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| In Defence of His Flight to Pontus, and His Return, After His Ordination to the Priesthood, with an Exposition of the Character of the Priestly Office.
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Introduction to Oration
II.
It is generally agreed
that this oration was not intended for oral delivery. Its object
was to explain and defend S. Gregory’s recent conduct, which had
been severely criticised by his friends at Nazianzus. He had been
recalled by his father probably during the year a.d. 361 from Pontus, where he had spent several years in
monastic seclusion with his friend S. Basil. His father, not
content with his son’s presence at home as a support for his
declining years, and feeling assured of his fitness for the sacred
office, had proceeded, with the loudly expressed approval of the
congregation, in spite of Gregory’s reluctance, to ordain him to
the priesthood on Christmas Day a.d.
361. S. Gregory, even after the lapse of many years, speaks of
his ordination as an act of tyranny, and at the time, stung almost to
madness, as an ox by a gadfly, rushed away again to Pontus, to bury in
its congenial solitude, consoled by an intimate friend’s deep
sympathy, his wounded feelings. Before long the sense of duty
reasserted itself, and he returned to his post at his father’s
side before Easter a.d. 362. On Easter
day he delivered his first Oration before a congregation whose
scantiness marked the displeasure with which the people of Nazianzus
had viewed his conduct. Accordingly he set himself to supply them
in this Oration with a full explanation of the motives which had led to
his retirement. At the same time, as the secondary title of the
Oration shows, he has supplied an exposition of the obligations and
dignity of the Priestly Office which has been drawn upon by all later
writers on the subject. S. Chrysostom in his well-known treatise,
S. Gregory the Great in his Pastoral Care, and Bossuet in his panegyric
on S. Paul, have done little more than summarise the material or
develop the considerations contained in this eloquent and elaborate
dissertation.
Oration II.
In Defence of His Flight to Pontus, and
His Return, After His Ordination to the Priesthood, with an Exposition
of the Character of the Priestly Office.
1. I have been
defeated, and own my defeat. I subjected myself to the Lord,
and prayed unto
Him.2544
Let the most blessed David supply my
exordium, or rather let Him Who spoke in David, and even now yet speaks
through him. For indeed the very best order of beginning every
speech and action, is to begin from God,2545
| 2545 Begin from
God. Possibly an adaptation of the exordium of Theocr. Idyll,
xvii. 1. ἐκ Διὸς
ἀρχώμεσθα,
καὶ ἐις Δία
λήγετε,
μοῖσαι. “Let Zeus
inspire our opening strain, And Muses, end your song in Zeus
again.” Cf. Demosth. Epist. 1. |
and to end in God. As to the cause, either of my original revolt
and cowardice, in which I got me away far off, and remained2546
away from you for a time, which perhaps
seemed long to those who missed me; or of the present gentleness and
change of mind, in which I have given myself up again to you, men may
think and speak in different ways, according to the hatred or love they
bear me, on the one side refusing to acquit me of the charges alleged,
on the other giving me a hearty welcome. For nothing is so
pleasant to men as talking of other people’s business, especially
under the influence of affection or hatred, which often almost entirely
blinds us to the truth. I will, however, myself, unabashed, set
forth the truth, and arbitrate with justice between the two parties,
which accuse or gallantly defend us, by, on the one side, accusing
myself, on the other, undertaking my own defence.
2. Accordingly, that my speech may proceed
in due order, I apply myself to the question which arose first, that of
cowardice. For I cannot endure that any of those who watch with
interest the success, or the contrary, of my efforts, should be put to
confusion on my account, since it has pleased God that our affairs
should be of some consequence to Christians, so I will by my defence
relieve, if there be any such, those who have already suffered; for it
is well, as far as possible, and as reason allows, to shrink from
causing, through our sin or suspicion, any offence or stumbling-block
to the community: inasmuch as we know how inevitably even those
who offend one of the little ones2547
will incur the
severest punishment at the hands of Him who cannot lie.
3. For my present position is due, my good
people, not to inexperience and ignorance, nay indeed, that I may boast
myself a little,2548
neither is it due
to contempt for the divine laws and ordinances. Now, just as in
the body there is2549
| 2549 One
member. The Ben. editors object to this translation
(which is that of Rufinus, Billius and Gabriel) as inconsistent with
the following allusion to the relation of the soul to the
body. It seems, however, more in harmony with the figure of S.
Paul, who compares the arrangement of the members of the body to
the hierarchy of the Church. | one member2550
which rules and, so to say, presides, while
another is ruled over and subject; so too in the churches, God has
ordained, according either to a law of equality, which admits of an
order of merit, or to one of providence, by which He has knit all
together, that those for whom such treatment is beneficial, should be
subject to pastoral care and rule, and be guided by word and deed in
the path of duty; while others should be pastors and teachers,2551
for the perfecting of the church, those, I
mean, who surpass the majority in virtue and nearness to God,
performing the functions of the soul in the body, and of the intellect
in the soul; in order that both may be so united and compacted
together, that, although one is lacking and another is pre-eminent,
they may, like the members of our bodies, be so combined and knit
together by the harmony of the Spirit, as to form one perfect
body,2552
really worthy of Christ Himself, our
Head.2553
4. I am aware then that anarchy2554
| 2554 Anarchy,
&c. Comp. Plato Legg. XII. 2. | and disorder cannot be more advantageous
than order and rule, either to other creatures or to men; nay, this is
true of men in the highest possible degree, because the interests at
stake in their case are greater; since it is a great thing2555
| 2555 A great
thing. The Ben. editors note the obscurity of the original
here. | for them, even if they fail of their highest
purpose—to be free from sin—to attain at least to that
which is second best, restoration from sin. Since this seems
right and just, it is, I take it, equally wrong and disorderly that all
should wish to rule, and that no one should accept2556
| 2556 Accept,
δέχεσθαι.
Many mss have ἅρχεσθαι, preserving the
play upon the word ἄρχειν. The latter
reading, the Ben. editors suggest, may have an active sense, as
Hom. Il. II. 345. | it. For if all men were to shirk this
office, whether it must be called a ministry or a leadership, the fair
fulness2557
of the Church would
be halting in the highest degree, and in fact cease to be fair.
And further, where, and by whom would God be worshipped among us in
those mystic and elevating rites which are our greatest and most
precious privilege, if there were neither king, nor governor, nor
priesthood, nor sacrifice,2558
nor all those
highest offices to the loss of which, for their great sins, men were of
old condemned in consequence of their disobedience?
5. Nor indeed is it strange or inconsistent
for the majority of those who are devoted to the study of divine
things, to ascend to rule from being ruled, nor does it overstep the
limits laid down by philosophy,2559
| 2559
Philosophy. φιλοσοφία
is used by S. Greg. and other Fathers in various senses, not
always clearly distinguishable. Sometimes it refers to the
ancient philosophical teachers and schools: sometimes to the
Christian philosophy, which inculcates Divine truth, and teaches the
principles of a good and holy life: sometimes to the practice of
these principles, either in regard to some special virtue, e.g.
patience, or, in general, in the lives of individual Christians, and
further, as involving the most careful and extensive reduction of these
principles to practice—the discipline of the monastic life.
Cf. Suicer, in verb. | or involve
disgrace; any more than for
an excellent sailor to become a lookout-man, and for a lookout-man, who
has successfully kept watch over the winds, to be entrusted with the
helm; or, if you will, for a brave soldier to be made a captain, and a
good captain to become a general, and have committed to him the conduct
of the whole campaign. Nor again, as perhaps some of those absurd
and tiresome people may suppose, who judge of others’ feelings by
their own, was I ashamed of the rank of this grade from my desire for a
higher. I was not so ignorant either of its divine greatness or
human low estate, as to think it no great thing for a created nature,
to approach in however slight degree to God, Who alone is most glorious
and illustrious, and surpasses in purity every nature, material and
immaterial alike.
6. What then were my feelings, and what was
the reason of my disobedience? For to most men I did not at the
time seem consistent with myself, or to be such as they had known me,
but to have undergone some deterioration, and to exhibit greater
resistance and self-will than was right. And the causes of this
you have long been desirous to hear. First, and most important, I
was astounded at the unexpectedness of what had occurred, as people are
terrified by sudden noises; and, losing the control of my reasoning
faculties, my self-respect, which had hitherto controlled me, gave
way. In the next place, there came over me an eager
longing2560
| 2560 Eager
longing. Nearly all mss. read
“pity”—which would have to be understood in the sense
of “regretful affection.” | for the blessings
of calm and retirement, of which I had from the first been enamoured to
a higher degree, I imagine, than any other student of letters, and
which amidst the greatest and most threatening dangers I had promised
to God, and of which I had also had so much experience, that I was then
upon its threshold, my longing having in consequence been greatly
kindled, so that I could not submit to be thrust into the midst of a
life of turmoil by an arbitrary act of oppression, and to be torn away
by force from the holy sanctuary of such a life as this.
7. For nothing seemed to me so desirable as
to close the doors of my senses, and, escaping from the flesh and the
world, collected within myself, having no further connection than was
absolutely necessary with human affairs, and speaking to myself and to
God,2561
to live superior to visible things, ever
preserving in myself the divine impressions pure and unmixed with the
erring tokens of this lower world, and both being, and constantly
growing more and more to be, a real unspotted mirror of God and divine
things, as light is added to light, and what was still dark grew
clearer, enjoying already by hope the blessings of the world to come,
roaming about with the angels, even now being above the earth by having
forsaken it, and stationed on high by the Spirit. If any of you
has been possessed by this longing, he knows what I mean and will
sympathise with my feelings at that time. For, perhaps, I ought
not to expect to persuade most people by what I say, since they are
unhappily disposed to laugh at such things, either from their own
thoughtlessness, or from the influence of men unworthy of the promise,
who have bestowed upon that which is good an evil name, calling
philosophy nonsense, aided by envy and the evil tendencies of the mob,
who are ever inclined to grow worse: so that they are constantly
occupied with one of two sins, either the commission of evil, or the
discrediting of good.
8. I was influenced besides by another
feeling, whether base or noble I do not know, but I will speak out to
you all my secrets. I was ashamed of all those others, who,
without being better than ordinary people, nay, it is a great thing if
they be not worse, with unwashen hands,2562
as
the saying runs, and uninitiated souls, intrude into the most sacred
offices; and, before becoming worthy to approach the temples, they lay
claim to the sanctuary,2563
and they push and
thrust around the holy table, as if they thought this order to be a
means of livelihood, instead of a pattern of virtue, or an absolute
authority, instead of a ministry of which we must give account.
In fact they are almost more in number than those whom they govern;
pitiable as regards piety,2564
| 2564 Piety—for
it is a mere external pretence, deceiving themselves as well as
others. εἰσέβαια here
has the double sense of piety and orthodoxy—the former being the
more prominent. | and unfortunate in
their dignity; so that, it seems to me, they will not, as time and this
evil alike progress, have any one left to rule, when all are teachers,
instead of, as the promise says, taught of God,2565
and all prophesy,2566
so that even
“Saul is among the prophets,”2567
according to the ancient history and proverb. For at no time,
either now or in former days, amid the rise and fall of various
developments, has there ever been such an abundance, as now exists among Christians,
of disgrace and abuses of this kind. And, if to stay this current
is beyond our powers, at any rate it is not the least important duty of
religion to testify the hatred and shame we feel for it.
9. Lastly, there is a matter more serious
than any which I have mentioned, for I am now coming to the
finale2568
| 2568 The finale of the
question, or “the main conclusion of my subject,” lit.
“the colophon of my reason.” λόγος cannot here mean “of
my speech,” for it has only just begun. | of the
question: and I will not deceive you; for that would not be
lawful in regard to topics of such moment. I did not, nor do I
now, think myself qualified to rule a flock or herd, or to have
authority over the souls of men. For in their case it is
sufficient to render the herd or flock as stout and fat as possible;
and with this object the neatherd and shepherd will look for well
watered and rich pastures, and will drive his charge from pasture to
pasture, and allow them to rest, or arouse, or recall them, sometimes
with his staff, most often with his pipe; and with the exception of
occasional struggles with wolves, or attention to the sickly, most of
his time will be devoted to the oak and the shade and his pipes, while
he reclines on the beautiful grass, and beside the cool water, and
shakes down his couch in a breezy spot, and ever and anon sings a love
ditty, with his cup by his side, and talks to his bullocks or his
flock, the fattest of which supply his banquets or his pay. But
no one ever has thought of the virtue of flocks or herds; for indeed of
what virtue are they capable? Or who has regarded their advantage
as more important than his own pleasure?
10. But in the case of man, hard as it is
for him to learn how to submit to rule, it seems far harder to know how
to rule over men, and hardest of all, with this rule of ours, which
leads them by the divine law, and to God, for its risk is, in the eyes
of a thoughtful man, proportionate to its height and dignity.
