrary to the law of God does nothing other than practice the law of God. Strengthened by the sacraments of the Son of God, by day he persists in good works and by night in prayers. For this is the one of whom it says in the Song of Songs, that he sleeps and his heart keeps watch. Hence it says: “and he will be like a tree that is planted beside the courses of waters.” Who doubts that he who meditates on the law of God has hope of receiving a reward? Because, just as a tree planted near water cannot be sterile, so too he who with frequent practice studies the law of God cannot fail to have the effect of his work. And it added: “which will give its fruit in its time.” Every well-tended planting gives fruit at the appropriate time: so also this one, who obeys the law of God, will have fruit at the appointed time. For he will receive the reward of this devotion when the Lord Jesus Christ begins to sit in judgment of the living and the dead.

Then he added: “and its leaf will not fall off.” It is clear that in a tree whose leaves do not fall, life is signified. For wood nourished by the moisture of running water keeps its leaves. Indeed, the Lord Jesus says: “If they do this in moist wood, what will happen in dry wood?” In moist wood he signified life and fruit. Just as wood, therefore, with the help of running water does not suffer dryness, so also here, one who studies the law of God, when temptation approaches, is safe by the protection of God and does not lose but gains salvation, as the apostle says: “because we must enter the kingdom of God through tribulations.” And it follows: “and all things that he has done will prosper.” What he says is clear: because one who keeps faith in the law of God, being eager for its commandments, becomes fortunate in all his actions; just as Joseph, because he preferred the fear of God to the present life, God made all things he did prosper in his hands.

And he added: “Not so the impious, not so.” The repetition of the statement signifies that the future will be in no way other than what he promises, because for the impious nothing will be prosperous in the future, but all things adverse, even to their destruction. Whence he says: “But like dust, which the wind casts from the face of the earth.” In the same way he says the impious perish, like dust, which the wind casts from the face of the earth so that it perishes. For, lifted from its substance, scattered through the air, it gradually disappears: so also the impious, cast out by the angelic ministers from the face of the author God, without whom one cannot live, will perish. And it follows: “Therefore the impious do not rise in the judgment.” What he says is fitting: for why should the impious rise in judgment, who preferred to entrust no business of God to themselves, for which they would render an account? For, despising God’s law and denying it, there is no basis on which they could render an account, so that, questioned in judgment according to the law entrusted to them, they might present their cases. Therefore, the arrogant and those found rebellious against God will rise for this purpose: that they may see that it is true what they refused to believe, so that they may perish, because they judged God a liar.

And he added: “Nor the sinners in the council of the just.” In this psalm he signifies three kinds of men: the impious, the sinners, and the just, in the order in which the error began. But the impious are alien to these, because they refused to live under God’s decree, as I have said; the sinners, however, acting under God’s law, are to be brought before the tribunal of Christ, separated from the just, so that they may render account of the law they received, being corrected in those matters in which they did not apply themselves, so that they might have more praise than blame; the just, indeed, found to be very zealous in the exercise of fulfilling the law, are to be rewarded. And he subjoined: “Because the Lord knows the way of the just.” God is said to know these, who, mindful of his precepts, persist in good works, so that, being considered just, they may be crowned. But to those who, forgetful of him, are negligent concerning the care of the soul, he speaks thus: “Depart from me; I do not know you, workers of iniquity.” And it follows: “And the path of the impious will perish.” Whence the psalm was begun and ended, so that the case of the impious, having been treated, might be shown to be subject to nothing other than perdition. For as I have said, God is said to know the way of the just for this reason, because they walk in his law; but the path of the impious, because it is outside God’s law, will perish, because all the ways of the impious are dark, says Solomon, but those of the pious are very bright, with Christ our Lord as guide.

CXI. On Psalm 23. The title of the psalm indicates its rationale. For, about to speak concerning the sacrament of our Lord Christ, he signified the Lord’s day by saying: “To this David, the first of the sabbath.” For when it is said “To this David,” it pertains to him whose image this David bears, of whom the prophet says: “And my servant David feeds them.” Now “the first of the sabbath” is the first day. For after the sabbath, the first day is the Lord’s day, as the Gospel affirms, saying: “Now on the first of the sabbath, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the tomb,” and so forth. Therefore, on the Lord’s day he signified the sacrament of the Savior. But so that the psalm might be expounded according to the rationale of order, he made a beginning from the person of God the Father, that the sacrament of truth might be revealed to men not without order. For one who wishes to set forth some matter, unless he grasps its head and origin, will not be able to show its property nor to teach what its truth is.

Thus the prophet began and said: “The earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.” He held to the truth of the matter, saying: “The earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.” For he followed the authority of the ancient saints, who declared that the earth and all that is in it belong to the dominion of the Lord God. And he added: “The whole world and all who dwell in it.” Lest it be thought that he had signified something less because he had said that the earth and its fullness belong to the Lord, he opened up his meaning by saying: “The whole world and all who dwell in it,” so as to teach that every single land entirely belongs to the Lord, and all that is in it, so that nothing is excepted which is not His—contrary to what certain heretics think, who, according to the saying of the apostle Peter, deny dominion to God, and to whose condemnation the prophetic oracles have taught that all things are God’s. And it follows: “He Himself founded it upon the seas,” that is, what he signified in another psalm, saying: “You established the earth upon the waters.” So that testimony might follow faith, he shows how He did it. For while there was a confusion of things, and neither earth nor water had their own form, by the command of God the earth was gathered together and fixed upon the waters, so that both earth and water might have the property of their origin. Hence in the books of Kings there is the voice of God saying: “Did I not make the waters?

And he added: “And over the rivers he prepared it.” Thus it is prepared over the rivers, while it holds within itself waters stored up, which, flowing as if through the channels of veins, provide it with density, lest it be utterly dry, brittle, and useless for cultivation. For they supply a vital effect to the roots of growing things and at the same time are of help to arid places as an aid against thirst. And to show that profession without a good life is not very profitable, he says: “Who will ascend the mountain of the Lord, or who will stand in his holy place?” He sets forth what sort of person one ought to be who professes God the Creator, lest, because he showed that those who deny dominion to God are to be punished, those who confess might know that they are not immune from punishment if they do not conduct themselves rightly. Therefore, by saying “the mountain of the Lord,” he signified heaven. Hence in another psalm he says: “I lifted my eyes to the mountains, whence help would come to me.” But “the place of the Lord” is where he appears. Moreover, it is said to Joshua son of Nun, when the Lord had appeared to him: “And the place where you stand is holy ground,” and to Jacob, where he saw the Lord: “This,” he says, “is the house of God.

And it follows: “innocent in hands and pure in heart.” Then it says that one is worthy to ascend the mountain of the Lord, that is, into heaven, or to stand in his holy place, if one has been innocent in works and has a pure heart in the matter of God, that is, of faith. For a person of this kind can ascend into heaven and stand in his holy place. For when this life is ended, he ascends into heaven. Then, with the city of Jerusalem, at the coming of the Lord he will descend from heaven, worthy to stand where the Lord is to judge the living and the dead, as an innocent person; but the impious and sinners will be unworthy to stand in the holy place of God’s judgment; they will rise again, the impious to destruction, the sinners to punishment. For if the children of Israel, because of sin, could not see the glorified face of Moses descending from the mountain, how much more will a conscience burdened by sins dread to look upon the Lord of glory himself, seated on the throne of majesty! For they will hear: “I do not know you, workers of iniquity.

And he added: “who has not taken his soul in vain.” Now he touches upon the kinds of sins themselves. For in the first place, one is innocent and has a pure heart who is immune from the fornication of idolatry. For that itself is vanity, and whoever inclines himself to it subjects his soul to corruption. And it follows: “nor has he sworn deceitfully to his neighbor.” He has mentioned two causes, which are principal: of God and of neighbor, because whoever has been fit in these will without doubt be considered approved also in the rest, as the Lord says: “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment. And a second similar to it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments the whole Law and the Prophets depend. Therefore, who, loving the Lord with his whole heart, would not keep his law? Or who, having charity for his neighbor, would devote himself to sins, especially since he loves his neighbor because of the fear of God? And he subjoined: “This one will receive a blessing from the Lord and mercy from God his savior.” Now he shows what the merit is of one who has had faith and love in the cause of God and of man, of the Creator and of the neighbor, because he will both be blessed by the Lord, so that he appears commended, and will obtain mercy in those things which he could not fulfill.

For no one can be so circumspect as never to err, but because one is found to be diligent and faithful in important matters, he will receive mercy from his God in the smallest things, who is called the Savior because he does not desire the death of the dying, but that he should return and live. And it follows: “This is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.” He said that the generation of those who seek God and those who seek the face of the God of Jacob is one, which is not without significance. For although both are good, he indicated two grades by these words. It is good to seek God, but it is the full good to seek the face of the God of Jacob. For those who are before the face of the judge are more worthy. This, therefore, is the generation of these merits. Because, in order to arrive at this, innocence and purity of heart are necessary, just as, again, in order to be able to come to evil, injustice and iniquity precede, because there are two generations, one on the side of iniquity, which is the mother of Cain, the other on the side of justice, which is the mother of Abel. This one consists in faith and good conduct, that one in faithlessness and crooked works. These are the two laws, of good and evil, of God and the devil, and whichever one a person has followed, he will be called its son. And through this, the generation of those who seek God is this: faith in God and love for one’s neighbor, as we said above.

For he who has faith in God will always seek his help; nor should he show himself unjust to men, who wishes to have God propitious, whose sign this is when it is said: 'the God of Jacob', because the God of Judaea is known. And why are they said to seek the face of God, when Moses heard, because, he says, my face will not be seen by you? If therefore even Moses sought the face of God and could not see it, these are said to seek it in vain, because they are not better than Moses. But no one is to be said to seek the face of God in vain, because they are said to seek the face of God for this reason, that it may be known whom they seek, because they are worthy also to see. For everyone who is sought is then recognized, if his face is seen. But since the face of God cannot be seen by mortals, this signification stands for the face, when it is said: 'the God of Jacob'. DIAPSALMA. Diapsalma in this place signifies a change of person. For after those things which pertain to the person of God the Father, it subjoins those which pertain to the sacrament of God the Son, so that the complete order of Father and Son is preserved. For the law was given through Moses, so that he might be like a tutor to men, instructing them and preparing them by the teaching of justice, that they might become worthy to receive the year of the Lord and the day of retribution, so that those who had been faithful under the hope of the future Christ might receive him and be able to escape the sin of Adam, secure in themselves, because his coming, which they had hoped for, would give them mercy concerning those things in which they were overtaken so as to transgress.

