Padres Ante-Nicenos, Vol. VII: Padres del Tercer y Cuarto Siglos: Lactancio, Venantio, Asterio, Victorino, Dionisio, Enseñanza Apostólica y Constituciones, Homilía y Liturgias

When, therefore, Christ fulfilled these things which God would have done, and which He foretold many ages before by His prophets, incited by these things, and ignorant of the sacred Scriptures, they conspired together to condemn their God. And though He knew that this would come to pass, and repeatedly 733 said that He must suffer and be put to death for the salvation of many, nevertheless He withdrew Himself with His disciples, not that He might avoid that which it was necessary for Him to undergo and endure, but that He might show what ought to take place in every persecution, that no one should appear to have fallen into it through his own fault: and He announced that it would come to pass that He should be betrayed by one of them. And thus Judas, induced by a bribe, delivered up to the Jews the Son of God. But they took and brought Him before Pontius Pilate, who at that time was administering the province of Syria as governor, 734 and demanded that He should be crucified, though they laid nothing else to His charge except that He said that He was the Son of God, the King of the Jews; also His own saying, 735 “Destroy this temple, which was forty-six years in building, and in three days I will raise it up again without hands,”p. 120 —signifying that His passion would shortly take place, and that He, having been put to death by the Jews, would rise again on the third day. For He Himself was the true temple of God. They inveighed against these expressions of His, as ill-omened and impious. And when Pilate had heard these things, and He said nothing in His own defence, he gave sentence that there appeared nothing deserving of condemnation in Him. But those most unjust accusers, together with the people whom they had stirred up, began to cry out, and with loud voices to demand His crucifixion.

Then Pontius 736 was overpowered both by their outcries, and by the instigation of Herod the tetrarch, 737 who feared lest he should be deposed from his sovereignty. He did not, however, himself pass sentence, but delivered Him up to the Jews, that they themselves might judge Him according to their law. 738 Therefore they led Him away when He had been scourged with rods, and before they crucified Him they mocked Him; for they put upon Him a scarlet 739 robe, and a crown of thorns, and saluted Him as King, and gave Him gall for food, and mingled for Him vinegar to drink. After these things they spat upon His face, and struck Him with the palms of their hands; and when the executioners 740 themselves contended about His garments, they cast lots among themselves for His tunic and mantle. 741 And while all these things were doing, He uttered no voice from His mouth, as though He were dumb. Then they lifted Him up in the midst between two malefactors, who had been condemned for robbery, and fixed Him to the cross. What can I here deplore in so great a crime? or in what words can I lament such great wickedness? For we are not relating the crucifixion of Gavius, 742 which Marcus Tullius followed up with all the spirit and strength of his eloquence, pouring forth as it were the fountains of all his genius, proclaiming that it was an unworthy deed that a Roman citizen should be crucified in violation of all laws. And although He was innocent, and undeserving of that punishment, yet He was put to death, and that, too, by an impious man, who was ignorant of justice. What shall I say respecting the indignity of this cross, on which the Son of God was suspended and nailed? 743 Who will be found so eloquent, and supplied with so great an abundance of deeds and words, what speech flowing with such copious exuberance, 744 as to lament in a befitting manner that cross, which the world itself, and all the elements of the world, bewailed?

But that these things were thus about to happen, was announced both by the utterances of the prophets and by the predictions of the Sibyls. In Isaiah it is found thus written: 745 “I am not rebellious, nor do I oppose: I gave my back to the scourge, and my cheeks to the hand: 746 I turned not away my face from the foulness of spitting.” In like manner David, in the thirty-fourth Psalm: 747 “The abjects 748 were gathered together against me, 749 and they knew me not: 750 they were dispersed, nor did they feel remorse; they tempted me, and greatly 751 derided me; and they gnashed upon me with their teeth.” The Sibyl also showed that the same things would happen:—

“He shall afterwards come into the hands of the unjust and the faithless; and they shall inflict on God blows with impure hands, and with polluted mouths they shall send forth poisonous spittle; and He shall then absolutely 752 give His holy back to stripes.”

