Chapter 9.—35. As to the charge that they bring against us, that we covet and plunder their possessions, I would that they would become Catholics, and possess in peace and love with us, not only what they call theirs, but also what confessedly belongs to us. But they are so blinded with the desire of uttering calumnies, that they do not observe how inconsistent their statements are with one another. At any rate, they assert, and seem to make
it a subject of most invidious complaint among themselves, that we constrain them to come in to our communion by the violent authority of the laws,—which we certainly should not do by any means, if we wished to gain possession of their property. What avaricious man ever wished for another to share his possessions? Who that was inflamed with the desire of empire, or elated by the pride of its possession, ever wished to have a partner? Let them at any rate look on those very men who once
belonged to them, but now are our brethren joined to us by the bond of fraternal affection, and see how they hold not only what they used to have, but also what was ours, which they did not have before; which yet, if we are living as poor in fellowship with poor, belongs to us and them alike; whilst, if we possess of our private means enough for our wants, it is no longer ours, inasmuch as we do not commit so infamous an act of usurpation as to claim for our own the property of the poor, for
whom we are in some sense the trustees.
36. Everything, therefore, that was held in the name of the churches of the party of Donatus, was ordered by the Christian emperors, in their pious laws, to pass to the Catholic Church, with the possession of the buildings themselves.2529
| 2529
Cod. Theod. Lib. xvi. tit. v., de Hæreticis, 52.
|
Seeing, then, that there are with us
poor members of those said
churches who used to be maintained by these same paltry possessions, let them rather cease themselves to
covet what
belongs to others whilst they remain outside, and so let them enter within the
bond of
unity, that we may all alike
administer, not only the property which they call their own, but also with it what is asserted to be ours. For it is written "All are yours; and ye are
Christ’s; and
Christ is
God’s."
2530
Under Him as our Head, let us all be one in His one body; and in all such matters as you speak of, let us follow the example which is
recorded in the Acts of the
Apostles: "They were of one
heart and of one
soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he
possessed was his own; but they had all things common."
2531
Let us
love what we
sing: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together in
unity!"
2532
that so they may know, by their own experience, with what
perfect truth their mother, the Catholic
Church, calls out to them what the
blessed apostle writes to the Corinthians: "I
seek not yours, but you."
2533
37. But if we consider what is said in the Book of Wisdom, "Therefore the righteous spoiled the ungodly;"2534
and also what is said in the
Proverbs, "The
wealth of the
sinner is laid up for the just;"
2535
then we shall see that the
question is not, who are in possession of the property of the
heretics? but who are in the society of the just? We know, indeed, that the Donatists arrogate to themselves such a store of
justice, that they
boast not only that they possess it, but that they also bestow it upon other men. For they say that any one whom they have
baptized is justified by them, after which there is nothing left for them but to say to the person who is
baptized by
them that he must needs believe on him who has
administered the sacrament; for why should he not do so, when the
apostle says, "To him that believeth on Him that justifieth the
ungodly, his
faith is
counted for
righteousness?"
2536
Let him believe, therefore, upon the man by whom he is
baptized, if it be none else that justifies him, that his
faith may be
counted for
righteousness. But I think that even they themselves would look with horror on themselves, if they ventured for a moment to
entertain such thoughts as these. For there is none that is just and able to
justify,
save God alone. But the same might be said of them that the
apostle says of the
Jews, that "being
ignorant of
God’s
righteousness, and going about to establish their own
righteousness, they have not submitted themselves unto the
righteousness of
God."
2537
38. But far be it from us that any one of our number should call himself in such wise just, that he should either go about to establish his own righteousness, as though it were conferred upon him by himself, whereas it is said to him, "For what hast thou that thou didst not receive?"2538
or venture to
boast himself as being without
sin in this
world, as the Donatists themselves declared in our conference that they were members of a
Church which has already neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing,
2539
—not knowing that this is only fulfilled in those individuals who depart out of this body immediately after
baptism, or after the
forgiveness of
sins, for which we make petition in our prayers; but that for the
Church, as a whole, the time will not come when it shall be altogether without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, till the day when we shall hear the words, "O
death, where is thy
sting? O
grave, where is thy
victory? The
sting of
death is
sin."
2540
39. But in this life, when the corruptible body presseth down the soul,2541
if their
Church is already of such a character as they maintain, they would not utter unto
God the prayer which our
Lord has taught us to employ: "
Forgive us our
debts."
