CCCXLI. De doctrina Patris per Verbum.
Si illum docet Pater, qui audit verbum ejus: quære quid sit Christus, et invenies Verbum ejus, In principio erat Verbum; non autem, In principio Deus fecit Verbum: sicut, In principio Deus fecit cœlum et terram. Verbum enim Dei Deus est, non creatura: nec factum inter omnia, sed per quod facta sunt omnia. Ut ergo ad talis verbi doctrinam homo in carne constitutus possit accedere; Verbum caro faclum est. et habitavit in nobis (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 8).
CCCXLII. e De carne Christi.
Caro Christi fidelium vita est, si corpus ipsius esse non nogligant. Fiant ergo corpus Christi, si volunt vivere de spiritu Christi; de quo non vivit, ni i corpus Christi (Aug. ibid.. n. 13).
CCCXLIII. Qui edunt corpus Christi.
Escam vitæ accipit, et æternitetis poculum bibit, qui in Cbristo manet, et cujus Christus habita. tor est. Nam qui discordat a Christo, nec carnem ejus manducat, nec sanguinem bibit: etiam si tante rei sacrumentum ad judicium suae præsumptionis quotidie indifferenter accipiat (Aug. ibid., n. 18).
341. On the Father's teaching through the Word.
If the Father teaches the one who hears his Word, ask what Christ is, and you will find his Word: "In the beginning was the Word"; not, however, "In the beginning God made the Word," as "In the beginning God made heaven and earth." For the Word of God is God, not a creature; nor is it made among all things, but all things were made through it. Therefore, so that man, constituted in the flesh, might be able to approach the teaching of such a Word, "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (Aug., Tract. in Joan., n. 8).
342. From On the Flesh of Christ.
The flesh of Christ is the life of the faithful, if they do not neglect to be his body. Therefore let them become the body of Christ, if they wish to live by the Spirit of Christ; for whoever does not live by the Spirit of Christ is not the body of Christ (Aug., ibid., n. 13).
343. Who eat the body of Christ.
He receives the food of life and drinks the cup of eternity who abides in Christ and whose inhabitant Christ is. For whoever is at discord with Christ neither eats his flesh nor drinks his blood, even if he daily and indiscriminately receives the sacrament of so great a thing to the judgment of his own presumption (Aug., ibid., n. 18).
COCXLIV. i De ma lorum felicitate.
Vellet mundana sapientia, ut numquam permitteret Deus eos qui mali sunt esse felices, j quod utique non sinet; sed ideo mali cum habent quod volunt, felices putantur, quia quid sit felicitas It ignorant (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 7).
CCCXLV. De muta tione cordis.
I Aliud est migrare corpore, aliud corde. Migrat corpore, qui motu corporis mutat locum; migrat corde, qui motu cordis mutat affectum. Si aliud amas, aliud amabas; non ibi es ubi eras (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 21).
CCCXLVI. ID De chrismate.
Christi nomen a chrismate est, id est, ab unctione. Quia ideo omnis Christianus sanctificatur, ut intelligat se non solum sacerdotalis et regiæ dignitatis esse consortem, sed cliaro contra diabolum fieri luctatorem (Aug. traci. in Joan., n. 3).
CCCXLVII. De lumine.
Sequamur Christum lumen verum, ne ambulemus in tenebris. Tenebræ autem metuendae sunt morum, non oculorum: et si oculorum, non exteriorum, sed o interiorum, unde discernitur non album et nigrum, sed justum et injustum (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 1).
344. On the happiness of the wicked.
Worldly wisdom would wish that God never permit those who are evil to be happy, which indeed he does not allow; but when the wicked have what they want, they are thought to be happy because they are ignorant of what happiness is.
345. On the change of heart.
It is one thing to migrate in body, another in heart. He migrates in body who changes place by the motion of the body; he migrates in heart who changes his affection by the motion of the heart. If you love one thing, you were loving another; you are not there where you were.
346. Again, on the chrism.
The name of Christ is from chrism, that is, from anointing. For every Christian is sanctified for this reason, that he may understand himself to be not only a sharer in the priestly and royal dignity, but also made a renowned wrestler against the devil.
347. On the light.
Let us follow Christ, the true light, that we may not walk in darkness. But the darkness to be feared is that of conduct, not of the eyes; and if of the eyes, not of the outward eyes but of the inward, whereby is discerned not white and black, but just and unjust.
CCCXLVIII. Quod verus Deus et verus homo sit Christus.
Catholica fides Dominum Jesum Christum et verum Deum et verum hominem credit, et prædicat. Utrumque enim scriptum est, et utrumque verum est. Qui Deum tantummodo asserit Christum, medicinam negat, qua sanatus est. Qui hominem tan. tummodo asserit Christum, potentiam negat, qua creatus est. Utrumque ergo anima fidelis ac recta suscipe: et Deus Christus est, et homo Christus est. Qualis Deus Christus? Æqualis Patri, unum cum Patre. Qualis homo Christus? Virginis filius, trahens de homine mortalitatem, non trabens iniquitatcm (Aug. tract, in Joan., n. 2).
CCCXLIX,. De missione Verbi.
Missus est Dominus Christus a Patre, non recessit a Patre. Missio ejus incarnatio fuit et invisibili Deitati hoc fuit in hunc mundum venire, quod apparere. Quod si cito caperetur, non opus erat ut crederetnr, a quia.Meretur. Credendo ergo capitur, quod nisi credatur, numquam intelligitur (Aug. tract. in Joan. n. 7).
348. That Christ is true God and true man.
The catholic faith believes and proclaims the Lord Jesus Christ to be both true God and true man. For both things are written, and both are true. Whoever asserts that Christ is only God denies the remedy by which he was healed. Whoever asserts that Christ is only man denies the power by which he was created. Therefore receive both, O faithful and upright soul: Christ is God, and Christ is man. What kind of God is Christ? Equal to the Father, one with the Father. What kind of man is Christ? The son of a virgin, drawing mortality from man, not drawing iniquity.
349. On the sending of the Word.
The Lord Christ was sent by the Father, yet did not depart from the Father. His sending was his incarnation, and for the invisible Godhead, to come into this world was to appear. But if this were quickly grasped, there would be no need for it to be believed, since it would be seen. By believing, therefore, it is grasped; for unless it is believed, it is never understood.
CCCL. De fide Patris et Filii.
Ut recte credatur Pater et Filius, ipse Filius audiendus est, dicens, Ego et Pater unum sumus (Joan. X, 30). Duobus enim verbis duae simul hæreses detruncantur. Nam per id quod ait, unum, Arium perculit: per illud quod ait, sumus, Sabellium stravit: quia nec, sumus, de uno, nec, unum diceret de diverso (Aug. ibid., n. 9).
CCCLI. De Deo et homine Jesu Christo.
Utrumque oportet noverimus in Christo, et unde aequalis est Patri, et unde illo major est Pater. Illud Verbum est, illud caro; illud Deus est, illud homo. Sed unus est Christus Deus et homo (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 10).
CCCLII. De unitate divinæ Trinitatis.
Multorum hominum multae sine dubio animae, et multa sunt corda: sed si per fidem et dilectionem adhæreant Deo, fiunt omnes una anima, et cor unum. Si ergo charitas Dei, quæ diffusa est in cordibus nostris, per Spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis (Rom. v, 5), tantam unitatem multarum animarum et multorum cordium facit; quanto magis certiusque in Patre et Filio et Spiritu sancto aeterna et incommutabilis unitas manet, ubi indifferens Trinitas unus I Deus est, unum lumen, unumque principium (Aug, tract. in Joan., n. 5)?
350. On faith in the Father and the Son.
In order that the Father and the Son may be rightly believed in, the Son himself must be heard, saying, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). For by these two words two heresies are at once cut down. For by what he says, "one," he struck down Arius; by what he says, "are," he laid low Sabellius; since he would neither say "are" of one, nor "one" of distinct beings (Augustine, ibid., n. 9).
