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| Similitude Sixth. Of the Two Classes of Voluptuous Men, and of Their Death, Falling Away, and the Duration of Their Punishment.
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Similitude Sixth.
Of the Two Classes of Voluptuous Men, and of Their
Death, Falling Away, and the Duration of Their Punishment.
Chap. I.
Sitting in my house, and glorifying the Lord for
all that I had seen, and reflecting on the commandments, that they are
excellent, and powerful, and glorious, and able to save a man’s
soul, I said within myself, “I shall be blessed if I walk in these
commandments, and every one who walks in them will be blessed.”
While I was saying these words to myself, I suddenly see him sitting
beside me, and hear him thus speak: “Why are you in doubt about the
commandments which I gave you? They are excellent: have no doubt about
them at all, but put on faith in the Lord, and you will walk in them,
for I will strengthen you in them. These commandments are beneficial
to those who intend to repent: for if they do not walk in them, their
repentance is in vain. You, therefore, who repent cast away the wickedness
of this world which wears you out; and by putting on all the virtues of
a holy life, you will be able to keep these commandments, and will no
longer add to the number of your sins. Walk,289
| 289 The Vatican has a sentence before this: “For if
you sin not afterwards, you will greatly fall away from your former
[transgressions].” | therefore, in these commandments of
mine, and you will live unto God. All these things have been spoken to
you by me.” And after he had uttered these words, he said to me,
“Let us go into the fields, and I will show you the shepherds of the
flocks.” “Let us go, sir,” I replied. And we came to
a certain plain, and he showed me a young man, a shepherd, clothed in a
suit of garments of a yellow colour: and he was herding very many sheep,
and these sheep were feeding luxuriously, as it were, and riotously,
and merrily skipping hither and thither. The shepherd himself was merry,
because of his flock; and the appearance of the shepherd was joyous, and
he was running about amongst his flock. [And other sheep I saw rioting
and luxuriating in one place, but not, however, leaping about.290
| 290 Found only in Pseudo-Athanasius. It
occurs in none of the translations. | ]
Chap. II.
And he said to me, “Do you see this
shepherd?” “I see him, sir,” I said. “This,”
he answered, “is the angel291
of luxury
and deceit:
he wears out the souls of the servants of
God, and perverts them from the truth, deceiving them with wicked desires,
through which they will perish; for they forget the commandments of the
living God, and walk in deceits and empty luxuries; and they are ruined by
the angel, some being brought to death, others to corruption.”292
| 292 καταφθοράν,
translated in Pal. And Vat. by defectio, apostasy,
as departure from goodness and truth. The Æthiopic has
“ruin.” | I said to him, “Sir, I
do not know the meaning of these words, ‘to death, and to
corruption.’” “Listen,” he said. “The
sheep which you saw merry and leaping about, are those which have
torn themselves away from God for ever, and have delivered themselves
over to luxuries and deceits293
| 293
Of … deceit, omitted in Lips. Our translation is made from
the Vat. | [of this world. Among them there is no return to
life through repentance, because they have added to their other sins,
and blasphemed the name of the Lord. Such men therefore, are appointed
unto death.294
| 294 Pseudo-Athanasius
has, “of such men the life is death.” | And the
sheep which you saw not leaping, but feeding in one place, are they
who have delivered themselves over to luxury and deceit], but have
committed no blasphemy against the Lord. These have been perverted
from the truth: among them there is the hope of repentance, by which
it is possible to live. Corruption, then, has a hope of a kind of
renewal,295
| 295 Pseudo-Athanasius has,
“Corruption, therefore, has a hope of resurrection up to a certain
point.” [Death here must mean final apostasy (Heb. vi. 4–6, x.
26–31, xii. 15–17). But a certain death-in-life, which is
not final, is instanced in Rev. iii. 1; note also 1 John iii. 14, 15, v.
16, 17.] | but death has everlasting ruin.” Again I went
forward a little way, and he showed me a tall shepherd, somewhat savage
in his appearance, clothed in a white goatskin, and having a wallet on
his shoulders, and a very hard staff with branches, and a large whip. And
he had a very sour look, so that I was afraid of him, so forbidding was
his aspect. This shepherd, accordingly, was receiving the sheep from the
young shepherd, those, viz., that were rioting and luxuriating, but not
leaping; and he cast them into a precipitous place, full of thistles and
thorns, so that it was impossible to extricate the sheep from the thorns
and thistles; but they were completely entangled amongst them. These,
accordingly, thus entangled, pastured amongst the thorns and thistles,
and were exceedingly miserable, being beaten by him; and he drove them
hither and thither, and gave them no rest; and, altogether, these sheep
were in a wretched plight.
Chap. III.
Seeing them, therefore, so beaten and so badly used,
I was grieved for them, because they were so tormented, and had no
rest at all. And I said to the Shepherd who talked with me, “Sir,
who is this shepherd, who is so pitiless and severe, and so completely
devoid of compassion for these sheep?” “This,” he
replied, “is the angel of punishment;296
and he belongs to the just
angels, and is appointed to punish. He accordingly takes those who
wander away from God, and who have walked in the desires and deceits
of this world, and chastises them as they deserve with terrible and
diverse punishments.” “I would know, sir,” I said,
“Of what nature are these diverse tortures and punishments?”
