ST. AUGUSTIN

ON THE CATECHISING OF THE UNINSTRUCTED

[Translated by Rev. S. D. F. Salmond, D.D., Professor of Systematic
Theology, Free Church College, Aberdeen.]


CHAP. 1.--HOW AUGUSTIN WRITES IN ANSWER TO A FAVOR ASKED BY A DEACON OF
CARTHAGE.

   1. You have requested me, brother Deogratias, to send you in writing
something which might be of service to you in the matter of catechising the
uninstructed. For you have informed me that in Carthage, where you hold the
position of a deacon, persons, who have to be taught the Christian faith
from its very rudiments, are frequently brought to you by reason of your
enjoying the reputation of possessing a rich gift in catechising, due at
once to an intimate acquaintance with the faith, and to an attractive
method of discourse;(2) but that you almost always find yourself in a
difficulty as to the manner in which a suitable declaration is to be made
of the precise doctrine, the belief of which constitutes us Christians:
regarding the point at which our statement of the same ought to commence,
and the limit to which it should be allowed to proceed: and with respect to
the question whether, when our narration is concluded, we ought to make use
of any kind of exhortation, or simply specify those precepts in the
observance of which the person to whom we are discoursing may know the
Christian life and profession to be maintained.(3) At the same time, you
have made the confession and complaint that it has often befallen you that
in the course of a lengthened and languid address you have become
profitless and distasteful even to yourself, not to speak of the learner
whom you have been endeavoring to instruct by your utterance, and the other
parties who have been present as hearers; and that you have been
constrained by these straits to put upon me the constraint of that love
which I owe to you, so that I may not feel it a burdensome thing among all
my engagements to write you something on this subject.

   2. As for myself then, if, in the exercise of those capacities which
through the bounty of our Lord I am enabled to present, the same Lord
requires me to offer any manner of aid to those whom He has made brethren
to me, I feel constrained not only by that love and service which is due
from me to you on the terms of familiar friendship, but also by that which
I owe universally to my mother the Church, by no means to refuse the task,
but rather to take it up with a prompt and devoted willingness. For the
more extensively I desire to see the treasure of the Lord(4) distributed,
the more does it become my duty, if I ascertain that the stewards, who are
my fellow-servants, find any difficulty in laying it out, to do all that
lies in my power to the end that they may be able to accomplish easily and
expeditiously what they sedulously and earnestly aim at.

CHAP. 2.--HOW IT OFTEN HAPPENS THAT A DISCOURSE WHICH GIVES PLEASURE TO THE
HEARER IS DISTASTEFUL TO THE SPEAKER; AND WHAT EXPLANATION IS TO BE OFFERED
OF THAT FACT.

   3. But as regards the idea thus privately entertained by yourself in
such efforts, I would not have you to be disturbed by the consideration
that you have often appeared to yourself to be delivering a poor and
wearisome discourse. For it may very well be the case that the matter has
not so presented itself to the person whom you were trying to instruct, but
that what you were uttering seemed to you to be unworthy of the ears of
others, simply because it was your own earnest desire that there should be
something better to listen to. Indeed with me, too, it is almost always the
fact that my speech displeases myself. For I am covetous of something
better, the possession of which I frequently enjoy within me before I
commence to body it forth in intelligible words:(1) and then when my
capacities of expression prove inferior to my inner apprehensions, I grieve
over the inability which my tongue has betrayed in answering to my heart.
For it is my wish that he who hears me should have the same complete
understanding of the subject which I have myself; and I perceive that I
fail to speak in a manner calculated to effect that, and that this arises
mainly from the circumstance that the intellectual apprehension diffuses
itself through the mind with something like a rapid flash, whereas the
utterance is slow, and occupies time, and is of a vastly different nature,
so that, while this latter is moving on, the intellectual apprehension has
already withdrawn itself within its secret abodes. Yet, in consequence of
its having stamped certain impressions of itself in a marvellous manner
upon the memory, these prints endure with the brief pauses of the
syllables;(2) and as the outcome of these same impressions we form
intelligible signs,(3) which get the name of a certain language, either the
Latin, or the Greek, or the Hebrew, or some other. And these signs may be
objects of thought, or they may also be actually uttered by the voice. On
the other hand however, the impressions themselves are neither Latin, nor
Greek, nor Hebrew, nor peculiar to any other race whatsoever, but are made
good in the mind just as looks are in the body. For anger is designated by
one word in Latin, by another in Greek, and by different terms in other
languages, according to their several diversities. But the look of the
angry man is neither (peculiarly) Latin nor (peculiarly) Greek. Thus it is
that when a person says Iratus sum,(4) he is not understood by every
nation, but only by the Latins; whereas, if the mood of his mind when it is
kindling to wrath comes forth upon the face and affects the look, all who
have the individual within their view understand that he is angry. But,
again, it is not in our power to bring out those impressions which the
intellectual apprehension stamps upon the memory, and to hold them forth,
as it were, to the perception of the hearers by means of the sound of the
voice, in any manner parallel to the clear and evident form in which the
look appears. For those former are within in the mind, while this latter is
without in the body. Wherefore we have to surmise how far the sound of our
mouth must be from representing that stroke of the intelligence, seeing
that it does not correspond even with the impression produced upon the
memory. Now, it is a common occurrence with us that, in the ardent desire
to effect what is of profit to our hearer, our aim is to express ourselves
to him exactly as our intellectual apprehension is at the time, when, in
the very effort, we are failing in the ability to speak; and then, because
this does not succeed with us, we are vexed, and we pine in weariness as if
we were applying ourselves to vain labors; and, as the result of this very
weariness, our discourse becomes itself more languid and pointless even
than it was when it first induced such a sense of tediousness.

   4. But ofttimes the earnestness of those who are desirous of hearing me
shows me that my utterance is not so frigid as it seems i to myself to be.
From the delight, too, which they exhibit, I gather that they derive some
profit from it. And I occupy myself sedulously with the endeavor not to
fail in putting before them a service in which I perceive them to take in
such good part what is put before them. Even, so, on your side also, the
very fact that persons who require to be instructed in the faith are
brought so frequently to you, ought to help you to understand that your
discourse is not displeasing to others as it is displeasing to yourself;
and you ought not to consider yourself unfruitful, simply because you do
not succeed in setting forth in such a manner as you desire the things
which you discern; for, perchance, you may be just as little able to
discern them in the way you wish. For in this life who sees except as "in
an enigma and through a glass"?(5) Neither is love itself of might
sufficient to rend the darkness of the flesh, and penetrate into that
eternal calm from which even things which pass away derive the light in
which they shine. But inasmuch as day by day the good are making advances
towards the vision of that day, independent of the rolling sky,(1) and
without the invasion of the night, "which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither hath it entered into the heart of man,"(2) there is no greater
reason why our discourse should become valueless in our own estimate, when
we are engaged in teaching the uninstructed, than this,--namely, that it is
a delight to us to discern in an extraordinary fashion, and a weariness to
speak in an ordinary. And in reality we are listened to with much greater
satisfaction, indeed, when we ourselves also have pleasure in the same
work; for the thread of our address is affected by the very joy of which we
ourselves are sensible, and it proceeds from us with greater ease and with
more acceptance. Consequently, as regards those matters which are
recommended as articles of belief, the task is not a difficult one to lay
down injunctions, with respect to the points at which the narration should
be commenced and ended, or with respect to the method in which the
narration is to be varied, so that at one time it may be briefer, at
another more lengthened, and yet at all times full and perfect; and, again,
with respect to the particular occasions on which it may be right to use
the shorter form, and those on which it will be proper to employ the
longer. But as to the means by which all is to be done, so that every one
may have pleasure in his work when he catechises (for the better he
succeeds in this the more attractive will he be),--that is what requires
the greatest consideration. And yet we have not far to seek for the precept
which will rule in this sphere. For if, in the matter of carnal means, God
loves a cheerful giver,(3) how much more so in that of the spiritual? But
our security that this cheerfulness may be with us at the seasonable hour,
is something dependent upon the mercy of Him who has given us such
precepts. Therefore, in accordance with my understanding of what your own
wish is, we shall discuss in the first place the subject of the method of
narration, then that of the duty of delivering injunction and exhortation,
and afterwards that of the attainment of the said cheerfulness, so far as
God may furnish us with the ideas.