For, first of all, he must, like silver or gold, though in general
circulation in all kinds of seasons and affairs, never ring false or
alloyed, or give token of any inferior matter, needing further
refinement in the fire;2569
or else, the wider
his rule, the greater evil he will be. Since the injury which
extends to many is greater than that which is confined to a single
individual.
11. For it is not so easy to dye deeply a
piece of cloth, or to impregnate with odours, foul or the reverse,
whatever comes near to them; nor is it so easy for the fatal vapour,
which is rightly called a pestilence, to infect the air, and through
the air to gain access to living being, as it is for the vice of a
superior to take most speedy possession of his subjects, and that with
far greater facility than virtue its opposite. For it is in this
that wickedness especially has the advantage over goodness, and most
distressing it is to me to perceive it, that vice is something
attractive and ready at hand, and that nothing is so easy as to become
evil, even without any one to lead us on to it; while the attainment of
virtue is rare and difficult, even where there is much to attract and
encourage us. And it is this, I think, which the most blessed
Haggai had before his eyes, in his wonderful and most true
figure:2570
—“Ask
the priests concerning the law, saying: If holy flesh borne in a
garment touch meat or drink or vessel, will it sanctify what is in
contact with it? And when they said No; ask again if any of these
things touch what is unclean, does it not at once partake of the
pollution? For they will surely tell you that it does partake of
it, and does not continue clean in spite of the
contact.”
12. What does he mean by this? As I
take it, that goodness can with difficulty gain a hold upon human
nature, like fire upon green wood; while most men are ready and
disposed to join in evil, like stubble,2571
| 2571 Job xxi. 18; Ps. lxxxiii. 13; Isai. v. 24;
Joel ii. 5. | I
mean, ready for a spark and a wind, which is easily kindled and
consumed from its dryness. For more quickly would any one take
part in evil with slight inducement to its full extent, than in good
which is fully set before him to a slight degree. For indeed a
little wormwood most quickly imparts its bitterness to honey; while not
even double the quantity of honey can impart its sweetness to
wormwood: and the withdrawal of a small pebble would draw
headlong a whole river, though it would be difficult for the strongest
dam to restrain or stay its course.
13. This then is the first point in what we
have said, which it is right for us to guard against, viz.: being
found to be bad painters2572
| 2572 Painters,
i.e. in our discourses; models by our lives and
examples. | of the charms of
virtue, and still more, if not, perhaps, models for poor painters, poor
models for the people, or barely escaping the proverb, that we
undertake to heal others2573
while ourselves are
full of sores.
14. In the second place, although a man has kept
himself pure from sin, even in a very high degree; I do not know that
even this is sufficient for one who is to instruct others in
virtue. For he who has received this charge, not only needs to be
free from evil, for evil is, in the eyes of most of those under his
care, most disgraceful, but also to be eminent in good, according to
the command, “Depart from evil and do good.”2574
And he must not only wipe out the
traces of vice from his soul, but also inscribe better ones, so as to
outstrip men further in virtue than he is superior to them in
dignity. He should know no limits in goodness or spiritual
progress, and should dwell upon the loss of what is still beyond him,
rather than the gain of what he has attained, and consider that which
is beneath his feet a step to that which comes next: and not
think it a great gain to excel ordinary people, but a loss to fall
short of what we ought to be: and to measure his success by the
commandment and not by his neighbours, whether they be evil, or to some
extent proficient in virtue: and to weigh virtue in no small
scales, inasmuch as it is due to the Most High, “from Whom are
all things, and to Whom are all things.”2575
15. Nor must he suppose that the same things
are suitable to all, just as all have not the same stature, nor are the
features of the face, nor the nature of animals, nor the qualities of
soil, nor the beauty and size of the stars, in all cases the
same: but he must consider base conduct a fault in a private
individual, and deserving of chastisement under the hard rule of the
law; while in the case of a ruler or leader it is a fault not to attain
to the highest possible excellence, and always make progress in
goodness, if indeed he is, by his high degree of virtue, to draw his
people to an ordinary degree, not by the force of authority, but by the
influence of persuasion. For what is involuntary apart from its
being the result of oppression, is neither meritorious nor
durable. For what is forced, like a plant2576
| 2576 A plant.
Cf. Orat. vi. 8, xxiii. 1. A favourite figure of S. Gregory. |
violently drawn aside by our hands, when set free, returns to what it
was before, but that which is the result of choice is both most
legitimate and enduring, for it is preserved by the bond of good
will. And so our law and our lawgiver enjoin upon us most
strictly that we should “tend the flock not by constraint but
willingly.”2577
16. But granted that a man is free from
vice, and has reached the greatest heights of virtue: I do not
see what knowledge or power would justify him in venturing upon this
office. For the guiding of man, the most variable and manifold of
creatures, seems to me in very deed to be the art of arts2578
| 2578 The art of
arts. This is the original of the frequently quoted
commonplace, which in S. Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care, i. 1,
takes the form “ars artium est regimen animarum.” | and science of sciences. Any one may
recognize this, by comparing the work of the physician of souls with
the treatment of the body; and noticing that, laborious as the latter
is, ours is more laborious, and of more consequence, from the nature of
its subject matter, the power of its science, and the object of its
exercise. The one labours about bodies, and perishable failing
matter, which absolutely must be dissolved and undergo its
fate,2579
even if upon this occasion by the aid of art
it can surmount the disturbance within itself, being dissolved by
disease or time in submission to the law of nature, since it cannot
rise above its own limitations.
17. The other is concerned with the soul,
which comes from God and is divine, and partakes of the heavenly
nobility, and presses on to it, even if it be bound to an inferior
nature. Perhaps indeed there are other reasons also for this,
which only God, Who bound them together, and those who are instructed
by God in such mysteries, can know, but as far as I, and men like
myself can perceive, there are two: one, that it may inherit the
glory above by means of a struggle and wrestling2580
with things below, being tried as gold in
the fire2581
by things here, and
gain the objects of our hope as a prize of virtue, and not merely as
the gift of God. This, indeed, was the will of Supreme Goodness,
to make the good even our own, not only because sown in our nature, but
because cultivated by our own choice, and by the motions of our
will,2582
| 2582 Our will.
Clémencet compares S. Bernard, de Gratia et Libero Arbitrio, xiv.
47 (tom. i. 1397, Gaume). Petavius, de Incarn., tom. v., p. 416,
lib. IX., iii., 11, comments on this passage in treating of free
will. | free to act in either direction. The
second reason is, that it may draw to itself and raise to heaven the
lower nature, by gradually freeing it from its grossness, in order that
the soul may be to the body what God is to the soul, itself leading on
the matter which ministers to it, and uniting it, as its
fellow-servant, to God.
18. Place and time and age and season and the like
are the subjects of a physician’s scrutiny; he will prescribe
medicines and diet, and guard against things injurious, that the
desires of the sick may not be a hindrance to his art. Sometimes,
and in certain cases, he will make use of the cautery or the knife or
the severer remedies; but none of these, laborious and hard as they may
seem, is so difficult as the diagnosis and cure of our habits,
passions, lives, wills, and whatever else is within us, by banishing
from our compound nature everything brutal and fierce, and introducing
and establishing in their stead what is gentle and dear to God, and arbitrating fairly between soul and
body; not allowing the superior to be overpowered by the inferior,
which would be the greatest injustice; but subjecting to the ruling and
leading power that which naturally takes the second place: as
indeed the divine law enjoins, which is most excellently imposed on His
whole creation, whether visible or beyond our ken.
19. This further point does not escape me,
that the nature of all these objects of the watchfulness of the
physician remains the same, and does not evolve out of itself any
crafty opposition, or contrivance hostile to the appliances of his art,
nay, it is rather the treatment which modifies its subject
matter,2583
| 2583 Its subject
matter, i.e. the affection of the sick body, which it is the object
of medicine to change to its opposite. So Combefis. | except where some
slight insubordination occurs on the part of the patient, which it is
not difficult to prevent or restrain. But in our case, human
prudence and selfishness, and the want of training and inclination to
yield ready submission are a very great obstacle to advance in virtue,
amounting almost to an armed resistance to those who are wishful to
help us. And the very eagerness with which we should lay bare our
sickness to our spiritual physicians, we employ in avoiding this
treatment,2584
and shew our
bravery by struggling against what is for our own interest, our skill
in shunning what is for our health.
20. For we either hide away our sin,
cloaking it over in the depth of our soul, like some festering and
malignant disease, as if by escaping the notice of men we could escape
the mighty eye of God and justice. Or else we allege excuses in
our sins,2585
by devising pleas
in defence of our falls, or tightly closing our ears, like the deaf
adder that stoppeth her ears, we are obstinate in refusing to hear the
voice of the charmer, and be treated with the medicines of
wisdom,2586
by which spiritual
sickness is healed. Or, lastly, those of us who are most daring
and self-willed shamelessly brazen out our sin before those who would
heal it, marching with bared head, as the saying is, into all kinds of
transgression. O what madness, if there be no term more fitting
for this state of mind! Those whom we ought to love as our
benefactors we keep off, as if they were our enemies, hating those who
reprove in the gates, and abhorring the righteous word;2587
and we think that we shall succeed in the
war that we are waging against those who are well disposed to us by
doing ourselves all the harm we can, like men who imagine they are
consuming the flesh of others when they are really fastening upon their
own.
21. For these reasons I allege that our
office as physicians far exceeds in toilsomeness, and consequently in
worth, that which is confined to the body; and further, because the
latter is mainly concerned with the surface, and only in a slight
degree investigates the causes which are deeply hidden. But the
whole of our treatment and exertion is concerned with the hidden man of
the heart,2588
and our warfare is
directed against that adversary and foe within us, who uses ourselves
as his weapons against ourselves, and, most fearful of all, hands us
over to the death of sin. In opposition then, to these foes we
are in need of great and perfect faith, and of still greater
co-operation on the part of God, and, as I am persuaded, of no slight
countermanoeuvring on our own part, which must manifest itself both in
word and deed, if ourselves, the most precious possession we have, are
to be duly tended and cleansed and made as deserving as
possible.
22. To turn however to the ends in view in
each of these forms of healing, for this point is still left to be
considered, the one preserves, if it already exists, the health and
good habit of the flesh, or if absent, recalls it; though it is not yet
clear whether or not these will be for the advantage of those who
possess them, since their opposites very often confer a greater benefit
on those who have them, just as poverty and wealth, renown or disgrace,
a low or brilliant position, and all other circumstances, which are
naturally indifferent, and do not incline in one direction more than in
another, produce a good or bad effect according to the will of, and the
manner in which they are used by the persons who experience them.
But the scope of our art is to provide the soul with wings, to rescue
it from the world and give it to God, and to watch over that which is
in His image,2589
if it abides, to
take it by the hand, if it is in danger, or restore it, if ruined, to
make Christ to dwell in the heart2590
by the
Spirit: and, in short, to deify, and bestow heavenly bliss upon,
one who belongs to the heavenly host.
23. This is the wish of our
schoolmaster2591
the law, of the
prophets who intervened between Christ and the law, of Christ who is
the fulfiller and end2592
of the spiritual
law; of the emptied Godhead,2593
of the assumed
flesh,2594
of the novel union
between God and man, one consisting2595
| 2595 One consisting,
&c. “These words,” says Gabriel, “are
indeed a two-edged sword against the heretics, for one clause mortally
wounds Nestorius who separates the Divine from the Human
Nature—the other Eutyches, who empties the human into the
Divine.” | of two, and
both in one. This is why God was united2596
| 2596 Was united,
ἀνεκράθη, lit.,
“was blended”—cf. Orat. xxxviii. 13. This and
similar terms used by Gregory and his contemporaries in an orthodox
sense were laid aside by later Fathers, in consequence of their having
been perverted in favor of the Eutychian heresy. | to the flesh by means of the soul,2597
| 2597 By means of the
soul, Cf. Orat. xxix. 19; xxxviii. 13; Epist. 101 (tom. 2, p. 90
A.): Poem. Dogmat., x., 55–61 (tom. 2, p. 256); Petavius de
Incarn. IV. xiii. 2. | and natures so separate were knit together
by the affinity to each of the element which mediated between
them: so all became one for the sake of all, and for the sake of
one, our progenitor, the soul because of the soul which was
disobedient, the flesh because of the flesh which co-operated with it
and shared in its condemnation, Christ, Who was superior to, and beyond
the reach of, sin, because of Adam, who became subject to
sin.
