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| In his “Best mode of Translation” he relies on the opinions of Cicero and Horace.
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8. Take the treatise which2944
he entitles “On the best mode of
translating,” though there is nothing in it except the addition
of the title which is of the best, for all is of the worst; and in
which he proves those to be heretics with whom he is now in communion,
thus incurring the condemnation of our Apostle (not his, for those whom
he calls ‘his’ are Flaccus and Tully) who says, “He
who judges2945
is condemned if he eat.” In
that treatise, which tells us that no works of any kind reasonably
admit of a rendering word for word (though he has come round now to
think such rendering reasonable)2946
| 2946 In the translation of the Περὶ
᾽Αρχῶν made by
Jerome for Pammachius and Oceanus, he rendered word for
word. | he inserts
whole passages from a work of Cicero.2947
But had he not said, “What has
Horace to do with the Psalter, or Maro with the Gospels, or Cicero with
the Apostle? Will not your brother be offended if he sees you sitting
in that idol temple?” Here of course he brings himself in guilty
of idolatry; for if reading causes offence, much more does writing.
But, since one who turns to idolatry does not thereby become wholly and
completely a heathen unless he first denies Christ, he tells us that he
said to Christ, as he sat on the judgment seat with his most exalted
angel ministers around him, “If I ever hereafter read or possess
any heathen books, I have denied thee,” and now he not only reads
them and possesses them, not only copies them and collates them, but
inserts them among the words of Scripture itself, and in discourses
intended for the edification of the Church. What I say is well enough
known to all who read his treatises, and requires no proof. But it is
just like a man who is trying to save himself from such a gulf of
sacrilege and perjury, to make up some excuse for himself, and to say,
as he does: “I do not now read them, I have a tenacious memory,
so that I can quote various passages from different writers without a
break, and I now merely quote what I learned in my youth.” Well:
if some one were to ask me to prove that before the sun rose this
morning there was night over the earth, or that at sunset the sun had
been shining all day, I should answer that, if a man doubted about what
all men knew, it was his business to shew cause for his doubts, not for
me to shew cause for my certainty. Still in this instance, where a
man’s soul is at stake, and the crime of perjury and of impious
denial of Christ is alleged, a condemnation must not be thought to be a
thing of course, even though the facts are known and understood by all
men. We are not to imitate him who condemns the accused before they
have undergone any examination; and not only without a hearing, but
without summoning them to appear; and not only unsummoned, but when
they are already dead; and not only the dead, but those whom he had always
praised, till then; and not only those whom he had praised, but whom he
had followed and had taken as his masters. We must fear the judgment of
the Lord, who says2948
“Judge
not and ye shall not be judged,” and again, “With what
measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.” Therefore,
though it is really superfluous, I will bring against him a single
witness, but one who must prevail, and whom he cannot challenge, that
is, once more, himself and his own writings. All can attest what I say
in reference to this treatise of his; and my assertion about it seems
to be superfluous; but I must make use of some special testimony, lest
what I say should seem unsatisfactory to those who have not read his
works.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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