This is what he mentioned above, saying: he will receive mercy from his saving God. Therefore he says: lift up the gates of your prince. This is the voice of the holy angels, of whom it is said in the Gospel: and the angels came, it says, and ministered to him. These, then, speak to the princes and powers, against whom the apostle says we have a struggle, that they lift up the gates of their prince, that is, the devil, who is the prince of princes among those established in error, through which one goes into gehenna. These gates are the perfidy and deceit of idolatry. And it follows: and be lifted up, eternal gates. Faith and hope with charity are eternal gates, because what is preached through truth cannot be abolished. But those gates, which I said are the perfidy and deceit of idols, are temporal, because all falsehood does not endure; for when truth is revealed, it will perish. Therefore they are taught to lift up the gates of their prince, that is, that with the error of many gods removed, the faith of one God be introduced in Christ. This is what the apostle testifies he was sent to teach, to show not only to men, but also to princes and powers in the heavens, the mystery of the one God in Christ.

And he added: “and the king of glory will enter.” He says that the deceitful gates, constructed by the subtlety of the devil, are to be removed; these gates are presumption, through which he [the devil] esteemed himself a god, so that the king of glory, who is Christ Jesus our Lord, may enter. For the faith of God enters no one’s mind unless he has removed from himself the error of the devil, invented through prevarication; and the aforementioned princes cannot receive Christ the king into the faith of the one God unless they have cast off from themselves the tradition by which calumny is brought upon the one God—not only the earthly tradition, but also that which was usurped in the heavens by the prince of princes, Satan, because the error which they conspired among themselves, with the devil as author, to call themselves gods, they also established here on earth, so that this error might be an image of that one. And it follows: “Who is this king of glory?” Lest it be thought that he called Christ the king of glory superfluously, he assumes the person of one asking and saying: “Who is this king of glory?”—as if he marvels or wishes to be taught whether it is true and fitting to call Christ the king of glory.

Therefore, it is answered to him: "The Lord is strong and mighty, the Lord is powerful in battle," so that, with this subject introduced, he might learn not through bare words but with testimony that Christ is the King of Glory. For the virtue and power by which he subdued and crushed the devil along with his satellites—these show him to be the King of Glory. And he added: "Take away the gates of your prince and raise yourselves up, eternal gates." That is, since by the testimony of virtue, which it is impious to contradict, you have learned that it is fitting for Christ to be called the King of Glory, remove the error from your minds. And he says: "And the King of Glory will enter." For it is shown that they cannot share in the faith of Christ unless they have cleansed their hearts from all the filth of idolatry. For unless a man has been renewed, the Holy Spirit will not enter into him. And it follows: "Who is this King of Glory?" This repetition creates confirmation. For everything that is heard anew is not conceived in the heart unless it is repeated. For wonder causes astonishment when what has never been heard is spoken.

And he added: "The Lord of hosts is Himself the King of glory." By repeating the same thing, he teaches that it is rightly said that this one is the King of glory, who is the Lord of hosts. For not undeservedly is He called King of glory, who rules over the virtues. Whence the Apostle says: "For if they had understood," he says, "they would never have crucified the Lord of majesty." CXII. ON PSALM 50. This fiftieth psalm is placed not according to the order of time, but according to reason. For its title is subject not to number, but to reason. For as far as history is concerned, it is earlier than the third. For the prophet Nathan first rebuked him on account of a fault, before his son Absalom rose up against him, wishing to deprive him both of life and of kingship. This, therefore, is the reason why it was placed as the fiftieth, which is known to derive from the Law. For it is provided there that the number fifty has remission. For it is after seven weeks the first, having the type of the Lord's day, because, just as after seven days the first day itself is the one which was made at the beginning, which is always the first when the week is finished, so also after seven weeks the fiftieth, counted in mystery, is the first, which is called the Lord's day in a twofold manner: first, because it was made by the Lord at the beginning, which, always turning back upon itself through completed cycles of the week, is the first; then, because on it He rose again, having triumphed over death, it is called the Lord's day.

Not undeservedly, therefore, is remission contained in the fiftieth number, which we note is signified first in the mystery. Finally, the law was given on the fiftieth day. For from the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt, on the forty-eighth day they are ordered to be washed, so that, purified for two days, on the third day they would be ready to receive the law. This washing indicates nothing other than the remission made on the fiftieth day, so that, purified, they might receive the law, from which point, with past things blotted out, they would render an account of their deed according to the law entrusted to them. By this same reasoning, the law also commands that a purchased possession should be remitted in the fiftieth year. Hence, therefore, it is that this psalm is entitled the fiftieth. In this psalm, King David seeks remission according to the sense mentioned above; hence he says: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy." Knowing that he has sinned gravely, King David thus petitions, saying: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy." For great mercy is then, when it forgives great sins.

And he added: "And according to the multitude of your mercies, blot out my iniquity." To make clear that he had sinned grievously, he calls his sin "iniquity," because iniquity is not a light sin, and one who blots out iniquity—that is, does not hold it against him—abounds in mercy. He therefore attempts no excuse in his own case, so as not only to soften the mind of the judge but also to make him feel compassion. For the mind is moved to mercy when it sees the accused confessing his sins in such a way that he shows he grieves that he sinned. For one who does not grieve seems to mock the judge, because he prays in order to escape for the moment, only to do the same things afterward. And it follows: "Wash me thoroughly," he says, "from my injustice, and cleanse me from my offense." Since he proclaims the great mercy of God, he prays to be cleansed completely, so that nothing of offense or injustice remains in him, on account of which he might be suspect. And in order to be able to obtain or secure this very thing, he added: "Because I acknowledge my iniquity, and my offense is always against me." Since he knows that he has sinned gravely, he is anxious lest not everything be remitted to him. For, considering the magnitude of his sins, he fears, knowing that grave sins are not easily forgiven; and through this, he confesses his sin with tears, keeping it before his eyes, so as to make the judge propitious to him in every respect. For he knows that it is written: "First declare your iniquities, that you may be justified.

And he continued: "I have sinned against you alone and done evil before you." Now from another aspect of his case he looks to his remedy, so as to bring his petition to effect. For by this plea in the first cause he declares himself innocent, because one who sins against another god is an enemy of the author God. For he chooses another in his place, to whom he ascribes his authority. Hence, showing himself free from this iniquity, he says: "I have sinned against you alone and done evil before you," that is: 'Because I have sinned against you and no other, whom I would mistakenly call god, my case is less serious than that of others who are liable to perdition. For I am not impious, but a sinner, because I have sinned not against you, but against your law, and I have not denied you, but, confessing you as God and Lord, I have sinned as a man. Therefore, since I am not guilty in that which is your own proper cause, forgive me for having sinned against a fellow servant. For I have sinned in such a way that I neither denied the honor of your name nor gave it to another.' So there was reason for the judge to be moved to mercy. For since many sin against him, whom he even urges to turn to him, while those who do not sin against him, but seek pardon for other reasons, he readily admits. For the Lord always wants his servants to flee to his aid.

Therefore he added: "So that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged." Begging for mercy, he prays that God not change his justice, since justice is usually impartial, so that it is equal for those who do not sin and those who sin, that is, that it renders to each according to his works. But the innocent man in the sacrament of God does not fail to know what he asks. For knowing that the Lord frequently said in the Law, "For I am merciful," says the Lord your God, he therefore asks that this faith remain and that God be justified in his words, while he persists in what he has spoken, and is not overcome by the sins of men so as not to show mercy. For those who sin, knowing what God promised to those who live well, and because they persist in sin, they judge him a liar. For by living wickedly they do not believe that what he promised is true. Therefore King David asks that God overcome this, what men think, and give what he promised, so that those who, while not keeping the commandments, judge that he will not give, may be put to shame.

And it follows: "Behold, for I was conceived in iniquities." Now by this addition he recalls the cause and weakness of the human race—because it is easy for man to sin—so that he may soften the judge's scrutiny concerning himself. For he makes mention of the first cause, from which Adam, by transgressing, made the human race liable to sin. For by the persuasion and deceit of the enemy, in conceiving iniquity, he subjected all his seed to iniquity, so that from him all born through the line of descent would be liable to sin. Therefore he added: "And my mother conceived me in sins," so that the derivation of sin made from Adam would be an impediment to those conceived and born for living a good life; and through this, mercy should not be denied to the suppliant, because he has an enemy implanted within him, who persuades him to sin. For sin, which is the devil, having subjected the first man to himself, received the power to insert himself into his flesh and to suggest enticements through a certain subtlety of sins, by which he despoils the captured man of life. The teacher of the Gentiles, recalling this matter, says: "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind," so that the judge, beholding this, may extend a helping hand to the one who is distressed and ensnared.

And it follows: "Behold, for you loved truth." (Therefore, because you love truth, he says, come to the aid of one who prays, and to one whom you know to lay bare the true impediments of his heart, and for whom, as a guilty man, you once resolved, moved by mercy, to come to his aid, so that an error committed on earth might be corrected by heavenly providence.) On account of this he subjoined: "You have revealed to me the uncertain and hidden things of the heart." By "the uncertain and hidden things of the heart" he means those things which God provided for the protection of the human race, just as the Apostle says: "What the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man," which things God prepared for those who love him. Who are those who love God, if not those who consent to his law, not concealing nor excusing sins? Therefore these hidden things of the heart have been revealed to those loving God, and because they grieved that they were ensnared by their faults and, when corrected, did not deny them, imputing them to themselves and their origin, transferring to God the author what they sinned, their hearts were illuminated by a spiritual flash, so that they might see God's providence in Christ, because he was to come to condemn sin, which from the transgression of Adam held sway over the human race. Therefore King David prays that what God had decreed for the future, seeing the human race laboring, might first come to his aid, constrained as he was in the same necessity in which God had decreed he would come to the aid of all, so that the gift, which was to be free and could not be given before its time, might be granted to him in return for his prayer and tears.