CHAP. 3.--OF THE FULL NARRATION TO BE EMPLOYED IN CATECHISING.

   5. The narration is full when each person is catechised in the first
instance from what is written in the text, "In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth,"(4) on to the present times of the Church. This
does not imply, however, either that we ought to repeat by memory the
entire Pentateuch, and the entire Books of Judges, and Kings, and
Esdras,(5) and the entire Gospel and Acts of the Apostles, if we have
learned all these word for word; or that we should put all the matters
which are contained in these volumes into our own words, and in that manner
unfold and expound them as a whole. For neither does the time admit of
that, nor does any necessity demand it. But what we ought to do is, to give
a comprehensive statement of all things, summarily and generally, so that
certain of the more wonderful facts may be selected which are listened to
with superior gratification, and which have been ranked so remarkably among
the exact turning-points (of the history);(6) that, instead of exhibiting
them to view only in their wrappings, if we may so speak, and then
instantly snatching them from our sight, we ought to dwell on them for a
certain space, and thus, as it were, unfold them and open them out to
vision, and present them to the minds of the hearers as things to be
examined and admired. But as for all other details, these should be passed
over rapidly, and thus far introduced and woven into the narrative. The
effect of pursuing this plan is, that the particular facts which we wish to
see specially commended to attention obtain greater prominence in
consequence of the others being made to yield to them; while, at the same
time, neither does the learner, whose interest we are anxious to stimulate
by our statement, come to these subjects with a mind already exhausted, nor
is confusion induced upon the memory of the person whom we ought to be
instructing by our teaching.

   6. In all things, indeed, not only ought our own eye to be kept fixed
upon the end of the commandment, which is "charity, out of a pure heart,
and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned,"(7) to which we should make all
that we utter refer; but in like manner ought the gaze of the person whom
we are instructing by our utterance to be moved(8) toward the same, and
guided in that direction. And, in truth, for no other reason were all those
things which we read in the Holy Scriptures written, previous to the Lord's
advent, but for this,--namely, that His advent might be pressed upon the
attention, and that the Church which was to be, should be intimated
beforehand, that is to say, the people of God throughout all nations; which
Church is His body, wherewith also are united and numbered all the saints
who lived in this world, even before His advent, and who believed then in
His future coming, just as we believe in His past coming. For (to use an
illustration) Jacob, at the time when he was being born, first put forth
from the womb a hand, with which also he held the foot of the brother who
was taking priority of him in the act of birth; and next indeed the head
followed, and thereafter, at last, and as matter of course, the rest of the
members:(1) while, nevertheless the head in point of dignity and power has
precedence, not only of those members which followed it then, but also of
the very hand which anticipated it in the process of the birth, and is
really the first, although not in the matter of the time of appearing, at
least in the order of nature. And in an analogous manner, the Lord Jesus
Christ, previous to His appearing in the fiesta, and coming forth in a
certain manner out of the womb of His secrecy, before the eyes of men as
Man, the Mediator between God and men,(2) "who is over all, God blessed for
ever,"(3) sent before Him, in the person of the holy patriarchs and
prophets, a certain portion of His body, wherewith, as by a hand, He gave
token beforetime of His own approaching birth, and also supplanted(4) the
people who were prior to Him in their pride, using for that purpose the
bonds of the law, as if they were His five fingers. For through five epochs
of times(5) there was no cessation in the foretelling and prophesying of
His own destined coming; and in a manner consonant with this, he through
whom the law was given wrote five books; and proud men, who were carnally
minded, and sought to "establish their own righteousness,"(6) were not
filled with blessing by the open hand of Christ, but were debarred from
such good by the hand compressed and closed; and therefore their feet were
tied, and "they fell, while we are risen, and stand upright."(7) But
although, as I have said, the Lord Christ did thus send before Him a
certain portion of His body, in the person of those holy men who came
before Him as regards the time of birth, nevertheless He is Himself the
Head of the body, the Church,(8) and all these have been attached to that
same body of which He is the head, in virtue of their believing in Him whom
they announced prophetically. For they were: not sundered (from that body)
in consequence of fulfilling their course before Him, but rather were they
made one with the same by reason of their obedience. For although the hand
may be put forward away before the head, still it has its connection
beneath the head. Wherefore all things which were written aforetime were
written in order that we might be taught thereby,(9) and were our figures,
and happened in a figure in the ease of these men. Moreover they were
written for our sakes, upon whom the end of the ages has come.(10)

CHAP. 4.--THAT THE GREAT REASON FOR THE ADVENT OF CHRIST WAS THE
COMMENDATION OF LOVE.

   7. Moreover, what greater reason is apparent for the advent of the Lord
than that God might show His love in us, commending it powerfully, inasmuch
as "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"?(11) And furthermore,
this is with the intent that, inasmuch as charity is "the end of the
commandment,"(12) and "the fulfilling of the law,"(13) we also may love one
another and lay down our life for the brethren, even as He laid down His
life for us.(14) And with regard to God Himself, its object is that, even
if it were an irksome task to love Him, it may now at least cease to be
irksome for us to return His love, seeing that" He first loved us,"(15) and
"spared not His own only Son, but delivered Him up for us all."(16) For
their is no mightier invitation to love than to anticipate in loving; and
that soul is over hard which, supposing it unwilling indeed to give love,
is unwilling also to give the return of love. But if, even in the case of
criminal and sordid loves, we see how those who desire to be loved in
return make it their special and absorbing business, by such proofs as are
within their power, to render the strength of the love which they
themselves bear plain and patent; if we also perceive how they affect to
put forward an appearance of justice in what they thus offer, such as may
qualify them in some sort to demand that a response be made in all fairness
to them on the part of those souls which they are laboring to beguile; if,
further, their own passion burns more vehemently when they observe that the
minds which they are eager to possess are also moved now by the same fire:
if thus, I say, it happens at once that the soul which before was torpid is
excited so soon as it feels itself to be loved, and that the soul which was
enkindled already becomes the more inflamed so soon as it is made cognizant
of the return of its own love, it is evident that no greater reason is to
be found why love should be either originated or enlarged, than what
appears in the occasion when one who as yet loves not at all comes to know
himself to be the object of love, or when one who is already a lover either
hopes that he may yet be loved in turn, or has by this time the evidence of
a response to his affection. And if this holds good even in the case of
base loves, how much more(1) in (true) friendship? For what else have we
carefully to attend to in this question touching the injuring of friendship
than to this, namely, not to give our friend cause to suppose either that
we do not love him at all, or that we love him less than he loves us? If,
indeed, he is led to entertain this belief, he will be cooler in that love
in which men enjoy the interchange of intimacies one with another; and if
he is not of that weak type of character to which such an offense to
affection will serve as a cause of freezing off from love altogether, he
yet confines himself to that kind of affection in which he loves, not with
the view of enjoyment to himself, but with the idea of studying the good of
others. But again it is worth our while to notice how,--although superiors
also have the wish to be loved by their inferiors, and are gratified with
the zealous attention(2) paid to them by such, and themselves cherish
greater affection towards these inferiors the more they become cognizant of
that,--with what might of love, nevertheless, the inferior kindles so soon
as he learns that he is beloved by his superior. For there have we love in
its more grateful aspect, where it does not consume itself(3) in the
drought of want, but flows forth in the plenteousness of beneficence. For
the former type of love is of misery, the latter of mercy.(4) And
furthermore, if the inferior was despairing even of the possibility of his
being loved by his superior, he will now be inexpressibly moved to love if
the superior has of his own will condescended to show how much he loves
this person who could by no means be bold enough to promise himself so
great a good. But what is there superior to God in the character of Judge?
and  what more desperate than man in the character of sinner?--than man, I
ask, who had given himself all the more unreservedly up to the wardship and
domination of proud powers which are unable to make him blessed, as he had
come more absolutely to despair of the possibility of his being an object
of interest to that power which wills not to be exalted in wickedness, but
is exalted in goodness.