Likewise respecting His silence, which He perseveringly maintained even to His death, Isaiah thus spoke again: 753 “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before the shearer is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.” And the above-mentioned Sibyl said:—

“And being beaten, He shall be silent, lest any one should know what the Word is, or whence it came, that it may speak with mortals; and He shall wear the crown of thorns.”

But respecting the food and the drink which they offered to Him before they fastened Him to the cross, David thus speaks in the sixty-eighth Psalm: 754 “And they gave me gall for my meat; p. 121 and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” The Sibyl foretold that this also would happen:—

“They gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst vinegar; this inhospitable table they will show.”

And another Sibyl rebukes the land of Judæa in these verses:—

“For you, entertaining hurtful thoughts, did not recognise your God sporting 755 with mortal thoughts; but crowned Him with a crown of thorns, and mingled dreadful gall.”

Now, that it would come to pass that the Jews would lay hands upon their God, and put Him to death, these testimonies of the prophets foretold. In Esdras it is thus written: 756 “And Ezra said to the people, This passover is our Saviour and our refuge. Consider and let it come into your heart, that we have to abase Him in a figure; and after these things we will hope in Him, lest this place be deserted for ever, saith the Lord God of hosts. If you will not believe Him, nor hear His announcement, ye shall be a derision among the nations.” From which it appears that the Jews had no other hope, unless they purified themselves from blood, and put their hopes in that very person whom they denied. 757 Isaiah also points out their deed, and says: 758 “In His humiliation His judgment was taken away. Who shall declare His generation? for His life shall be taken away from the earth; from the transgressions of my people He was led away to death. And I will give Him the wicked for His burial, and the rich for His death, because He did no wickedness, nor spoke guile with His mouth. Wherefore He shall obtain 759 many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong; because He was delivered up to death, and was reckoned among the transgressors; and He bore the sins of many, and was delivered up on account of their transgressions.” David also, in the ninety-third Psalm: 760 “They will hunt after the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood; and the Lord is become my refuge.” Also Jeremiah: 761 “Lord, declare it unto me, and I shall know. Then I saw their devices; I was led as an innocent 762 lamb to the sacrifice; 763 they meditated a plan against me, saying, Come, let us send wood into his bread, 764 and let us sweep away his life from the earth, and his name shall no more be remembered.” Now the wood 765 signifies the cross, and the bread His body; for He Himself is the food and the life of all who believe in the flesh which He bare, and on the cross upon which He was suspended.

Respecting this, however, Moses himself more plainly spoke to this effect, in Deuteronomy: 766 “And Thy life shall hang 767 before Thine eyes; and Thou shall fear day and night, and shalt have no assurance of Thy life.” And the same again in Numbers: 768 “God is not in doubt as a man, nor does He suffer threats 769 as the son of man.” Zechariah also thus wrote: 770 “And they shall look on me, whom they pierced.” Also David in the twenty-first Psalm: 771 “They pierced my hands and my feet; they numbered all my bones; they themselves looked and stared upon me; they divided my garments among them; and upon my vesture they did cast lots.” It is evident that the prophet did not speak these things concerning himself. For he was a king, and never endured these sufferings; but the Spirit of God, who was about to suffer these things, after ten hundred and fifty years, spoke by him. For this is the number of years from the reign of David to the crucifixion of Christ. But Solomon also, his son, who built Jerusalem, prophesied that this very city would perish in revenge for the sacred cross: 772 “But if ye turn away from me, saith the Lord, and will not keep my truth, I will drive Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have built for them in my name, I will cast it out from all: 773 and Israel shall be for perdition 774 and a reproach to the people; and this house shall be desolate, and every one that shall pass by it shall be astonished, and shall say, Why hath God done these evils to this land and to this house? And they shall say, Because they forsook the Lord their God, and persecuted their King most beloved by God, and crucified Him with great degradation, 775 therefore hath God brought upon them these evils.”

Footnotes

119:733

Subinde, “from time to time.”

119:734

Legatus. This title was given, in the time of the Roman emperors, to the governors sent by them into the provinces. Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judæa, which was not a separate province, but a dependency of the province of Syria, which was at this time governed by Silanus.