How this is done, he does not conceal, saying: "You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed." Rightly does he seek to be cleansed by the sprinkling of hyssop. For with this the sons of Israel smeared their doorposts with blood, so that they might be kept safe from death; and so here too, by the sprinkling of hyssop, he prays to be cleansed from sins, lest he be touched by death. And it follows: "You will wash me, and I will be made whiter than snow." It is clear that the work of God differs from the work of man. Therefore he says, "I will be made whiter than snow," because what God has made is far better than what man has made. For this reason he seeks to be cleansed by the sprinkling of hyssop, so that, just as the carnal body is washed by water, so too through the signification of hyssop the stains of souls may be washed away by spiritual reason. For the sprinkling of hyssop is a kind of illumination, so that through what is visible, one may be cleansed invisibly. And it follows: "You will give joy and gladness to my hearing." There is no doubt that the voice of one preaching remission brings joy to sinners. For who does not rejoice when he hears that indulgence is given? For one to whom God grants remission is secure both in the present and in the future.

Therefore the humbled bones will exult. The humbled bones are of two kinds, because he was humbled both to sin—for no one who sins is exalted—and afterwards to humbly beg for pardon. For indeed, having rolled in sackcloth and ashes, he begged for mercy, and upon obtaining it, he was lifted up with exultation of mind and restoration of body. And he subjoined: "Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my iniquities." In this form he requests remission, just as it was established for the future through faith in Christ, that the Savior, who was specially promised to him, would begin to grant all sins to those who are converted. For one whose sins are not regarded and all whose iniquities are blotted out has no ground on which to be held guilty, and the mouths of his enemies are closed. For he who does not regard sins does not impute them. For this is what it means to turn the face away from someone's sins: not to accept an accusation against him. And what is this, that, when he has been rebuked for two sins, he here adds by accusing himself of many? And when he heard from the prophet Nathan—because it was unknown to him—why he so earnestly prays with such a petition that he might attain pardon, is it not because he is not pleading his own cause alone, but under the occasion of his own sin he recounts the miseries of the whole people? For he prays for reformation for himself, because one who is forgiven is not without shame unless he has been restored to his place, so that the dignity of the place excuses the shame; but for the others, he signified the benefit of God, which was to come in Christ for washing away all sins.

And it follows: "Create a pure heart in me, O God, and dedicate a righteous spirit in my innermost being"; that is, to beseech mercy with a good mind. He prays not only about past deeds, but is also anxious about the future, lest he sin, so that, showing he hates to sin, he may be helped by God through the spirit of righteousness, which he prays to be dedicated in his innermost being—that is, that it be placed anew in him, to guard him from sins, so that he is not compelled to do what he is known to be unwilling to do. He can have a pure heart, however, if he offends neither within nor without—that is, neither in deed nor in thought. Because this is nearly impossible to maintain in all things, it must be maintained at least in matters concerning God, which is paramount, so that a pure heart is preserved in the sacrament of God and Christ, while their faith is kept inviolate, since in another psalm he says: "Who will boast that he has a pure heart or is free from sins?" Finally, King David had a pure heart—in matters concerning God—because he never sought help from vanity, which is idolatry, nor did he fail to fulfill anything commanded him by God.

You see about the rest. And he added: "Do not cast me from your face, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me." This is the sense I mentioned above, because, though secure about forgiveness, he is anxious about restoration. For one who is merely pardoned is usually separated from the master's face. For although no vengeance is taken against him, still, in the mind of the master or judge, his crime has not been erased. Therefore he prays that his sin be completely wiped away and that he be worthy to approach the face of the Lord and to prophesy again, which indeed happened. For this is what he means when he says: "And do not take your Holy Spirit from me." This is the spirit of the prophets. And it follows: "Give me back the joy of your salvation, and confirm me with the principal spirit." He asks that joy be given to him, which had been promised in Christ, so that, washed clean of all stains and restored, he might be joyful in the salvation he sought, and not removed, but confirmed in the kingdom by the Holy Spirit, whom he called "principal" because he is above every creature, through whom kings reign.

And he added: "Let me teach, he says, the wicked your ways, and the impious will turn to you." He says this so that the wicked may learn in him the piety of God, by which God receives sinners who confess to him and advances them, nor does he neglect the impious when they turn, but encourages them, while he shows mercy to others. And it follows: "Free me from blood, God, God of my salvation." By this statement he shows that his sin is worthy of death, so as to proclaim how great God's mercy is. For through this he also provokes others to take refuge in God's clemency. Hence he subjoined: "My tongue will exult in your justice, Lord." He says he rejoices in the Lord's justice, because it persists in what it promised, saying: "But I will not remove my mercy from them." Therefore, King David, joyful and secure in this matter, proclaims the justice of his God. And it follows: "You will open my lips, and my mouth will announce your praise." He opens his lips in this way, because he does not allow him to be subject by reason of sin. For the mouth of a freed man is open; the mouth of a sinner, however, is closed; for, seized by shame and fear, he dares not speak; but one acquitted or freed, rejoicing, proclaims the praise of the judge. For even the apostle, as he himself testifies, because he was free from all: "Our mouth," he says, "is open to you, O Corinthians.

And he added: "For if you had wanted a sacrifice, I would have given it indeed." He speaks this from knowledge, knowing that the holy Samuel said to King Saul, when he thought his sin could be obliterated not by grief of mind nor by the compassion of tears, but by the offering of a sacrifice: "God does not want," he says, "a sacrifice more than he wants his own voice to be heard, because sacrifices of this kind can cause loss, but they cannot appease God." For God is appeased in this way: if the soul, mindful of its sin, laments through tribulation and grief of heart what it has sinned. And it follows: "You will not take delight in burnt offerings." God does not take delight in burnt offerings in cases of this kind. For the mind itself must make satisfaction for itself, not redeem itself from outside. For these things can provide assistance, but the mind, just as it took delight in sins, so it ought to be afflicted in penance, and then it will delight God to blot out its sins. Hence he subjoined: "A sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit; a contrite and humiliated heart God does not despise." He shows what kind of sacrifice God accepts for sins, because he who rejoiced against his own well-being cannot appease God unless he has been troubled in heart, so that he may be restored to life. Finally, every restless or undisciplined person frequently incurs injury to the members of his body, which certainly cannot receive the medicine of health without pain: so also sinners cannot redeem their sins unless the soul that sinned has felt pain.

For this is just: that because he rejoiced contrary to reason, he should suffer grief according to reason. And it follows: "Do kindly, O Lord, in your good will, to Sion." By saying Sion, he signifies the Church, so that our assertion may not seem improbable; he suggests to God that he fulfill his promise, knowing that he will then receive full remission when what God has decreed is fulfilled in Christ—that is, that those hoping for the promised salvation be freed from every sin, because not only from their own sins, but also from the sin of Adam, which through transmission came to all, they will be freed through Christ. And he added: "And let the walls of Jerusalem be built." What does it mean that he says, "And let the walls of Jerusalem be built"? Were they destroyed? But by saying the walls of Jerusalem, he signifies the Church to be built through faith, which was arranged in Christ, whose walls are understood to be holy men, as the Apocalypse of the Apostle John teaches us, because both the city of Jerusalem and its walls are to be understood as servants of God. Therefore, knowing through Christ the promise of King David, which was to come for the liberation of the servants of God, he prays that it be fulfilled—that is, that through faith the Church be built and that those hoping for salvation from this faith be freed.

And it follows: "Then you will accept the sacrifice of righteousness, the offerings and the holocausts." He says this because the offerings and holocausts were to be accepted when the Church had been built, and not indiscriminately or according to custom, but, he says, "you will accept the sacrifice of righteousness." A sacrifice is righteous when a worthy gift is offered; moreover, nothing is so just and worthy as that we offer ourselves to God. For because God is spirit, spiritual sacrifices are to be offered to him, so that a living offering is presented to the living one. For because he had said that in the case of sin God is not at all pleased by carnal sacrifices, he shows what would happen: that spiritually it was to be offered to God and he would accept it, because these sacrifices are worthy of God—that is, in the past they were lesser, as it were carnal, now greater, because spiritual. And he added: "Then they will place calves upon your altar." If, with the former sacrifices ceasing, he signified that spiritual sacrifices would succeed them, why is it that he would say: "Then they will place calves upon your altar," except that through these corporeal things he signifies spiritual things, especially since he said that he is not pleased by carnal things? Therefore, by saying "calves" he signified a new people reborn in the faith of Christ, whose devotion is daily offered upon the altar of the Lord. For since he is understood to have spoken concerning the Church, he must be understood to have signified also its spiritual sacrifices.

CXIII. Why the Son of God Was Sent and Not Another. Although everything that God does must be believed to have been done rationally and providentially, I nevertheless think it better if, after faith, the reason for the deed can also be understood, so that what is believed is not unknown. Hence the Lord says: "This, however, is eternal life: that they may know you alone and the true God and Jesus Christ whom you sent." For first one must believe, as it was said by the prophet; then one must know what is believed, because the Holy Spirit already aids the faithful and diligent person in this matter, so that by understanding he may grasp the reason for the faith. For then he has full joy in his belief, if he understands what he believes. For this is the strength of faith, this is the immovable foundation: to learn the mystery of belief. For where there is only faith, devotion is not so pure, and deception can find an entrance. Hence the chosen vessel labors so that believers may learn the reason for their faith. For when they have come to know how great is the one to whom they have entrusted themselves and what his power is, they will by no means, for any reason, allow themselves to be led away from hope in him. Hence we read: "Taste and see how sweet the Lord is," so that by deliberate effort they may come to know the savor of his divinity, understanding that nothing is wiser than to believe in Christ. For this reason the teacher of the Gentiles himself says among other things: "In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," and again: "For I know," he says, "to whom I have entrusted myself, because he is able to guard my deposit.