24. This is why the new was substituted for
the old,2598
why He Who suffered
was for suffering recalled to life, why each property of His, Who was
above us, was interchanged with each of ours, why the new mystery took
place of the dispensation, due to loving kindness which deals with him
who fell through disobedience. This is the reason for the
generation and the virgin, for the manger and Bethlehem; the generation
on behalf of the creation,2599
| 2599 Lit. “of the
formation”—the substantive here corresponds to the verb in
Gen. ii. 7 (LXX.). | the virgin on
behalf of the woman,2600
Bethlehem2601
because of Eden, the manger because of the
garden, small and visible things on behalf of great and hidden
things. This is why the angels2602
glorified
first the heavenly, then the earthly,2603
why the shepherds saw the glory over the Lamb and the Shepherd, why the
star led the Magi to worship and offer gifts,2604
in
order that idolatry might be destroyed. This is why Jesus was
baptized,2605
and received
testimony from above, and fasted,2606
and was
tempted, and overcame him who had overcome. This is why devils
were cast out,2607
and diseases
healed, and the mighty preaching was entrusted to, and successfully
proclaimed by men of low estate.
25. This is why the heathen rage and the
peoples imagine vain things;2608
why tree2609
| 2609 Gen. iii. 3. Why tree,
&c. A striking contrast of the means of Redemption by the
Cross of Christ with the circumstances of the Fall. | is set over against tree,2610
hands against hand, the one stretched out in
self indulgence,2611
the others in
generosity; the one unrestrained, the others fixed by nails,2612
the one expelling Adam, the other
reconciling the ends of the earth. This is the reason of the
lifting up to atone for the fall, and of the gall for the tasting, and
of the thorny crown for the dominion of evil, and of death for death,
and of darkness for the sake of light, and of burial for the return to
the ground, and of resurrection for the sake of resurrection.2613
| 2613 For the sake of
resurrection. One translator carries on the contrast, and
renders “to atone for the insurrection,” sc. of Adam.
The preposition ὑπερ seems decisive against
this. | All these are a training from God for
us, and a healing for our weakness, restoring the old Adam to the place
whence he fell, and conducting us to the tree of life,2614
from which the tree of knowledge estranged
us, when partaken of unseasonably, and improperly.
26. Of this healing we, who are set over
others, are the ministers and fellow-labourers;2615
| 2615 1 Cor. iii. 9; iv. 1; 2 Cor. vi.
1. |
for whom it is a great thing to recognise and heal their own passions
and sicknesses: or rather, not really a great thing, only the
viciousness of most of those who belong to this order has made me say
so: but a much greater thing is the power to heal and skilfully
cleanse those of others, to the advantage both of those who are in want
of healing and of those whose charge it is to heal.
27. Again, the healers of our bodies will
have their labours and vigils and cares, of which we are aware; and
will reap a harvest of pain for themselves from the distresses of
others, as one of their wise men2616
| 2616 One of their wise
men, the author of the treatise περὶ φυσῶν,
ascribed to Hippocrates. | said; and will
provide for the use of those who need them, both the results of their
own labours and investigations, and what they have been able to borrow
from others: and they consider none, even of the minutest
details, which they discover, or which elude their search, as having
other than an important influence upon health or danger. And what
is the object of all this? That a man may live some days longer
on the earth, though he is possibly not a good man, but one of the most
depraved, for whom it had perhaps been better, because of his badness,
to have died long ago, in order to be set free from vice, the most
serious of sicknesses. But, suppose he is a good man, how long
will he be able to live? Forever? Or what will he gain from
life here, from which it is the greatest of blessings, if a man be sane
and sensible, to seek to be set free?
28. But we, upon whose efforts is staked the
salvation of a soul, a being blessed and immortal, and destined for
undying chastisement or praise, for its vice or virtue,—what a
struggle ought ours to be, and how great skill do we require to treat,
or get men treated properly, and to change their life, and give up the
clay to the spirit. For men and women, young and old, rich and poor, the sanguine and
despondent, the sick and whole, rulers and ruled, the wise and
ignorant, the cowardly and courageous, the wrathful and meek, the
successful and failing, do not require the same instruction and
encouragement.
29. And if you examine more closely, how
great is the distinction between the married and the unmarried, and
among the latter between hermits and those who2617
| 2617 Those who,
&c. μιγάδας, cf. xxi., 10,
where μοναδικοὶ
and οἱ τῆς
ἐρηυίας are distinguished
from μιγάδες and
οἱ τῆς
ἐπιμιξίας.
Clémencet here holds that οἱ τῆς
ἐρημίας are hermits as
distinguished from cœnobites, but does not hint at any further
subdivision between the κοινωνικοὶ
and the μιγάδες. Cf.
also xliii. 62; xxi. 19. Montaut, “Revue Critique,
&c.” (pp. 48–52) attempts to distinguish between the
μιγάδες and the
κοινωνικοί.
But although he confirms the overthrow by Clémencet of the views
of previous translators, he leaves Clémencet’s own position
really unweakened. S. Gregory uses the two terms as practically
convertible. In xxi., § 19, (which Montaut misinterprets) he
explains that the life of the cœnobite is a hermit-life in its
relation to the world which he has forsaken, while it has opportunities
in community-life for the growth of those virtues which are required by
the relation of man to man. Cf. Bened. edition (Clémencet),
Præf. Gener., Pars. II., § iii. sub finem. |
live together in community, between those who are proficient and
advanced in contemplation and those who barely hold on the straight
course, between townsfolk again and rustics, between the simple and the
designing, between men of business and men of leisure, between those
who have met with reverses and those who are prosperous and ignorant of
misfortune. For these classes differ sometimes more widely from
each other in their desires and passion than in their physical
characteristics; or, if you will, in the mixtures and blendings of the
elements of which we are composed, and, therefore, to regulate them is
no easy task.
30. As then the same medicine and the same food
are not in every case administered to men’s bodies, but a
difference is made according to their degree of health or infirmity; so
also are souls treated with varying instruction and guidance. To
this treatment witness is borne by those who have had experience of
it. Some are led by doctrine, others trained by example; some
need the spur, others the curb; some are sluggish and hard to rouse to
the good, and must be stirred up by being smitten with the word; others
are immoderately fervent in spirit, with impulses difficult to
restrain, like thoroughbred colts, who run wide of the turning post,
and to improve them the word must have a restraining and checking
influence.
31. Some are benefited by praise, others by blame,
both being applied in season; while if out of season, or unreasonable,
they are injurious; some are set right by encouragement, others by
rebuke; some, when taken to task in public, others, when privately
corrected. For some are wont to despise private admonitions, but
are recalled to their senses by the condemnation of a number of people,
while others, who would grow reckless under reproof openly given,
accept rebuke because it is in secret, and yield obedience in return
for sympathy.
32. Upon some it is needful to keep a close
watch, even in the minutest details, because if they think they are
unperceived (as they would contrive to be), they are puffed up with the
idea of their own wisdom. Of others it is better to take no
notice, but seeing not to see, and hearing not to hear them, according
to the proverb, that we may not drive them to despair, under the
depressing influence of repeated reproofs, and at last to utter
recklessness, when they have lost the sense of self-respect, the source
of persuasiveness.2618
| 2618 The source of
persuasiveness, lit., “the medicine of persuasion.” | In some cases
we must even be angry, without feeling angry, or treat them with a
disdain we do not feel, or manifest despair, though we do not really
despair of them, according to the needs of their nature. Others
again we must treat with condescension2619
| 2619 condescension,
lit., ‘equity,’ dealing gently with their weakness, not
exacting the literal fulfilment of the law. |
and lowliness, aiding them readily to conceive a hope of better
things. Some it is often more advantageous to conquer—by
others to be overcome, and to praise or deprecate, in one case wealth
and power, in another poverty and failure.
33. For our treatment does not correspond
with virtue and vice, one of which is most excellent and beneficial at
all times and in all cases, and the other most evil and harmful; and,
instead of one and the same of our medicines invariably proving either
most wholesome or most dangerous in the same cases—be it severity
or gentleness, or any of the others which we have enumerated—in
some cases it proves good and useful, in others again it has the
contrary effect, according, I suppose, as time and circumstance and the
disposition of the patient admit. Now to set before you the
distinction between all these things, and give you a perfectly exact
view of them, so that you may in brief comprehend the medical art, is
quite impossible, even for one in the highest degree qualified by care
and skill: but actual experience and practice are requisite to
form2620
| 2620 Are requisite to
form, lit., by ‘actual…they become clear to.’ | a medical system and a medical
man.
34. This, however, I take to be generally
admitted—that just as it is not safe for those who walk on a
lofty tight rope to lean to either side, for even though the
inclination seems slight, it has no slight consequences, but
their safety depends upon
their perfect balance: so in the case of one of us, if he leans
to either side, whether from vice or ignorance, no slight danger of a
fall into sin is incurred, both for himself and those who are led by
him. But we must really walk in the King’s
highway,2621
and take care not
to turn aside from it either to the right hand or to the left,2622
as the Proverbs say. For such is the
case with our passions, and such in this matter is the task of the good
shepherd, if he is to know properly the souls of his flock, and to
guide them according to the methods of a pastoral care which is right
and just, and worthy of our true Shepherd.
35. In regard to the distribution of the
word, to mention last the first of our duties, of that divine and
exalted word, which everyone now is ready to discourse upon; if anyone
else boldly undertakes it and supposes it within the power of every
man’s intellect, I am amazed at his intelligence, not to say his
folly. To me indeed it seems no slight task, and one requiring no
little spiritual power, to give in due season2623
to
each his portion of the word, and to regulate with judgment the truth
of our opinions, which are concerned with such subjects as the world or
worlds,2624
| 2624 Worlds, i.e.
the invisible and visible, of which S. Greg. held that the former was
created before the latter. cf. Orat. xviii. 3; xxvii. 10; xxviii. 31;
xxxviii. 10; xl. 45. | matter, soul, mind,
intelligent natures, better or worse, providence which holds together
and guides the universe, and seems in our experience of it to be
governed according to some principle, but one which is at variance with
those of earth and of men.
36. Again, they are concerned with our
original constitution, and final restoration, the types of the truth,
the covenants, the first and second coming of Christ, His incarnation,
sufferings and dissolution,2625
| 2625 Dissolution;
some translate ‘return’—i.e. of the Ascension;
referring the ‘resurrection, &c.’ to mankind in
general. | with the
resurrection, the last day, the judgment and recompense, whether sad or
glorious; I, to crown all, with what we are to think of the
original2626
| 2626 Original.
Perhaps better ‘supreme.’ | and blessed
Trinity. Now this involves a very great risk to those who are
charged with the illumination2627
of others, if they
are to avoid contracting2628
| 2628 Contracting,
i.e. by the Sabellian heresy. A parallel passage in almost
identical terms is Orat. xx. 6. | their doctrine to a
single Person, from fear of polytheism, and so leave us empty terms, if
we suppose the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit to be one and the
same Person only: or, on the other hand, severing It into three,
either foreign and diverse, or disordered and unprincipled, and, so to
say, opposed divinities, thus falling from the opposite side into an
equally dangerous error: like some distorted plant if bent far
back in the opposite direction.
37. For, amid the three infirmities in
regard to theology, atheism, Judaism, and polytheism, one of which is
patronised by Sabellius the Libyan, another by Arius of Alexandria, and
the third by some of the ultra-orthodox among us, what is my position,
can I avoid whatever in these three is noxious, and remain within the
limits of piety; neither being led astray by the new analysis and
synthesis into the atheism2629
| 2629 Atheism.
This term is used of Sabellianism xviii. 16. xx. 6. xxi. 13. xliii. 30,
in the sense in which it is here explained. Cf. Petav. de Trin.
I. vi. 3, sqq. | of Sabellius, to
assert not so much that all are one as that each is nothing, for things
which are transferred and pass into each other cease to be that which
each one of them is, of that we have an unnaturally compound deity,
like those mythical creatures, the subject of a picturesque
imagination: nor again, by alleging a plurality of severed
natures, according to the well named madness2630
| 2630 Madness of
Arianism, xxi. 13. xxxiv. 8. xliii. 30. This term is applied in a
letter of Constantine after the Council of Nicæa. It is
called Judaism also Orat. xx. 6 as frequently by S. Athanasius.
Cf. Petav. de Trin. I. ix. 8. | of
Arius, becoming involved in a Jewish poverty, and introducing envy into
the divine nature, by limiting the Godhead to the Unbegotten One alone,
as if afraid that our God would perish, if He were the Father of a real
God of equal nature: nor again, by arraying three principles in
opposition to, or in alliance with, each other, introducing the Gentile
plurality of principles from which we have escaped?