119:735

John 2:19, 20. The forty-six years spoken of were not occupied with the rebuilding of the temple, which was completed in nine years, but with the additional works which Herod the Great and his successors were continually carrying on for the adorning and beautifying of the temple. See Prideaux. [I regret the loose references of the translator, and yet more that the inexorable demands of the press give me time to supply only the more important ones. See Connections, book ix. vol. ii. p. 394.]

120:736

[It is probable, that, owing to the perpetual and universal recitation of the Creed, this unhappy name has been more frequently uttered and recalled to human memory than that of any other human being.]

120:737

Herod Antipas the tetrarch of Galilee. According to St. Luke (xxiii. 15), Herod agreed with Pilate in declaring the innocency of Jesus.

120:738

This statement requires some modification. Pilate did indeed say to the Jews, “Take ye Him, and judge Him according to your law;” but they declared that it was not lawful for them to put any man to death. The punishment was entirely Roman, the mode of death Roman, the executioners Roman soldiers. There were two distinct trials,—one before the Jewish Sanhedrim on a charge of impiety, the other before the Roman governor on a charge of treason.

120:739

Punicei coloris. The colour was a kind of red, not purple. [It was mixed with blue, so as to be at once purple and in some reflections scarlet.]

120:740

The quaternion of Roman soldiers who carried out the execution.

120:741

De tunicâ et pallio. The “tunica” was the inner garment, the “pallium” a mantle or cloak. Thus the proverbial phrase, “tunica proprior pallio.” [Vol. iv. p. 13, Elucidation I., this series.]

120:742

Gavius was crucified by Verres. [In Verrem, act ii. cap. 62. This event providentially illustrated the extreme wickedness of what was done to our Lord, but so quickened the Roman conscience that it prevented like injustice to St. Paul, although a Roman citizen, over and over again. Acts 16:37, 38, and xxii. 24, 25.]

120:743

Suffixus.

120:744

Tantæ affluentiæ ubertate. [Compare Cicero (ut supra): Crux, crux! inquam infelici et ærumnoso, qui nunquam istam potestatem viderat comparabatur.]

120:745

Isa. 50:5, 6, quoted from the Septuagint.

120:746

i.e., of the smiters; Gr. εἰς ῥαπίσματα, “blows with the hand.”

120:747

Ps. 35:15, 16. The quotation is from the Septuagint, and differs widely from the authorized English version.

120:748

Flagella, said to be used for men deserving the scourge; wicked men.

120:749

Super me, “over me.”

120:750

Ignoraverunt. Others read “ignoravi,” I knew it not.

120:751

Deriserunt me derisu. So the Greek, ἐξεμυκτήρισάν με μυκτηρισμόν

120:752

ἁπλω̑ς.

120:753

Isa. liii. 7.

120:754

Ps. lxix. 21.

121:755

παιζοντα. Another reading is πταίοντα, which would imply that they regarded Christ as a transgressor.

121:756

Justin Martyr quotes this passage in his Dialogue with Trypho, and complains that it had been expunged by the Jews. [See vol. i. p. 234, and remarks of Bishop Kaye, Justin Martyr, p. 44, on passages suppressed by the Jews.]

121:757

Negaverunt. Another reading is “necaverunt,” they put to death.

121:758

Isa. liii. 8-10, 12. The quotation is made from the Septuagint.

121:759

Consequetur. In the Greek, κληρονομήσει, “shall inherit.”

121:760

Ps. 94:21, 22.

121:761

Jer. 11:18, 19, quoted from the Septuagint.

121:762

Sine malitiâ. Another reading is “sine maculâ,” without spot.

121:763

Ad victimam.

121:764

For the various explanations, see Pole’s Synopsis Some suppose that there is a reference to the corruption of food by poisonous wood; others that the meaning is a substitution of wood for bread. Another explanation is, that the word translated bread denotes fruit, as in the English authorized version, “Let us destroy the tree, with the fruit thereof.” But see Pole on the passage. [Jer xi. 19. Here is a very insufficient note, the typology of Scripture not being duly observed. Compare Tertullian, vol. iii. p. 166, especially at note 10, which illustrates the uniform spirit of the Fathers in dealing with the Jews. And note Bishop Kaye’s remark, vol. ii. p. 206, note 5, this series.]