Therefore, he knows the reason for his faith and does not doubt the power of the one who understands that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in the mystery of the birth, passion, and resurrection of Christ. With faith remaining, I have long pondered with myself why our Lord came from the sacred and heavenly abodes to be incarnated on earth, and not another of those whom the Lord Himself calls holy angels. For it seems incongruous to His person to have undertaken this work, unless the reason for the deed is known. Indeed, this is what disturbs many. For the providence of God the Father could have conducted this business through another person, so as both to show the truth to men living in error and to suppress and despoil the devil—the presumptuous one and the envier of salvation—along with his satellites, since the obstinacy and irreverence of the most wicked servants had to be curbed by ministers and servants, and the Lord of all would not have experienced something unworthy of Himself.

For neither is the force and power of Satan so great that he could not have been overcome by another power of the same condition, since it is established that, with God’s help, he is also conquered by men. For although it is unequal, if we take examples from earthly matters, yet it is in some part consistent with reason. For a servant, Joab, was sent against the rebellious King David to pursue and slaughter him, and against the impious Absalom, a task was enjoined upon servants against their father. How much more, for overcoming the tyranny of the devil, would the efficacy of one holy angel out of many have sufficed, especially since we read that, fighting against the angel Michael, he could not endure, but was cast down to earth! Therefore, often pondering these things with myself, I knew only this: that he himself was sent by the Father, lest it pertain to his injury if the work done through him were reformed through another. But this knowledge was minimal; for it did not suffice for so great and admirable a cause, unless something else were also grasped that would advance the hidden understanding. Thus it happened that I perceived the cause demanded that the one who came should come. For the matter itself concerned him, so that the one who had usurped his dignity and merit should come to suppress him. For after God the Father, the devil wished to be called god, which he still contends even now, although the matter did not pertain to him, but this was the role of the Son of God, who is second after the Father not by nature, but by order.

For this cause, therefore, it was necessary that no one other than Christ our Lord should come, because he came not only to suppress the devil, but also to manifest himself to every creature, so that the rejected person of the devil might recognize him whose primacy and majesty Satan had usurped, and that henceforth, with the truth known, they might abandon error, holding for certain that Christ is the Son of God, who alone is God from God and the head or beginning of all those things which are in heaven or on earth, because by the virtue and power with which he overcame the tyrant Satan, he was revealed to be the one whose dominion the impious devil, who is Satan, had usurped. For while the devil wickedly desires to be called God, so that he might rule over the spiritual powers—whence he is rebuked by the prophet saying: "For you, indeed, said in your heart: I will set my abode in the clouds and will be like the Most High"—he deceived many, by whose conspiracy he was made the prince of error, who are admonished in the psalm to reject falsehood and receive truth. For it is said to them: "Lift up the gates of your prince and raise yourselves up, eternal gates, and the king of glory will enter." For unless error is removed from the minds of the unbelieving, they will not be able to receive the faith of the one God in Christ. For they are taught this, that with the gates lifted up, through which one goes to the second death—which are the perfidy begun by the devil—they may receive the sacraments of faith, through which one goes to life.

These things, therefore, are what is signified by the eternal gates: that the truth of faith is eternity, but faithlessness is temporal, because falsehood is the invention of the devil. For the devil, having begun his prevarication in the heavens, sowed it on earth, persuading the worship of many gods, among whom he himself would hold the chief place. For he wished to be the head and beginning of the others, which was not due to him, but to the Savior. Hence he pursues him all the way to the earth, so that, by suppressing him, he might display the prevarication of his own error, the truth being manifested in himself. Whence it is said: "Truth has arisen from the earth." For, cast out of the heavens, he fled to the earth, so that the divinity he had meditated upon in the higher realms he might fulfill in the lower. Whence the apostle says: "So that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God." For in whatever way he wishes to fulfill his desire and to be condemned; for, filled with rage, he considers it a lesser thing to be condemned than not to satisfy the eagerness of his error.

114. Against the Pagans. I do not see how it can be clear on what basis the pagans dare to attack us or think they can assail our faith, especially since they have no proofs for their assertions—I should say of their superstition rather than their religion. For they put forward things that are not well-founded, so that they themselves are rather to be regarded as the authors and defenders of novelties. First of all, they claim to worship gods, of whom there are no distinguishing marks, no testimonies. For they call those gods who do not dare to call themselves by this name, so that men are considered the authors of the gods, whereas God ought to be the author for men; and on this account the assertion is empty and vain. For whatever is without God cannot be stable. That what I say is manifest is proved by their books, in which nothing divine, nothing established by God’s command is read, but they assert that various men instituted sacrifices to divinities for certain reasons, and these men, who seemed to be of no merit, so that what they had established might be proven to have been established worthily. Therefore, when those whom they call gods are not read to have commanded any of these things, by what authority do these men act, or do they think it is accepted, what they do not prove to have been commanded, when, even if it were proven to have been commanded, it ought first to have been examined whether it was worthy or proper to obey those of whom no signs or portents to commend their divinity existed in their deeds?

But those who are excluded from this usually take refuge in the elements, saying that they worship these, by whose governance human life is ruled. From them, as above, we ask whether a command or order has been given by God, whom even they themselves acknowledge as great and supreme, yet neglect. For if it ought to be done, it should have been commanded by Him, who is said to be their author. But if it has not been commanded by Him, it is presumption and will lead to punishment, not to reward, because it pertains to the insult of the creator, that the master is despised while the servants are worshipped, and the emperor is spurned while his companions are adored. How will this be unpunished, which we see is avenged even in this life, and indeed quite harshly? But perhaps they say that a command was given by these very elements themselves. Let them show a precept somewhere, let them read at some time that they spoke anything. But if they do not show it, what punishment do they deserve, who are exposed as the authors of a presumed and fabricated religion? The elements are free from this impiety. For these very lights of the world will accuse them before the judge God, because in this vanity of counsel they show themselves to be in no way the authors. Similarly, those whom, although it is established that they were men, they call gods, when they begin to be tormented for their sins, will in this respect defend themselves as not being guilty, turning this crime back onto those who, when they had not commanded it, began to worship them as gods.

Therefore, with what shame do they think our faith is to be reproached or ridiculed, when they see that their own law is supported by the testimonies of miracles, and they also read again the voice of our Lord and God himself saying: "I am God, and there is no other besides me"? For if he were saying this in bare words, he ought not to have been believed, lest we appear similar to the pagans, who, seeing no signs of majesty from their gods, began to worship them and, what is worse, in a dishonorable manner. For shameful acts are performed there, which it is a matter of modesty to reveal, and they call themselves wise, because they are mocked by their own law as if by a Samardacus. Moreover, our God, by the testimony of miracles, commanded that he be worshipped, and, so as to leave no room for suspicion, he handed down the law itself, honorable and holy, and as is worthy of God. We, however, who are called fools by the pagans, did not believe in our God until he had satisfied us with the testimonies of miracles, nor would we have accepted his law if we had not recognized it as pure and worthy of the profession itself.

This is why nothing among us is done in darkness, nothing in secret. For everything that is known to be honorable is not afraid to be made public; but that which is base and dishonorable cannot be made public, because shame forbids it. For this reason the pagans celebrate their mysteries in darkness, or in that they are prudent. For they blush to be openly mocked; for the shameful things which are done there in place of law, they do not wish to be revealed, lest those who call themselves prudent appear dull to those whom they call fools. But perhaps we seem foolish to them for this reason, because our law preaches chastity, mercy, and continence. For among them these things are foolish, because every good man is bad to the evil man, and every prudent man is senseless to the fool. For they so abhor chastity that they even delight in catamites, being subject to the teaching of those who, unless they are such, were not suitable, if it must be said, for their religion. For this reason they are castrated and change their attire, so that from men they become, as it were, women and, contrary to nature, being subjected, they suffer womanly things, so that then at last they are fit and worthy ministers of that superstition. Can a man of this sort be accused, whom the law makes such? For indeed, having lost both the action and the habit of a man, he is transformed into a woman, so that he may licitly suffer womanly things.

Therefore, what are thought to be mysteries, where the dishonorable is made from the honorable and the corrupt from the incorrupt, when here is the true worship of religion, to make the honorable from the base and the modest from the undisciplined? How can its worshippers be emulators of a good life, when the mysteries of their law cannot be celebrated without effeminate dancers? If, therefore, their law delights in these things, then anyone who is not of that sort will be a sinner and a fool. And for that reason they call us fools. For those who cultivate these base things are judged prudent by them, while those who avoid and flee them are judged fools. This indeed seems cleverly and cunningly devised by them. For they apply the name of prudence to their law in order to conceal its reprehensible aspects, because where prudence is, there is no reproach. But they call our law foolish, in order to deter people from it. But with the names of prudence and foolishness removed, and all the ill will which the defense of both sides produces set aside, let the laws themselves contend with each other, so that it may appear where prudence is and where foolishness is. But in the presence of the sign of the cross, paganism falls silent, and if what they call foolish is present, that prudence of theirs, their sacred rites dare not respond; for their entrails are suppressed and the reverence of Christian majesty is concealed. It is a great thing, that what they call prudence fears what they call foolishness.

Let us now compare the character of the laws. The pagans profess even in their writings that they worship gods and goddesses; and what they say is true, because they worship both males and females. For Janus and Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury and Apollo and the rest, likewise Minerva and Isis and that Frui and Venus and Flora the prostitute, along with the others, are gods and goddesses, as the histories of both the Greeks and the Romans testify. Christians, however, being poor folk, whom they call fools, worship one God in mystery, from whom all things come, and they venerate nothing that was created by Him. For they know that He alone is sufficient for Himself and abounds for salvation, not being ignorant that if they assign His glory and name to others, they will offend Him, because no emperor permits that tribunes and counts be adored in his name. Let the laws now be compared, so that it may be seen where wisdom lies: does he who worships the creator or he who worships the creature, he who worships the master or he who worships the slaves? Can it happen that in some household, besides the one, another is called master, as the pagans, instructed in forensic letters, who seem wise to themselves, in one world created by one God venerate many gods and goddesses? For they have called the stewards and agents of the world by the names of lord and god, while they are revealed as improvident. But to assert that which brings ruin is the mark of the improvident and foolish, since it is necessary that God avenge His injury upon those who have distributed the name and glory of lord and god to their fellow slaves.