38. It is necessary neither to be so devoted to
the Father, as to rob Him of His Fatherhood, for whose Father would He
be, if the Son were separated and estranged from Him, by being ranked
with the creation, (for an alien being, or one which is combined and
confounded with his father, and, for the sense is the same, throws him
into confusion, is not a son); nor to be so devoted to Christ, as to
neglect to preserve both His Sonship, (for whose son would He be, if
His origin were not referred to the Father?) and the rank of the Father
as origin, inasmuch as He is the Father and Generator; for He would be
the origin of petty and unworthy beings, or rather the term would be
used in a petty and unworthy sense, if He were not the origin of
Godhead and goodness, which are contemplated in the Son and the
Spirit: the former being the Son and the Word, the latter the
proceeding and indissoluble Spirit. For both the Unity of the
Godhead must be preserved, and the Trinity of Persons confessed, each with His own
property.
39. A suitable and worthy comprehension and
exposition of this subject demands a discussion of greater length than
the present occasion, or even our life, as I suppose, allows, and, what
is more, both now and at all times, the aid of the Spirit, by Whom
alone we are able to perceive, to expound, or to embrace, the truth in
regard to God. For the pure alone can grasp Him Who is pure and
of the same disposition as himself; and I have now briefly dwelt upon
the subject, to show how difficult it is to discuss such important
questions, especially before a large audience, composed of every age
and condition, and needing like an instrument of many strings, to be
played upon in various ways; or to find any form of words able to edify
them all, and illuminate them with the light of knowledge. For it
is not only that there are three sources from which danger springs,
understanding, speech, and hearing, so that failure in one, if not in
all, is infallibly certain; for either the mind is not illuminated, or
the language is feeble, or the hearing, not having been cleansed, fails
to comprehend, and accordingly, in one or all respects, the truth must
be maimed: but further, what makes the instruction of those who
profess to teach any other subject so easy and acceptable—viz.
the piety2631
| 2631 Piety,
εὐλάβεια. i.e.
The pious readily and attentively receive instruction in morality or
generally received truth, but are more suspicious and intolerant than
ordinary people, if, at a time when any theological question is hotly
debated, a preacher touches upon any point connected with it, and so
stirs party feeling or personal prejudice. | of the
audience—on this subject involves difficulty and
danger.
40. For having undertaken to contend on
behalf of God, the Supreme Being, and of salvation, and of the primary
hope2632
| 2632 The primary
hope. This term is used of the full knowledge and confession
of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, Orat. xxxii. 23; where its
necessary connection with Christianity and the life of the soul is
insisted on. For its vital importance cf. Liddon, Bamp. Lect. pp.
435, 6, and its bearing on the Mediatorial Work of Christ, and so on
our salvation. Ibid. Lect. VIII. esp. pp. 472–9 (5th
ed.). S. Cyr. Hier. Catech. 13. 2. S. Cyr. Alex. de S.
Trin. dial. 4. tom v. pp. 508, 509. S. Proclus Hom. in Incarn. 5.
6. 9. Bright. Hist. of the Church. p. 149. | of us all, the more fervent they are in the
faith, the more hostile are they to what is said, supposing that a
submissive spirit indicates, not piety, but treason to the truth, and
therefore they would sacrifice anything rather than their private
convictions, and the accustomed doctrines in which they have been
educated. I am now referring to those who are moderate and not
utterly depraved in disposition, who, if they have erred in regard to
the truth, have erred from piety, who have zeal, though not according
to knowledge,2633
who will possibly
be of the number of those not excessively condemned, and not beaten
with many stripes,2634
because it is not
through vice or depravity that they have failed to do the will of their
Lord; and these perchance would be persuaded and forsake the pious
opinion which is the cause of their hostility, if some reason either
from their own minds, or from others, were to take hold of them, and at
a critical moment, like iron from flint, strike fire from a mind which
is pregnant and worthy of the light, for thus a little spark would
quickly kindle the torch of truth within it.
41. But what is to be said of those who,
from vain glory or arrogance, speak unrighteousness against the most
High,2635
arming themselves with the insolence of
Jannes and Jambres,2636
not against Moses,
but against the truth, and rising in opposition to sound
doctrine? Or of the third class, who through ignorance and, its
consequence, temerity, rush headlong against every form of doctrine in
swinish fashion, and trample under foot the fair pearls2637
of the truth?
42. What again of those who come with no
private idea, or form of words, better or worse, in regard to God, but
listen to all kinds of doctrines and teachers, with the intention of
selecting from all what is best and safest, in reliance upon no better
judges of the truth than themselves? They are, in consequence,
borne and turned about hither and thither by one plausible idea after
another, and, after being deluged and trodden down by all kinds of
doctrine,2638
and having rung the
changes on a long succession of teachers and formulæ, which they
throw to the winds as readily as dust, their ears and minds at last are
wearied out, and, O what folly! they become equally disgusted with all
forms of doctrine, and assume the wretched character of deriding and
despising our faith as unstable and unsound; passing in their ignorance
from the teachers to the doctrine: as if anyone whose eyes were
diseased, or whose ears had been injured, were to complain of the sun
for being dim and not shining, or of sounds for being inharmonious and
feeble.
43. Accordingly, to impress the truth upon a
soul when it is still fresh, like wax not yet subjected to the seal, is
an easier task than inscribing pious doctrine on the top of
inscriptions—I mean wrong doctrines and dogmas2639
—with the result that the former are
confused and thrown into disorder by the latter. It is better
indeed to tread a road which is smooth and well trodden than one which
is untrodden and rough, or to plough land which has often been
cleft and broken up by the
plough: but a soul to be written upon should be free from the
inscription of harmful doctrines, or the deeply cut marks of
vice: otherwise the pious inscriber would have a twofold task,
the erasure of the former impressions and the substitution of others
which are more excellent, and more worthy to abide. So numerous
are they whose wickedness is shown, not only by yielding to their
passions, but even by their utterances, and so numerous the forms and
characters of wickedness, and so considerable the task of one who has
been intrusted with this office of educating and taking charge of
souls. Indeed I have omitted the majority of the details, lest my
speech should be unnecessarily burdensome.
44. If anyone were to undertake to tame and train
an animal of many forms and shapes, compounded of many animals of
various sizes and degrees of tameness and wildness, his principal task,
involving a considerable struggle, would be the government of so
extraordinary and heterogeneous a nature, since each of the animals of
which it is compounded would, according to its nature or habit, be
differently affected with joy, pleasure or dislike, by the same words,
or food, or stroking with the hand, or whistling, or other modes of
treatment. And what must the master of such an animal do, but
show himself manifold and various in his knowledge, and apply to each a
treatment suitable for it, so as successfully to lead and preserve the
beast? And since the common body of the church is composed of
many different characters and minds, like a single animal compounded of
discordant parts, it is absolutely necessary that its ruler should be
at once simple in his uprightness in all respects, and as far as
possible manifold and varied in his treatment of individuals, and in
dealing with all in an appropriate and suitable manner.
45. For some need to be fed with the
milk2640
of the most simple and elementary doctrines,
viz., those who are in habit babes and, so to say, new-made, and unable
to bear the manly food of the word: nay, if it were presented to
them beyond their strength, they would probably be overwhelmed and
oppressed, owing to the inability of their mind, as is the case with
our material bodies,2641
| 2641 Our material
bodies, lit., “matter.” This, together with
“dust,” “mire” or “clay” and other
similar terms, is often used by S. Gregory as a synonym of “the
body.” | to digest and
appropriate what is offered to it, and so would lose even their
original power. Others require the wisdom which is spoken among
the perfect,2642
and the higher and
more solid food, since their senses have been sufficiently exercised to
discern2643
truth and
falsehood, and if they were made to drink milk, and fed on the
vegetable diet of invalids,2644
they would be
annoyed. And with good reason, for they would not be
strengthened2645
according to
Christ, nor make that laudable increase, which the Word produces in one
who is rightly fed, by making him a perfect man, and bringing him to
the measure of spiritual stature.2646
46. And who is sufficient for these
things? For we are not as the many, able to corrupt2647
the word of truth, and mix the
wine,2648
which maketh glad the heart of man,2649
with water, mix, that is, our doctrine with
what is common and cheap, and debased, and stale, and tasteless, in
order to turn the adulteration to our profit, and accommodate ourselves
to those who meet us, and curry favor with everyone, becoming
ventriloquists2650
and chatterers, who
serve their own pleasures by words uttered from the earth, and sinking
into the earth, and, to gain the special good will of the multitude,
injuring in the highest degree, nay, ruining ourselves, and shedding
the innocent blood of simpler souls, which will be required at our
hands.2651
47. Besides, we are aware that it is better
to offer our own reins to others more skilful than ourselves, than,
while inexperienced, to guide the course of others, and rather to give
a kindly hearing than stir an untrained tongue; and after a discussion
of these points with advisers who are, I fancy, of no mean worth, and,
at any rate, wish us well, we preferred to learn those canons of speech
and action which we did not know, rather than undertake to teach them
in our ignorance. For it is delightful to have the
reasoning2652
| 2652 I.e., venerable for
wisdom due to experience. | of the aged come to
one even until the depth of old age, able, as it is, to aid a soul new
to piety. Accordingly, to undertake the training of others before
being sufficiently trained oneself, and to learn, as men say, the
potter’s art on a wine-jar, that is, to practise ourselves in
piety at the expense of others’ souls seems to me to be excessive
folly or excessive rashness—folly, if we are not even aware of
our own ignorance; rashness, if in spite of this knowledge we venture
on the task.
48. Nay, the wiser of the Hebrews tell us
that there was of old among the Hebrews a most excellent and
praiseworthy law,2653
| 2653 Law. Not
definitely enacted, but a custom constantly observed. It applied
to the earlier and later chapters of Ezekiel and the Song of
Solomon. | that every
age was not entrusted with
the whole of Scripture, inasmuch as this would not be the more
profitable course, since the whole of it is not at once intelligible to
everyone, and its more recondite parts would, by their apparent
meaning, do a very great injury to most people. Some portions
therefore, whose exterior2654
| 2654 Exterior,
Origen, Hom. 5, in Levit., speaks of the ‘body, soul, and spirit
of Scripture.’ | is unexceptionable,
are from the first permitted and common to all; while others are only
entrusted to those who have attained their twenty-fifth year, viz.,
such as hide their mystical beauty under a mean-looking cloak, to be
the reward of diligence and an illustrious life; flashing forth and
presenting itself only to those whose mind has been purified, on the
ground that this age alone2655
| 2655
Alone. If, as many mss. we
read μόλις, “with
difficulty.” This is preferred by the Bened. note. | can be superior to
the body, and properly rise from the letter to the spirit.
49. Among us, however, there is no boundary
line between giving and receiving instruction, like the stones of old
between the tribes within and beyond the Jordan: nor is a certain
part entrusted to some, another to others; nor any rule for
degrees2656
| 2656 Degrees,
etc. Heb. v.
14 V. “use” (in
the singular), the sense is “any rule for confining the use of
difficult passages of Holy Scripture to those whose experience is a
guarantee against their abuse.” | of experience; but
the matter has been so disturbed and thrown into confusion, that most
of us, not to say all, almost before we have lost our childish curls
and lisp, before we have entered the house of God, before we know even
the names of the Sacred Books, before we have learnt the character and
authors of the Old and New Testaments: (for my present point is
not our want of cleansing from the mire and marks of spiritual shame
which our viciousness has contracted) if, I say, we have furnished
ourselves with two or three expressions of pious authors, and that by
hearsay, not by study; if we have had a brief experience of David, or
clad ourselves properly in a cloaklet, or are wearing at least a
philosopher’s girdle, or have girt about us some form and
appearance of piety—phew! how we take the chair and show our
spirit! Samuel was holy even in his swaddling-clothes:2657
we are at once wise teachers, of high
estimation in Divine things, the first of scribes and lawyers; we
ordain ourselves men of heaven and seek to be called Rabbi by
men;2658
the letter is nowhere, everything is to be
understood spiritually, and our dreams are utter drivel, and we should
be annoyed if we were not lauded to excess. This is the case with
the better and more simple of us: what of those who are more
spiritual and noble?2659
After
frequently condemning us, as men of no account, they have forsaken us,
and abhor fellowship with impious people such as we are.
50. Now, if we were to speak gently to one
of them, advancing, as follows, step by step in argument:
“Tell me, my good sir, do you call dancing anything, and
flute-playing?” “Certainly,” they would say.
“What then of wisdom and being wise, which we venture to define
as a knowledge of things divine and human?” This also they
will admit. “Are then these accomplishments better than and
superior to wisdom, or wisdom by far better than these?”
“Better even than all things,” I know well that they will
say. Up to this point they are judicious. “Well,
dancing and flute-playing require to be taught and learnt, a process
which takes time, and much toil in the sweat of the brow, and sometimes
the payment of fees, and entreaties for initiation, and long absence
from home, and all else which must be done and borne for the
acquisition of experience: but as for wisdom, which is chief of
all things, and holds in her embrace everything which is good, so that
even God himself prefers this title to all the names which He is
called; are we to suppose that it is a matter of such slight
consequence, and so accessible, that we need but wish, and we would be
wise?” “It would be utter folly to do
so.” If we, or any learned and prudent man, were to say
this to them, and try by degrees to cleanse them from their error, it
would be sowing upon rocks,2660
and speaking to
ears of men who will not hear:2661
so far are
they from being even wise enough to perceive their own ignorance.