   8. If, therefore, it was mainly for this purpose that Christ came, to
wit, that man might learn how much God loves him; and that he might learn
this, to the intent that he might be kindled to the love of Him by whom he
was first loved, and might also love his neighbor at the command and
showing of Him who became our neighbor, in that He loved man when, instead
of being a neighbor to Him, he was sojourning far apart: if, again, all
divine Scripture, which was written aforetime, was written with the view of
presignifying the Lord's advent; and if whatever has been committed to
writing in times subsequent to these, and established by divine authority,
is a record of Christ, and admonishes us of love, it is manifest that on
those two commandments of love to God and love to our neighbor(5) hang not
only all the law and the prophets, which at the time when the Lord spoke to
that effect were as yet the only Holy Scripture, but also all those books
of the divine literature which have been written(6) at a later period for
our health, and consigned to remembrance. Wherefore, in the Old Testament
there is a veiling of the New, and in the New Testament there is a
revealing of the Old. According to that veiling, carnal men, understanding
things in a carnal fashion, have been under the dominion, both then and
now, of a penal fear. According to this revealing, on the other hand,
spiritual men,--among whom we reckon at once those then who knocked in
piety and found even hidden things opened to them, and others now who seek
in no spirit of pride, lest even things uncovered should be closed to
them,--understanding in a spiritual fashion, have been made free through
the love wherewith they have been gifted. Consequently, inasmuch as there
is nothing more adverse to love than envy, and as pride is the mother of
envy, the same Lord Jesus Christ, God-man, is both a manifestation of
divine love towards us, and an example of human humility with us, to the
end that our great swelling might be cured by a greater counteracting
remedy. For here is great misery, proud man! But there is greater mercy, a
humble God! Take this love, therefore, as the end that is set before you,
to which you are to refer all that you say, and, whatever you narrate,
narrate it in such a manner that he to whom you are discoursing on hearing
may believe, on believing may hope, on hoping may love.

CHAP. 5.--THAT THE PERSON WHO COMES FOR CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION IS TO BE
EXAMINED WITH RESPECT TO HIS VIEWS, ON DESIRING TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN.

   9. Moreover, it is on the gound of that very severity of God,(1) by
which the hearts of mortals are agitated with a most wholesome terror, that
love is to be built up; so that, rejoicing that he is loved by Him whom he
fears, man may have boldness to love Him in return, and yet at the same
time be afraid to displease  His love toward himself, even should he be
able to do so with impunity. For certainly it very rarely happens, nay, I
should rather say, never, that any one approaches us with the wish to
become a Christian who has not been smitten with some sort of fear of God.
For if it is in the expectation of some advantage from men whom he deems
himself unlikely to please in any other way, or with the idea of escaping
any disadvantage at the hands of men of whose displeasure or hostility he
is seriously afraid, that a man wishes to become a Christian, then his wish
to become one is not so earnest as his desire to feign one.(2) For faith is
not a matter of the body which does obeisance,(3) but of the mind which
believes. But unmistakeably it is often the case that the mercy of God
comes to be present through the ministry of the catechiser, so that,
affected by the discourse, the man now wishes to become in reality that
which he had made up his mind only to feign. And so soon as he begins to
have this manner of desire, we may judge him then to have made a genuine
approach to us. It is true, indeed, that the precise time when a man, whom
we perceive to be present with us already in the body, comes to us in
reality with his mind,(4) is a thing hidden from us. But, notwithstanding
that, we ought to deal with him in such a manner that this wish may be made
to arise within him, even should it not be there at present. For no such
labor is lost, inasmuch as, if there is any wish at all, it is assuredly
strengthened by such action on our part, although we may be ignorant of the
time or the hour at which it began. It is useful certainly, if it can be
done, to get from those who know the man some idea beforehand of the state
of mind in which he is, or of the causes which have induced him to come
with the view of embracing religion. But if there is no other person
available from whom we may gather such information, then, indeed, the man
himself is to be interrogated, so that from what he says in reply we may
draw the beginning of our discourse. Now if he has come with a false heart,
desirous only of human advantages or thinking to escape disadvantages, he
will certainly speak what is untrue. Nevertheless, the very untruth which
he utters should be made the point from which we start. This should not be
done, however, with the (open) intention of confuting his falsehood, as if
that were a settled matter with you; but, taking it for granted that he has
professed to have come with a purpose which is really worthy of approbation
(whether that profession be true or false), it should rather be our aim to
commend and praise such a purpose as that with which, in his reply, he has
declared himself to have come; so that we may make him feel it a pleasure
to be the kind of man actually that he wishes  to seem to be. On the other
hand, supposing him to have given a declaration of his views other than
what ought to be before the mind of one who is to be instructed in the
Christian faith, then by reproving him with more than usual kindness and
gentleness, as a person uninstructed and ignorant, by pointing out and
commending, concisely and in a grave spirit the end of Christian doctrine
in its genuine reality, and by doing all this in such a manner as neither
to anticipate the times of a narration, which should be given subsequently,
nor to venture to impose that kind of statement upon a mind not previously
set for it, you may bring him to desire that which, either in mistake or in
dissimulation, he has not been desiring up to this stage.

CHAP. 6.--OF THE WAY TO COMMENCE THE CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION, AND OF THE
NARRATION OF FACTS FROM THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S CREATION ON TO THE
PRESENT TIMES OF THE CHURCH.