Next, let the precepts be considered. Our law, which they call foolish, commands that overseers and ministers be ordained without crime, holy, and irreproachable; on the contrary, however, the tradition of the pagans holds that their overseers and ministers cannot be suitable for themselves unless men are transformed into women, so that they may licitly and publicly suffer womanly things and, with their hair disheveled in water, emit a soft, quavering, and shameful voice. If they were to do this in public, they would be stoned by the whole people. And that Cynocephalus, who, tottering, carries himself through every place, seeking the members of the adulterer Osiris, the husband of Isis: behold, with what ministers, without teachers, do the pagans claim for themselves the name of wisdom, when it is not only a matter of imprudence, but of crime! For it is deadly to love obscene and shameful things. But what of that which is done in the cave, where they are mocked with veiled eyes? Lest they be horrified at being disgracefully dishonored, their eyes are veiled. Others, like birds, beat their wings, imitating the voice of a raven; others, in turn, roar like lions; still others, with their hands bound with chicken guts, are thrown over pits full of water, while someone approaches with a sword and breaks through the aforementioned guts, calling himself the liberator.

There are also other, more shameful things. Behold in how many ways those who call themselves wise are disgracefully mocked! But because they suffer these things in darkness, they think they can be unknown. For all these things, which were invented and established in secret by evil and shameful men, the holy Christian faith has betrayed and exposed. For when the faith was preached, those who heard considered what good and holiness was publicly promised, and they betook themselves to the faith, abandoning those secret, dishonest, and shameful things, and confessing how they had been deceived through ignorance. For at that time, almost everyone had already turned to this error, and they seemed prudent to themselves for this reason, because there was no one to reprove them. For although all erred under the single name of falsehood, idolatry, yet each one, according to his own habits and manner of life, arranged his worship, so that one error had diversity arising from the shamefulness and the manner of life of its authors. Finally, the rites which they call those of Liber are dishonest, most vain, and full of madness; for it is difficult for an impure man not to be irascible. Finally, he is everywhere seen depicted with Priapus, with whom he lived dishonestly.

In this way are also their other sacred things; but, so that posterity might be caught by these inventions, it was done by the subtlety and cunning of Satan. Although these things were not discovered without his counsel, yet he sprinkled each of the discoveries with certain prestiges, by which he would lure men into error, and thus it came about that through the tradition of antiquity the deceit was commended and the shameful invention excused. For by custom, what was shameful began not to seem shameful; for when some are dishonored, they first blush; but afterwards, with custom flattering, shame recedes, the countenance changed, especially if they see many such. For the profit of shamefulness is then, when those who are called noble are seen to be dishonored; for dishonored nobility easily finds imitators. If, therefore, long ago on account of this they seemed wise to themselves, because there was no one to whom this foul invention was displeasing, now, because the mercy of God has illuminated the human race and it has been declared a crime what was passing for law, but foolish what was thought to be wisely invented, they ought to cease even from this appellation, if they wish to remain in a detected crime, recognizing that the name of wisdom is alien to them.

But to add to the heap of their confession, when caught in foolishness they call those who refute them fools. Yet they accuse our faith and posterity, while in the precepts they do not deny that nothing can be faulted. Those who accuse our faith take up the case not so much against us as against our author; for they call us fools, who have given credence to a foolish thing, as if guilty, but they pronounce him a liar, a deceiver, and also malicious, who handed down a faith by which believers would be deceived. Therefore, let us first prove that we did not believe foolishly, and then we will plead the case of the author. While we lived in error, in which the pagans now remain, we were drawn by no signs of virtues, but we received with bare words what they call sacred, thinking it beneficial, not because divinity had commended it, but because ancient custom had handed it down—in which, as is not hidden, deceived by various vanities, we recognized no hope of salvation. For what could a thing invented by men avail? But to approach the faith of God and to believe in his Son incarnate and crucified, we were not persuaded by words, but by deeds. For we saw the dead raised, lepers cleansed, eyes restored to the man born blind, demons cast out, and all infirmities healed at once.

Now let it be judged when we were foolish: when we believed with bare words, or with deeds? For without doubt deeds come before words, since words were invented to signify deeds. Therefore, if we gave faith to human tradition, invented with no compelling power of virtue to mock the minds of men, how much more to this tradition, which all signs that invoke God attest as divine and deifying! Would we not rightly be judged foolish if we did not believe in the powers, when we had believed in words? Would we not reasonably be marked as improvident and imprudent if we did not follow a hope that summons us, when we had been subject to despair? 'But,' they say in reply, 'what is believed is foolish; for it does not rest on reason that God has a son, nor that dead and dissolved bodies are restored to life.' All philosophers and founders of sects have cut each other down with various disputations, none passing over to another, because each one remained in what he had been imbued with. For since words are subject to contradiction, no one overcame another; for there was no means by which anyone could show himself victor, but they wearied each other with contradictions, and least of all did one persuade another.

Hence it came about that divine providence, whose purpose cannot be fathomed, joined power to its own preaching, so that the truth of the preaching might be proved by the testimony of power, and that those who were ready to contradict the words, seeing the power, would not dare to contradict. For what greater testimony of truth could there be than the working of power? But if anyone denies the works of power while accusing the scriptures, how can he call our faith foolish while denying the scriptures? For where it is written that Christ is to be believed as the Son of God, in the same place power is found as a witness. And if it seems absurd to anyone reading that Christ, the Son of God, was crucified, let him turn the page and find that he rose from the dead, and understand that he did not die idly nor unwillingly—he who was able to rise again—but that it is a mystery. Therefore, whoever that person is, he will either keep silent about the cross—because, if he calls the cross foolish, he cannot call the resurrection foolish; for the resurrection excuses the cross—or, if he speaks of the cross, he cannot deny that there is providence in it, which he sees confirmed by the testimony of the resurrection. For either both are accepted or both are rejected, so that he who will not defend, dare not accuse either.

But why he allowed himself to be crucified by his relatives is a mystery that must be reserved. He so commended this death, however, that he testified that he was glorified through it. For he also says: "I have the power to lay down my soul" and "I have the power to take it up again." Therefore, he who had the power both to die and to rise again was not compelled to die. He who denies this will not be able to claim that death was violently inflicted upon him. For if he denies that, he will not be able to assert that he died, because these things are contained where he is recorded as having been handed over to death. For no one condemns the latter from the former, or the former from the latter, because what belongs to one body is not contradictory. But concerning the dead, that they rise again, they say it is foolish to believe, out of deceit. For they see examples by which it is judged credible. For all seeds necessary for use, unless they have been dissolved, cannot be reborn again. If the world has decreed these things for the sake of men, why, if it is believed that this is granted to the bodies of those same men themselves, do they think it foolish, except because they themselves are foolish, who do not grant more to God than the world can? Yet the shadow of deeds performed still appears even now. For because it is not the time for performing deeds—for it was necessary at the beginning, so that the seed of faith might grow through this—nevertheless, even now demons are terrified at the naming of the cross of Christ, and if it is done more insistently, they are put to flight, and the oracles of the pagans, from dread and fear of the named cross, cannot give responses.

If the death of Christ is a disgrace, why is it a terror? For a thing that arises from crime ought not to be feared, but despised. For who fears a man killed for his own crime? Even if he were innocent, he still cannot be feared, but mourned. Therefore, unless the demons or the gods of the pagans perceived that the cross of Christ is a sacred mystery, they would not be terrified when it is named, and, to speak more precisely, unless they were guilty, they would not fear. For all these, who are on the side of the devil, consented to the death of Christ. Hence all demons or gods of the Gentiles are shaken with terror when the cross of Christ is named. For everyone who is guilty of the death of an innocent person, when that person’s name is recalled, fear seizes his heart. For by the recollection of the crime, he sees himself as guilty: how much more so the demons or gods of the Gentiles, who are guilty of the slaying of the Lord and Savior of the world! But the pagans contend that they hold the truth because of antiquity, saying, “What is earlier cannot be false,” as if antiquity or old custom prejudges the truth. For murderers, or the effeminate, or adulterers, or other criminals could defend their unlawful acts on this ground, because they are ancient and began from the very beginning of the world, whereas from this they ought rather to understand their error, because what is reprehensible and base is proven to have been badly begun, while what is honorable and holy is worthily venerated; nor can what is base and reprehensible be prior to what is holy and irreproachable.

And finally, the tradition of the pagans, invented by man, cannot be denied; but that our law was given by God is an evident thing. For on the mountain the majesty of God appeared to give the law to men, and, so that faith might be given to this, it sent ahead many signs and wonders performed in Egypt, which even today the books deposited by Ptolemy in the library of Alexandria attest. Thus he deigned to give the law, so that no one would doubt that it was God who delivered it. For the majesty of God was seen openly and manifestly by all in such great splendor and terror, that besides him no other god was believed in, and what he commanded was held worthy of every observance. And so that everything might accord with divine reason, let the delivered law be examined, whether there is in it anything unjust, anything dishonorable, anything ridiculous. Thus it was necessary for God to become known, not as in a corner through imposture, he who cannot be confined, nor in a cave, where something else is perceived than what is seen, with seductive deceit at work, nor would he deliver precepts to be observed which, because they were dishonorable, would be carried out in darkness.

For when the knowledge of the one God had been obliterated in the world by the habit of sinning, because falsehood had provided a veil for the truth, the merciful and compassionate God, not wishing his work to be subject to ruin, deigned to visit the human race, not appearing as those who falsely wished to be called gods, but, as is the truth of God, so he manifested himself, so as to remove the error which had corrupted the world's understanding through the preaching of false gods. Finally, more than six hundred thousand men who had come out of Egypt, seeing and recognizing that this was the Lord above all, from the appearance of ineffable glory, feared to approach him, but from afar, with bended knee, they worshipped him; afterwards, through other signs that followed, more than those he had performed in Egypt, in all his wonders, he was manifested to be the one God. These things became known to nearly all peoples in their languages; these things were a terror to neighboring nations. What such thing is there among the gods of the nations? To which nation, to which people did they show their glory? What signs or powers did they perform as testimony of their divinity? Where or when are they proven to have spoken?