351. On God and man, Jesus Christ.
We ought to know both things in Christ: both wherein he is equal to the Father, and wherein the Father is greater than he. The one is the Word, the other is the flesh; the one is God, the other is man. But Christ is one, God and man (Augustine, tract. in John, n. 10).
352. On the unity of the divine Trinity.
There are without doubt many souls of many men, and many hearts: but if through faith and love they cleave to God, they all become one soul and one heart. If, therefore, the love of God, which is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom. 5:5), makes so great a unity of many souls and many hearts, how much more certainly does the eternal and unchangeable unity remain in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, where the undivided Trinity is one God, one light, and one principle (Augustine, tract. in John, n. 5)?
CCCLIII. Quomodo docuit Pater Filium.
Non sic docuit Pater Filium quasi indoctum genuerit, et scientiam contulerit nescienti: i sed intemporalis doctrina est intemporalis essentia; et hoc es, a Patre doceri, quod est a Patre generari: quia simplici veritatis naturae esse et nosse non est aliud atque aliud, i sed idipsum (Aug. tract. in Joan. n. 5).
CCCLIV. De fide et veritate.
Fides semper prævenit visionem. Credimus enim ut cognoscamus, non cognoscimus ut credamus. Fides ergo est, quod non vides credere; veritas, quod credidisti videre (Aug. ibid., n. 9).
CCCLV. De bono odore Christi.
Bonus Christi odor est prædicatio veritatis, It quo odore vitam capit qui Evangelio bonis moribus servit et congruit; mortem autem incurrit, cujus ab his quae bene loquitur, vita dissentit. Quae conditio etiam auditores obstringit, cum recta praedicatio ab aliis per incredulitatem auditur in mortem, ab aliis per fidem suscipitur in salutem Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 8).
353. How the Father taught the Son.
The Father did not teach the Son as though he had begotten him untaught and had conferred knowledge upon one who did not know it; but timeless doctrine is timeless essence, and to be taught by the Father is the same as to be begotten by the Father, because in the simple nature of truth, to be and to know are not one thing and another, but the very same.
354. On faith and truth.
Faith always precedes vision. For we believe in order that we may know, not know in order that we may believe. Faith, therefore, is to believe what you do not see; truth is to see what you have believed.
355. On the good odor of Christ.
The good odor of Christ is the preaching of the truth, by which odor he who serves and conforms to the Gospel by good conduct receives life; but he incurs death whose life disagrees with the things he speaks well. This condition also binds the hearers, since right preaching is heard by some unto death through unbelief, and is received by others unto salvation through faith.
CCCLVI. De facultate credendi.
Fides Christi est, credere in eum qui justificat impium, credere in Mediatorem, sine quo nullus reconciliatur Deo; credere in Salvatorem, qui venit quaerere et salvare quod perierat; credere in eum qui dixit, Sine me nihil potestis facere (Joan. XV, 5). Sed hanc fidem non apprehendit, qui ignorans Dei justitiam, qua justificatur impius, suam vult constituere, u qua convincatur superbus. Talia enim sentienles sua elatione obdurantur, et excæcantur: quia negando Dei gratiam, non adjuvantur (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 10).
CCCLVII De vera dilectione.
Charitatem habens, quæ est de corde puro, et conscientia bona, et fide non ficta, diligit Deum et proximum sicut seipsum. Amator enhn Dei, amator est sui: et non diligens Deum, non diligit proximum; quia non diligit seipsum. Pro hac autem dilectione patienter etiam mundi odia sunt toleranda; necesse est enim ut nos oderit, quos videt odisse quod dilisit (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. et 2).
356. On the capacity to believe.
The faith of Christ is to believe in him who justifies the ungodly, to believe in the Mediator, without whom no one is reconciled to God; to believe in the Savior, who came to seek and to save what had perished; to believe in him who said, Without me you can do nothing (John 15:5). But he does not grasp this faith who, ignorant of the justice of God by which the ungodly is justified, wishes to establish his own, by which the proud man is convicted. For those who hold such opinions are hardened and blinded by their own elation, because by denying the grace of God they are not helped (Augustine, Tractates on John, no. 10).
357. On true love.
He who has love, which is from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and unfeigned faith, loves God and his neighbor as himself. For the lover of God is a lover of himself; and he who does not love God does not love his neighbor, because he does not love himself. But for the sake of this love, even the hatreds of the world must be patiently endured; for it is necessary that the world hate us, whom it sees to hate what it has loved (Augustine, Tractates on John, no. 1 and 2).
CCCLVIII [Alias CCCLVI, ante CCCLIV). De bipar tita mundi significatione.
Duo hominum genera sub uno mundi nomino nuncupantur. Sicut enim dicitur mundus in impiis, ita dicitur mundus in sanctis. Unde cum totus a semetipso et in odio et in amore discordet, nos eum et odisse jubemur, et amare, cum dicitur nobis, Nolite diligere mundum (I Joan. II, 15); et cum dicitur, DiU. gite inimicos vestros (Matt. v, 44), ut quorum exsecramur iuiquitatem, optemus salutem (Aug. ibid., n. 4).
CCCLIX. a De vitanda scientiæ gloria.
Ad vitandam tentationem vanæ gloriae, melior est discentis conditio quam docentis. Tutius enim auditur veritas quam prædicatur. Quoniam cum doctrina recipitur, humilitas custoditur; cum amem disputatio placet, vix est ut disserentem non pulset quantulacumque jactantia (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 2).
CCCLX. De laude qua se prædicat Deus.
358 [otherwise 356, before 354]. On the twofold meaning of the world.
Two kinds of men are called by the one name of the world. For just as the world is spoken of among the ungodly, so the world is spoken of among the saints. Hence, since the whole world is at variance with itself, both in hatred and in love, we are commanded both to hate it and to love it: when it is said to us, Do not love the world (1 John 2:15); and when it is said, Love your enemies (Matt. 5:44), so that those whose iniquity we abhor, we may desire to be saved (Aug., ibid., n. 4).
359. On avoiding the glory of knowledge.
To avoid the temptation of vainglory, the condition of the learner is better than that of the teacher. For truth is heard more safely than it is preached. Since, when doctrine is received, humility is preserved; but when disputation pleases, it is scarcely possible that some little boastfulness does not strike the disputant (Aug., tract. on John, n. 2).
360. On the praise by which God proclaims himself.
Periculosum est homini sibi placere, cui cavendum est superbire. Deus autem quantumcumque se laudet, non se extollit excelsus, nec vult se sua videri majestate majorem. Sed cum homini loquitur potentiam suam, non hoc agit ut ipse gloriosior, sed ut ille melior fiat et doctior. Nobis enim prodest auctorem nostrum agnoscere, et ei qui est super omnia subjacere: ne de quo non possumus comprehendere quid est, possimus sentire quod non est (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 3).
CCCLXI [Aliaa CCCLIX, ante CCCLVII]. e De re mittendis peccatis.
Christiana observantia ad perfectæ pietatis profectum per mutuam maxime pervenit induigentiam peccatorum, dante nobis Domino suæ bonitatis exemplum. Nam si ille, in quo nullum omnino fuit peccatum, interpellat pro peccatis nostris, quanto magis nos invicem pro propriis orare debemus? Amplectenda quippe est homini, qui non omni potest carere peccato, tam benigna conditio, ut dimittendo delicta aliena, diluat sua (Aug. ibid., n. 5).
It is dangerous for a man to please himself, since he must beware of becoming proud. But God, however much he praises himself, does not exalt himself as one who is high, nor does he wish to seem greater than he is by his own majesty. Rather, when he speaks to man of his power, he does this not so that he himself may be more glorious, but so that man may become better and more learned. For it profits us to acknowledge our author and to be subject to him who is above all things, lest concerning him whose nature we cannot comprehend, we should be able to feel what he is not.
361 [otherwise 359, before 357]. On the remission of sins.