   10. But if it happens that his answer is to the effect that he has met
with some divine warning, or with some divine terror, prompting him to
become a Christian, this opens up the way most satisfactorily for a
commencement to our discourse, by suggesting the greatness of God's
interest in us. His thoughts, however, ought certainly to be turned away
from this line of things, whether miracles or dreams, and directed to the
more solid path and the surer oracles of the Scriptures; so that he may
also come to understand how mercifully that warning was administered to him
in advance,(1) previous to his giving himself to the Holy Scriptures. And
assuredly it ought to be pointed out to him, that the Lord Himself would
neither thus have admonished him and urged him on to become a Christian,
and to be incorporated into the Church, nor have taught him by such signs
or revelations, had it not been His will that, for his greater safety and
security, he should enter upon a pathway already prepared in the Holy
Scriptures, in which he should not seek after visible miracles, but learn
the habit of hoping for things invisible, and in which also he should
receive monitions not in sleep but in wakefulness. At this point the
narration ought now to be commenced, which should start with the fact that
God made all things very good,(2) and which should be continued, as we have
said, on to the present times of the Church. This should be done in such a
manner as to give, for each of the affairs and events which we relate,
causes and reasons by which we may refer them severally to that end of love
from which neither the eye of the man who is occupied in doing anything,
nor that of the man who is engaged in speaking, ought to be turned away.
For if, even in handling the fables of the poets, which are but fictitious
creations and things devised for the pleasure(3) of minds whose food is
found in trifles, those grammarians who have the reputation and the name of
being good do nevertheless endeavor to bring them to bear upon some kind of
(assumed) use, although that use itself may be only something vain and
grossly bent upon the coarse nutriment of this world:(4) how much more
careful does it become us to be, not to let those genuine verities which we
narrate, in consequence of any want of a well-considered account of their
causes, be accepted either with a gratification which issues in no
practical good, or, still less, with a cupidity which may prove hurtful! At
the same time, we are not to set forth these causes in such a manner as to
leave the proper course of our narration, and let our heart and our tongue
indulge in digressions into the knotty questions of more intricate
discussion. But the simple truth of the explanation which we adduce(5)
ought to be like the gold which binds together a row of gems, and yet does
not interfere with the choice symmetry of the ornament by any undue
intrusion of itself.(6)

CHAP. 7.--OF THE EXPOSITION OF THE RESURRECTION, THE JUDGMENT, AND OTHER
SUBJECTS, WHICH SHOULD FOLLOW THIS NARRATION.

   11. On the completion of this narration, the hope of the resurrection
should be set forth, and, so far as the capacity and strength of the hearer
will bear it, and so far also as the measure of time at our disposal will
allow, we ought to handle our arguments against the vain scoffings of
unbelievers on the subject of the resurrection of the body, as well as on
that of the future judgment, with its goodness in relation to the good, its
severity in relation to the evil, its truth in relation to all. And after
the penalties of the impious have thus been declared with detestation and
horror, then the kingdom of the righteous and faithful, and that supernal
city and its joy, should form the next themes for our discourse. At this
point, moreover, we ought to equip and animate the weakness of man in
withstanding temptations and offenses, whether these emerge without or rise
within the church itself; without, as in opposition to Gentiles, or Jews,
or heretics; within, on the other hand, as in opposition to the chaff of
the Lord's threshing-floor. It is not meant, however, that we are to
dispute against each several type of perverse men, and that all their wrong
opinions are to be refuted by set arrays of argumentations: but, in a
manner suitable to a limited allowance of time, we ought to show how all
this was foretold, and to point out of what service temptations are in the
training of the faithful, and what relief(7) there is in the example of the
patience of God, who has resolved to permit them even to the end. But,
again, while he is being furnished against these (adversaries), whose
perverse multitudes fill the churches so far as bodily presence is
concerned, the precepts of a Christian and honorable manner of life should
also be briefly and befittingly detailed at the same time, to the intent
that he may neither allow himself to be easily led astray in this way, by
any who are drunkards, covetous, fraudulent, gamesters, adulterers,
fornicators, lovers of public spectacles, wearers of unholy charms,
sorcerers, astrologers, or diviners practising any sort of vain and wicked
arts, and all  other parties of a similar character; nor to let himself
fancy that any such course may be followed with impunity on his part,
simply because he sees many who are called Christians loving these things,
and engaging themselves with them, and defending them, and recommending
them, and actually persuading others to their use. For as to the end which
is appointed for those who persist in such a mode of life, and as to the
method in which they are to be borne with in the church itself, out of
which they are destined to be separated in the end,--these are subjects in
which the learner ought to be instructed by means of the testimonies of the
divine books. He should also, however, be informed beforehand that he will
find in the church many good Christians, most genuine citizens of the
heavenly Jerusalem, if he sets about being such himself. And, finally, he
must be sedulously warned against letting his hope rest on man. For it is
not a matter that can be easily judged by man, what man is righteous. And
even were this a matter which could be easily done, still the object with
which the examples of righteous men are set before us is not that we may be
justified by them, but that, as we imitate them, we may understand how we
ourselves also are justified by their Justifier. For the issue of this will
be something which must merit the highest approval,--namely this, that when
the person who is hearing us, or rather, who is hearing God by us, has
begun to make some progress in moral qualities and in knowledge, and to
enter upon the way of Christ with ardor, he will not be so bold as to
ascribe the change either to us or to himself; but he will love both
himself and us, and whatever other persons he loves as friends, in Him, and
for His sake who loved him when he was an enemy, in order that He might
justify him and make him a friend. And now that we have advanced thus far,
I do not think that you need any preceptor to tell you how you should
discuss matters briefly, when either your own time or that of those who are
hearing you is occupied; and how, on the other hand, you should discourse
at greater length when there is more time at your command. For the very
necessity of the case recommends this, apart from the counsel of any
adviser.

CHAP. 8.--OF THE METHOD TO BE PURSUED IN CATECHISING THOSE WHO HAVE HAD A
LIBERAL EDUCATION.