And we may rightly, in my opinion, apply to them the saying of
Solomon: There is an evil which I have seen under the
sun,2662
a man wise in his own conceit;2663
and a still greater evil is to charge with
the instruction of others a man who is not even aware of his own
ignorance.
51. This is a state of mind which demands,
in special degree, our tears and groans, and has often stirred my pity,
from the conviction that imagination robs us in great measure of
reality, and that vain glory is a great hindrance to men’s
attainment of virtue. To heal and stay this disease needs a Peter
or Paul, those great disciples of Christ, who in addition to guidance
in word and deed, received their grace,2664
and became all things
to all men, that they might gain all.2665
But for other men like ourselves, it
is a great thing to be rightly guided and led by those who have been
charged with the correction and setting right of things such as
these.
52. Since, however, I have mentioned Paul, and men
like him, I will, with your permission, pass by all others who have
been foremost as lawgivers, prophets, or leaders, or in any similar
office—for instance, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Elijah, Elisha, the
Judges, Samuel, David, the company of Prophets, John, the Twelve
Apostles, and their successors, who with many toils and labors
exercised their authority, each in his own time; all these I pass by,
to set forth Paul as the witness to my assertions, and for us to
consider by his example how important a matter is the care of souls,
and whether it requires slight attention and little judgment. But
that we may recognize and perceive this, let us hear what Paul himself
says of Paul.
53. I say nothing of his labours, his
watchings, his sufferings in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness,
his assailants from without, his adversaries within.2666
I pass over the persecutions,
councils, prisons, bonds, accusers, tribunals, the daily and hourly
deaths, the basket, the stonings, beatings with rods, the travelling
about, the perils by land and sea, the deep, the shipwrecks, the perils
of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from his countrymen, perils among
false brethren, the living by his own hands, the gospel without
charge,2667
the being a
spectacle to both angels and men,2668
set in the
midst between God and men to champion His cause,2669
| 2669 His cause
reading τοῦ: v. 1. τῶν. | and to unite them to Him, and make them His
own peculiar people,2670
beside those things
that are without.2671
For who could
worthily detail these matters, the daily pressure,2672
the individual solicitude, the care of all
the churches, the universal sympathy, and brotherly love? Did
anyone stumble, Paul also was weak; did another suffer scandal, it was
Paul who was on fire.
54. What of the laboriousness of his
teaching? The manifold character of his ministry? His
loving kindness? And on the other hand his strictness? And
the combination and blending of the two; in such wise that his
gentleness should not enervate, nor his severity exasperate? He
gives laws for slaves and masters,2673
rulers and
ruled,2674
husbands and
wives,2675
parents and
children,2676
marriage and
celibacy,2677
| 2677 1 Cor. vii. 3, 8, 25, 31. | self-discipline and
indulgence,2678
wisdom and
ignorance,2679
circumcision and
uncircumcision,2680
Christ and the
world, the flesh and the spirit.2681
On
behalf of some he gives thanks, others he upbraids. Some he names
his joy and crown,2682
others he charges
with folly.2683
Some who hold
a straight course he accompanies, sharing in their zeal; others he
checks, who are going wrong. At one time he
excommunicates,2684
at another he
confirms his love;2685
at one time he
grieves, at another rejoices; at one time he feeds with milk, at
another he handles mysteries;2686
at one time he
condescends, at another he raises to his own level; at one time he
threatens a rod,2687
at another he
offers the spirit of meekness; at one time he is haughty toward the
lofty, at another lowly toward the lowly. Now he is least of the
apostles,2688
now he offers a
proof of Christ speaking in him;2689
now he longs
for departure and is being poured forth as a libation,2690
now he thinks it more necessary for their
sakes to abide in the flesh. For he seeks not his own interests,
but those of his children,2691
whom he has
begotten in Christ by the gospel.2692
This is
the aim of all his spiritual authority, in everything to neglect his
own in comparison with the advantage of others.
55. He glories in his infirmities and
distresses. He takes pleasure in the dying of Jesus,2693
as if it were a kind of ornament. He
is lofty in carnal things,2694
he rejoices in
things spiritual; he is not rude in knowledge,2695
and claims to see in a mirror, darkly.2696
He is bold in spirit, and buffets his
body,2697
throwing it as an antagonist. What is
the lesson and instruction he would thus impress upon us? Not to
be proud of earthly things, or puffed up by knowledge, or excite the
flesh against the spirit. He fights for all, prays for all, is
jealous for all, is kindled on behalf of all, whether without law, or
under the law; a preacher of the Gentiles,2698
a
patron of the Jews. He even was exceedingly bold on behalf of his
brethren according to the flesh,2699
if I may
myself be bold enough to say so, in his loving prayer that they might
in his stead be brought to Christ. What magnanimity! what fervor
of spirit! He imitates Christ, who became a curse for
us,2700
who took our infirmities and bore our
sicknesses;2701
or, to use more
measured terms, he is ready,
next to Christ, to suffer anything, even as one of the ungodly, for
them, if only they be saved.
56. Why should I enter into detail? He
lived not to himself, but to Christ and his preaching. He
crucified the world to himself,2702
and being
crucified to the world and the things which are seen, he thought all
things little,2703
and too small to be
desired; even though from Jerusalem and round about unto
Illyricum2704
he had fully
preached the Gospel, even though he had been prematurely caught up to
the third heaven, and had a vision of Paradise, and had heard
unspeakable words.2705
Such was
Paul, and everyone of like spirit with him. But we fear that, in
comparison with them, we may be foolish princes of Zoan,2706
or extortioners, who exact the fruits of the
ground, or falsely bless the people:2707
and
further make themselves happy, and confuse the way of your
feet,2708
or mockers ruling over you, or children in
authority,2709
immature in mind,
not even having bread and clothing enough to be rulers over
any;2710
or prophets teaching lies,2711
or rebellious princes,2712
deserving to share the reproach of their
elders for the straitness of the famine,2713
or
priests very far from speaking comfortably2714
to
Jerusalem, according to the reproaches and protests urged by Isaiah,
who was purged by the Seraphim with a live coal.2715
57. Is the undertaking then so serious and
laborious to a sensitive and sad heart—a very rottenness to the
bones2716
of a sensible man: while the danger is
slight, and a fall not worth consideration? Nay the blessed Hosea
inspires me with serious alarm, where he says that to us priests and
rulers pertaineth the judgment,2717
because we
have been a snare to the watchtower; and as a net spread upon Tabor,
which has been firmly fixed by the hunters of men’s souls, and he
threatens to cut off the wicked prophets,2718
and devour their judges with fire, and to cease for a while from
anointing a king and princes,2719
because they ruled
for themselves, and not by Him.2720
58. Hence again the divine Micah, unable to
brook the building of Zion with blood, however you interpret the
phrase, and of Jerusalem with iniquity, while the heads thereof judge
for reward, and the priests teach for hire, and the prophets divine for
money—what does he say will be the result of this? Zion
shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem be as a lodge in a garden,
and the mountain of the house be reckoned as a glade in a
thicket.2721
He bewails
also the scarcity of the upright, there being scarcely a stalk or a
gleaning grape left, since both the prince asketh, and the judge
curries favour,2722
so that his
language is almost the same as the mighty David’s: Save me,
O Lord, for the godly man ceaseth:2723
and says
that therefore their blessings shall fail them, as if wasted by the
moth.
59. Joel again summons us to wailing, and
will have the ministers of the altar lament under the presence of
famine: so far is he from allowing us to revel in the misfortunes
of others: and, after sanctifying a fast, calling a solemn
assembly, and gathering the old men, the children, and those of tender
age,2724
we ourselves must further haunt the temple
in sackcloth and ashes,2725
prostrated right
humbly on the ground, because the field is wasted, and the
meat-offering and the drink-offering is cut off from the house of the
Lord, till we draw down mercy by our humiliation.
60. What of Habakkuk? He utters more
heated words, and is impatient with God Himself, and cries down, as it
were our good Lord, because of the injustice of the judges. O
Lord, how long shall I cry and Thou wilt not hear? Shall I cry
out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save? Why dost Thou
show me toil and labour, causing me to look upon perverseness and
impiety? Judgment has been given against me, and the judge is a
spoiler. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go
forth. Then comes the denunciation, and what follows upon
it. Behold, ye despisers, and regard, and wonder marvellously,
and vanish away, for I work a work.2726
But why
need I quote the whole of the denunciation? A little further on,
however, for I think it best to add this to what has been said, after
upbraiding and lamenting many of those who are in some respect unjust
or depraved, he upbraids the leaders and teachers of wickedness,
stigmatising vice as a foul disorder, and an intoxication and
aberration of mind; charging them with giving their neighbours drink in
order to look upon the darkness of their soul,2727
and the dens of creeping things and wild beasts, viz.: the
dwelling places of wicked thoughts. Such indeed they are, and
such teachings do they discuss with us.
61. How can it be right to pass by Malachi, who at
one time brings bitter charges against the priests, and reproaches them
with despising the name of
the Lord,2728
and explains
wherein they did this, by offering polluted bread upon the altar, and
meat which is not firstfruits, which they would not have offered to one
of their governors, or, if they had offered it, they would have been
dishonoured; yet offering these in fulfilment of a vow to the King of
the universe, to wit, the lame and the sick, and the deformed, which
are utterly profane and loathsome.2729
Again he
reminds them of the covenant of God, a covenant of life and peace, with
the sons of Levi, and that they should serve Him in fear, and stand in
awe of the manifestation of His Name. The law of truth, he says,
was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips; he
walked with me uprightly in peace, and turned away many from
iniquity: for the priest’s lips shall keep knowledge, and
they shall seek the law at his mouth. And how honourable and at
the same time how fearful is the cause! for he is the messenger of the
Lord Almighty.2730
Although I
pass over the following imprecations, as strongly worded,2731
| 2731 Strongly
worded, βλάσφημον,
perh. “ill omened.” | yet I am afraid of their truth. This
however may be cited without offence, to our profit. Is it right,
he says, to regard your sacrifice, and receive it with good will at
your hands,2732
as if he were most
highly incensed, and rejecting their ministrations owing to their
wickedness.
62. Whenever I remember Zechariah, I shudder
at the reaping-hook,2733
and likewise at his
testimony against the priests, his hints in reference to the celebrated
Joshua, the high priest, whom he represents as stripped of filthy and
unbecoming garments and then clothed in rich priestly apparel.2734
As for the words and charges to Joshua
which he puts into the angel’s mouth, let them be treated with
silent respect, as referring perhaps to a greater2735
| 2735 A greater,
&c. i.e. they refer to the Person of Jesus Christ Himself. | and higher object than those who are many
priests:2736
but even at
his right hand stood the devil, to resist him. A fact, in my
eyes, of no slight significance, and demanding no slight fear and
watchfulness.
63. Who is so bold and adamantine of soul as
not to tremble and be abashed at the charges and reproaches
deliberately urged against the rest of the shepherds. A voice, he
says, of the howling of the shepherds, for their glory is
spoiled. A voice of the roaring of lions,2737
for this hath befallen them. Does he not all but hear the wailing
as if close at hand, and himself wail with the afflicted. A
little further is a more striking and impassioned strain. Feed,
he says, the flock of slaughter, whose possessors slay them without
repentance, and they that sell them say, “Blessed be the Lord,
for we are rich:” and their own shepherds are without
feeling for them. Therefore, I will no more pity the inhabitants
of the land, saith the Lord Almighty.2738
And again: Awake, O sword,
against the shepherds, and smite the shepherds, and scatter the sheep,
and I will turn My Hand upon the shepherds;2739
and, Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will visit the
lambs:2740
adding to the
threat those who rule over the people. So industriously does he
apply himself to his task that he cannot easily free himself from
denunciations, and I am afraid that, did I refer to the whole series, I
should exhaust your patience. This must then suffice for
Zechariah.
64. Passing by the elders in the book of
Daniel;2741
for it is better to
pass them by, together with the Lord’s righteous sentence and
declaration concerning them, that wickedness came from Babylon from
ancient judges, who seemed to govern the people; how are we affected by
Ezekiel, the beholder and expositor of the mighty mysteries and
visions? By his injunction to the watchmen2742
not to keep silence concerning vice and the
sword impending over it, a course which would profit neither themselves
nor the sinners; but rather to keep watch and forewarn, and thus
benefit, at any rate those who gave warning, if not both those who
spoke and those who heard?