2542
For since all
sins have been remitted in
baptism, why does the
Church make this petition, if already, even in this
life, it has neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing? They would also have a
fight to
despise the warning of the
Apostle John, when he
cries out in his
epistle, "If we say that we have no
sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. But if we confess our
sins, He is
faithful and just to
forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness."
2543
On account of this
hope, the universal
Church utters the petition, "
Forgive us our
debts," that when He sees that we are not vainglorious, but ready to confess our
sins, He may cleanse us from all
unrighteousness, and that so the
Lord Jesus Christ may show to Himself in that day a glorious
Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, which now He cleanses with the washing of
water in the word: because, on the one
hand, there is nothing that remains behind in
baptism to
hinder the
forgiveness of every bygone
sin (so long, that is, as
baptism is not received to no effect without the
Church, but is either
administered within the
Church, or, at least, if it has been already
administered without, the recipient does not remain outside with it); and, on the other
hand, whatever
pollution of
sin, of whatsoever
kind, is contracted through the
weakness of human
nature by those who
live here after
baptism, is cleansed away in
virtue of the same laver’s
efficacy. For neither is it of any avail for one who has not been
baptized to say, "
Forgive us our
debts."
40. Accordingly, He so now cleanses His Church by the washing of water in the word, that He may hereafter show it to Himself as not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing,—altogether beautiful, that is to say, and in absolute perfection, when death shall be "swallowed up in victory."2544
Now, therefore, in so
far as the
life is flourishing within us that proceeds from our being
born of
God, living by
faith, so
far we are
righteous; but in so
far as we drag along with us the traces of our
mortal nature as derived from
Adam, so
far we cannot be free from
sin. For there is
truth both in the statement that "whosoever is
born of
God doth not
commit sin,"
2545
and also in the former statement, that "if we say that we have no
sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us."
2546
The
Lord Jesus, therefore, is both
righteous and able to
justify; but we are justified freely by no other
grace than His.
2547
For there is nothing that justifieth
save His body, which is the
Church; and therefore, if the body of
Christ bears off the
spoils of the
unrighteous, and the
riches of the
unrighteous are laid up in store as
treasures for the body of
Christ, the
unrighteous ought not therefore to remain outside, but rather to enter within, that so they may be justified.
41. Whence also we may be sure that what is written concerning the day of judgment, "Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted him, and made no account of his labors,"2548
is not to be taken in such a sense as that the Canaanite shall stand before the face of
Israel, though
Israel made no account of the
labors of the Canaanite; but only as that Naboth shall stand before the face of
Ahab, since
Ahab made no account of the
labors of Naboth, since the Canaanite was
unrighteous, while Naboth was a
righteous man. In the same way the
heathen shall not stand before the face of the
Christian, who made no account of his
labors, when the
temples of the
idols were plundered and
destroyed; but the
Christian shall stand before the face of the
heathen, who made no account of his
labors, when the bodies of the martyrs were laid low in
death. In the same way, therefore, the heretic shall not stand in the face of the Catholic, who made no account of his
labors, when the
laws of the Catholic
emperors were put in force; but the Catholic shall stand in the face of the heretic, who made no account of his
labors when the madness of
the
ungodly Circumcelliones was allowed to have its way. For the passage of Scripture decides the
question in itself, seeing that it does not say, Then shall men stand, but "Then shall the
righteous stand;" and they shall stand "in great
boldness" because they stand in the
power of a good conscience.
42. But in this world no one is righteous by his own righteousness,—that is, as though it were wrought by himself and for himself; but as the apostle says, "According as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." But then he goes on to add the following: "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office; so we, being many, are one body in Christ."2549
And according to this
doctrine, no one can be
righteous so long as he is separated from the
unity of this body. For in the same manner as if a limb be
cut off from the body of a living man, it cannot any longer retain the spirit of
life; so the man who is
cut off from the body of
Christ, who is
righteous, can in no
wise retain the spirit of
righteousness, even if he retain the form of membership which he received when in the body. Let them therefore come into the
framework of this body, and so possess their own
labors, not through the
lust of lordship, but through the
godliness of using them aright. But we, as has been said before, cleanse our wills from the
pollution of this concupiscence, even in the
judgment of any
enemy you please to name as
judge, seeing that we use our utmost efforts in entreating the very men of whose labors we avail ourselves to enjoy with us, within the society of the Catholic Church, the fruits both of their labors and of our
own.
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