   12. But there is another case which evidently must not be overlooked. I
mean the case of one coming to you to receive catchetical instruction who
has cultivated the field of liberal studies, who has already made up his
mind to be a Christian, and who has betaken himself to you for the express
purpose of becoming one. It can scarcely fail to be the fact that a person
of this character has already acquired a considerable knowledge of our
Scriptures and literature; and, furnished with this, he may have come now
simply with the view of being made a partaker in the sacraments. For it is
customary with men of this class to inquire carefully into all things, not
at the very time when they are made Christians, but previous to that, and
thus early also to communicate and reason, with any whom they can reach, on
the subject of the feelings of their own minds. Consequently a brief method
of procedure should be adopted with these, so as not to inculcate on them,
in an odious fashion,(1) things which they know already, but to pass over
these with a light and modest touch. Thus we should say how we believe that
they are already familiar with this and the other subject, and that we
therefore simply reckon up m a cursory manner all those facts which require
to be formally urged upon the attention of the uninstructed and unlearned.
And we should endeavor so to proceed, that, supposing this man of culture
to have been previously acquainted with any one of our themes, he may not
hear it now as from a teacher; and that, in the event of his being still
ignorant of any of them, he may yet learn the same while we are going over
the things with which we understand him to be already familiar. Moreover,
it is certainly not without advantage to interrogate the man himself as to
the means by which he was induced to desire to be a Christian; so that, if
you discover him to have been moved to that decision by books, whether they
be the canonical writings or the compositions of literary men worth the
studying,(2) you may say something about these at the outset, expressing
your approbation of them in a manner which may suit the distinct merits
which they severally possess, in respect of canonical authority and of
skillfully applied diligence on the part of these expounders;(3) and, in
the case of the canonical Scriptures, commending above all the most
salutary modesty (of language) displayed alongside their wonderful
loftiness (of subject); while, in those other productions you notice, in
accordance with the characteristic faculty of each several writer, a style
of a more sonorous and, as it were more rounded eloquence adapted to minds
that are prouder, and, by reason thereof weaker. We should certainly also
elicit from him some account of himself, so that he may give us to
understand what writer he chiefly perused, and with what books he was more
familiarly conversant, as these were the means of moving him to wish to be
associated with the church. And when he has given us this information, then
if the said books are known to us, or if we have at least ecclesiastical
report as our warrant for taking them to have been written by some catholic
man of note, we should joyfully express our approbation. But if, on the
other hand, he has fallen upon the productions of some heretic and in
ignorance, it may be, has retained in his mind anything which(1) the true
faith condemns, and yet supposes it to be catholic doctrine, then we must
set ourselves sedulously to teach him, bringing before him (in its rightful
superiority) the authority of the Church universal, and of other most
learned men reputed both for their disputations and for their writings in
(the cause of) its truth. (2) At the same time, it is to be admitted that
even those who have departed this life as genuine catholics, and have left
to posterity some Christian writings, in certain passages of their small
works, either in consequence of their failing to be understood, or (as the
way is with human infirmity) because they lack ability to pierce into the
deeper mysteries with the eye of the mind, and in (pursuing) the semblance
of what is true, wander from the truth itself, have proved an occasion to
the presumptuous and audacious for constructing and generating some heresy.
This, however, is not to be wondered at, when, even in the instance of the
canonical writings themselves, where all things have been expressed in the
soundest manner, we see how it has happened,--not indeed through merely
taking certain passages in a sense different from that which the writer had
in view or which is consistent with the truth itself, (for if this were
all, who would not gladly pardon human infirmity, when it exhibits a
readiness to accept correction?), but by persistently defending, with the
bitterest vehemence and in impudent arrogance, opinions which they have
taken up in perversity and error,--many have given birth to many pernicious
dogmas at the cost of rending the unity of the (Christian) communion. All
these subjects we should discuss in modest conference with the individual
who makes his approach to the society of the Christian people, not in the
character of an uneducated man,(3) as they say, but in that of one who has
passed through a finished culture and training in the books of the learned.
And in enjoining him to guard against the errors of presumption, we should
assume only so much authority as that humility of his, which induced him to
come to us, is now felt to admit of. As to other things, moreover, in
accordance with the rules of saving doctrine, which require to be narrated
or discussed, whether they be matters relating to the faith, or questions
bearing on the moral life, or others dealing with temptations, all these
should be gone through in the manner which  I have indicated, and ought
therein to be referred to the more excellent way (already noticed).(4)

CHAP. 9.--OF THE METHOD IN WHICH GRAMMARIANS AND PROFESSIONAL SPEAKERS ARE
TO BE DEALT WITH.

   13. There are also some who come from the commonest schools of the
grammarians and professional speakers, whom you may not venture to reckon
either among the uneducated or among those very learned classes whose minds
have been exercised in questions of real magnitude. When such persons,
therefore, who appear to be superior to the rest of mankind, so far as the
art of speaking is concerned, approach you with the view of becoming
Christians, it will be your duty in your communications with them, in a
higher degree than in your dealings with those other illiterate hearers, to
make it plain that they are to be diligently admonished to clothe
themselves with Christian humility, and learn not to despise individuals
whom they may discover keeping themselves free from vices of conduct more
carefully than from faults of language; and also that they ought not to
presume so much as to compare with a pure heart the practised tongue which
they were accustomed even to put in preference. But above all, such persons
should be taught to listen to the divine Scriptures, so that they may
neither deem solid eloquence to be mean, merely because it is not inflated,
nor suppose that the words or deeds of men, of which we read the accounts
in those books, involved and covered as they are in carnal wrappings,(2)
are not to be drawn forth and unfolded with a view to an (adequate)
understanding of them, but are to be taken merely according to the sound of
the letter. And as to this same matter of the utility of the hidden
meaning, the existence of which is the reason why they are called also
mysteries, the power wielded by these intricacies of enigmatical utterances
in the way of sharpening our love for the truth, and shaking off the torpor
of weariness, is a thing which the persons in question must have made good
to them by actual experience, when some subject which failed to move them
when it was placed baldly before them, has its significance elicited by the
detailed working out of an allegorical sense. For it is in the highest
degree useful to such men to come to know how ideas are to be preferred to
words, just as the soul is preferred to the body. And from this, too, it
follows that they ought to have the desire to listen to discourses
remarkable for their truth, rather than to those which are notable for
their eloquence; just as they ought to be anxious to have friends
distinguished for their wisdom, rather than those whose chief merit is
their beauty. They should also understand that there is no voice for the
ears of God save the affection of the soul. For thus they will not act the
mocker if they happen to observe any of the prelates and ministers of the
Church either calling upon God in language marked by barbarisms and
solecisms, or failing in understanding correctly the very words which they
are pronouncing, and making confused pauses.(2) It is not meant, of course,
that such faults are not to be corrected, so that the people may say "Amen"
to something which they plainly understand; but what is intended is, that
such things should be piously borne with by those who have come to
understand how, as in the forum it is in the sound, so in the church it is
in the desire that the grace of speech resides.(3) Therefore that of the
forum may sometimes be called good speech, but never gracious speech.(4)
Moreover, with respect to the sacrament which they are about to receive, it
is enough for the more intelligent simply to hear what the thing signifies.
But with those of slower intellect, it will be necessary to adopt a
somewhat more detailed explanation, together with the use of similitudes,
to prevent them from despising what they see.

CHAP. 10.--OF THE ATTAINMENT OF CHEERFULNESS IN THE DUTY OF CATECHISING,
AND OF VARIOUS CAUSES PRODUCING WEARINESS IN THE CATECHUMEN,