121:765

This explanation appears altogether fanciful and unwarranted.

121:766

Deut. xxviii. 66.

121:767

So the Septuagint. The English authorized version appears accurately to express the idea intended to be conveyed: “Thy life shall hang in doubt before Thee.”

121:768

The idea is that God is not in doubt, as a man, as to His conduct, nor is He liable to change His mind, or to be influenced by threats or in any other way.

121:769

Minas patitur.

121:770

Zech. xii. 10.

121:771

Ps. xxii. 16-18. [Compare vol. i. p. 176, note 4, this series.]

121:772

1 Kings ix. 6-9, with some additions and omissions; and 1 Chron. vii. 19-22.

121:773

Ex omnibus. The English authorized version has, “out of my sight.”

121:774

In perditionem et improperium.

121:775

This is not taken from the passages cited, nor from the Old Testament.

Chap. XIX.—Of the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus; And the Predictions of These Events.

p. 122

What more can now be said respecting the crime of the Jews, than that they were then blinded and seized with incurable madness, who read these things daily, and yet neither understood them, nor were able to be on their guard so as not to do them? Therefore, being lifted up and nailed to the cross, He cried to the Lord with a loud voice, and of His own accord gave up His spirit. And at the same hour there was an earthquake; and the veil of the temple, which separated the two tabernacles, was rent into two parts; and the sun suddenly withdrew its light, and there was darkness from the sixth 776 even to the ninth hour. Of which event the prophet Amos testifies: 777 “And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that the sun shall go down at noon, and the daylight shall be darkened; and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and your songs into lamentation.” Also Jeremiah: 778 “She who brings forth is affrighted, and vexed in spirit; her sun is gone down while it was yet mid-day; she hath been ashamed and confounded; 779 and the residue of them will I give to the sword in the sight of their enemies.” And the Sibyl:—

“And the veil of the temple shall be rent, and at midday there shall be dark vast night for three hours,”

When these things were done, even by the heavenly prodigies, they were not able to understand their crime.

But since He had foretold that on the third day He should rise again from the dead, fearing lest, the body having been stolen by the disciples, and removed, all should believe that He had risen, and there should be a much greater disturbance among the people, they took Him down from the cross, and having shut Him up in a tomb, they securely surrounded it with a guard of soldiers. But on the third day, before light, there was an earthquake, and the sepulchre was suddenly opened; and the guard, who were astonished and stupefied with fear, seeing nothing, He came forth uninjured and alive from the sepulchre, and went into Galilee to seek His disciples: but nothing was found in the sepulchre except the grave-clothes in which they had enclosed and wrapt His body. Now, that He would not remain in hell, 780 but rise again on the third day, had been foretold by the prophets. David says, in the fifteenth Psalm: 781 “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine holy one to see corruption.” Also in the third Psalm: 782 “I laid me down to sleep, and took my rest, and rose again, for the Lord sustained me.” Hosea also, the first of the twelve prophets, testified of His resurrection: 783 “This my Son is wise, therefore He will not remain in the anguish of His sons: and I will redeem Him from the power 784 of the grave. Where is thy judgment, O death? or where is thy sting?” The same also in another place: 785 “After two days, He will revive us in the third day.” And therefore the Sibyl said, that after three days’ sleep he would put an end to death:—

“And after sleeping three days, He shall put an end to the fate of death; and then, releasing Himself from the dead, He shall come to light, first showing to the called ones the beginning of the resurrection.”

For He gained life for us by overcoming death. No hope, therefore, of gaining immortality is given to man, unless he shall believe on Him, and shall take up that cross to be borne and endured.

Footnotes

122:776

i.e., from noon. [Elucidation IV.]

122:777

Amos 8:9, 10.

122:778

Jer. xv. 9.

122:779

Confusa est et maledicta.

122:780

i.e., Hades, the place of departed spirits.

122:781

Ps. xvi. 10.

122:782

Ps. iii. 5.

122:783

Hos. 13:13, 14.

122:784

De manu inferorum.

122:785

Hos. vi. 2.

Chap. XX.—Of the Departure of Jesus into Galilee After His Resurrection; And of the Two Testaments, the Old and the New.