65. What of his further invective against
the shepherds, Woe shall come upon woe, and rumour upon rumour, then
shall they seek a vision of the prophet, but the law shall perish from
the priest, and counsel from the ancients,2743
and again, in these terms, Son of man, say unto her, thou art a land
that is not watered, nor hath rain come upon thee in the day of
indignation: whose princes in the midst of her are like roaring
lions, ravening the prey, devouring souls in their might.2744
And a little further on: Her
priests have violated My laws and profaned My holy things, they have
put no difference between the holy and profane, but all things were
alike to them, and they hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I was
profaned among them.2745
He threatens
that He will consume both the wall and them that daubed it,2746
that is, those who sin and those who throw a
cloak over them; as the evil rulers and priests have done, who caused
the house of Israel to err according to their own hearts which are
estranged in their lusts.2747
66. I also refrain from entering into his
discussion of those who feed themselves, devour the milk, clothe
themselves with the wool, kill them that are fat, but feed not the
flock, strengthen not the diseased, nor bind up that which is broken,
nor bring again that which is driven away, nor seek that which is lost,
nor keep watch over that which is strong, but oppress them with rigour,
and destroy them with their pressure;2748
so
that, because there was no shepherd, the sheep were scattered over
every plain and mountain, and became meat for all the fowls and
beasts,2749
because there was
no one to seek for them and bring them back. What is the
consequence? As I live, saith the Lord, because these things are
so, and My flock became a prey,2750
behold I am
against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hands, and
will gather them and make them My own: but the shepherds shall
suffer such and such things, as bad shepherds ought.
67. However, to avoid unreasonably
prolonging my discourse, by an enumeration of all the prophets, and of
the words of them all, I will mention but one more, who was known
before he was formed, and sanctified from the womb,2751
Jeremiah: and will pass over the
rest. He longs for water over his head, and a fountain of tears
for his eyes, that he may adequately weep for Israel;2752
and no less does he bewail the depravity of
its rulers.
68. God speaks to him in reproof of the
priests: The priests said not, Where is the Lord, and they that
handled the law knew Me not; the pastors also transgressed against
Me.2753
Again He says to him: The
pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord, and therefore
all their flock did not understand, and was scattered.2754
Again, Many pastors have destroyed My
vineyard, and have polluted My pleasant portion, till it was reduced to
a trackless wilderness.2755
He further
inveighs against the pastors again: Woe be to the pastors that
destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! Therefore thus saith
the Lord against them that feed My people: Ye have scattered My
flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold I
will visit upon you the evil of your doings.2756
Moreover he bids the shepherds to
howl, and the rams of the flock to lament, because the days of their
slaughter are accomplished.2757
69. Why need I speak of the things of
ancient days? Who can test himself by the rules and standards
which Paul laid down for bishops and presbyters, that they are to be
temperate, soberminded, not given to wine, no strikers, apt to teach,
blameless in all things, and beyond the reach of the wicked,2758
| 2758 1 Tim. iii. 2. 3; Tit. i. 7. | without finding considerable deflection from
the straight line of the rules? What of the regulations of Jesus
for his disciples, when He sends them to preach?2759
The main object of these is—not
to enter into particulars—that they should be of such virtue, so
simple and modest, and in a word, so heavenly, that the gospel should
make its way, no less by their character than by their
preaching.
70. I am alarmed by the reproaches of the
Pharisees, the conviction of the Scribes. For it is disgraceful
for us, who ought greatly surpass them, as we are bidden, if we desire
the kingdom of heaven, to be found more deeply sunk in vice: so
that we deserve to be called serpents, a generation of vipers, and
blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel, or sepulchres
foul within, in spite of our external comeliness, or platters outwardly
clean, and everything else, which they are, or which is laid to their
charge.2760
71. With these thoughts I am occupied night and
day: they waste my marrow, and feed upon my flesh, and will not
allow me to be confident or to look up. They depress my soul, and
abase my mind, and fetter my tongue, and make me consider, not the
position of a prelate, or the guidance and direction of others, which
is far beyond my powers; but how I myself am to escape the wrath to
come, and to scrape off from myself somewhat of the rust of vice.
A man must himself be cleansed, before cleansing others: himself
become wise, that he may make others wise; become light, and then give
light: draw near to God, and so bring others near; be hallowed,
then hallow them; be possessed of hands to lead others by the hand, of
wisdom to give advice.
72. When will this be, say they who are
swift but not sure in every thing, readily building up, readily
throwing down. When will the lamp be upon its stand,2761
and where is the talent?2762
For so they call the grace.2763
Those who speak thus are more fervent
in friendship than in reverence. You ask me, you men of exceeding
courage, when these things shall be, and what account I give of
them? Not even extreme old age would be too long a limit
to assign. For hoary
hairs combined with prudence are better than inexperienced youth,
well-reasoned hesitation than inconsiderate haste, and a brief reign
than a long tyranny: just as a small portion honourably won is
better than considerable possessions which are dishonourable and
uncertain, a little gold than a great weight of lead, a little light
than much darkness.
73. But this speed, in its untrustworthiness
and excessive haste, is in danger of being like the seeds which fell
upon the rock,2764
and, because they
had no depth of earth,2765
sprang up at once,
but could not bear even the first heat of the sun; or like the
foundation laid upon the sand,2766
which could not
even make a slight resistance to the rain and the winds. Woe to
thee, O city, whose king is a child,2767
says
Solomon. Be not hasty of speech,2768
says Solomon again, asserting that hastiness of speech is less serious
than heated action. And who, in spite of all this, demands haste
rather than security and utility? Who can mould, as clay-figures
are modelled in a single day, the defender of the truth, who is to take
his stand with Angels, and give glory with Archangels, and cause the
sacrifice to ascend to the altar on high, and share the priesthood of
Christ, and renew the creature, and set forth the image, and create
inhabitants for the world above, aye and, greatest of all, be God, and
make others to be God?
74. I know Whose ministers we are, and where
we are placed, and whither we are guides. I know the height of
God, and the weakness of man, and, on the contrary, his power.
Heaven is high, and the earth deep;2769
and who of
those who have been cast down by sin shall ascend?2770
Who that is as yet surrounded by the
gloom here below, and by the grossness of the flesh can purely gaze
with his whole mind upon that whole mind, and amid unstable and visible
things hold intercourse with the stable and invisible? For hardly
may one of those who have been most specially purged, behold here even
an image of the Good, as men see the sun in the water. Who hath
measured the water with his hand, and the heaven with a span, and the
whole earth in a measure? Who hath weighed the mountains in
scales, and the hills in a balance?2771
What is
the place of his rest?2772
and to whom shall
he be likened?2773
75. Who is it, Who made all things by His
Word,2774
and formed man by His Wisdom, and gathered
into one things scattered abroad, and mingled dust with spirit, and
compounded an animal visible and invisible, temporal and immortal,
earthly and heavenly, able to attain to God but not to comprehend Him,
drawing near and yet afar off. I said, I will be wise, says
Solomon, but she (i.e. Wisdom) was far from me beyond what is:2775
and, Verily, he that increaseth
knowledge increaseth sorrow.2776
For the joy
of what we have discovered is no greater than the pain of what escapes
us; a pain, I imagine, like that felt by those who are dragged, while
yet thirsty, from the water, or are unable to retain what they think
they hold, or are suddenly left in the dark by a flash of
lightning.
76. This depressed and kept me humble, and
persuaded me that it was better to hear the voice of praise2777
than to be an expounder of truths beyond my
power; the majesty, and the height, and the dignity, and the pure
natures scarce able to contain the brightness of God, Whom the deep
covers, Whose secret place is darkness,2778
since He is the purest light,2779
which most men
cannot approach unto; Who is in all this universe, and again is beyond
the universe; Who is all goodness,2780
and beyond all
goodness; Who enlightens the mind, and escapes the quickness and height
of the mind, ever retiring as much as He is apprehended, and by His
flight and stealing away when grasped, withdrawing to the things above
one who is enamoured of Him.
77. Such and so great is the object of our
longing zeal, and such a man should he be, who prepares and conducts
souls to their espousals. For myself, I feared to be cast, bound
hand and foot,2781
from the
bride-chamber, for not having on a wedding-garment, and for having
rashly intruded among those who there sit at meat. And yet I had
been invited from my youth, if I may speak of what most men know not,
and had been cast upon Him from the womb,2782
and presented by the promise of my mother, afterwards confirmed in the
hour of danger: and my longing grew up with it, and my reason
agreed to it, and I gave as an offering my all to Him Who had won me
and saved me, my property, my fame, my health, my very words, from
which I only gained the advantage of being able to despise them, and of
having something in comparison of which I preferred Christ. And
the words of God were made sweet as honeycombs2783
to
me, and I cried after knowledge and lifted up my voice for
wisdom.2784
There was
moreover the moderation of anger, the curbing of the tongue, the
restraint of the eyes,
the discipline of the belly, and the trampling under foot of the glory
which clings to the earth. I speak foolishly,2785
but it shall be said, in these pursuits I
was perhaps not inferior to many.
78. One branch of philosophy is, however,
too high for me, the commission to guide and govern souls—and
before I have rightly learned to submit to a shepherd, or have had my
soul duly cleansed, the charge of caring for a flock: especially
in times like these, when a man, seeing everyone else rushing hither
and thither in confusion, is content to flee from the melee and escape,
in sheltered retirement, from the storm and gloom of the wicked
one: when the members are at war with one another, and the slight
remains of love, which once existed, have departed, and priest is a
mere empty name, since, as it is said, contempt2786
has been poured upon princes.2787
| 2787 Princes,
ἄρχοντας. i.e. The
office of the priesthood, which is one of dignity, has been brought
into contempt by the unworthiness of those ordained to it, who have, by
their want of the virtues requisite for their office, made it an empty
name—and, not only so, but have been actively vicious. |
79. Would that it were merely empty!
And now may their blasphemy fall upon the head of the ungodly!
All fear has been banished from souls, shamelessness has taken its
place, and knowledge2788
| 2788 Knowledge,
&c. cf. the ironical passage, §§ 49, 50. | and the deep things
of the Spirit2789
are at the disposal
of anyone who will; and we all become pious by simply condemning the
impiety of others; and we claim the services of ungodly
judges,2790
and fling that
which is holy to the dogs, and cast pearls before swine,2791
by publishing divine things in the hearing
of profane souls, and, wretches that we are, carefully fulfil the
prayers of our enemies, and are not ashamed to go a whoring with our
own inventions.2792
Moabites and
Ammonites, who were not permitted even to enter the Church of the
Lord,2793
frequent our most holy rites. We have
opened to all not the gates of righteousness,2794
but, doors of railing and partizan arrogance; and the first place among
us is given, not to one who in the fear of God refrains from even an
idle word, but to him who can revile his neighbour most fluently,
whether explicitly, or by covert allusion; who rolls beneath his tongue
mischief and iniquity, or to speak more accurately, the poison of
asps.2795
80. We observe each other’s sins, not to
bewail them, but to make them subjects of reproach, not to heal them,
but to aggravate them, and excuse our own evil deeds by the wounds of
our neighbours. Bad and good men are distinguished not according
to personal character, but by their disagreement or friendship with
ourselves. We praise one day what we revile the next,
denunciation at the hands of others is a passport to our admiration; so
magnanimous are we in our viciousness, that everything is frankly
forgiven to impiety.
81. Everything has reverted to the original
state of things2796
before the world,
with its present fair order and form, came into being. The
general confusion and irregularity cry for some organising hand and
power. Or, if you will, it is like a battle at night by the faint
light of the moon, when none can discern the faces of friends or foes;
or like a sea fight on the surge, with the driving winds, and boiling
foam, and dashing waves, and crashing vessels, with the thrusts of
poles, the pipes of boatswains, the groans of the fallen, while we make
our voices heard above the din, and not knowing what to do, and having,
alas! no opportunity for showing our valour, assail one another, and
fall by one another’s hands.
82. Nor indeed is there any distinction
between the state of the people and that of the priesthood: but
it seems to me to be a simple fulfilment of the ancient curse,
“As with the people so with the priest.”2797
Nor again are the great and eminent
men affected otherwise than the majority; nay, they are openly at war
with the priests, and their piety is an aid to their powers of
persuasion. And indeed, provided that it be on behalf of the
faith, and of the highest and most important questions, let them be
thus disposed, and I blame them not; nay, to say the truth, I go so far
as to praise and congratulate them. Yea! would that I were one of
those who contend and incur hatred for the truth’s sake: or
rather, I can boast of being one of them. For better is a
laudable war than a peace which severs a man from God: and
therefore it is that the Spirit arms the gentle warrior, as one who is
able to wage war in a good cause.