   14. At this point you perhaps desiderate some example of the kind of
discourse intended, so that I may show you by an actual instance how the
things which I have recommended are to be done. This indeed I shall do, so
far as by God's help I shall be able. But before proceeding to that, it is
my duty, in consistency with what I have promised, to speak of the
acquisition of the cheerfulness (to which I have alluded). For as regards
the matter of the rules in accordance with which your discourse should be
set forth, in the case of the catechetical instruction of a person who
comes with the express view of being made a Christian, I have already made
good, as far as has appeared sufficient, the promise which I made. And
surely I am under no obligation at the same time to do myself in this
volume that which I enjoin as the right thing to be done. Consequently, if
I do that, it will have the value of an overplus. But how can the overplus
be super-added by me before I have filled up the measure of what is due?
Besides, one thing which I have heard you make the subject of your
complaint above all others, is the fact that your discourse seemed to
yourself to be poor and spiritless when you were instructing any one in the
Christian name. Now this, I know, results not so much from want of matter
to say, with which I am well aware you are sufficiently provided and
furnished, or from poverty of speech itself, as rather from weariness of
mind. And that may spring either from the cause of which I have already
spoken, namely, the fact that our intelligence is better pleased and more
thoroughly arrested by that which we perceive in silence in the mind, and
that we have no inclination to have our attention called off from it to a
noise of words coming far short of representing it; or from the
circumstance that even when discourse is pleasant, we have more delight in
hearing or reading things which have been expressed in a superior manner,
and which are set forth without any care or anxiety on our part, than in
putting together, with a view to the comprehension of others, words
suddenly conceived, and leaving it an uncertain issue, on the one hand,
whether such terms occur to us as adequately represent the sense, and on
the other, whether they be accepted in such a manner as to profit; or yet
again, from the consideration that, in consequence of their being now
thoroughly familiar to ourselves, and no longer necessary to our own
advancement, it becomes irksome to us to be recurring very frequently to
those matters which are urged upon the uninstructed, and our mind, as being
by this time pretty well matured, moves with no manner of pleasure in the
circle of subjects so well-worn, and, as it were, so childish. A sense of
weariness is also induced upon the speaker when he has a hearer who remains
unmoved, either in that he is actually not stirred by any feeling, or in
that he does not indicate by any motion of the body that he understands or
that he is pleased with what is said.(1) Not that it is a becoming
disposition in us to he greedy of the praises of men, but that the things
which we minister are of God; and the more we love those to whom we
discourse, the more desirous are we that they should he pleased with the
matters which are held forth for their salvation: so that if we do not
succeed in this, we are pained, and we are weakened, and become broken-
spirited in the midst of our course, as if we were wasting our efforts to
no purpose. Sometimes, too, when we are drawn off from some matter which we
are desirous to go on with, and the transaction of which was a pleasure to
us, or appeared to be more than usually needful, and when we are compelled,
either by the command of a person whom we are unwilling to offend, or by
the importunity of some parties that we find it impossible to get rid of,
to instruct any one catechetically, in such circumstances we approach a
duty for which great calmness is indispensable with minds already
perturbed, and grieving at once that we are not permitted to keep that
order which we desire to observe in our actions, and that we cannot
possibly be competent for all things; and thus out of very heaviness our
discourse as it advances is less of an attraction, because, starting from
the arid soil of dejection, it goes on less flowingly. Sometimes, too,
sadness has taken possession of our heart in consequence of some offense or
other, and at that very time we are addressed thus: "Come, speak with this
person; he desires to become a Christian." For they who thus address us do
it in ignorance of the hidden trouble which is consuming us within. So it
happens that, if they are not the persons to whom it befits us to open up
our feelings, we undertake with no sense of pleasure what they desire; and
then, certainly, the discourse will be languid and unenjoyable which is
transmitted through the agitated and fuming channel of a heart in that
condition. Consequently, seeing there are so many causes serving to cloud
the calm serenity of our minds, in accordance with God's will we must seek
remedies for them, such as may bring us relief from these feelings of
heaviness, and help us to rejoice in fervor of spirit, and to be jocund in
the tranquility of a good work. "For God loveth a cheerful giver."(2)

   15. Now if the cause of our sadness lies in the circumstance that our
hearer does not apprehend what we mean, so that we have to come down in a
certain fashion from the elevation of our own conceptions, and are under
the necessity of dwelling long in the tedious processes of syllables which
come far beneath the standard of our ideas, and have anxiously to consider
how that which we ourselves take in with a most rapid draught of mental
apprehension is to be given forth by the mouth of flesh in the long and
perplexed intricacies of its method of enunciation; and if the great
dissimilarity thus felt (between our utterance and our thought) makes it
distasteful to us to speak, and a pleasure to us to keep silence, then let
us ponder what has been set before us by Him who has "showed us an example
that we should follow His steps."(3)  For however much our articulate
speech may differ from the vivacity of our intelligence, much greater is
the difference of the flesh of mortality from the equality of God. And,
neverless, "although He was in the same form, He emptied Himself, taking
the form of a servant,"--and so on down to the words "the death of the
cross."(4) What is the explanation of this but that He made Himself "weak
to the weak, in order that He might gain the weak?"(5) Listen to His
follower as he expresses himself also in another place to this effect: "For
whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we be sober, it is
for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus
judge that He died for all."(6) And how, indeed, should one be ready to be
spent for their souls,(7) if he should find it irksome to him to bend
himself to their ears? For this reason, therefore, He became a little child
in the midst of us, (and) like a nurse cherishing her children.(1) For is
it a pleasure to lisp shortened and broken words, unless love invites us?
And yet men desire to have infants to whom they have to do that kind of
service; and it is a sweeter thing to a mother to put small morsels of
masticated food into her little son's mouth, than to eat up and devour
larger pieces herself. In like manner, accordingly, let not the thought of
the hen(2) recede from your heart, who covers her tender brood with her
drooping feathers, and with broken voice calls her chirping young ones to
her, while they that turn away from her fostering wings in their pride
become a prey to birds. For if intelligence brings delights in its purest
recesses, it should also be a delight to us to have an intelligent
understanding of the manner in which charity, the more complaisantly it
descends to the lowest objects, finds its way back, with all the greater
vigor to those that are most secret, along the course of a good conscience
which witnesses that it has sought nothing from those to whom it has
descended except their everlasting salvation.

CHAP. 11.--OF THE REMEDY FOR THE SECOND SOURCE OF WEARINESS.

   16. If, however, it is rather our desire to read or hear such things as
are already prepared for our use and expressed in a superior style, and if
the consequence is that we feel it irksome to put together, at the time and
with an uncertain issue, the terms of discourse on our own side, then,
provided only that our mind does not wander off from the truth of the facts
themselves, it is an easy matter for the hearer, if he is offended by
anything in our language, to come to see in that very circumstance how
little value should be set, supposing the subject itself to be rightly
understood, upon the mere fact that there may have been some imperfection
or some inaccuracy in the literal expressions, which were employed indeed
simply with the view of securing a correct apprehension of the subject-
matter. But if the bent of human infirmity has wandered off from the truth
of the facts themselves,--although in the catechetical instruction of the
unlearned, where we have to keep by the most beaten track, that cannot
occur very readily,--still, lest haply it should turn out that our hearer
finds cause of offence even in this direction, we ought not to deem this to
have come upon us in any other way than as the issue of God's own wish to
put us to the test with respect to our readiness to receive correction in
calmness of mind, so as not to rush headlong, in the course of a still
greater error, into the defense of our error. But if, again, no one has
told us of it, and if the thing has altogether escaped our own notice, as
well as the observation of our hearers, then there is nothing to grieve
over, provided only the same thing does not occur a second time. For the
most part, however, when we recall what we have said, we ourselves discover
something to find fault with, and are ignorant of the manner in which it
was received when it was uttered; and so when charity is fervent within us,
we are the more vexed if the thing, while really false, has been received
with unquestioning acceptance. This being the case, then, whenever an
opportunity occurs, as we have been finding fault with ourselves in
silence, we ought in like manner to see to it that those persons be also
set right on the subject in a considerate method, who have fallen into some
sort of error, not by the words of God, but plainly by those used by us.
If, on the other hand, there are any who, blinded by insensate spite,
rejoice that we have committed a mistake, whisperers as they are, and
slanderers, and "hateful to God,"(3) such characters should afford us
matter for the exercise of patience with pity, inasmuch as also the
"patience of God leadeth them to repentance."(4) For what is more
detestable, and what more likely to "treasure up wrath in the day of wrath
and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,"(5) than to rejoice, after
the evil likeness and pattern of the devil, in the evil of another? At
times, too, even when all is correctly and truly spoken, either something
which has not been understood, or something which, as being opposed to the
idea and wont of an old error, seems harsh in its very novelty, offends and
disturbs the hearer. But if this becomes apparent, and if the person shows
himself capable of being set right, he should be set right without any
delay by the use of abundance of authorities and reasons. On the other
hand, if the offense is tacit and hidden, the medicine of  God is the
effective remedy for it. And if,  again, the person starts back and
declines to be cured, we should comfort ourselves with that example of our
Lord, who, when men were offended at His word, and shrank from it as a hard
saying, addressed Himself at the same time to those who had remained, in
these terms, "Will ye also go away?"(6) For it ought to be retained as a
thoroughly "fixed and immovable" position in our heart, that Jerusalem
which is in captivity is set free from the Babylon of this world when the
times have run their course, and that none belonging to her shall perish:
for whoever may perish was not of her. "For the foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His; and, let every
one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."(1) If we ponder
these things, and call upon the Lord to come into our heart, we shall be
less apprehensive of the uncertain issues of our discourse, consequent on
the uncertain feelings of our hearers; and the very endurance of vexations
in the cause of a work of mercy will also be something pleasant to us, if
we seek not our own glory in the same. For then is a work truly good, when
the aim of the doer gets its impetus from charity,(2) and, as if returning
to its own place, rests again in charity. Moreover, the reading which
delights us, or any listening to an eloquence superior to our own, the
effect of which is to make us inclined to set a greater value upon it than
upon the discourse which we ourselves have to deliver, and so to lead us to
speak with a reluctant or tedious utterance, will come upon us in a happier
spirit, and will be found to be more enjoyable after labor. Then, too, with
a stronger confidence shall we pray to God to speak to us as we wish, if we
cheerfully submit to let Him speak by us as we are able. Thus is it brought
about that all things come together for good to them that love God.(3)