But the irrational mob began to worship either visible shadows or demons or the images of the dead as gods; this practice, brought into the custom of antiquity, supposes that it can defend the truth of reason for itself, although the reason of truth is not from custom nor from antiquity, but from God, who is proven to be God not by antiquity but by eternity. For this reason, faith is not a thing that has begun, but is without beginning. For believing in God is our beginning; but what is believed is eternal. How then do pagans consider themselves prior, when what they worship is after God? Is not the work after the craftsman? Pagans worship works, we the craftsman; they worship creation, we the creator. Certainly God made the world: come now, did he not reveal his knowledge through his work? Or did he make man and not wish to be worshipped by the one he made? But that is absurd. Therefore man, once made, began to venerate his creator, because it is both fitting and the cause demands it. When this had fallen into disuse through the negligence of men, God restored it in Abraham, so that the knowledge of God, which had been in Adam, might begin again in Abraham, so that those born from him might be raised under this knowledge and, through transmission, it might not fail nor be lacking, and that there might be someone to worship God, with men even from foreign nations being summoned to this knowledge of God. Therefore, he who knows is under a beginning; but he who is known is above a beginning. On what basis, then, do pagans say that their law existed before ours? If the world is before God—which God forbid!

Thus, paganism can be placed before Christianity. Let no one be surprised at the name "Christianity." For it is to worship one God in the mystery of the Trinity, because, even if the name of Christ is thought to be derived from chrism, the rationale of the name is nevertheless prior to creation. For among our ancestors, those who were anointed as kings were called "christs," bearing the image of the future Christ, who, born of God the Father as king, is not undeservedly called Christ, because what chrism is to them, birth gave to him. As long as pagans are ignorant of him, they reject him; but when they have come to know him, they worship him more diligently, rejoicing that they have passed from evil to good. For those who were stubborn in such a frivolous and foolish matter, how much stronger and more vehement will they be when the truth is known! What a Christ we have, who, when unknown, is hated, but when known, is loved! For every evil person, when unknown, is loved, but when known, is hated. How many in the past hated Christ, who now love him and regret that they hated him, because they did not know him! For it is the mark of a fool to hate what you do not know, because it must be tested whether the thing is worthy of hatred. Indeed, those who oppose him today will defend him tomorrow, repenting that they were late in recognizing what is true. For if the thing were worthy of hatred or contained any deceit, pagans would be made from Christians every day.

Moreover, since this is the truth, daily, every hour, without interruption, those who had fabricated Jupiter as a god—among them sophists and nobles of the world—are abandoning him and fleeing to Christ, to whom is honor and glory forever and ever. CXV. ON FATE. Nothing is so contrary to a Christian as to devote attention to the art of astrology. For this is known to be hostile to the law of God. For if some are born evil and others good, the law will be said to have been given in vain, and not only this, but the giver of the law will be considered unjust. For he who, having given a law, compels men to act against what they were born as, knowing that nature cannot be changed, seems to have given the law for this purpose: to have an occasion to satisfy his cruelty through the death of a man. For why does he forbid what he knows cannot be turned aside? Or how does he condemn a man who did not do what he could not do? But if he seems just, as he is—because it is wicked to think this about God—he gave the law rightly and with salutary reason, knowing that man can restrain himself from what the law forbids. Therefore, because he gave the law justly, he is certainly not unjust when he punishes.

Therefore, if faith is to be given to the law of God, because it is justly proven to have been given, the art of mathematics is to be avoided and shunned. For the cunning and subtlety of the devil discovered this. Because he does not dare to openly oppose the author, he acts through tergiversation, so that he both does injury to God and condemns the man, who is hostile to the law, to a second death. Whoever, therefore, yields to the authority of God and considers it nefarious to call into question his work, obeys the law given by him, applying himself to its studies day and night, and looks back at nothing contrary, not doubting that man is able to keep his precepts. For those who yearn to sin seek occasions to make their sins alien to themselves, so that, as if sins are to be imputed to nature, the sinner may seem immune from punishment. This is the purpose of those who, in despair of the promised life, desire to enjoy the pleasure of the present. But those who, relying on the confidence of faith, await the hope of future things, strive to fulfill what they promised at the beginning of rebirth: to renounce the pomps and pleasures of Satan. How great, then, is the subtlety that Satan used to make man more ready to sin, through which he would satisfy the wickedness of his envy!

For when he hears that he was born in such a way that he sins, and he does not ignore that God is most just, he believes he can sin with impunity, because the one who is a just judge does not condemn him who sinned under the compulsion of nature, nor indeed is it to be called his sin, which another committed through him, if the man was deceived; for, weighed down by sins, he became subject to death. Therefore, whoever takes away evil also takes away every good of man. For if the sinner does not suffer punishment, neither does the just man receive a crown; and why are the good praised and the wicked blamed? For if it is of such a nature that it cannot sin, why do you praise in him what is not his? And why do you condemn the fault in the sinner, when you know that his sinning is not his own, unless it is because the one who praises good and accuses evil will be unjust? But perhaps it may be said on the contrary: 'I praise the good nature in man and condemn the bad, because even wine is praised when it is good by nature, and bad wine is rejected, when nature equally provides this.' If it were so, there would be nothing of reproach in the matter, so that the just man would be praised in such a way that he would not be deemed worthy of a crown, nor would the unjust man be accused in such a way that he would be said to be worthy of punishment. Moreover, however, we know and read that in the present and in the future the just are rewarded and the unjust, subjected to punishments, are burned, which would certainly seem unjust if he who had done what was of his nature were to suffer penalties by avenging fire, or another, equally carrying out what was of his nature, were to be granted rewards.

If, however, the good man is to be praised because he did what was of his nature, the evil man also ought to be praised, because he likewise did what was of his nature, so that each one, remaining in what he was made, is praised; because if, remaining in what he was made, he is considered blameworthy, the blame touches the author, who caused to be born such a one as would displease. But if the just man is rightly to be rewarded and the unjust man condemned, then it is no longer a matter of nature, but of will, because nature is free, but will is the cause, which admits of approach and withdrawal of the senses, so that the unjust man, seeing the just man crowned and himself condemned, should blame himself, who, believing the senses contrary to the law, did evil when he could have done good. Can the sun be accused because it burns, or water because it cools? Or is water to be rewarded because it refreshes men afflicted with thirst, or is the sun to be honored with rewards because it revives men with its heat after cold? They do what is of their nature, for which they are neither condemned nor praised; for they know not how to do otherwise.

But since it is not as the astrologers suppose, the reasoning of actions proves this. For no one can be found who always does good or always does evil. For then it would seem that he was born to do good, if he remained blameless; and he would be judged worthy to be called evil, if he persisted in always doing evil. But when you see that the one you think was born good sometimes does evil, and the one you say was born evil you sometimes perceive doing good, how do you prove this true, that the evil man is evil and the good man is good, except that this is most certain: that where a man has applied his mind, there he makes progress? For there are also causes which generate sins, so that he either envies or quarrels or becomes an enemy. But those things which are forbidden by law are not committed openly or manifestly, but secretly. Why, unless because they respect the law? But if, as they assert, they were born to do evil, they would not seek hiding places nor show any respect for the law, but would do openly whatever nature compelled. But when you see that sins are provided for and contrived as to where they can be committed secretly—and they choose both places and persons and times to fulfill the will of their evil purpose—in like manner also good men decree their good works by a certain judgment, so that according to the time and cause of someone they distribute their good, which certainly is not to be attributed to nature, but to the will which is in nature. For if it were natural, judgment would cease.

For if we examine the matter more fully, we will show that those who are now just were previously unjust, but were changed by taking pains. For Abraham himself is read to have been made just through faith; therefore he was not just before, since he is understood to have worshipped idols under the guidance of his father—and Zacchaeus as well, to whom the Lord bears witness after a common life, and the vessel of election, who also admits this, saying: "We too were by nature children of wrath, like the rest." Because will takes the place of nature—for a person is judged by will, not by nature—without doubt all martyrs too have been justified and are good, because they were not born believers, but reborn. And how many we know were of shameful life and prodigal devotees of luxury, who are now continent and holy! For with the fear of God approaching, the vices that previously held sway are overcome. Now how much the fear of the law can do, let us note from this. Before Julian's edict, women could not divorce their husbands; but once they received the power, they began to do what they previously could not do; for they began daily to divorce their husbands licentiously. Where did fate lie hidden for so long? By fear of the law, I believe, it concealed itself.

But how did that which Moses handed down come in? By the fates sleeping, I believe. For such great precepts were handed down to them to be kept, and of such a kind as no other nation has. And lest anyone think this is to be referred to a clime of the sky, they are scattered throughout almost the whole world, keeping the commandments of their law. These precepts are against the fates; for they were not there, by chance, for three thousand years and more from the foundation of the world; but afterwards they were given and remain until the end. How, then, did that which was not there for so many thousands of years begin? For the course of the stars is from the foundation of the world. And what of this, that, although there is such a great multitude of Jews throughout the whole world, no one among them is changed so as to become a Gentile, while we see that from pagans, though rarely, Jews are made? Behold, as far as pertains to the rite of the Jews, fate is excluded, because they both began to be outside fate and remain in that state. What is seen concerning Sodom and Gomorrah, whose end was of such a kind as lies before the eyes of vengeance? It was so, that all, bespattered with the infamy of every filth, deserved to be consumed by divine fire. In the flood, all were of one fate, so that all perished by one death and at the same time, except for the house of Noah. And will the whole army of Pharaoh be said to have been born by one decree, so that the inept error of mathematics is avenged, because they were drowned in the Red Sea with their king? And how many other examples there are, which we pass over, because two examples suffice for satisfaction, how much more three!

