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| Chapter X. The answer that not the reward, but the doing of them will come to an end.
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Chapter X.
The answer that not the reward, but the doing of them
will come to an end.
Moses. I did not say that
the reward for a good work would be taken away, as the Lord Himself
says: “Whosoever shall give to one of the least of these, a cup
of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he
shall not lose his reward:”1093
but I
maintain that the doing of a thing, which either bodily necessity, or
the onslaught of the flesh, or the inequalities of this world, compel
to be done, will be taken away. For diligence in reading, and
self-denial in fasting, are usefully practised for purifying the heart
and chastening the flesh in this life only, as long as “the flesh
lusteth against the spirit,”1094
and sometimes
we see that even in this life they are taken away from those men who
are worn out with excessive toil, or bodily infirmity or old age, and
cannot be practised by them. How much more then will they come to an
end hereafter, when “this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption,”1095
and the body which
is now “a natural body” shall have risen “a spiritual
body”1096
and the flesh
shall have begun to be such that it no longer lusts against the spirit?
And of this the blessed Apostle also clearly speaks, when he says that
“bodily exercise is profitable for a little: but godliness”
(by which he certainly means love) “is profitable for all things,
having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to
come.”1097
This clearly
shows that what is said to be useful for a little, is not to be
practised for all time, and cannot possibly by itself alone confer the
highest state of perfection on the man who slaves at it. For the term
“for a little” may mean either of the two things, i.e., it
may refer to the shortness of the time, because bodily exercise cannot
possibly last on with man both in this life and in the world to come:
or it may refer to the smallness of the profit which results from
exercising the flesh, because bodily austerities produce some sort of
beginnings of progress, but not the actual perfection of love, which
has the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come:
and therefore we deem that the practice of the aforesaid works is
needful, because without them we cannot climb the heights of love. For
what you call works of religion and mercy are needful in this life
while these inequalities and differences of conditions still prevail;
but even here we should not look for them to be performed, unless such
a large proportion of poor, needy, and sick folk abounded, which is
brought about by the wickedness of men; viz., of those who have grasped
and kept for their own use (without however using them) those things
which were granted to all by the Creator of all alike. As long then as
this inequality lasts in this world, this sort of work will be needful
and useful to the man that practises it, as it brings to a good purpose
and pious will the reward of an eternal inheritance: but it will come
to an end in the life to come, where equality will reign, when there
will be no longer inequality, on account of which these things must be
done, but all men will pass from these manifold practical works to the
love of God, and contemplation of heavenly things in continual purity
of heart: to which those men who are urgent in devoting themselves to
knowledge and purifying the heart, have chosen to give themselves up
with all their might and main, betaking themselves, while they are
still in the flesh, to that duty, in which they are to continue, when
they have laid aside corruption, and when they come to that promise of
the Lord the Saviour, which says “Blessed are the pure in heart
for they shall see God.”1098
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