83. But at the present time there are some who go
to war even about small matters and to no purpose, and, with great
ignorance and audacity, accept, as an associate in their ill-doing,
anyone whoever he may be. Then everyone makes the faith his
pretext, and this venerable name is dragged into their private
quarrels. Consequently, as was probable, we are hated, even among
the Gentiles, and, what is harder still, we cannot say that this is
without just cause. Nay, even the best of our own people are
scandalized, while this result is not surprising in the case of the
multitude, who are ill-disposed to
accept anything that is good.
84. Sinners are planning upon our
backs;2798
and what we devise
against each other, they turn against us all: and we have become
a new spectacle, not to angels and men,2799
as
says Paul, that bravest of athletes, in his contest with principalities
and powers,2800
but to almost all
wicked men, and at every time and place, in the public squares, at
carousals, at festivities, and times of sorrow. Nay, we have
already—I can scarcely speak of it without tears—been
represented on the stage, amid the laughter of the most licentious, and
the most popular of all dialogues and scenes is the caricature of a
Christian.
85. These are the results of our intestine
warfare, and our extreme readiness to strive about goodness and
gentleness, and our inexpedient excess of love for God.
Wrestling, or any other athletic contest, is only permitted according
to fixed laws, and the man will be shouted down and disgraced, and lose
the victory, who breaks the laws of wrestling, or acts unfairly in any
other contest, contrary to the rules laid down for the contest, however
able and skilful he may be; and shall anyone contend for Christ in an
unchristlike manner, and yet be pleasing to peace for having fought
unlawfully in her name.
86. Yea, even now, when Christ is invoked,
the devils tremble,2801
and not even by our
ill-doing has the power of this Name been extinguished, while we are
not ashamed to insult a cause and name so venerable; shouting it, and
having it shouted in return, almost in public, and every day; for My
Name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.2802
87. Of external warfare I am not afraid, nor
of that wild beast, and fulness of evil, who has now arisen against the
churches, though he may threaten fire, sword, wild beasts, precipices,
chasms; though he may show himself more inhuman than all previous
madmen, and discover fresh tortures of greater severity. I have
one remedy for them all, one road to victory; I will glory in
Christ2803
namely, death for
Christ’s sake.
88. For my own warfare, however, I am at a
loss what course to pursue, what alliance, what word of wisdom, what
grace to devise, with what panoply to arm myself, against the wiles of
the wicked one.2804
What Moses is
to conquer him by stretching out his hands upon the mount,2805
in order that the cross, thus typified and
prefigured, may prevail? What Joshua, as his successor, arrayed
alongside the Captain of the Lord’s hosts?2806
What David, either by harping, or
fighting with his sling,2807
and girded by God
with strength unto the battle,2808
and with his
fingers trained to war?2809
What Samuel,
praying2810
and sacrificing for
the people, and anointing as king one who can gain the victory?
What Jeremiah, by writing lamentations for Israel, is fitly to lament
these things?
89. Who will cry aloud, Spare Thy People, O
Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the nations should
rule over them?2811
What Noah,
and Job,2812
and Daniel, who are
reckoned together as men of prayer, will pray for us, that we may have
a slight respite from warfare, and recover ourselves, and recognize one
another for a while, and no longer, instead of united Israel, be
Judah2813
| 2813 Judah, etc.,
cf. Orat. vi. 7; xxxii. 4. | and Israel, Rehoboam and Jeroboam, Jerusalem
and Samaria, in turn delivered up because of our sins, and in turn
lamented.
90. For I own that I am too weak for this
warfare, and therefore turned my back, hiding my face in the rout, and
sat solitary,2814
because I was
filled with bitterness2815
and sought to be
silent, understanding that it is an evil time,2816
that the beloved had kicked,2817
that we were become
backsliding children,2818
who are the
luxuriant vine,2819
the true vine, all
fruitful, all beautiful,2820
springing up
splendidly with showers from on high.2821
For the diadem of beauty,2822
the signet of glory,2823
the crown of magnificence2824
has been changed
for me into shame; and if anyone, in face of these things, is daring
and courageous, he has my blessing on his daring and
courage.
91. I have said nothing yet of the internal
warfare within ourselves, and in our passions, in which we are engaged
night and day against the body of our humiliation,2825
either secretly or openly, and against the
tide which tosses and whirls us hither and thither, by the aid of our
senses and other sources of the pleasures of this life; and against the
miry clay2826
in which we have
been fixed; and against the law of sin,2827
which wars against the law of the spirit, and strives to destroy the
royal image in us, and all the divine emanation which has been bestowed
upon us; so that it is difficult for anyone, either by a long course of
philosophic training, and
gradual separation of the noble and enlightened part of the soul from
that which is debased and yoked with darkness, or by the mercy of God,
or by both together, and by a constant practice of looking upward, to
overcome the depressing power of matter. And before a man has, as
far as possible, gained this superiority, and sufficiently purified his
mind, and far surpassed his fellows in nearness to God, I do not think
it safe for him to be entrusted with the rule over souls, or the office
of mediator (for such, I take it, a priest is) between God and man.
92. What is it that has induced this fear in
me, that, instead of supposing me to be needlessly afraid, you may
highly commend my foresight? I hear from Moses himself, when God
spake to him, that, although many were bidden to come to the mount, one
of whom was even Aaron, with his two sons who were priests, and seventy
elders of the senate, the rest were ordered to worship afar off, and
Moses alone to draw near, and the people were not to go up with
him.2828
For it is not everyone who may draw
near to God, but only one who, like Moses, can bear the glory of
God. Moreover, before this, when the law was first given, the
trumpet-blasts, and lightnings, and thunders, and darkness, and the
smoke of the whole mountain,2829
and the terrible
threats that if even a beast touched the mountain it should be
stoned,2830
and other like
alarms, kept back the rest of the people, for whom it was a great
privilege, after careful purification, merely to hear the voice of
God. But Moses actually went up and entered into the
cloud,2831
and was charged
with the law, and received the tables, which belong, for the multitude,
to the letter, but, for those who are above the multitude, to the
spirit.2832
93. I hear again that Nadab and Abihu, for
having merely offered incense with strange fire, were with strange fire
destroyed,2833
the instrument of
their impiety being used for their punishment, and their destruction
following at the very time and place of their sacrilege; and not even
their father Aaron, who was next to Moses in the favor of God, could
save them. I know also of Eli the priest, and a little later of
Uzzah, the former made to pay the penalty for his sons’
transgression, in daring to violate the sacrifices by an untimely
exaction of the first fruits of the cauldrons, although he did not
condone their impiety, but frequently rebuked them;2834
| 2834 1 Sam. ii. 12, 15, 23. | the other, because he only touched the ark,
which was being thrown off the cart by the ox,2835
and though he saved it, was himself destroyed, in God’s jealousy
for the reverence due to the ark.
94. I know also that not even bodily
blemishes in either priests2836
or victims2837
passed without notice, but that it was
required by the law that perfect sacrifices must be offered by perfect
men—a symbol, I take it, of integrity of soul. It was not
lawful for everyone to touch the priestly vesture, or any of the holy
vessels; nor might the sacrifices themselves be consumed except by the
proper persons, and at the proper time and place;2838
nor might the anointing oil nor the
compounded incense2839
be imitated; nor
might anyone enter the temple who was not in the most minute particular
pure in both soul and body; so far was the Holy of holies removed from
presumptuous access, that it might be entered by one man only once a
year;2840
so far were the veil, and the mercy-seat,
and the ark, and the Cherubim, from the general gaze and
touch.
95. Since then I knew these things, and that
no one is worthy of the mightiness of God, and the sacrifice, and
priesthood, who has not first presented himself to God, a living, holy
sacrifice, and set forth the reasonable, well-pleasing
service,2841
and sacrificed to
God the sacrifice of praise and the contrite spirit,2842
which is the only sacrifice required of us
by the Giver of all; how could I dare to offer to Him the external
sacrifice, the antitype of the great mysteries,2843
or
clothe myself with the garb and name of priest, before my hands had
been consecrated by holy works; before my eyes had been accustomed to
gaze safely upon created things, with wonder only for the Creator, and
without injury to the creature; before my ear had been sufficiently
opened to the instruction of the Lord, and He had opened mine ear to
hear2844
without heaviness, and had set a golden
earring with precious sardius, that is, a wise man’s word in an
obedient ear;2845
before my mouth had
been opened to draw in the Spirit,2846
and opened
wide to be filled2847
with the spirit of
speaking mysteries and doctrines;2848
and my lips
bound,2849
to use the words of
wisdom, by divine knowledge, and, as I would add, loosed in due
season: before my tongue had been filled with exultation, and
become an instrument of Divine melody, awaking with glory, awaking right early,2850
and laboring till it cleave to my
jaws:2851
before my feet had been set upon the
rock,2852
made like hart’s feet, and my
footsteps directed in a godly fashion so that they should not well-nigh
slip,2853
nor slip at all; before all my members had
become instruments of righteousness,2854
and all
mortality had been put off, and swallowed up of life,2855
and had yielded to the Spirit?
96. Who is the man, whose heart has never
been made to burn,2856
as the Scriptures
have been opened to him, with the pure words of God which have been
tried in a furnace;2857
who has not, by a
triple2858
| 2858 Triple, a
quotation from Prov. xxii.
20. The meaning of the
Hebrew is doubtful. Clémencet, not noticing this, suggests
that the allusion is to the law being twice inscribed on tables of
stone, once on the heart by the Spirit. |
inscription2859
of them upon the
breadth of his heart, attained the mind of Christ;2860
nor been admitted to the treasures which to
most men remain hidden, secret, and dark, to gaze upon the riches
therein?2861
and become able to
enrich others, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.2862
97. Who is the man who has never beheld, as
our duty is to behold it, the fair beauty of the Lord, nor has visited
His temple,2863
or rather, become
the temple of God,2864
and the habitation
of Christ in the Spirit?2865
Who is the
man who has never recognized the correlation and distinction between
figures and the truth, so that by withdrawing from the former and
cleaving to the latter, and by thus escaping from the oldness of the
letter and serving the newness of the spirit,2866
he
may clean pass over to grace from the law, which finds its spiritual
fulfilment in the dissolution of the body.2867
98. Who is the man who has never, by
experience and contemplation, traversed the entire series of the
titles2868
| 2868 Titles.
These are more fully dealt with Orat. xxx. 17–21. | and powers of
Christ, both those more lofty ones which originally were His, and those
more lowly ones which He later assumed for our sake—viz.:
God, the Son, the Image, the Word, the Wisdom, the Truth, the Light,
the Life, the Power, the Vapour, the Emanation, the Effulgence, the
Maker, the King, the Head, the Law, the Way, the Door, the Foundation,
the Rock, the Pearl, the Peace, the Righteousness, the Sanctification,
the Redemption, the Man, the Servant, the Shepherd, the Lamb, the High
Priest, the Victim, the Firstborn before creation, the Firstborn from
the dead, the Resurrection: who is the man who hearkens, but pays
no heed, to these names so pregnant with reality, and has never yet
held communion with, nor been made partaker of, the Word, in any of the
real relations signified by each of these names which He
bears?
99. Who, in fine, is the man who, although
he has never applied himself to, nor learnt to speak, the hidden wisdom
of God in a mystery,2869
although he is
still a babe, still fed with milk,2870
still of those
who are not numbered in Israel,2871
nor enrolled
in the army of God, although he is not yet able to take up the Cross of
Christ like a man, although he is possibly not yet one of the more
honorable members, yet will joyfully and eagerly accept his appointment
as head of the fulness of Christ?2872
No one,
if he will listen to my judgment and accept my advice! This is of
all things most to be feared, this is the extremest of dangers in the
eyes of everyone who understands the magnitude of success, the utter
ruin of failure.
100. Let others sail for merchandise, I used to
say, and cross the wide oceans, and constantly contend with winds and
waves, to gain great wealth, if so it should chance, and run great
risks in their eagerness for sailing and merchandise; but, for my part,
I greatly prefer to stay ashore and plough a short but pleasant furrow,
saluting at a respectful distance the sea and its gains, to live as
best I can upon a poor and scanty store of barley-bread, and drag my
life along in safety and calm, rather than expose myself to so long and
great a risk for the sake of great gains.
101. For one in high estate, if he fail to
make further progress and to disseminate virtue still more widely, and
contents himself with slight results, incurs punishment, as having
spent a great light upon the illumination of a little house, or girt
round the limbs of a boy the full armor of a man. On the
contrary, a man of low estate may with safety assume a light burden,
and escape the risk of the ridicule and increased danger which would
attend him if he attempted a task beyond his powers. For, as we
have heard, it is not seemly for a man to build a tower, unless he has
sufficient to finish it.2873
102. Such is the defence which I have been able to
make, perhaps at immoderate length, for my flight. Such are the
reasons which, to my pain and possibly to yours, carried me away from
you, my friends and brothers; yet, as it seemed to me at the time, with
irresistible force. My longing after you, and the sense of your
longing for me, have, more than anything else, led to my return, for nothing
inclines us so strongly to love as mutual affection.