Therefore He went into Galilee, for He was unwilling to show Himself to the Jews, lest He should lead them to repentance, and restore them from their impiety to a sound mind. 786 And there He opened to His disciples again assembled the writings of Holy Scripture, that is, the secrets of the prophets; which before His suffering could by no means be understood, for they told of Him and of His passion. Therefore Moses, and the prophets also themselves, call the law which was given to the Jews a testament: for unless the testator shall have died, a testament cannot be confirmed; nor can that which is written in it be known, because it is closed and sealed. And thus, unless Christ had undergone death, the testament could not have been opened; that is, the mystery of God could not have been unveiled 787 and understood.

But all Scripture is divided into two Testaments. That which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the law and the prophets—is called the Old; but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The Jews make use of the Old, we of the New: but yet they are not discordant, for the New is the fulfilling of the Old, and in both there is the same testator, even Christ, who, having suffered death for us, p. 123 made us heirs of His everlasting kingdom, the people of the Jews being deprived and disinherited. 788 As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks such things: 789 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new testament 790 to the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the testament which I made to their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they continued not in my testament, and I disregarded 791 them, saith the Lord.” Also in another place he says in like manner: 792 “I have forsaken my house, I have given up mine heritage into the hand of its enemies. Mine heritage is become unto me as a lion in the forest; it hath cried out against me, therefore have I hated it.” Since the inheritance is His heavenly kingdom, it is evident that He does not say that He hates the inheritance itself, but the heirs, who have been ungrateful towards Him, and impious. Mine heritage, he says, is become unto me as a lion; that is, I am become a prey and a devouring to my heirs, who have slain me as the flock. It hath cried out against me; that is, they have pronounced against me the sentence of death and the cross. For that which He said above, that He would make 793 a new testament to the house of Judah, shows that the old testament which was given by Moses was not perfect; 794 but that that which was to be given by Christ would be complete. But it is plain that the house of Judah does not signify the Jews, whom He casts off, but us, who have been called by Him out of the Gentiles, and have by adoption succeeded to their place, and are called sons 795 of the Jews, which the Sibyl declares when she says:—

“The divine race of the blessed, heavenly Jews.”

But what that race was about to be, Isaiah teaches, in whose book the Most High Father addresses His Son: 796 “I the Lord God have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and will keep Thee: 797 and I have given Thee for a covenant of my race, 798 for a light of the Gentiles; to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.” When, therefore, we who were in time past as it were blind, and as it were shut up in the prison of folly, were sitting in darkness, ignorant of God and of the truth, we have been enlightened by Him, who adopted us by His testament; and having freed us from cruel chains, and brought us out to the light of wisdom, He admitted us to the inheritance of His heavenly kingdom.

Footnotes

122:786

[A very feeble exposition of Luke 19:42, 44.]

122:787

Revelari, to be laid bare, uncovered, brought to light.

123:788

Abdicato et exhæredato. The two expressions are joined together, to give strength. “Abdicati” were sons deprived of a share in their father’s possessions during his life; “exhæredati,” disinherited, those who have forfeited the right of succession after their father’s death.

123:789

Jer. 31:31, 32.

123:790

Or rather “covenant,” διαθήκη, for this signification is much more in accordance with the general meaning of the passage.

123:791

Neglexi; Gr. ἡμέλησα.

123:792

Jer. 12:7, 8.

123:793

Consummaturum, “would complete,” “make perfect,” as in the next clause.

123:794

See Heb. viii. 13, “In that He saith, a new covenant, He hath made the first old.”

123:795

St. John’s testimony is more distinct, i. 12: “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”

123:796

Isa. 42:6, 7.

123:797

Confirmabo te, “will strengthen Thee.”

123:798

In testamentum generis mei. The word here rendered “covenant” is the same (testamentum) as that translated in other places “testament,” which does not supply the sense here required. The attempt to give the meaning “testament” in all places causes much confusion, as in this passage.

Chap. XXI.—Of the Ascension of Jesus, and the Foretelling of It; And of the Preaching and Actions of the Disciples.