Christian observance comes to the perfection of perfect piety especially through mutual forgiveness of sins, with the Lord giving us an example of his goodness. For if he, in whom there was altogether no sin, intercedes for our sins, how much more ought we to pray for one another for our own? Indeed, a man, who cannot be free of every sin, ought to embrace so kindly a condition, that by forgiving the offenses of others he may wash away his own.
CCCLXII. De im pletione desideriorum justorum.
Justorum desideriorum i satietati tunc nihil deerit, quando Deus omnia in illis omnibus erit (I Cor. xv, 28). Ad quam beatitudinem hi perveniunt, qui huic sæculo ante separationem i animae a carne moriuntur, nec in eis inveniuntur cupiditatibus, quas sola superat dilectio Dei: ut et id patiatur iniquitas, quod elegit; et eo bono fruatur Justitia, quod amavit (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 1).
CCCLXIII. De confi tendo homine Jesu Christo.
Qui sic confitetur Christum Deum, ut eumdem hominem neget verum, habentem scilicet unitam sibi nostræ carnis animaeque naturam, non est pro illo mortuus Christus, quia secundum hominem mortuus est Christus. Non reconciliatur per Mediatorem Deo. Unus enim Deus, et unus Mediator Dei et hominum, homo Christus Jesus (I Tim. II, 5). Non justificatur per ipsum, quia sicut per inobedientiam unius hominis peccatores constituti sunt multi, ita per obedientiam unius hominis justi constituentur multi (Rom. v, 19). Non resurgel in resurrectionem vitæ, quia per hominem mors, et per hominem resurrectio mortuorum. Sicut enim in Adam omnes moriuntur, itia et in Christo omnes o vivificabuntur (I Cor. xv 21, 22). P Nec ullus se beati Petri defendat exemplo, qui se multis lacryrnis et accusavit et lavit (Matt. xxvi, 75), ut priucipem suum Ecclesia non negationis, sed pœnitentiæ imitatione sequeretur (Aug. tract.
CCCLXII. On the Fulfillment of the Desires of the Just.
The satiety of the just desires will then lack nothing, when God will be all things in all of them (1 Cor. 15:28). To this blessedness come those who die to this world before the separation of the soul from the flesh, and are not found in those desires which only the love of God overcomes: so that iniquity may suffer what it has chosen, and Justice may enjoy the good which it has loved (Aug., Tractates on John, no. 1).
CCCLXIII. On Confessing the Man Jesus Christ.
He who so confesses Christ as God that he denies that the same one is true man, having, that is, the nature of our flesh and soul united to himself, Christ did not die for him, because Christ died according to his humanity. He is not reconciled to God through the Mediator. For there is one God, and one Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). He is not justified through him, because just as through the disobedience of one man many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one man many will be made just (Rom. 5:19). He will not rise again to the resurrection of life, because death came through a man, and through a man comes the resurrection of the dead. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive (1 Cor. 15:21-22). Nor let anyone defend himself by the example of blessed Peter, who accused and washed himself with many tears (Matt. 26:75), so that the Church might follow her chief in the imitation not of denial but of penitence (Aug., Tractates on
in Joan., n. 2).
CCCLXIV. De
æternitate.
In quibusdam æternis potest aliqua esse distantia, ipsa autem æternitas absque diversitate mensurae est. Multæ quippe mansiones, in una vita varias meritorum significant dignitates. Sed i ut Deus omnia in Omnibus erit, fiet etiam in dispari clariiatc par gaudium, ut quod habent singuli, commune sit omnibus. Quoniam per connexionem dilectionis, a gloria capitis nulla erit aliena pars corporis (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 2).
CCCLXV. De fide.
Fides eorum qui Deum visuri sunt, quod non videt credit: nam si videt, non est fides. Credenti a colligiturmeritum, videnti redditur praemium (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 3).
CCCLXVI. Quod propitius sit Deus non annuendo malorum votis.
Male usurus eo quod vult accipere, Deo potius miserante non accipit. Proinde si hoc ab eo petitur unde homo exauditus lædatur, magis metuendum esi, ne quod possit Deus non dare propilius, det iralus (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 1).
CCCLXIV. On Eternity.
Among certain eternal things there can be some difference, but eternity itself is without diversity of measure. For the many mansions in one life signify the various ranks of merits. But so that God may be all things in all, there will also be an equal joy in unequal brightness, so that what each one has may be common to all. For through the bond of love, no part of the body will be alien to the glory of the head (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 2).
CCCLXV. On Faith.
The faith of those who are to see God believes what it does not see; for if it sees, it is not faith. To the one who believes, merit is gathered; to the one who sees, the reward is rendered (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 3).
CCCLXVI. That God is merciful by not granting the prayers of the wicked.
One who would use wrongly what he wishes to receive does not receive it, God rather being merciful. Accordingly, if that is asked of him by which a man, being heard, would be harmed, it is rather to be feared lest God, being provoked, give what he could mercifully not give (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 1).
CCCLXVII ( Alias CCCLXV, ante CCCLXIII ]. e De duplici dilectione Christi erga diligentes se.
Qui diligit me, inquit Dominus, diligetur a Patre meo; et ego diligam eum, et manifestabo ei me ipsum. Quid est, diligam? tamquam tunc dilecturus sit, et nunc non diligat? Absit. Quomodo enim nos Pater sine Filio, aut Filius sine Patre diligeret? Quomodo, cum inseparabiliter operentur, separabiliter die ligunt? Sed ad hoc diligam tum, ad quod sequitur, et manifestabo ei me ipsum; diligam, et manifestabo, id est, ad hoc diligam, ut manifestem. Nunc enim ad hoc dilexit, ut credamus, et i mandatum lidei teneamus: tunc ad hoc diliget, ut videamus, et ipsam visionem mercedem fidei capiamus. Quia et nos nunc diligimus credendo i quod videbimus; tunc autem diligemus videndo quod credidimus (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 5).
CCCLXVIII. De vite et palmitibus vitis.
CCCLXVII (otherwise CCCLXV, before CCCLXIII). On the twofold love of Christ toward those who love him.
He who loves me, says the Lord, will be loved by my Father; and I will love him, and I will manifest myself to him. What is this, "I will love"? As if he were going to love then, and does not love now? Far be it. For how would the Father love us without the Son, or the Son without the Father? How, when they work inseparably, would they love separably? But "I will love" refers to that which follows, "and I will manifest myself to him"; "I will love, and I will manifest," that is, I will love for this purpose, that I may manifest. For now he has loved for this purpose, that we may believe and hold the commandment of faith; then he will love for this purpose, that we may see and receive that very vision as the reward of faith. Because we too now love by believing what we shall see; but then we shall love by seeing what we have believed (Augustine, Tractates on John, no. 5).
CCCLXVIII. On the vine and the branches of the vine.
Ita sunt in vile palmiles, ut viti nihil conferant, sed inde accipiant unde vivant. Sic quippe vitis est in palmitibus, ut vitale alimentum subministret eis, non sumat ab eis. Ac per hoc et manentem in se habere Christum, et mancre in Christo, discipulis prodest utrumque, non Christo. Nam præciso Pal' mite, potest de viva radice alius pullulare: qui autem præcisus est, sine radice non potest vivere (Aug. tract. in Joan. n. i can. conc. Araus. II).
CCCLXIX. De humana justitiæ modo.
Divinitus dictum est, Noli esse justus multum (Eccle. VII, 17). Quo notata non est justitia sapientis, sed superbia præsumentis. Qui ergo fit nimis justus, ipso nimio fit injustus. Quis est autem qui sc nimis facit justum, nisi qui dicit se non habere peccatum (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 2)?