103. In the next place there was my care, my
duty, the hoar hairs and weakness of my holy parents, who were more
greatly distressed on my account than by their advanced age—of
this Patriarch Abraham whose person is honored by me, and numbered
among the angels, and of Sarah, who travailed in my spiritual birth by
instructing me in the truth. Now, I had specially pledged myself
to become the stay of their old age and the support of their weakness,
a pledge which, to the best of my power, I have fulfilled, even at the
expense of philosophy itself, the most precious of possessions and
titles to me; or, to speak more truly, although I made it the first
object of my philosophy to appear to be no philosopher, I could not
bear that my labor in consequence of a single purpose should be wasted,
nor yet that blessing should be lost, which one of the saints of old is
said to have stolen from his father, whom he deceived by the food which
he offered to him, and the hairy appearance he assumed, thus attaining
a good object by disgraceful trickery.2874
These are the two causes of my
submission and tractability. Nor is it, perchance, unreasonable
that my arguments should yield and submit to them both, for there is a
time to be conquered, as I also think there is for every
purpose,2875
and it is better to
be honorably overcome than to win a dangerous and lawless
victory.
104. There is a third reason of the highest
importance which I will further mention, and then dismiss the
rest. I remembered the days of old,2876
and, recurring to one of the ancient histories, drew counsel for myself
therefrom as to my present conduct; for let us not suppose these events
to have been recorded without a purpose, nor that they are a mere
assemblage of words and deeds gathered together for the pastime of
those who listen to them, as a kind of bait for the ears, for the sole
purpose of giving pleasure. Let us leave such jesting to the
legends and the Greeks, who think but little of the truth, and enchant
ear and mind by the charm of their fictions and the daintiness of their
style.
105. We however, who extend the accuracy of
the Spirit to the merest stroke and tittle,2877
will never admit the impious assertion that even the smallest matters
were dealt with haphazard by those who have recorded them, and have
thus been borne in mind down to the present day: on the contrary,
their purpose has been to supply memorials and instructions for our
consideration under similar circumstances, should such befall us, and
that the examples of the past might serve as rules and models, for our
warning and imitation.
106. What then is the story, and wherein
lies its application? For, perhaps, it would not be amiss to
relate it, for the general security. Jonah also was fleeing from
the face of God,2878
or rather, thought
that he was fleeing: but he was overtaken by the sea, and the
storm, and the lot, and the whale’s belly, and the three
days’ entombment, the type of a greater mystery. He fled
from having to announce the dread and awful message to the Ninevites,
and from being subsequently, if the city was saved by repentance,
convicted of falsehood: not that he was displeased at the
salvation of the wicked, but he was ashamed of being made an instrument
of falsehood, and exceedingly zealous for the credit of prophecy, which
was in danger of being destroyed in his person, since most men are
unable to penetrate the depth of the Divine dispensation in such
cases.
107. But, as I have learned from a
man2879
| 2879 A
man. A Greek scholiast says that this was Origen (ob.
a.d. 235), who gives this interpretation in
his commentary on the prophecy of Jonah. Elias says that he had
read it in the commentary of Methodius (fl. a.d. 300), who usually combats Origen’s
interpretations. We know that Origen did comment on the book of
Job, and that Methodius wrote on one at least of the Minor
Prophets: but both these works have been lost, so that we cannot
absolutely decide the question, though the assurance with which both
the notes are written makes us hesitate to consider either of them
merely a happy guess. Combefis thinks that S. Greg. alludes to
one of his own instructors: the gen. with ἀκόυω (cf. Plato, Gorg., 503, c.)
favours this view, but the interpretation may well have been derived
from one of the earlier writers. | skilled in these subjects, and able to grasp
the depth of the prophet, by means of a reasonable explanation of what
seems unreasonable in the history, it was not this which caused Jonah
to flee, and carried him to Joppa and again from Joppa to Tarshish,
when he entrusted his stolen self to the sea:2880
for it was not likely that such a
prophet should be ignorant of the design of God, viz., to bring about,
by means of the threat, the escape of the Ninevites from the threatened
doom, according to His great wisdom, and unsearchable judgments, and
according to His ways which are beyond our tracing and finding
out;2881
nor that, if he knew this he would refuse to
co-operate with God in the use of the means which He designed for their
salvation. Besides, to imagine that Jonah hoped to hide himself
at sea, and escape by his flight the great eye of God, is surely
utterly absurd and stupid, and unworthy of credit, not only in the case
of a prophet, but even in
the case of any sensible man, who has only a slight perception of God,
Whose power is over all.
108. On the contrary, as my instructor said,
and as I am myself convinced, Jonah knew better than any one the
purpose of his message to the Ninevites, and that, in planning his
flight, although he changed his place, he did not escape from
God. Nor is this possible for any one else, either by concealing
himself in the bosom of the earth, or in the depths of the sea, or by
soaring on wings, if there be any means of doing so, and rising into
the air, or by abiding in the lowest depths of hell,2882
or by enveloping himself in a thick cloud,
or by any other of the many devices for ensuring escape. For God
alone of all things cannot be escaped from or contended with; if He
wills to seize and bring them under His hand, He outstrips the swift,
He outwits the wise, He overthrows the strong, He abases the lofty, He
subdues rashness, He represses power.
109. Jonah then was not ignorant of the
mighty hand of God, with which he threatened other men, nor did he
imagine that he could utterly escape the Divine power; this we are not
to believe: but when he saw the falling away of Israel, and
perceived the passing over of the grace of prophecy to the
Gentiles—this was the cause of his retirement from preaching and
of his delay in fulfilling the command; accordingly he left the
watchtower of joy, for this is the meaning of Joppa in Hebrew, I mean
his former dignity and reputation, and flung himself into the deep of
sorrow: and hence he is tempest-tossed, and falls asleep, and is
wrecked, and aroused from sleep, and taken by lot, and confesses his
flight, and is cast into sea, and swallowed, but not destroyed, by the
whale; but there he calls upon God, and, marvellous as it is, on the
third day he, like Christ, is delivered: but my treatment of this
topic must stand over, and shall shortly, if God permit, be more
deliberately worked out.2883
| 2883 Shall be worked
out. This promise, as Elias tells us, was fulfilled by S.
Gregory in his History of Ezekiel the Prophet, a work no longer
extant. |
110. Now however, to return to my original point,
the thought and question occurred to me, that although he might
possibly meet with some indulgence, if reluctant to prophesy, for the
cause which I mentioned—yet, in my own case, what could be said,
what defence could be made, if I longer remained restive, and rejected
the yoke of ministry, which, though I know not whether to call it light
or heavy, had at any rate been laid upon me.
111. For if it be granted, and this alone
can be strongly asserted in such matters, that we are far too low to
perform the priest’s office before God, and that we can only be
worthy of the sanctuary after we have become worthy of the
Church,2884
| 2884 Of the
Church. S. Gregory seems to describe a series of three steps,
(1) the Church, of which all should be worthy members, (2) the
Sanctuary, reserved for the Priests, (3) the Throne of the
Bishop. Clémencet refers both 1 and 2 to the ministry.
If we suppose S. Gregory’s own position to be referred to, the
third would be applicable to his office under his father, which is held
by Thomassin to have been that of Vicar-General (Disc. Eccles., I.,
ii., 7 §§ 2, 3). A similar post was offered to him by
S. Basil (Orat., xliii., 39). | and worthy of the
post of president, after being worthy of the sanctuary, yet some one
else may perhaps refuse to acquit us on the charge of
disobedience. Now terrible are the threatenings against
disobedience, and terrible are the penalties which ensue upon it; as
indeed are those on the other side, if, instead of being reluctant, and
shrinking back, and concealing ourselves as Saul did among his
father’s stuff2885
—although
called to rule but for a short time—if, I say, we come forward
readily, as though to a slight and most easy task, whereas it is not
safe even to resign it, nor to amend by second thoughts our
first.
112. On this account I had much toilsome
consideration to discover my duty, being set in the midst betwixt two
fears, of which the one held me back, the other urged me on. For
a long while I was at a loss between them, and after wavering from side
to side, and, like a current driven by inconstant winds, inclining
first in this direction, then in that, I at last yielded to the
stronger, and the fear of disobedience overcame me, and has carried me
off. Pray, mark how accurately and justly I hold the balance
between the fears, neither desiring an office not given to me, nor
rejecting it when given. The one course marks the rash, the other
the disobedient, both the undisciplined. My position lies between
those who are too bold, or too timid; more timid than those who rush at
every position, more bold than those who avoid them all. This is
my judgment on the matter.
113. Moreover, to distinguish still more
clearly between them, we have, against the fear of office, a possible
help in the law of obedience, inasmuch as God in His goodness rewards
our faith, and makes a perfect ruler of the man who has confidence in
Him, and places all his hopes in Him; but against the danger of
disobedience I know of nothing which can help us, and of no ground to
encourage our confidence. For it is to be feared that we shall
have to hear these words concerning those who have been entrusted to
us: I will require their souls at your hands;2886
and, Because ye have rejected me, and not
been leaders and rulers of my people, I also will reject you, that I
should not be king over you;2887
and, As ye refused
to hearken to My voice, and turned a stubborn back, and were
disobedient, so shall it be when ye call upon Me, and I will not regard
nor give ear to your prayer.2888
God forbid
that these words should come to us from the just Judge, for when we
sing of His mercy we must also by all means sing of His
judgment.2889
114. I resort once again to history, and on
considering the men of best repute in ancient days, who were ever
preferred by grace to the office of ruler or prophet, I discover that
some readily complied with the call, others deprecated the gift, and
that neither those who drew back were blamed for timidity, nor those
who came forward for eagerness. The former stood in awe of the
greatness of the ministry, the latter trustfully obeyed Him Who called
them. Aaron was eager, but Moses resisted,2890
| 2890 Exod. iv. 10, 13, 27. | Isaiah readily submitted, but Jeremiah was
afraid of his youth,2891
and did not venture
to prophesy until he had received from God a promise and power beyond
his years.2892
115. By these arguments I charmed myself,
and by degrees my soul relaxed and became ductile, like iron, and time
came to the aid of my arguments, and the testimonies of God, to which I
had entrusted my whole life, were my counsellors.2893
Therefore I was not rebellious,
neither turned away back,2894
saith my Lord,
when, instead of being called to rule, He was led, as a sheep to the
slaughter;2895
but I fell down and
humbled myself under the mighty hand of God,2896
and asked pardon for my former idleness and disobedience, if this is at
all laid to my charge. I held my peace,2897
but I will not hold my peace for ever: I withdrew for a little
while,2898
till I had
considered myself and consoled my grief: but now I am
commissioned to exalt Him in the congregation of the people, and praise
Him in the seat of the elders.2899
If my former
conduct deserved blame, my present action merits pardon.
116. What further need is there of
words. Here am I, my pastors and fellow-pastors, here am I, thou
holy flock, worthy of Christ, the Chief Shepherd,2900
here am I, my father, utterly vanquished,
and your subject according to the laws of Christ rather than according
to those of the land:2901
here is my
obedience, reward it with your blessing. Lead me with your
prayers, guide me with your words, establish me with your spirit.
The blessing of the father establisheth the houses of
children,2902
and would that both
I and this spiritual house may be established, the house which I have
longed for, which I pray may be my rest for ever,2903
when I have been passed on from the church
here to the church yonder, the general assembly of the firstborn, who
are written in heaven.2904
117. Such is my defence: its
reasonableness I have set forth: and may the God of
peace,2905
Who made both
one,2906
and has restored us to each other, Who
setteth kings upon thrones, and raiseth up the poor out of the dust and
lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill,2907
| 2907 1 Sam. ii. 8; Ps. cxiii. 7. |
Who chose David His servant and took him away from the
sheepfolds,2908
though he was the
least and youngest of the sons of Jesse,2909
Who gave the word2910
to those who preach
the gospel with great power for the perfection of the gospel,—may
He Himself hold me by my right hand, and guide me with His counsel, and
receive me with glory,2911
Who is a
Shepherd2912
to shepherds and a
Guide to guides: that we may feed His flock with
knowledge,2913
not with the
instruments of a foolish shepherd,2914
according to
the blessing, and not according to the curse pronounced against the men
of former days: may He give strength and power unto his
people,2915
and Himself present
to Himself2916
His flock
resplendent and spotless and worthy of the fold on high, in the
habitation of them that rejoice,2917
in the
splendour of the saints,2918
so that in His
temple everyone, both flock and shepherds together may say,
Glory,2919
in Christ Jesus our
Lord, to Whom be all glory for ever and ever.
Amen.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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