But when He had made arrangements with His disciples for the preaching of the Gospel and His name, a cloud suddenly surrounded Him, and carried Him up into heaven, on the fortieth day after His passion, as Daniel had shown that it would be, saying: 799 “And, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days.” But the disciples, being dispersed through the provinces, everywhere laid the foundations of the Church, themselves also in the name of their divine 800 Master doing many and almost incredible miracles; for at His departure He had endowed them with power and strength, by which the system 801 of their new announcement might be founded and confirmed. But He also opened to them all things which were about to happen, which Peter and Paul preached at Rome; and this preaching being written for the sake of remembrance, 802 became permanent, in which they both declared other wonderful things, and also said that it was about to come to pass, that after a short time God would send against them a king who would subdue 803 the Jews, and level their cities to the ground, and besiege the people themselves, worn out with hunger and thirst. Then it should come to pass that they should feed on the bodies of their own children, and consume one another. Lastly, that they should be taken captive, and come into the hands of their enemies, and should see their wives most cruelly harassed before their eyes, their virgins ravished and polluted, their sons torn in pieces, their little ones dashed to the ground; and lastly, everything laid waste with fire and sword, the captives banished for ever from their own lands, because they had exulted over the well-beloved and most approved Son of God. And so, after their decease, when Nero had put them to death, Vespasian destroyed the name and nation of the Jews, and did all p. 124 things which they had foretold as about to come to pass.

Footnotes

123:799

Dan. vii. 13.

123:800

Magistri Dei.

123:801

i.e., the new doctrine which they announced.

123:802

In memoriam scripta. This is said to have been the title of a spurious book now lost.

123:803

Expugnaret. The word properly signifies to take by storm.

Chap. XXII.—Arguments of Unbelievers Against the Incarnation of Jesus.

I have now confirmed, as I imagine, the things which are thought false and incredible by those who are not instructed in the true knowledge of heavenly learning. But, however, that we may refute those also who are too wise, not without injury to themselves, and who detract from the credit due to divine things, let us disprove their error, that they may at length perceive that the fact ought to have been as we show that it actually was. And although with good judges either testimonies are of sufficient weight without arguments, or arguments without testimonies, we, however, are not content with the one or the other, since we are supplied with both, that we may not leave room for any one of depraved ingenuity either to misunderstand or to dispute on the opposite side. They say that it was impossible for anything to be withdrawn 804 from an immortal nature. They say, in short, that it was unworthy of God to be willing to become man, and to burthen Himself with the infirmity of flesh; to become subject of His own accord to sufferings, to pain, and death: as though it had not been easy for Him to show Himself to men without 805 the weakness incident to a body, and to teach them righteousness (if He so wished) with greater authority, as of one who acknowledged 806 Himself to be God. For in that case all would have obeyed the heavenly precepts, if the influence and power of God enjoining them had been united with them. Why, then (they say), did He not come as God to teach men? why did He render Himself so humble and weak, that it was possible for Him both to be despised by men and to be visited with punishment? why did He suffer violence from those who are weak and mortal? why did He not repel by strength, or avoid by His divine knowledge, 807 the hands of men? why did He not at least in His very death reveal His majesty? but He was led as one without strength to trial, was condemned as one who was guilty, was put to death as one who was mortal. I will carefully refute these things, nor will I permit any one to be in error. For these things were done by a great and wonderful plan; and he who shall understand this, will not only cease to wonder that God was tortured by men, but also will easily see that it could not have been believed that he was God if those very things which he censures had not been done.

Footnotes

124:804

Ut naturæ immortali quidquam decederet.

124:805

Citra.

124:806

Professi Dei. The expression denotes one who shows himself in his real character, without any veiling or concealment. There is another reading—“professi Deum.”

124:807

Divinitate.

Chap. XXIII.—Of Giving Precepts, and Acting.