“Hear,” he said, “the various tortures and
punishments. The tortures are such as occur during life.297
For some are punished with losses, others with
want, others with sicknesses of various kinds, and others with all
kinds of disorder and confusion; others are insulted by unworthy
persons, and exposed to suffering in many other ways: for many,
becoming unstable in their plans, try many things, and none of
them at all succeed, and they say they are not prosperous in their
undertakings; and it does not occur to their minds that they have
done evil deeds, but they blame the Lord.298
| 298 Pseudo-Athanasius has: “And they cannot bear
for the rest of their days to turn and serve the Lord with a pure
heart. But if they repent and become sober again, then they understand
that they were not prosperous on account of their evil deeds; and
so they glorify the Lord, because He is a just Judge, and because
they suffered justly, and were punished (ἐπαιδεύθησαν)
according to their deeds.” | When, therefore, they have
been afflicted with all kinds of affliction, then are they delivered unto
me for good training, and they are made strong in the faith of the Lord;
and299
| 299 The Vatican inserts the
following sentence before this: “And when they begin to repent
of their sins, then the works in which they have wickedly exercised
themselves arise in their hearts; and then they give honour to God,
saying that He is a just Judge, and that they have deservedly suffered
everything according to their deeds.” So does Pal. The Æthiopic
becomes very condensed in this portion. [Note this class of offenders,
having suffered remedial chastisement, are not delivered over the
Satan finally, but “delivered unto me (the angel of repentance)
for good training.”] | for the rest of the days of their
life they are subject to the Lord with pure hearts, and are successful
in all their undertakings, obtaining from the Lord everything they ask;
and then they glorify the Lord, that they were delivered to me, and no
longer suffer any evil.”
Chap. IV.
I said to him, “Sir, explain this also to
me.” “What is it you ask?” he said. “Whether,
sir,” I continued, “they who indulge in luxury,
and who are deceived, are tortured for the same period of time
that they have indulged in luxury and deceit?” He said
to me, “They are tortured in the same manner.”300
| 300 τρόπον.
The Vat. and Pal. have, “for the same time” (per idem
tempus). | [“They are tormented
much less, sir,” I replied;301
]
“for those who are so luxurious and who forget God ought to be
tortured seven-fold.” He said to me “You are foolish, and
do not understand the power of torment.” “Why, sir,”
I said, “if I had understood it, I would not have asked you
to show me.” “Hear,” he said, “the power
of both. The time of luxury and deceit is one hour; but the hour of
torment is equivalent to thirty days. If, accordingly, a man indulge
in luxury for one day, and be deceived and be tortured for one day,
the day of his torture is equivalent to a whole year. For all the
days of luxury, therefore, there are as many years of torture to be
undergone. You see, then,” he continued, “that the time of
luxury and deceit is very short,302
| 302
Pseudo-Athanasius has “nothing” (οὐδέν)
instead of ἐλάχιστος. |
but that of punishment and torture long.”
Chap. V.
“Still,” I said, “I do not quite
understand about the time of deceit, and luxury, and torture; explain it
to me more clearly.” He answered, and said to me, “Your folly
is persistent; and you do not wish to purify your heart, and serve God.
Have a care,” he added, “lest the time be fulfilled, and
you be found foolish. Hear now,” he added, “as you desire,
that you may understand these things. He who indulges in luxury, and is
deceived for one day, and who does what he wishes, is clothed with much
foolishness, and does not understand the act which he does until the
morrow; for he forgets what he did the day before. For luxury and deceit
have no memories, on account of the folly with which they are clothed;
but when punishment and torture cleave to a man for one day, he is
punished and tortured for a year; for punishment and torture have powerful
memories. While tortured and punished, therefore, for a whole year, he
remembers at last303
his luxury and deceit, and knows
that on their account he suffers evil. Every man, therefore, who is
luxurious and deceived is thus tormented, because, although having life,
they have given themselves over to death.” “What kinds of
luxury, sir,” I asked, “are hurtful?” “Every act
of a man which he performs with pleasure,” he replied, “is
an act of luxury; for the sharp-tempered man, when gratifying his
tendency, indulges in luxury; and the adulterer, and the drunkard, and
the back-biter, and the liar, and the covetous man, and the thief, and
he who does things like these, gratifies his peculiar propensity, and in
so doing indulges in luxury. All these acts of luxury are hurtful to the
servants of God. On account of these deceits, therefore, do they suffer,
who are punished and tortured. And there are also acts of luxury which
save men; for many who do good indulge in luxury, being carried away by
their own pleasure:304
| 304 [Ps. iv. 6,
7, cxix. 14, lxxxiv. 10. Dr. Doddridge’s epigram on Dum Vivimus
Vivamus will be brought to mind.] | this luxury, however,
is beneficial to the servants of God, and gains life for such a man;
but the injurious acts of luxury before enumerated bring tortures and
punishment upon them; and if they continue in them and do not repent,
they bring death upon themselves.”E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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