CHAP. 12.--OF THE REMEDY FOR THE THIRD SOURCE OF WEARINESS.

   17. Once more, however, we often feel it very wearisome to go over
repeatedly matters which are thoroughly familiar, and adapted (rather) to
children. If this is the case with us, then we should endeavor to meet them
with a brother's, a father's, and a mother's love; and, if we are once
united with them thus in heart, to us no less than to them will these
things seem new. For so great is the power of a sympathetic disposition of
mind, that, as they are affected while we are speaking, and we are affected
while they are learning, we have our dwelling in each other; and thus, at
one and the same time, they as it were in us speak what they hear, and we
in  them learn after a certain fashion what we teach. Is it not a common
occurrence with us, that when we show to persons, who have never seen them,
certain spacious and beautiful tracts, either in cities or in fields, which
we have been in the habit of passing by without any sense of pleasure,
simply because we have become so accustomed to the sight of them, we find
our own enjoyment renewed in their enjoyment of the novelty of the scene?
And this is so much the more our experience in proportion to the intimacy
of our friendship with them; because, just as we are in them in virtue of
the bond of love, in the same degree do things become new to us which
previously were old. But if we ourselves have made any considerable
progress in the contemplative study of things, it is not our wish that
those whom we love should simply be gratified and astonished as they gaze
upon the works of men's hands; but it becomes our wish to lift them to (the
contemplation of) the very skill(4) or wisdom of their author, and from
this to (see them) rise to the admiration and praise of the all-creating
God, with whom(5) is the most fruitful end of love. How much more, then,
ought we to be delighted when men come to us with the purpose already
formed of obtaining the knowledge of God Himself, with a view to (the
knowledge of) whom all things should be learned which are to be learned!
And how ought we to feel ourselves renewed in their newness (of
experience), so that if our ordinary preaching is somewhat frigid, it may
rise to fresh warmth under (the stimulus of) their extraordinary hearing!
There is also this additional consideration to help us in the attainment of
gladness, namely, that we ponder and bear in mind out of what death of
error the man is passing over into the life of faith. And if we walk
through streets which are most familiar to us, with a beneficent
cheerfulness, when we happen to be pointing out the way to some individual
who had been in distress in consequence of missing his direction, how much
more should be the alacrity of spirit, and how much greater the joy with
which, in the matter of saving doctrine, we ought to traverse again and
again even those tracks which, so far as we are ourselves concerned, there
is no need to open up any more; seeing that we are leading a miserable
soul, and one worn out with the devious courses of this world, through the
paths of peace, at the command of Him who made that peace(6) good to us!

CHAP. 13.--OF THE REMEDY FOR THE FOURTH SOURCE OF WEARINESS.

   18. But in good truth it is a serious demand to make upon us, to
continue discoursing on to the set limit when we fall to see our hearer in
any degree moved; whether it be that, under the restraints of the awe of
religion, he has not the boldness to signify his approval by voice or by
any movement of his body, or that he is kept back by the modesty proper to
man,(1) or that he does not understand our sayings, or that he counts them
of no value. Since, then, this must be a matter of uncertainty to us, as we
cannot discern his mind, it becomes our duty in our discourse to make trial
of all things which may be of any avail in stirring him up and drawing him
forth as it were from his place of concealment. For that sort of fear which
is excessive, and which obstructs the declaration of his judgment, ought to
be dispelled by the force of kindly exhortation; and by bringing before him
the consideration of our brotherly affinity, we should temper his reverence
for us; and by questioning him, we should ascertain whether he understands
what is addressed to him; and we should impart to him a sense of
confidence, so that he may give free expression to any objection which
suggests itself to him. We should at the same time ask him whether he has
already listened to such themes on some previous occasion, and whether
perchance they fail to move him now in consequence of their being to him
like things well known and commonplace. And we ought to shape our course in
accordance with his answer, so as either to speak in a simpler style and
with greater detail of explanation, or to refute some antagonistic opinion,
or, instead of attempting any more diffuse exposition of the subjects which
are known to him, to give a brief summary of these, and to select some of
those matters which are handled in a mystical manner in the holy books, and
especially in the historical narrative, the unfolding and setting forth of
which may make our addresses more attractive. But if the man is of a very
sluggish disposition, and if he is senseless, and without anything in
common with all such sources of pleasure, then we must simply bear with him
in a compassionate spirit; and, after briefly going over other points, we
ought to impress upon him, in a manner calculated to inspire him with awe,
the truths which are most indispensable on the subject of the unity of the
Catholic Church,(2) on that of temptation, on that of a Christian
conversation in view of the future judgment; and we ought rather to address
ourselves to God for him than address much to him concerning God.