CCCLXX. o Quod sola divina substantia vere sit simplex.
Nullius, etiam incorporeae creaturae, vere simplex est substantia, cui non hoc est esse, quod nosse; potest enim P esse, nec nosse: at illa divina i non potest, quia idipsum est quod habet. Ac per hoc non sic habet scientiam, ut aliud illi sit scientia qua scit, aliud essentia qua est, sed utrumque unum: quamvis non utrumque dicendum sit, quod verissime simplex et unum est. Habet enim Pater vitam in semetipso; nec aliud est ipse quam vita, quae in illo est: et dedit Filio habere vitam in semetipso; boc est, genuit Filium, qui et ipse vita esset.
They are so present in the branches as to confer nothing on the vine, but rather to receive from it whereby they live. For the vine is in the branches in such a way as to supply them with vital nourishment, not to take it from them. And by this, both that Christ has a remaining in himself and that they remain in Christ profit the disciples in each respect, not Christ. For when a branch has been cut off, another can sprout from the living root; but the one that has been cut off cannot live without the root.
CCCLXIX. On the measure of human righteousness.
It was divinely said, Be not righteous overmuch. By this, the righteousness of the wise man is not marked out, but the pride of the presumptuous. Therefore whoever becomes too righteous becomes unjust by that very excess. But who is it that makes himself too righteous, except the one who says he has no sin?
CCCLXX. That only the divine substance is truly simple.
The substance of no creature, even an incorporeal one, is truly simple, for which to be is not the same as to know; for it can exist and not know. But that divine substance cannot, because it is the very same thing as what it has. And by this it does not have knowledge in such a way that the knowledge by which it knows is one thing and the essence by which it is is another, but both are one; although both ought not to be said, since it is most truly simple and one. For the Father has life in himself, nor is he himself anything other than the life that is in him; and he gave to the Son to have life in himself; that is, he begot the Son, who himself would also be life.
Sic itaquc debemus accipere quod de Spiritu sancto dictum est, Non enim loquetur a semetipso, sed quæcumque audierit, loquetur (Joan. xvi, 13); ut intelligamus, non eum esse a semel ipso. Pater quippe solus de alio non est. Nam et Filius de Patre natus est, et Spiritus sanctus de Patre procedit: Pater autem nec natus est de alio, nec procedit. Nec ideo sano aliqua disparilitas in summa illa Trinitate cogitationi occurrat humanae: quia et Filius ei de quo natus cst, ct Spiritus sanctus ei de quo procedit, aequalis cst (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 4).
CCCLXXI. Quo modo FUIT, et ERIT, et EST, accipiantur in Deo.
Quamvis natura incommutabilis non accipiat fuit et erit, scd tantum, est: ipsa enim veraciter est, quia aliter quam est, esse non potest: tamen propter mutabilitatem temporum, in quibus versatur nostra mortalitas et nostra mutabilitas, non menda-, citer dicimus a el fuit, et erit, et eat: fuit in praetcritis sarculis est in præsentibus, erit in futuris. Fuit quippe, quia numquam defuit; erit, quia numquam deerit; est, quia semper est. Neque enim velut qui jam niUn sit, cum præteritis occidit; aut cum præsentibus, tamquam non maneat, labitur; aut cum futuris, tamquam non fuerit, orietur, Proinde cum secundum volumina temporum locutio humana varia ur; qui per nulla deesse potuit, aut potest, aut poterit tempora, vera de illo dicitur cujuslibet temporis verba.
Accordingly, we ought so to understand what was said of the Holy Spirit, "For he shall not speak of himself, but whatever he shall hear, he shall speak" (John 16:13), as to grasp that he is not from himself. For the Father alone is not from another. For both the Son was born of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father; but the Father neither was born of another nor proceeds. Nor let any inequality in that supreme Trinity occur to human thought on this account: because both the Son is equal to him of whom he was born, and the Holy Spirit is equal to him from whom he proceeds (Aug., Tract. in Joan., no. 4).
CCCLXXI. How WAS, and WILL BE, and IS are to be understood in God.
Although the unchangeable nature does not admit "was" and "will be," but only "is"—for it truly is, because it cannot be other than it is—nevertheless, on account of the mutability of times, in which our mortality and our mutability are engaged, we do not falsely say "was," and "will be," and "is": it was in past ages, is in the present, will be in the future. For it was, because it was never absent; it will be, because it will never be absent; it is, because it always is. For neither does it, as if it were now nothing, pass away with things past; nor, with things present, as if it did not remain, slip away; nor, with things future, as if it had not been, arise. Therefore, since human speech varies according to the rolling of times, the words of any time whatsoever are truly spoken of him who could not, nor can, nor will be able to be absent through any times.
Semper itaque audit Spiritus sanCtus, quia semper scit; et scire, et audire, hoc illi est, quod semper ese. Semper vero illi est esse, de Patre procedere. Nemo autem potest dicere quod non sit vita Spiritus sanctus, cum vita Pater, vita sii Filius. Ac per hoc sicut Pater cum habeat vitam in semetipso, dedit et Filio habere vitm in semetipso: a sic ei dedit vitam procrdete de illo, sicut procedit et de ipso (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. Et 9).
CCCLXXII. Quod dunum Dei sit diligere Deum.
Prorsus donum Dei est, diligere Deum. Ipse ut diligeretur dedit, qui non dilectus dilexit. Displicentes amati sumus, ut lieret in nobis unde placeremus. o Diffundit enim charitatem in cordibus nosti is Spiritus Patris et Filii, quem cum Patre annianus et Filio ( Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 0; cun. conc. Araus. II).
CCCLXXIII. De pace Christi.
Pax Christi finem temporis non habet, et ipsa est omnis piæ intentionis actionisque perfectio. Propter hanc sacrimentis ejus imbuimur: propter hanc mirabilibus ejus operibus et sermonibus erudimur: propter bancf Spiritum ejus gnus accepimus; propter lianc in eum credimus et speramus, et amure ipsius, quantum donat accendimur: propter hanc denique omnem tribulationem fortiter toleramus, ut in ea feliciter sine tribulatione regnemus. Vera enim pax unitatem facit (I Cor. V!, 17; ): quoniam qui adhæret Domino, unus spiritus est (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. i).
Therefore the Holy Spirit always hears, because he always knows; and to know and to hear is for him the same as always to be. But for him always to be is to proceed from the Father. No one, however, can say that the Holy Spirit is not life, since the Father is life and the Son is life. And accordingly, just as the Father, having life in himself, gave also to the Son to have life in himself, so he gave him to have life proceeding from him, just as it proceeds also from himself.
CCCLXXII. That it is a gift of God to love God.
Altogether it is a gift of God to love God. He himself gave that he might be loved, who, not being loved, loved. We were loved while displeasing, so that there might come to be in us that by which we might please. For the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, whom we love together with the Father and the Son, pours charity into our hearts.
CCCLXXIII. On the peace of Christ.
The peace of Christ has no end of time, and it is itself the perfection of every pious intention and action. For its sake we are imbued with his sacraments; for its sake we are instructed by his wonderful works and words; for its sake we have received the pledge of his Spirit; for its sake we believe and hope in him, and are kindled with love for him, as much as he grants; for its sake, finally, we bravely endure every tribulation, so that in it we may happily reign without tribulation. For true peace makes unity, since he who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit.
CCCLXXIV. Omne tempus a Deo esse dispositum.
Omne tempus ab illo est dispositum, qui tempori subditus non est. Quonium quæ futura erant per singula tempora, in Dei sapientia habent i elicientes causas, in qua nulla sunt tempora. Non ergo credamur hora passionis Doinini fato urgente venisse, sed Deo potius ordinante. Non enim j siderea necessitas Christo intulit crucem; nec sidera coegerunt mori siderum conditorem: qui intemporalis cum Patre, sic tempus quo carne moreretur, quemadimodum et quo de matre nasceretur, elegit ( Aug. ibid., n. ).
CCCLXXV (Alias CCCLXXIII. ante CCCLXXI]. De unitate Trinitatis.