For all nations have diverse institutions, and what is permitted in one place is not permitted here, and again, what is permitted here is not permitted elsewhere. For here in the city of Rome and its territories, which is called most sacred, it is permitted for women to divorce their husbands, although it is provided in the divine law that not even men should use this power, except in the case of fornication. Behold, in this matter the barbarians are better! And that this could be observed here is not impossible, because it is taught that it was formerly observed. Therefore fate has changed, because what was previously forbidden began to be permitted. And it is not permitted for eunuchs to be made in the Roman kingdom, but among others it is permitted; and that they could also be made here is certain; for it is done, albeit secretly, and is proven. But if fear ceased, it would be done publicly. Therefore fear prohibits fate; for it is overcome if one does not do what one wishes to do. And the Persians wear earrings in the manner of women, which here is dishonorable and unlawful; and that this could also be done here is attested by the priests of the Mother, who is called Magna—and indeed she was great, but a prostitute; but in this they differ, because these are effeminates, those are men—and what shall we say? In the whole world, only these few are born by fate to be castrated and transformed into women, so that in the entire world these few are found, who are known to be deceived and compelled by promised rewards to this pain and disgrace. But if they were born for this, they would not be compelled.

The Persians consider it lawful to have intercourse with their own daughters, which is shown to be possible here as well, by the fact that it is proven to have been done by some. But because punishment intervenes, they are restrained by fear from doing what can be done, but is not lawful. For everything that is forbidden is forbidden precisely so that, because it can be done, it may not be done; if it were a matter of fate, it could not be done, nor would it be forbidden. For if it is not a matter of fate and is forbidden, it signifies that what is not of fate can be done. And what prudence is there in forbidding what cannot be done? Let someone forbid that anyone fly from the city of Rome to Spain, or that anyone carry a mountain on his shoulders? But those things which can be done, when they ought not to be, are forbidden. The custom of the Moors is that women wear earrings even in their noses. Is that a matter of fate? If it were a matter of fate, women brought here would remain the same, because, if it is fate, each person carries his own fate with him; but because it is not a matter of fate, all who come here are changed, seeing that what is considered seemly there is considered shameful here.

Certainly among all peoples, number is number, and earth is earth, and water is water, and air is air, and fire is fire. Can earth be found anywhere that is not dry, or air that is tangible, or water that is not fluid or cold, or fire that is cold? Thus everywhere Jupiter is Jupiter, and Saturn is Saturn, and Venus is Venus; and likewise the other signs. For that art is treated by a single rationale everywhere. But because among all peoples the institutions remain not by reason of the fates—which, as they treat it, is one everywhere—but by human contrivance—for whatever seemed to someone who was considered foremost among his own people to be reasonable and fitting to propriety, he established for those over whom he ruled—hence each particular region or people has its own customs to observe, just as Solon and Lycurgus established many things which were observed by the Greeks in the manner of law, but which, as their kingdom gradually declined, were obliterated.

For the kings of the Jews, mules were pleasing for riding; for the Romans, however, not mules but horses; for the Garamantes, who are above Tripoli in Africa, bulls are pleasing to their kings for riding; the kings of the Persians, moreover, are carried on litters—for the ancient kings of the Persians were not even seen by the peoples—; and the kings of Midian delight in camels for riding, so that they adorn their necks with golden torques; and throughout Africa people prefer to ride on donkeys rather than on horses. Although all things are everywhere, yet not all things are pleasing to all, because each individual chooses what has more favor with him. For even among ourselves there is a diversity of will, both in clothing and in foods and in other usage and in judgment itself. That this not be called fate—because many assert diverse fates—this fact prevents it: that will is frequently changed in us. For what we long love, we later despise, and we begin to cherish what previously we did not gladly have, and by force of habit we remain changed.

The order of the fates is said to be such that there is a time when certain things are brought about by recurring intervals of the past, so that, for example, what they do today, they do again after a time. For they are not said to remain in one state; for they are overcome by discipline and custom. For among Roman women, the use of wine was unknown for many times. For discipline, having been made into custom, confirmed its own sense, so that it retained what it had learned to be beneficial. Were these fates present in those times and later died, so that a well-discovered thing ceased? But it was not fate that discovered this, but discipline. However, when there was a departure from custom, discipline perished. And the ancient Romans were of such great continence that they even rejected offered gifts, considering good reputation as riches and preferring virtue to pleasures. And did success or death come to these fates? But it was not of fate, but of discipline, which is even the pedagogue of fate itself. For how could it be of fate, which neither had a time before nor has one now?

And what is this, I do not know, that they heap such great envy upon fate, so that in all deeds they call it the author, when it both is and is not? For where there is discipline, it is not; where there is custom, it is not; where there is chance, it is not. But where it seems to be, it is overcome by fear of the law; for lust is checked by fear, and the pursuit of money is rejected for the sake of propitiating God. In this part, therefore, it cannot be denied that it cannot not be, that which is overcome, and yet it can rightly be said that even in that very thing it is not, because that which is overcome lacks authority. Therefore, he who follows the law of God and holds to the custom of a good life—to him all things that are called fate give way. For custom has such power that it even tames wild beasts. For those who wish to live wickedly set up fate for themselves. For through luxury and pleasure come intemperance and restlessness, which beget incontinence and wrath. And knowing that this is worthy of punishment, to make themselves blameless, having suffered shame, they ascribe this to fate, when demons, who stand ready to grant effect to those who think wickedly, give assistance to those pondering this matter; these they call fate, not understanding that they are enemies of man.

For if sins did not enter the soul through the senses, but were born from within, then rightly everything that is done wrong would be said to belong to fate. But when they see that through sight and hearing and the other senses the desire for sins arises, with the help of enemies who suggest that it be done—which is contrary and is not thought to be so as long as it is done (for it seems sweet when it is done or before it is done, but when completed it appears bitter)—why do they impute it to fate? But that it can be overcome, we perceive from this. For when we are thinking and are occupied with some matter, the enemies are silent and lust subsides; for they cannot make suggestions to us when we are busy. Does anyone suggest something else to someone who is devoted to a particular matter? He does not do so, knowing either that he is not heard or that he is being importunate, as if making an untimely suggestion. So too the enemies, who are known to be demons—for these are the gods of the pagans—if they see us occupied with divine matters, do not intrude to suggest contrary things, but lie in ambush, seeking an opportunity to ensnare us.

The supports of the mind, therefore, are the constant meditation on the law of God and its practice, because if they see us idle with respect to divine matters, they are roused to trouble us. For they themselves are the ones who, through flesh and blood, sow desires. For although the flesh has its own motion from its origin, because carnal birth is not idle, yet in this matter the assistance of demons is added to the destruction of men. For demons are diverse and have a disparate will. Some, indeed, when they disturb the minds, dash the bodies to the ground; others, by mingling with the blood, generate desires in the minds; still others, by attaching themselves to a man's heart, suggest contrary things with flattery; and there are some which bind only the bodies with infirmities, as also that daughter of Abraham whom the Lord healed. All these things the pagans, being ignorant, call fate, although the causes are diverse and these things are brought about by enemies, so that man, ensnared by whatever cause, is subjected to passions. But they call it good fate when bodies are well-tempered or when they are commended by affability, possessing a certain grace; and bad fate, if there is an excess of heat or moisture, or if one is not endowed with grace, but rather prone to misfortunes, whom they call unlucky.

Make them true. For we see these things also in animals, that they have more heat; but animals are not rational as man is, so that they can, with care applied, temper their own body. For this reason the mind is the commander of the body, so that it may govern it with the reins of divine law. For divine law shows those things which are suggested either by the impulse of the flesh or by the enemy to be not useful; and God gave this law as an aid so that, when we look upon the evil things which the dictating enemy suggests as if they were good, we may understand him to be a deceiver, because he urges something other than what the law teaches. Thus, therefore, the body is reined in, so that, because it is hot, less is given to it and it is held back from pleasures. For just as a feverish body, if it takes food or drink, its heat increases, so also bodies of this kind, which burn with the heat of blood, will blaze up more violently unless they have been governed. For if you do not give fuel to fire, it is quenched. It is the mind's role to lead the body; but if it lets it go, to go where it wishes, it hurls it headlong, like a bridled horse does a careless rider. And because the heat of the body blazes up more with the enemies acting to deceive the soul—since the body does not desire, but by its heat generates desires for the soul—the protection of our God must be implored for defense, so that he may restrain them—because our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against princes and powers—and with them removed, it will be easy to suppress the motion of flesh and blood.

is extinguished, for the fire ceases if the material through which it lives is lacking. But those things happen to them which are spoken of by the astrologers, who believe that what they say will come to pass. For it is brought about by the subtlety of demons that they bring to pass what their leaders have said will happen, lest they be exposed as false when detected. But concerning those who do not lend credence to their responses, their effect does not prevail, because neither are they themselves so intent on satisfying those who do not believe them, nor does God permit them to do that by which they might seduce those who trust in God and do not believe in the devil. For God has so ordered all things that, according to each one's faith, it happens to him, so that free choice of will remains. And for this reason, whoever believes in God, fleeing to his aid, nothing will be able to prevail against him; for it is certain that he is in the power of the one who made these things, and that they dare not act against him whom they see having God, their common Lord, as propitious.

Certainly God made the world and created the sun and moon and stars, establishing for them courses by which the human race is governed. Does he not have the power to command them, so that at some time they do something other than what they have as their decree? For he founded them in such a way that they are subject to his will and then carry out their decreed courses only if nothing else has been ordered: so that, if he is entreated by those whom they serve, because either the rains are untimely or the fruits appear barren due to excessive drought, he may order the weather to be moderated, or, if perhaps, as often happens, men live under an angry God, while through luxury and vanity they go astray and do not do what pleases God, and the rain is suspended for a very long time, so that, as we read happened under Elijah and Elisha, it stirs up famine upon the earth, then, when appeased by satisfaction, he grants that the rains may moisten the dry land. For the order of the world is the same as that of a secular empire. For just as some men, oppressed by the governors of provinces, have recourse to the aid of the emperors in order to be raised up, so also men, if they see adverse times, should present themselves as suppliants to God, in whose power all things are.