If any one gives to men precepts for living, and moulds the characters of others, I ask whether he is bound himself to practice the things which he enjoins, or is not bound. If he shall not do so, his precepts are annulled. For if the things which are enjoined are good, if they place the life of men in the best condition, the instructor ought not to separate himself from the number and assemblage of men among whom he acts; and he ought himself to live in the same manner in which he teaches that men ought to live, lest, by living in another way, he himself should disparage 808 his own precepts, and make his instruction of less value, if in reality he should relax the obligations of that which he endeavours to establish by his words. For every one, when he hears another giving precepts, is unwilling that the necessity of obeying should be imposed upon him, as though the right of liberty were taken from him. Therefore he answers his teacher in this manner: I am not able to do the things which you command, for they are impossible. For you forbid me to be angry, you forbid me to covet, you forbid me to be excited by desire, you forbid me to fear pain or death; but this is so contrary to nature, that all animals are subject to these affections. Or if you are so entirely of opinion that it is possible to resist nature, do you yourself practice the things which you enjoin, that I may know that they are possible? But since you yourself do not practice them, what arrogance is it, to wish to impose upon a free man laws which you yourself do not obey! You who teach, first learn; and before you correct the character of others, correct your own. Who could deny the justice of this answer? Nay! a teacher of this kind will fall into contempt, and will in his turn be mocked, because he also will appear to mock others.

What, therefore, will that instructor do, if these things shall be objected to him? how will he deprive the self-willed 809 of an excuse, unless he teach them by deeds before their eyes 810 that he teaches things which are possible? Whence it comes to pass, that no one obeys the precepts of the philosophers. 811 For men prefer examples rather than words, because it is easy to speak, but difficult to accomplish. 812 Would to heaven that there were as many who acted well as there are who speak well! But they who give precepts, p. 125 without carrying them out into action, are distrusted; 813 and if they shall be men, will be despised as inconsistent: 814 if it shall be God, He will be met with the excuse of the frailty of man’s nature. It remains that words should be confirmed by deeds, which the philosophers are unable to do. Therefore, since the instructors themselves are overcome by the affections which they say that it is our duty to overcome, they are able to train no one to virtue, which they falsely proclaim; 815 and for this cause they imagine that no perfect wise man has as yet existed, that is, in whom the greatest virtue and perfect justice were in harmony with the greatest learning and knowledge. And this indeed was true. For no one since the creation of the world has been such, except Christ, who both delivered wisdom by His word, and confirmed His teaching by presenting virtue to the eyes of men. 816

Footnotes

124:808

Ipse præceptis suis fidem detrahat.

124:809

Contumacibus.

124:810

Præsentibus factis.

124:811

[See Augustine, quoted in elucidation, vol. vi. p. 541.]

124:812

Præstare.

125:813

Abest ab iis fides.

125:814

Leves.

125:815

[What neither Platonists nor Censors, in their judgments, could effect by their sophia, the crucified Jesus has done by His Gospel. The impotence of philosophers as compared with the Carpenter’s Son, to change the morals of nations, cannot be gainsaid. See Young’s Christ of History ]

125:816

Præsenti virtute.

Chap. XXIV.—The Overthrowing of the Arguments Above Urged by Way of Objection.