In eo quod dicitur, Hæc est autem vita æterna, ut cognoscant te solum verum Deum, ct quem misisti Jesum Christum (Joan. XVII, 3), ordo verborum est: mUt te, et quem misisti Jesum Christum, cognoscant solum verum Deum. Consequenter enim intelligitur et Spiritus sanctus. Quia Spiritus est Patris et F lii, tamquam charitas substantialis et consubstantialis amborum. Quoniam non duo dii, Pater et Filius; nec ires dii, Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus; sed ipsa Trinitas unus solus ve rus Deus. Nec idem tamen Pater, qui Filius; nec idem Filius, qui Pater; nec idem Spiritus sanctus, qui Pater aut Filius: qnoniam tres sunt, Pater, ei Filius, et Spiritus sanctus:.sed ipsa Trinitas unus est Deus (Aug. tract. in Joan., 3).
CCCLXXIV. That every time is appointed by God.
Every time is appointed by him who is not subject to time. For the things that were to come to pass through each several time have their causes in the wisdom of God, in which there are no times. Let us not therefore believe that the hour of the Lord's passion came by the urging of fate, but rather by God's ordaining. For no sidereal necessity brought the cross upon Christ, nor did the stars compel the creator of the stars to die: he who is timeless with the Father so chose the time at which he would die in the flesh, as he also chose the time at which he would be born of his mother.
CCCLXXV. On the unity of the Trinity.
In that which is said, "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent," the order of the words is: that they may know you, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent, to be the only true God. For the Holy Spirit is likewise understood in consequence. Because the Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, as it were the substantial and consubstantial love of both. Since there are not two gods, the Father and the Son; nor three gods, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; but the Trinity itself is one only true God. Nor yet is the Father the same as the Son, nor the Son the same as the Father, nor the Holy Spirit the same as the Father or the Son: for there are three, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; but the Trinity itself is one God.
CCCLXXVI Alias CCCLXXIV, ante CCCLXXII ]. u Quod gignendo dedit Pater omnia Filio.
Quidquid Deus Pater Deo Filio dedit, gignendo dedit. Ita enim dedit Filio Pater, ne qnibus Filius esse non posset, sicut ei de dit ut esset. Nam uomodo Verbo verba daret aliqua, in quo ineffabiliter dixit omnia ( Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 7)?
CCCLXXVII. o De custodia Dei CIrca nos.
Custodiam circa nos Dei, non tam carnaliter debemus accipere, velut vicissim nos servent Pater et Filius, amborum in nobis a servandis alternante custodia, quasi alius, alio discedente, succedat. Simul enim custodiunt Pater et Fili. et Spiritus sanctus, qui est unus Vertis et beatus Deus. Sed Scriptura nos non levat, Hist descendut ad nos Sicut Verbum cro factum desdendit e ut levaret;non occidit ut.Meret. Ii descendentem cognovimus, cum levante surgamus i et intelligamus, cum ita loquitur, personas a eum distinguere, e non separare naturas,
CCCLXXVI. That in begetting the Father gave all things to the Son.
Whatever God the Father gave to God the Son, he gave by begetting. For the Father so gave to the Son that the Son could not but be, just as he gave him to be. For how would he give words to the Word, in whom he ineffably spoke all things?
CCCLXXVII. Concerning God's keeping watch over us.
We ought not to take God's keeping watch over us so carnally as to suppose that the Father and the Son keep watch over us in turn, with the keeping of both alternating in us as we are guarded, as though when one withdrew the other succeeded him. For the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who is one true and blessed God, keep watch together. But Scripture does not lift us up unless it descends to us, just as the Word descended that he might lift us up; he did not fall that he might rise. Let us rise with him who descends, once we have known him, and understand that when Scripture so speaks, it distinguishes the persons and does not separate the natures.
CCCLXXVIII. De gratia Dei, qua omne nominis. meritum præve nitur
Si naturam cogitemus in qua creati sumus; cum omnes Veritas elaverit, quis non est ex veritate? Sed non omnes sunt, quibus, Ut audiant veritatem, et credant) ex ipsa Veritate præstatur, i nullis proculdribio præcedentibus meritis, ne gratia non sit gratia. Si enim dixisset, Omnis qUi audit vocem meam ex veritate est: ideo dictus ex veritateputaretur, quia odtemperat verutatu. Non autem hoc ait; sed, Omnis, inquit, qui est ex veritate, i audit vocem meam (Joan. XVIII, 57); Ac per hoc, non ideo cst ex VeHite, quia ejus audit vocem; sed ideo aUdit. quia ei veritate est, idest, quia hoc illi donum ex Vel itate coilatum est Quod quid est allud quam: donante Christo, credit inChristum (Aug. tract. In Joan., n, 4)?
CCCLXXIX. De amore Deum amare debemus.
Quisquis se ipsum, non Deum amat, non se amat: et quisquis Deum, non se ipsum amat, ipse se amat. Qui enim non potest vivere de se, moritur utique amando se; j non ergo se amat, qui ne vivat se amat. Cum vero kille diligitur, de quo vivitur, non se diligendo magis diligit. qui propterea se non diligit, ut eum diligat de quo vivit (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 4).
CCCLXXVIII. On the grace of God, by which every merit of a name is preceded.
If we consider the nature in which we were created, since the Truth has said, "All," who is not of the truth? But not all are those to whom it is granted by the Truth itself to hear the truth and believe, undoubtedly with no merits preceding, lest grace not be grace. For if he had said, "Everyone who hears my voice is of the truth," he would be thought to be called of the truth for this reason, that he obeys the truth. But he did not say this; rather, he said, "Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice" (John XVIII, 37). And by this, he is not of the truth because he hears his voice; but he hears because he is of the truth, that is, because this gift has been conferred on him by the truth. And what is this other than: with Christ giving, he believes in Christ (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 4)?
CCCLXXIX. On love: we ought to love God.
Whoever loves himself and not God does not love himself; and whoever loves God and not himself, he loves himself. For he who cannot live from himself surely dies by loving himself; therefore he does not love himself, who loves himself so as not to live. But when that one is loved from whom one lives, he does not love himself more by loving himself, since for this reason he does not love himself, in order that he may love him from whom he lives (Aug. tract. in Joan., n. 4).
CCCLXXX. De indiviso Patris et Filii opere.
Quidquid illud est quod oportet Patrem agere ad Filium, non fit nisi per eumdem Filium: ad ipsum scilicet, quia filius hominis est, et faclus est inter omnia; per ipsum autem, quia FiliUs bei est, ei per illum fiunt a Patre omnia (Aug. lib. de Trinit. cap. 7, et lib. VII contra serm. Arian. c. it, n. 9).
CCCLXXXI [Alius CCCLXXIX, ante. CCCLXXVII J. Quomodo Filius subjectus erit Patri.
Non est mirum dicere Apostolum, etiam iii futuro sæculo Patri Filium subjectum futurum, ubi ait. Tunc et ipse subjectus erit ei, qui ilii subjecit omnia (I Ger; XV, 27). Quando quidem iri Filio forma humana mansura est, quasemper major estpater. Quamvis non defuerint, qui illam tunc Filii subjeothonem ipsius humanæ formæ Iri divinam subtantiam commutationem intelligendam putarunt, taniquam hoc cuique hei subjiciatur, quod in eam vertitur et mutatur sed intelligi patet, ideo magis dixisse Apostolum, etiam tunc Patri Filium, subjectum futurum, ne quis in eo putaret spiritum et curpus humanum conversione aliqua consumendum: at sit Dem omnia non tantum in illius forma hominis; sed in omnibus (Ibid. ), quando capitis gloria universum corpus implebit (Aug. I de trin. c. 8; lib. cont. serm. Arian. c. 27, et lib. II cont. Maxim. Arian. c. 18).
CCCLXXX. On the indivisible work of the Father and the Son.
Whatever it is that the Father must do in relation to the Son is done only through the same Son: in relation to him, that is, because he is the Son of Man and was made among all things; but through him, because he is the Son of God, all things are done for him by the Father through him.