But this does not seem so to the astrologers. For they assert that it cannot happen otherwise than that the stars fulfill the causes decreed to them; and they can neither be recalled nor driven to something else, but they preserve the offices once established. This is the assertion of the astrologers, that they say the fates cannot be changed nor anything obtained by prayers, because they say that God once established the entire rationale of the world and entrusted it to the ministering stars, which can be moved neither backward nor forward. This is the error of the astrologers, by which they also assail God. For by this assertion they deny that anything can happen outside the order of the world, so that they deny that all things which are read to have been done in the world by God, if they disagree with the law of the world, are to be believed; but they assert those things which are said to have been done according to the statutes of the world, so that it is said that neither did a virgin give birth, nor did Aaron's rod blossom and bear fruit, nor did the aged Sarah give birth. For the rationale of the world does not contain these things, because they are read to have been done by God outside the order of the world. And what wonder, if the author of the world did what the world cannot do?

But he seems to have transgressed the rule he established," they say, "so that he himself is said to have acted otherwise than he decreed for the world." But indeed, did he establish a law for the world of acting or generating—did he do so for himself? And it would have been a mark of his lowliness if he had acted as the world he created does. And how would it be understood that it was done by him, if he had done what he did according to the world's law? But in order that it be understood as done by God, not by the world, it was done in a different order. Certainly, he decreed for the sun that it should unceasingly fulfill its appointed courses and have no license to stand still: does it follow, because he established this law for it, that he himself is not permitted to make it stand still? Certainly, it is established for judges that they are not allowed to revoke a sentence passed against a defendant: is the emperor himself under this law? For he alone is permitted to revoke a sentence and pardon a condemned man. How much more must it be permitted to God, what could not be conceded to the world, because the world is the servant of its creator! Indeed, the world, through the law given to it, can kill, but it cannot bring to life. Through intemperance it can create a blind man, but it cannot restore his eyes; it can make a man weak and sick, but it cannot cure him—for God has reserved this for himself, whereby it appears that he is the lord of all. For it pertains to the overthrow of fate that the dead have risen, the eyes of a man born blind have been restored, the sick and paralyzed have been strengthened, and other such things have been done, so that for those who flee to God, if there can be any fate, it cannot present an obstacle.

The apostle John says: "Greater," he says, "is he who is in you than he who is in this world." For when God is entreated, he also removes what he has established. For he certainly established that sinners should be punished, and yet he forgives those who pray, because it is permitted to him alone to bind and to loose. Hence, when the sun was not granted a stationary position, under Joshua the son of Nun it was ordered to stand still and it obeyed his command, contrary to what had been prescribed to it in the order of the world. Under Hezekiah, moreover, something greater is read to have been done, because, so that Hezekiah would not doubt that what had been promised to him was true, he received such a sign as was new and unheard of by human ears. For it was not, as before, ordered that the sun should stand still, but that it should go backward, which Hezekiah, seeing, would be certain that fifteen years could be added to his life. He who had made the ninth hour into the sixth. And because what was granted to Hezekiah is contrary to the astrologers—for they deny that years can be added to life—he again received a sign in this matter, which was contrary to the astrologers. For they assert that it is impossible for the stars to do anything other than what they have been appointed.

Certainly, they say that it is a matter of fate to have a slave or not to have one. Very well. From the beginning of the world, where were these fates? For up to the flood and beyond, through many series of years that passed, this condition of servitude did not exist. Or did these fates begin from the times of Ninus, who is said to have been the first to wage war on neighboring peoples and to make captives subject to servitude? You see, therefore, that this was discovered later and is not a matter of fate, but of the deeds of demons, because, if it were a matter of fate, it would have existed from the beginning of the world. For the stars themselves were made in the beginning, and their course remains the same. And formerly, human life was rustic, and wealth was not pursued. How is it that astrologers now say, through the stars, that people become rich or poor? Have the stars changed, or is it the cunning and trickery of Satan, so that he makes happen through the stars what he works through his ministering angels? For as the time approaches when his destruction draws near, he devises greater means through which sin is committed.

Behold, we know that Italy and Africa, Sicily and Sardinia have suffered from famine: let the astrologers say whether all these people had one fate, since it is said that among a hundred people not even two fates can coincide. Let them blush and be silent and stretch out suppliant hands to God, in whose power all things are. But perhaps in this case fate was caught off guard: what shall we say of Pannonia, which has been so utterly devastated that it cannot be restored? This is the weakness of those who profess themselves Christians with wavering faith! For while they doubt the promises, they do not even think about those things which have happened. For if they considered what was done by the prophets and apostles, they would never admit the fables of the astrologers. For they would know that all things are in God's power, and they would not be terrified when evils befall the good, because they will be rewarded in the future judgment, mindful of the apostle saying: "For through tribulations," he says, "we must enter the kingdom of God." For one who is content and awaits the judgment of his God will be rewarded and also avenged. For if he desires to be avenged in the present, or to enjoy present abundance with all eagerness, he doubts the promised life, and on that account, in the future, counted among the faithless, he will be considered worthy of punishment.

For God made the world for the sake of exercise and adorned it with all resources, setting forth two causes, the present and the future, the celestial and the earthly, so that they might serve as a test for men: that he who, spurning the future life, chose the present one would be assigned to the flesh; that he who, on the other hand, preferred the future to the present would be deemed worthy of spiritual things; and that he who was unjustly oppressed by the power of the unjust would lay his complaints before God or reserve them for the future judgment, and, raised up, would be honored with spiritual glory. Hence none of the saints has appeared glorious in the world, nor has he delighted in present pleasures. Hence the Apostle says: “Having food and clothing, let us be content with these.” But the Christian complains and grieves if someone seems fortunate in this world, when the dignity and happiness of Christians have been promised not on earth, but in heaven. How then does he call himself a Christian who wishes to glory not where it is promised, but here, where it is forbidden? For if it were expedient to enjoy present things, then heavenly things would certainly not be promised to those who despise these.

With what hope, then, do Christians lend their ears to astrologers, when they hear the apostle John crying out and saying: Do not love this world nor the things that are in the world? Therefore, if these are the precepts of our faith or law—that the world is not to be loved nor the things that are in the world—why is it that some of our people complain, saddened by the good fortune of others which is in the world, which before God is perhaps misfortune, when they ought rather to rejoice because the world does not provide them with those things by which they might be held bound, subject to human affairs? For that good fortune, once the means of security is received, lacks concern for divine matters. For a person who is filled with all necessities, having no source of worry, must necessarily be negligent regarding divine oracles. Such persons usually begin to labor under another kind of concern, that they may increase in the world, which cannot be done without sin. If, however, one looks more closely, the world will appear to be more the enemy of those whom it is said to make happy; scarcely any of them think of heavenly things.

Christians ought therefore to rejoice when, living rightly, they are oppressed in this world. For he has conquered the world who, content with whatever lot befalls him in the world, gives thanks to his God, from whom, if certain temporal things seem denied here, he hopes they will be restored in eternity. For why did God establish a future judgment, unless so that those who are unjustly oppressed for a time might be exalted in eternal life, while those who, through power, despising or not believing in God’s future judgment, thought there would be impunity for their crimes are crushed? But the advocates of fate deny a future judgment. For if some are born good and others, on the contrary, bad, why do you praise or accuse, when neither has the good man striven to conquer, nor has the bad man been negligent so as to lose? These tales they peddle among private individuals. For when criminals are brought before the courts, they have never dared to excuse their crimes by fate, but confessing themselves guilty, they do not deny that they justly receive the sentence. Thus the authority of the law tramples upon the reasoning of fate, so that it cannot even be named when the law is set in motion.

How, then, do they believe they will escape forever, those who, having acted wickedly, evade the severity of the law for a time by some studied effort, not considering that the author of the law cannot dissemble in this matter? For here is the image of the law; there is the truth, and one who mocks the image cannot mock the truth. Is there any place without God, or does anyone escape his hand? But they flatter themselves, thinking that because they escape here, they are already safe. And how do they consider it just that, while others are condemned in such cases, these should escape? Certainly, God established the world and showed by what law it would be governed. For, loving his work, he showed it the way that leads to life, appointing guides by whom they would be led, because there is also a way that leads to death. Should he not, therefore, inquire whether those whom he placed as ministers of his kingdom have governed his people by that right which he established, or whether the people have received his edict, so that either faithful ministers are found worthy of praise or unfaithful ones are subjected to penalties, and likewise the people are praised for keeping the law or condemned for despising it? This is just; this is the cause.

How, then, do some find it displeasing to believe in a future judgment? But this is the madness of the astrologers that has devised it. For how could they accept a future judgment, who resist the present one, because they contend that judgment lies in birth? And because truth, when it is thought to be suppressed, rises again, they themselves, who assert by some natural judgment that good and evil men are not made but are born, nevertheless punish those who sin and do not suffer sins to go unavenged. For they beat with rods, the mill, chains, and prison those whom they assert were born incorrigible. Does any prudent man chastise someone he knows cannot be corrected? That is indeed either the act of a fool or of an unjust man. But let them not say that even this happens by fate, because he who is under fate does not do what he wills, so that they themselves naturally have it in them to take vengeance on those whom they know remain incorrigible by nature, and truly, for it must be said thus, that whatever is said to be of fate is to be ascribed to folly. For how foolish it is that, although they say someone is born evil, they do not even prove that man good whom they assert is born good! For how can he be judged good who is caught doing an unjust thing? For what is so unjust as that a man should be beaten who is said to have been unable to do otherwise than he did?

If everything happens by fate, how did law come in, which does not allow what is fated to happen? For if law is removed, unlawful acts will be committed openly everywhere, the powerful will not be able to be endured, nor will there be freedom, because even he who now does not think of evil will begin to be evil when fear is removed. Indeed, we read that law was given because of evil men. But perhaps this very thing was fated, that law should be given. And on what principle do fates subsist, if they generate that by which they are destroyed, because what is fated law has spoken against, saying it ought not to be done? Therefore they lack reason, if they generate things contrary to themselves, and they are unjust, because they cause men to be born for condemnation; and if they are unjust, they ought to have no authority, because everything unjust is liable to punishment. Or perhaps they say that law is of no use, because he who is born such that he is evil cannot be changed by law? If that is so, law was given in vain; and how did the fates cause something superfluous to be born, since 'nothing happens without fate'? Thus the fates act both for themselves and against themselves. If that is so, it cannot stand, because it holds no firmness through inconsistency of reason.