Come, let us now consider whether a teacher sent from heaven can fail to be perfect. I do not as yet speak of Him whom they deny to have come from God. Let us suppose that some one were to be sent from heaven to instruct the life of men in the first principles of virtue, and to form them to righteousness. No one can doubt but that this teacher, who is sent from heaven, would be as perfect in the knowledge of all things as in virtue, lest there should be no difference between a heavenly and an earthly teacher. For in the case of a man his instruction can by no means be from within and of himself. 817 For the mind, shut in by earthly organs, and hindered by a corrupt 818 body, of itself can neither comprehend nor receive the truth, unless it is taught from another source. 819 And if it had this power in the greatest degree, yet it would be unable to attain to the highest virtue, and to resist all vices, the materials of which are contained in our bodily 820 organs. Hence it comes to pass, that an earthly teacher cannot be perfect. But a teacher from heaven, to whom His divine nature gives knowledge, and His immortality gives virtue, must of necessity in His teaching also, as in other things, be perfect and complete. But this cannot by any means happen, unless He should take to Himself a mortal body. And the reason why it cannot happen is manifest. For if He should come to men as God, not to mention that mortal eyes cannot look upon and endure the glory of His majesty in His own person, assuredly God will not be able to teach virtue; for, inasmuch as He is without a body, He will not practice the things which He will teach, and through this His teaching will not be perfect. Otherwise, if it is the greatest virtue patiently to endure pain for the sake of righteousness and duty, if it is virtue not to fear death itself when threatened, and when inflicted to undergo it with fortitude; it follows that the perfect teacher ought both to teach these things by precept, and to confirm them by practice. For he who gives precepts for the life, ought to remove every method 821 of excuse, that he may impose upon men the necessity of obedience, not by any constraint, but by a sense of shame, and yet may leave them liberty, that a reward may be appointed for those who obey, because it was in their power not to obey if they so wished; and a punishment for those who do not obey, because it was in their power to obey if they so wished. How then can excuse be removed, unless the teacher should practice what he teaches, and as it were go before 822 and hold out his hand to one who is about to follow? But how can one practice what he teaches, unless he is like him whom he teaches? For if he be subject to no passion, a man may thus answer him who is the teacher: It is my wish not to sin, but I am overpowered; for I am clothed with frail and weak flesh: it is this which covets, which is angry, which fears pain and death. And thus I am led on against my will; 823 and I sin, not because it is my wish, but because I am compelled. I myself perceive that I sin; but the necessity imposed by my frailty, which I am unable to resist, impels me. What will that teacher of righteousness say in reply to these things? How will he refute and convict a man who shall allege the frailty of the flesh as an excuse for his faults, unless he himself also shall be clothed with flesh, so that he may show that even the flesh is capable of virtue? For obstinacy cannot be refuted except by example. For the things which you teach cannot have any weight unless you shall be the first to practice them; because the nature of men is inclined to faults, and wishes to sin not only with indulgence, but also with a reasonable plea. 824 It is befitting p. 126 that a master and teacher of virtue should most closely resemble man, that by overpowering sin he may teach man that sin may be overpowered by him. But if he is immortal, he can by no means propose an example to man. For there will stand forth some one persevering in his opinion, and will say: You indeed do not sin, because you are free from this body; you do not covet, because nothing is needed by an immortal; but I have need of many things for the support of this life. You do not fear death, because it can have no power against you. You despise pain, because you can suffer no violence. But I, a mortal, fear both, because they bring upon me the severest tortures, which the weakness of the flesh cannot endure. A teacher of virtue therefore ought to have taken away this excuse from men, that no one may ascribe it to necessity that he sins, rather than to his own fault. Therefore, that a teacher may be perfect, no objection ought to be brought forward by him who is to be taught, so that if he should happen to say, You enjoin impossibilities; the teacher may answer, See, I myself do them. But I am clothed with flesh, and it is the property of flesh to sin. 825 I too bear the same flesh, and yet sin does not bear rule in me. It is difficult for me to despise riches, because otherwise I am unable to live in this body. See, I too have a body, and yet I contend against every desire. I am not able to bear pain or death for righteousness, because I am frail. See, pain and death have power over me also; and I overcome those very things which you fear, that I may make you victorious over pain and death. I go before you through those things which you allege that it is impossible to endure: if you are not able to follow me giving directions, follow me going before you. In this way all excuse is taken away, and you must confess that man is unjust through his own fault, since he does not follow a teacher of virtue, who is at the same time a guide. You see, therefore, how much more perfect is a teacher who is mortal, because he is able to be a guide to one who is mortal, than one who is immortal, for he is unable to teach patient endurance who is not subject to passions. Nor, however, does this extend so far that I prefer man to God; but to show that man cannot be a perfect teacher unless he is also God, that he may by his heavenly authority impose upon men the necessity of obedience; nor God, unless he is clothed with a mortal body, that by carrying out his precepts to their completion 826 in actions, he may bind others by the necessity of obedience. It plainly therefore appears, that he who is a guide of life and teacher of righteousness must have a body, and that his teaching cannot otherwise be full and perfect, unless it has a root and foundation, and remains firm and fixed among men; and that he himself must undergo weakness of flesh and body, and display in himself 827 the virtue of which he is a teacher, that he may teach it at the same time both by words and deeds. Also, he must be subject to death and all sufferings, since the duties of virtue are occupied with the enduring of suffering, and the undergoing death; all which, as I have said, a perfect teacher ought to endure, that he may teach the possibility of their being endured.

Footnotes

125:817

Propria.

125:818

Tabe corporis.

125:819