CCCLXXXI. How the Son will be subject to the Father.
It is no wonder that the Apostle says that even in the age to come the Son will be subject to the Father, where he says, "Then even he himself will be subject to him who subjected all things to him." For in the Son the human form will remain, and the Father is always greater than it. Although there have not been lacking those who thought that subjection of the Son at that time should be understood as a change of that human form itself into the divine substance, as though each thing is subject to him in that it is turned and changed into him. But it is plainly to be understood that the Apostle said for this reason more especially that even then the Son will be subject to the Father, lest anyone suppose that in him the human spirit and body are to be consumed by some transformation; but that God may be all things not only in that form of man but in all things, when the glory of the head will fill the whole body.
CCCLXXXII. o Quod omnia bona ex Deo:
Quantacumque bona, quamvis magna, quamvis minima, nisi ex Deo esse non possunt. Quid enim majus in creaturis quam vita intelligens? aut quid minus potest esse quam corpus Quæ quantumlibet deficiant, et in id tendant ut non sint; tamen aliquid formæ illis remanet, ut quoquo modo sint. Quidquid autem formæ cujuspiam rei deficienti remanet fx illa forma est quæ nescit deficere, motusque Ipsos remrum deficientium vel proficientium excedere numerorum suorum leges non sint Quidquid igitur laudabile adveHitUr in rerum natura, sive exigua, sive ampla laude dignum judicetur, ad excellentissimam et ineffabilem laudem referendum est Conditoris (Aug. lib. II de Lib. Arb. t. 17).
CCCLXXXIII [Alius CCCLXXXI; ante CCCLXXIX].
u Quodpræscientia Dei neminem precare compellat. Neminem Deus ad peccandum cogit: prævidet tamen eos qui propria voluntate peccabunt. Cur ergo non vindicet justus quæ fieri hon coIit præscius? Sicut enimnemo memoria sua cogit facta esse quæ A præterierunt, sie Deus præscientia sua non cogit facienda quæ futura sunt. Et sicut homo quaedam quae fecit meminit, nec tamen omnia quae meminit a facit; ita Deus omnia quorum ipse auctor est, praescit, nec tamen omnium quæ præscit, ipse auctor est. Quorum autem non est malus auctor, justus est ultor (Aug. lib. III de Lib. Arb. c. 4).
CCCLXXXII. That all good things are from God:
Whatever good things there are, however great, however small, cannot exist except from God. For what in created things is greater than intelligent life? Or what can be less than a body? These things, however much they fail and tend toward not being, nevertheless retain something of form, so that they exist in some way. But whatever of form remains in any failing thing is that form which knows not how to fail, and the very motions of things failing or progressing cannot exceed the laws of their numbers. Whatever therefore is praiseworthy and is brought forth into the nature of things, whether it be judged worthy of slight or ample praise, must be referred to the most excellent and ineffable praise of the Creator (Aug. lib. II de Lib. Arb. t. 17).
CCCLXXXIII [Another CCCLXXXI; before CCCLXXIX].
That God's foreknowledge compels no one to sin. God compels no one to sin: yet he foreknows those who will sin by their own will. Why then does the just God not avenge what he, as foreknowing, does not cause to be done? For just as no one by his memory causes past things to have been done, so God by his foreknowledge does not cause future things to be done. And just as a man remembers certain things he has done, yet does not do all that he remembers; so God foreknows all things of which he himself is the author, yet he himself is not the author of all things that he foreknows. But of those things of which he is not the evil author, he is the just avenger (Aug. lib. III de Lib. Arb. c. 4).
GGGLIXXIV. De congnescendis creaturis quæ non videntur.
Humana anima naturaliter divinis ex quibus pendei connexa rationibus, eum dieit, Melius fieret hoc quam illud, si verum dicit, et videt, quod dicit, in illls supernis rationibus videt. Credat ergo Deum fecisse quod recto intellectu ab eo faciendum Misse e cognovit; etiam si hoc in rebus factis non videt. Quia etiam si cœlum oculis videre non posset, et tamen ratione vera tale aliquid faciendum fuisse colligeret, credere debuitd factum fuisse, quamvis id oculis non viderit. Non enim cogitatione cerneret faciendum fuisse, e nisi in his rationibus quibus facta sunt omnia. Qued autem ibi mon est, tam nemo potest vera cogitatione videre, quam non est (Aug. ibid., c. 5).
CCCLXXXV. I Quo remedio vulnera humana curentur.
Quid tam dignum misericordia quam miser, et quid tam indiguum misericordia quam superbus miser? i Ex quo factum est ut illud Dei Verbum, per quod facta sunt omnia, et quo fruitur omnis angelica beatitudo, usque ad miseriam nostram porrigeret clementiam suam, et Verbum caro fieret, et habitaret in nobis i Sic enim posset panem angelorum homo manducare nondum angelis adæquatus, si paI. ipse angelo rum hominibus dignaretur æquari.
CCCLXXXIV. On knowing the creatures that are not seen.
The human soul is by nature connected to the divine principles on which it depends. When it says, "This would be better than that," if it speaks truly and sees what it says, it sees it in those heavenly principles. Let it therefore believe that God has made what it has recognized by right reason ought to be made, even if it does not see this in the things that have been made. For even if it could not see the heaven with its eyes, and yet by true reason gathered that some such thing ought to have been made, it ought to have believed that it was made, although it did not see it with its eyes. For it would not perceive by thought that it ought to have been made, except in those principles by which all things were made. But what is not there, no one can see by true thought, just as it is not there.
CCCLXXXV. By what remedy human wounds are healed.
What is so worthy of mercy as the wretched man, and what is so unworthy of mercy as the proud wretched man? Hence it came about that that Word of God, through whom all things were made and in whom all angelic blessedness finds its delight, stretched out his clemency all the way to our wretchedness, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. For thus man could eat the bread of angels, not yet made equal to the angels, if he himself deigned to be made equal to angels for the sake of men.
Nec sic descendit ad nos, ut illos desereret; sed simul integer illis, integer nobis; illos intrinsecus pascens per id quod Deus est, nos forinsecus admonens per id quod nos sumus, idoneos facit per fidem, quos per speciem pascat æqualiter (Aug. ibid., c, 10).
CCCLXXXVI. Quod omne vilium est contra naturam.
Dubium non est, contra naturam esse omne vitium, etiam ejus rei cujus est vitium. Quapropter quoniam in quacumque re non vituperatur nisi vitium, ideo autem vitium est, quia a contra naturam ejus rei est cujus est vitium, nullius rei recte vituperatur vitium, nisi cujus natura laudatur. Non enim in vitio displicet, nisi quod corrumpit quod in natura placet (Aug. ibid.).
CCCLXXXVII. De pæna peccati.
Omni peccanti animae duo sunt pœnalia, ignorantia et difficultas. Ex ignorantia i depravat error, ex difficultate cruciatus affligit. Sed approbore falsa pro veris, at erret invitus, et, resistente repugna. tione camilis vinculi, non posse ab illicitis ope. ribus temperare, non est natura instituti hominis, sed pœna damnati (Aug. ibid., c. 18).
Nor did he so descend to us as to forsake them, but at once whole for them and whole for us; feeding them inwardly by what he is as God, and admonishing us outwardly by what we are as men, he makes fit through faith those whom through sight he may feed equally (Aug., ibid., c. 10).
CCCLXXXVI. That every fault is against nature.
There is no doubt that every fault is against nature, even of the thing whose fault it is. Wherefore, since in any thing nothing is blamed but a fault, and it is a fault for this reason, that it is against the nature of the thing whose fault it is, the fault of no thing is rightly blamed unless its nature is praised. For in a fault nothing displeases except that it corrupts what is pleasing in the nature (Aug., ibid.).
