Chapter XXIV.
78. Here, therefore, those who promise a wisdom and a knowledge of the truth which they do not possess, are especially to be guarded against; as, for instance, heretics, who frequently commend themselves on account of their fewness. And hence, when He had said that there are few who find the strait gate and the narrow way, lest they [the heretics] should falsely substitute themselves under the pretext of their fewness, He immediately added, “Beware of false
prophets,462
| 462 Cavete a pseudoprophetis; Vulgate, attendite a falsis prophetis.
|
which come to you in
sheep’s
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves.” But such parties do not
deceive the single
eye, which knows how to distinguish a
tree by its fruits. For He says: “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” Then He adds the similitudes: “Do men
gather grapes of
thorns, or
figs of
thistles? Even so, every good
tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a
corrupt tree bringeth forth
evil fruit. A good
tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every
tree that bringeth not forth good fruit
463
| 463 Excellency of fruitage is sanctity of life (Bonitas fructuum est sanctitas vitæ (Bengel).
|
is hewn down, and cast into the
fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
79. And in [the interpretation of] this passage we must be very much on our guard against the error of those who judge from these same two trees that there are two original natures, the one of which belongs to God, but the other neither belongs to God nor springs from Him. And this error has both been already discussed in other books [of ours]464
| 464 More particularly his works against the Manichæans, Contra Faustum Manichæum, etc. Augustin also made much use of this passage against the Pelagians, to show that the will must be aided to produce good thoughts and deeds; that the unregenerate man is incapable of restoring himself.
|
very copiously, and if that is still too little, will be discussed again; but at present we have merely to show that the two
trees before us do not help them. In the first place, because it is so clear that He is speaking of men, that whoever reads what goes before and what follows will wonder at their
blindness. Secondly, they
fix their attention on what is said, “A good
tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit,” and
therefore think that neither can it happen that an
evil soul should be changed into something better, nor a good one into something worse; as if it were said, A good
tree cannot become
evil, nor an
evil tree good. But it is said, “A good
tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” For the
tree is certainly the
soul itself,
i.e. the man himself, but the fruits are the works of the man; an
evil man, therefore, cannot perform good works, nor a
good man
evil works. If an
evil man, therefore, wishes to perform good works, let him first become good. So the
Lord Himself says in another passage more plainly: “Either make the
tree good, or make the
tree bad.” But if He were figuratively representing the two natures of such parties by these two
trees, He would not say, “Make:” for who of the sons of men can make a
nature? Then also in that passage, when He had made mention of these two
trees, He added, “Ye
hypocrites, how can ye,
being
evil, speak good things?”
465
As long, therefore, as any one is
evil, he cannot bring forth good fruits; for if he were to bring forth good fruits, he would no longer be
evil. So it might most truly have been said,
snow cannot be
warm; for when it begins to be
warm, we no longer call it
snow, but
water. It may therefore come about, that what was
snow is no longer so; but it cannot happen that
snow should be
warm. So it may come about, that he who was
evil is no longer
evil; it cannot, however, happen
that an
evil man should do good. And although he is sometimes useful, this is not the man’s own doing; but it is done through him, in
virtue of the arrangements of
divine providence: as, for instance, it is said of the
Pharisees, “What they bid you, do; but what they do, do not consent to do.” This very circumstance, that they spoke things that were good, and that the things which they spoke were usefully listened to and done, was not a matter belonging to them: for, says He, “they sit
in
Moses’ seat.”
466
It was, therefore, when engaged through
divine providence in
preaching the
law of
God, that they were able to be useful to their hearers, although they were not so to themselves. Respecting such it is said in another place by the
prophet, “They have sown
wheat, but shall
reap thorns;”
467
because they
teach what is good, and do what is
evil. Those, therefore, who listened to them, and did what was said by them, did not
gather grapes of
thorns, but through the
thorns gathered
grapes of the
vine: just as, were any one to thrust his
hand through a hedge, or were at least to
gather a
grape from a
vine which was
entangled in a hedge, that would not be the fruit of the
thorns, but of the
vine.
80. The question, indeed, is most rightly put, What are the fruits He would wish us to attend to, whereby we might know the tree? For many reckon among the fruits certain things which belong to the sheep’s clothing, and in this way are deceived by wolves: as, for instance, either fastings, or prayers, or almsgivings; but unless all of these things could be done even by hypocrites, He would not say above, “Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be
seen of them.” And after prefixing this sentence, He goes on to speak of those very three things, almsgiving, prayer, fasting. For many give largely to the poor, not from compassion, but from vanity; and many pray, or rather seem to pray, while not keeping God in view, but desiring to please men; and many fast, and make a wonderful show of abstinence before those to whom such things appear difficult, and by whom they are reckoned worthy of honour: and catch them with artifices of this sort,
while they hold up to view one thing for the purpose of deceiving, and put forth another for the purpose of preying upon or killing those who cannot see the wolves under that sheep’s clothing. These, therefore, are not the fruits by which He admonishes us that the tree is known. For such things, when they are done with a good intention in sincerity, are the appropriate clothing of sheep; but when they are done in wicked deception, they cover nothing else but wolves. But the sheep ought not on
this account to hate their own clothing, because the wolves often conceal themselves therein.
81. What the fruits are by the finding of which we may know an evil tree, the apostle tells us: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adulteries, fornications, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatreds, variances, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall
not inherit the kingdom of God.” And what the fruits are by which we may know a good tree, the very same apostle goes on to tell us: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.”468
It must be known, indeed, that “
joy” stands here in a
strict and proper sense; for bad men are, strictly speaking, not said to
rejoice, but to make extravagant demonstrations of
joy: just as we have said above, that “will” which the
wicked do not possess, stands in a
strict sense where it is said, “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” In accordance with that
strict sense of the word, in
virtue of which
joy is spoken of
only in the good, the
prophet also speaks, saying: “Rejoicing is not for the
wicked, saith the
Lord.”
469
So also “
faith” stands, not certainly as meaning any
kind of it, but true
faith: and the other things which find a place here have certain resemblances of their own in bad men and
deceivers; so that they entirely mislead, unless one has the pure and single eye by which he may know such things. It is accordingly the best arrangement, that the cleansing of the eye is first discussed, and then mention is made of what things were to be guarded against.
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