CCCLXXXVII. On the punishment of sin.
For every soul that sins there are two penalties: ignorance and difficulty. From ignorance, error depraves; from difficulty, torment afflicts. But to approve false things as true, so that one errs unwillingly, and, with the resistance of the opposing bond of the flesh, to be unable to refrain from illicit works, is not the nature of man as established, but the penalty of man as condemned (Aug., ibid., c. 18).
CCCLXXIVIII. aDe varietate remediorum.
Ut ars medicinæ, cum eadem maneat, neque ullo modo ipsa mutetur, mutat tamen præcepta languentibus, quia mutabilis est nostra valetudo; ita divina providentia, cum sit ipsa omnino incommutabilis, mulabili tamen creaturae varie subvenit, et, pro diversitate morborum, aliis alia jubet aut vetat: ut a vitio, unde mors incipit, et ab ipsa morte ad naturam suam et essentiam, ea quæ deliciunt, id est, ad nihilum tendunt, reducat et firmet (Aug. lib. de Vera Rel. c. 17).
CCCLXXXXIX Alias CCCLXXXVII, ante CCCLXXXV]. a De prinsevitio animæ.
Primum animae rationalis vitium est voluntas ea faciendi quae vetat summa et intima veritas, Ita homo de paradiso in hoc saeculum expulsus est, id est, ab aeterni. ad temporalia, a copiosis ad egena, a firmitaLe ad infirma. Non ergo a bono substantiali ad malum substantiale, quia nulla substantia malum est; sed a bono æterno ad bonum temporale; a bono spiritali ad bonum carnale; a bono intelligibili ad bonum sensibile; a bono summo ad bonum intimum. Est igitur quoddam bonum, quod si diligit anima rationatis, peccat; quia infra illam ordinatum est. Quare ipsum peccatum malum est, non ea substantia quæ peccando diligitur (Aug. lib. de Vera Rel. c. 20).
CCCLXXIVIII. On the variety of remedies.
As the art of medicine, though it remains the same and is in no way itself changed, nonetheless changes its prescriptions for the sick, because our health is changeable; so divine providence, though it is itself altogether unchangeable, nonetheless comes to the aid of changeable creation in various ways, and, according to the diversity of diseases, commands or forbids different things to different people: so that from the vice from which death begins, and from death itself, it may lead back and strengthen to its own nature and essence those things which slip away, that is, tend toward nothing (Aug., On True Religion, ch. 17).
CCCLXXXXIX, otherwise CCCLXXXVII, before CCCLXXXV. On the first vice of the soul.
The first vice of the rational soul is the will to do what the highest and inmost truth forbids. Thus man was expelled from paradise into this world, that is, from eternal things to temporal, from abundant to needy, from firm to weak. Not, therefore, from a substantial good to a substantial evil, because no substance is evil; but from an eternal good to a temporal good; from a spiritual good to a carnal good; from an intelligible good to a sensible good; from the highest good to the inmost good. There is, therefore, a certain good which, if the rational soul loves it, it sins; because it is ordered below it. Wherefore sin itself is evil, not that substance which is loved by sinning (Aug., On True Religion, ch. 20).
CCCXC. a De lege omnium arlium veritate.
Lex omnium artium cum sit omnino incommutabilis. mens vero humana, cui talem legem vidcre concessum est, mutabilitatem pati possit erroris, satis apparet, supra mentem nosiram esse legem, quæ veritas dicitur. Nec jam illud ambigendum est, incommutabilem naturam, quæ supra animam rationalem sii, Deum esse; et ibi es e primam vitam, et primam essentiam, ubi est prima sapientia. Nam haec est illa incommutabilis veritas, quæ lex omnium artium recte dicitur, et ars omnipotentis artiificis. Itaque cum se anima sentiat nec corporum spectem motumque judicare secundum se ipsam: simul opor. tet e agnoscat, præstare suam naturam ei naturæ, de qua judicat; præstare autem sibi eam naturam, secundum quam judicat, et de qua judicare nullo modo potest (Aug., ibid., c. et 31).
CCCXCI. Quo incitetur cor ad discendum.
CCCXC. From the law of all arts, which is truth.
Since the law of all arts is altogether unchangeable, but the human mind, to which it has been granted to see such a law, can suffer the mutability of error, it is sufficiently apparent that the law which is called truth is above our mind. Nor must it any longer be doubted that the unchangeable nature which is above the rational soul is God; and there is the first life and the first essence, where there is the first wisdom. For this is that unchangeable truth which is rightly called the law of all arts, and the art of the almighty Artificer. Therefore, since the soul perceives itself and judges the appearance and motion of bodies not according to itself, it must at the same time acknowledge that its own nature is inferior to that nature about which it judges; but that nature is superior to itself according to which it judges, and about which it can in no way judge (Aug., ibid., ch. 31).
CCCXCI. By what the heart is stirred to learn.
Ad discendum necessario dupliciter ducimur, auctoritate atque ratione. Tempore auctoritis, re autem ratio prior esl. Aliud est enim quod in agendo anteponitur, aliud quod pluris in appetendo æstimatur. Quiaergo et principium sapientiæ timor Domini est (Prov i, 7), et per humilitatem ad sublimia gradus est; incedat humana ignorantia per fidem ut mereatur fides videre quodcredit (Aug. lib. II de Ordine c. 9).
CCCXCII. e De divitiis, etc., non superbiendum.
Divitiis flores, et majorum nobilitate te jactas, et exsultas de patria. et pulchritudine corporis, et honoribus qui tibi ab hominibus deferuntur: respice te ipsum, quia mortalis es, et quia terra es, et in terram ibis. Circumspice eos qui ante te similibus splendoribus fulsere. Ubi sunt quos ambiebant civium potentatus? Ubi insuperabiles imperatores? ubi qui conventus disponebant. et festa? ubi equorum splendidi I invectores? exercituum duces. satrapæ, tyranni? non omnia pulvis? non omnia favillæ? non iu paucis ossibus eorum vitæ memoria est? Respice sepulcra, et vide quis servus, quis do. minus, quis pauper, quis dives. Discerne, si potes, vinctum a rege, fortem a debili, pulchrum a deformi. i Memor itaque naturae, non estollaris aliquando. Memor autem eris si te ipsum respexeris.
We are necessarily led to learning in two ways: by authority and by reason. In time, authority comes first; in reality, however, reason is prior. For one thing is what is put first in action, another what is valued more highly in desire. Since, therefore, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 1:7), and through humility there is a step up to sublime things, let human ignorance advance through faith, so that faith may merit to see what it believes (Aug., On Order, Book II, ch. 9).
CCCXCII. On riches, etc., that one should not be proud.
You flourish in riches, and you boast of the nobility of your ancestors, and you exult in your native land, and in the beauty of your body, and in the honors that are conferred on you by men: look upon yourself, because you are mortal, and because you are earth, and to earth you shall go. Look around at those who before you shone with similar splendors. Where are those whom the power of citizens courted? Where are the invincible emperors? Where are those who arranged gatherings and feasts? Where are the splendid riders of horses, the commanders of armies, satraps, tyrants? Are they not all dust? Are they not all embers? Is not the memory of their life preserved in a few bones? Look at the tombs, and see who is a slave, who a master, who a poor man, who a rich man. Distinguish, if you can, the bound man from the king, the strong from the weak, the beautiful from the deformed. Mindful, therefore, of your nature, do not be puffed up at any time. But you will be mindful if you have looked upon yourself.
ADMONITIO IN S. PROSPERI EX SENTENTIIS S. AUGUSTINI EPIGRAMMATUM LIBRUM.
Epigrammata sex supra centum, quorum singulis argumentum ex selectU inter Augustini sententias præponitur, vel ex eo solo Prosperi esse judicaremur. Sed in tota illorum serie ita gratiæ divinæ dogmatibus aut explicandis aut defendendis intentus est Noster, adeoque pristinis conceptibus retractandis assuefactus, ut ex omni bus operæ luneis sese proderet inter millenos interne scendum, esti omnes usquenquaque mss. codices, omnesqueedinones, et ætates talem non præferrent. Hoc tot dem verbis de isto opere judicum pronuntiat Josephus Antelmius, de quo tam sæpe mentio, dissert. 9, quæ est de poetice sancti Prosperi. inter Dissertationes Criticas in opera SS. PP. Leonis et Prosperi.
Que autem consilio. quove cum fructu id tentaverit, facile judicabit lector æquus et prudens: cum intelligit id unum intendisse virum in omnibus suæ aliorumque ætificut oni intentum, ut scilicet præcipuæ sententiarum superiori libro editarum partes.
ADMONITION CONCERNING THE BOOK OF EPIGRAMS OF SAINT PROSPER DRAWN FROM THE SENTENCES OF SAINT AUGUSTINE.
There are more than six hundred epigrams, to each of which an argument drawn from a selection among Augustine's sentences is prefixed, and from this alone we would judge them to be Prosper's. But throughout that entire series our author is so intent on explaining or defending the doctrines of divine grace, and so accustomed to retracting his earlier conceptions, that from every part of his work he would reveal himself among thousands to be inwardly... [text corrupt], even if all manuscripts everywhere, all editions, and all ages did not present such a one. This is the judgment pronounced in so many words concerning this work by Joseph Antelmius, of whom mention is so often made, in dissertation 9, which concerns the poetry of Saint Prosper, among the Critical Dissertations on the works of the holy Fathers Leo and Prosper.
With what design, however, and with what fruit he attempted it, the fair and prudent reader will easily judge, when he understands that the man, intent in all things upon the edification of himself and others, intended this one thing, namely that the principal parts of the sentences published in the preceding book...
non tantum venæ poeticæ exercendæ,.,iter assumerentur, verum etiam ut ex tali scribendi genere eadem et tenacius animo inhærerent, et suavius memoriæ commendarentur, ab his xime quibus co di est Carminum elegantia; quorum acumen et virtus hominum mentes tangit fortius, corda quoque efficacius afficit nativæ suavitati utilitatem veram et duraturam adjungens, qua re nihil ad informandos mores Mutius, juxta illud poetæ: Omne, tulLi punctum qui miscuit utile dalci.
Vel potius, cum in usum spiritalis sapientiæ edocendæ poesis assumitur, id sibi eo nomine merito usurpat quod Sap. VIII. 8, dicitur de ipsa sapientia, Sobrietatem et prudentiam docet, et justitiam et virtutem, quibus utilius nihil est in vIta hominibus. Et infra, Non habet amaritudinem conversatio illius [sapientiæ], sed lætitiam et gaudium. Et aahnc inferius, Immortalitas est in cognatione sapientiæ, et in amicitia illius delectatio bona. Quae omnia soli illi, sapientiæ, quæ in sanctorum operibus elucet, vere conveniunt.
...they would be undertaken not only to exercise the poetic vein, but also so that from such a kind of writing the same things might adhere more tenaciously to the mind and be commended more sweetly to the memory, especially by those in whom there is the elegance of songs; whose sharpness and power touches the minds of men more strongly and affects hearts more effectively, joining true and lasting usefulness to native sweetness, than which nothing is more effective for forming morals, according to that saying of the poet: He who has mixed the useful with the sweet carries off every point.
Or rather, when poetry is taken up for the use of teaching spiritual wisdom, it rightly claims for itself on that account what is said of wisdom herself in Wisdom 8:8, She teaches sobriety and prudence, and justice and virtue, than which nothing is more useful in the life of men. And below: Her conversation has no bitterness, but joy and gladness. And still further below: Immortality is in kinship with wisdom, and in friendship with her is good delight. All these things truly befit that wisdom alone which shines forth in the works of the saints.
Banc sibi tali in opere mentem fuisse satis indicat sanctissimus vates noster in Præfatione cunctis Epigrammatis sequentibus prævia, cum ait primo: Dum sacris mentem placet exercere loquelis, Cœlestique animum pascere pane Juvat.
Quidquid autem recti fuerit, quidquid laude dignum ibi reperiatur, totum illud ad supernum fontem unde effluxerat refluere vult omnino et satagit iterum in sequentibus, cum summa grati animi significatione canens: Nec nostræ hoc opis est, sed ab illo sumitur hic ros, Qui siccam rupem findere jussit aquis.
Cum autem alicubi, id est, epigrammatis et videatur sanctus Prosper Eutychianos impugnare, quibus non placuit corpus Christi corpori nostro fateri consubstantiale, dam sic scribit:I Hinc Verbum carni inserturn, mortemque receptaM, Nec se confundit corpope, nec geminat. Sic naturam hominis virtute augente superna. Esset ut in vero lumine lumen hnmo. Qui vires mortis cum vitæ absorbuit haustu; Factum est æternum quod fuit occiduum.
That this was his mind in such a work the most holy bard sufficiently indicates in the Preface preceding all the Epigrams that follow, when he says first: "While it pleases me to exercise my mind in sacred speech, and to feed my soul with heavenly bread, it delights me."
But whatever of right there is, whatever is found there worthy of praise, all of it he wishes wholly to flow back to the heavenly fount from which it had flowed out, and he strives again in the following verses, singing with the greatest expression of a grateful mind: "Nor is this of our own power, but from him is this dew taken, who commanded the dry rock to split with waters."
But when somewhere, that is, in an epigram, the holy Prosper is seen to attack the Eutychians, to whom it was not pleasing to confess that the body of Christ is consubstantial with our body, he writes thus: "Hence the Word inserted into flesh, and having received death, neither confounds itself with the body, nor doubles it. Thus with heavenly power increasing the nature of man, so that in the true light man might be light. He who absorbed the powers of death with the draught of life; what was setting has become eternal.
EI pressius epigrammate sequenti: Quisquis consilio æterno contraria sentis, Et Verbum iu nostra carn manere Degas; Divinae pietatis opus dissolvere quæris, Speque sna mundum dispoliare cupis. Nam quis ventura quemquam salvabit ab ira, Quisve hominis primi crimine liber erit; Si deitas Verbi nostrae non est insita rarni, Aut Christus falsi corporis umbra fuit?, Quis genitus puer est intactae Virginis alvo? Quae natura annis crevit et aucta cihis? In qua prole patrem mundi se credidit Ahram? Quæve ejus stirps esi omnia sanctificans? Quod regale genus simul est et pontificale? Quisve idem David filius et Dominus, Peccati servis, et mortis compede vinctis Unum est dignatus ferre Redemptor orem? Qui nostri generis carnem cum morte receptans, Nostra hosti, ut nobis I inceret, opposuit. Et carne exuta dominantem perculit hostem, Ut caperet palmam praeda vetusta novam.
In the next epigram, more pressingly: "Whoever you are who think things contrary to the eternal counsel, and deny that the Word remains in our flesh, you seek to dissolve the work of divine goodness, and with your own hope you desire to despoil the world. For who will save anyone from the wrath to come, or who will be freed from the crime of the first man, if the Godhead of the Word is not implanted in our flesh, or if Christ was the shadow of a false body? Who is the son born to the untouched womb of a Virgin? What nature grew with years and increased by foods? In what offspring did Abraham believe himself the father of the world? And what stock of his is it that sanctifies all things? What royal race is at once also priestly? And who is the same son and lord of David, who deigned to bear the one Redeemer for slaves of sin and those bound by the chain of death? He, receiving the flesh of our race together with death, opposed it to our enemy, that he might strike for us. And having put off the flesh, he struck down the enemy who ruled, that ancient prey might take new palm.
Ex his omnibus non aegre conjicias, hoc opus non longe ante tempus concilii Chalcedonensis, quod anno congregatum constat, fuisse exaraturi. Cum aliunde certum fiat S. Prosperum hujusce concilii temporibus supervixisse.
From all these things you may readily infer that this work was written not long before the time of the Council of Chalcedon, which is established to have been convened in the year. Since from another source it is certain that St. Prosper survived into the times of this council.