   19. It is likewise a frequent occurrence that one who at first listened
to us with all readiness, becomes exhausted either by the effort of hearing
or by standing, and now no longer commends what is said, but gapes and
yawns, and even unwillingly exhibits a disposition to depart. When we
observe that, it becomes our duty to refresh his mind by saying something
seasoned with an honest cheerfulness and adapted to the matter which is
being discussed, or something of a very wonderful and amazing order, or
even, it may be, something of a painful and mournful nature. Whatever we
thus say may be all the better if it affects himself more immediately, so
that the quick sense of self-concern may keep his attention on the alert.
At the same time, however, it should not be of the kind to offend his
spirit of reverence by any harshness attaching to it; but it should be of a
nature fitted rather to conciliate him by the friendliness which it
breathes. Or else, we should relieve him by accommodating him with a seat,
although unquestionably matters will be better ordered if from the outset,
whenever that can be done with propriety, he sits and listens. And indeed
in certain of the churches beyond the sea, with a far more considerate
regard to the fitness of things, not only do the prelates sit when they
address the people, but they also themselves put down seats for the people,
lest any person of enfeebled strength should become exhausted by standing,
and thus have his mind diverted from the most wholesome purport (of the
discourse), or even be under the necessity of departing. And yet it is one
thing if it be simply some one out of a great multitude who withdraws in
order to recruit his strength, he being also already under the obligations
which result from participation in the sacraments; and it is quite another
thing if the person withdrawing is one (inasmuch as it is usually the case
in these circumstances that the man is unavoidably urged to that course by
the fear that he should even fall, overcome by internal weakness) who has
to be initiated in the first sacraments; for a person in this position is
at once restrained by the sense of shame from stating the reason of his
going, and not permitted to stand through the force of his weakness. This I
speak from experience. For this was the case with a certain individual, a
man from the country, when I was instructing him catechetically: and from
his instance I have learned that this kind of thing is carefully to be
guarded against. For who can endure our arrogance when we fail to make men
who are our brethren,(1) or even those who are not yet in that relation to
us (for our solicitude then should be all the greater to get them to become
our brethren), to be seated in our presence, seeing that even a woman sat
as she listened to our Lord Himself, in whose service the angels stand
alert?(2) Of course if the address is to be but short, or if the place is
not well adapted for sitting, they should listen standing. But that should
be the case only when there are many hearers, and when they are not to be
formally admitted(3) at the time. For when the audience consists only of
one or two, or a few, who have come with the express purpose of being made
Christians, there is a risk in speaking to them standing. Nevertheless,
supposing that we have once begun in that manner, we ought at least,
whenever we observe signs of weariness on the part of the hearer, to offer
him the liberty of being seated; nay more, we should urge him by all means
to sit down, and we ought to drop some remark calculated at once to refresh
him and to banish from his mind any anxiety which may have chanced to break
in upon him and draw off his attention. For inasmuch as the reasons why he
remains silent and declines to listen cannot be certainly known to us, now
that he is seated we may speak to some extent against the incidence of
thoughts about worldly affairs, delivering ourselves either in the cheerful
spirit to which I have already adverted, or in a serious vein; so that, if
these are the particular anxieties which have occupied his mind, they may
be made to give way as if indicted by name: while, on the other hand,
supposing them not to be the special causes (of the loss of interest), and
supposing him to be simply worn out with listening, his attention will be
relieved of the pressure of weariness when we address to him some
unexpected and extraordinary strain of remark on these subjects, in the
mode of which I have spoken, as if they were the particular anxieties,--for
indeed we are simply ignorant (of the true causes). But let the remark thus
made be short, especially considering that it is thrown in out of order,
lest the very medicine even increase the malady of weariness which we
desire to relieve; and, at the same time, we should go on rapidly with what
remains, and promise and present the prospect of a conclusion nearer than
was looked for.

CHAP. 14.--OF THE REMEDY AGAINST THE FIFTH AND SIXTH SOURCES OF WEARINESS.

   20. If, again, your spirit has been broken by the necessity of giving
up some other employment, on which, as the more requisite, you were now
bent; and if the sadness caused by that constraint makes you catechise in
no pleasant mood, you ought to ponder the fact that, excepting that we know
it to be our duty, in all our dealings with men, to act in a merciful
manner, and in the exercise of the sincerest charity,--with this one
exception, I say, it is quite uncertain to us what is the more profitable
thing for us to do, and what the more opportune thing for us either to pass
by for a time or altogether to omit. For inasmuch as we know not how the
merits of men, on whose behalf we are acting, stand with God, the question
as to what is expedient for them at a certain time is something which,
instead of being able to comprehend, we can rather only surmise, without
the aid of any (clear) inferences, or (at best) with the slenderest and the
most uncertain. Therefore we ought certainly to dispose the matters with
which we have to deal according to our intelligence; and then, if we prove
able to carry them out in the manner upon which we have resolved, we should
rejoice, not indeed that it was our will, but that it was God's will, that
they should thus be accomplished. But if anything unavoidable happens, by
which the disposition thus proposed by us is interfered with, we should
bend ourselves to it readily, lest we be broken; so that the very
disposition of affairs which God has preferred to ours may also be made our
own. For it is more in accordance with propriety that we should follow His
will than that He should follow ours. Besides, as regards this order in the
doing of things, which we wish to keep  in accordance with our own
judgment, surely that course is to be approved of in which objects that are
superior have the precedence. Why then are we aggrieved that the precedence
over men should be held by the Lord God in His vast superiority to us men,
so that in the said love which we entertain for our own order, we should
thus (exhibit the disposition to) despise order? For "no one orders for the
better" what he has to do, except the man who is rather ready to leave
undone what he is prohibited from doing by the divine power, than desirous
of doing that which he meditates in his own human cogitations. For "there
are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord
stands for ever."(4)

   21. But if our mind is agitated by some cause of offense, so as not to
be capable of delivering a discourse of a calm and enjoyable strain, our
charity towards those for whom Christ died, desiring to redeem them by the
price of His own blood from the death of the errors of this world, ought to
be so great, that the very circumstance of intelligence being brought us in
our sadness, regarding the advent of some person who longs to become a
Christian, ought to be enough to cheer us and dissipate that heaviness of
spirit, just as the delights of gain are wont to soften the pain of losses.
For we are not (fairly) oppressed by the offense of any individual, unless
it be that of the man whom we either perceive or believe to be perishing
himself, or to be the occasion of the undoing of some weak one.
Accordingly, one who comes to us with the view of being formally admitted,
in that we cherish the hope of his ability to go forward, should wipe away
the sorrow caused by one who fails us. For even if the dread that our
proselyte may become the child of hell(1) comes into our thoughts, as,
there are many such before our eyes, from whom those offenses arise by
which we are distressed, this ought to operate, not in the way of keeping
us back, but rather in the way of stimulating us and spurring us on. And in
the same measure we ought to admonish him whom we are instructing to be on
his guard against imitating those who are Christians only in name and not
in very truth, and to take care not to suffer himself to be so moved by
their numbers as either to be desirous of following them, or to be
reluctant to follow Christ on their account, and either to be unwilling to
be in the Church of God, where they are, or to wish to be there in such a
character as they bear. And somehow or other, in admonitions of this sort,
that address is the more glowing to which a present sense of grief supplies
the fuel; so that instead of being duller, we utter with greater fire and
vehemence under such feelings things which, in times of greater ease, we
would give forth in a colder and less energetic manner. And this should
make us rejoice that an opportunity is afforded us under which the emotions
of our mind pass not away without yielding some fruit.

   22. If, however, grief has taken possession of us on account of
something in which we ourselves have erred or sinned, we should bear in
mind not only that a "broken spirit is a sacrifice to God,"(3) but also the
saying, "Like as water quencheth fire, so alms sin;"(5) and again, "I will
have mercy," saith He, "rather than sacrifice."(4) Therefore, as in the
event of our being in peril from fire we would certainly run to the water
in order to get the fire extinguished, and we would be grateful if any
person were to offer it in the immediate vicinity; so, if some flame of sin
has risen from our own stack,(5) and if we are troubled on that account,
when an opportunity has been given for a most merciful work, we should
rejoice in it, as if a fountain were offered us in order that by it the
conflagration which had burst forth might be extinguished. Unless haply we
are foolish enough to think that we ought to be readier in running with
bread, wherewith we may fill the belly of a hungry man, than with the word
of God, wherewith we may instruct the mind of the man who feeds on it.(6)
There is this also to consider, namely, that if it would only be of
advantage to us to do this thing, and entail no disadvantage to leave it
undone, we might despise a remedy offered in an unhappy fashion in the time
of peril with a view to the safety, not now of a neighbor, but of
ourselves. But when from the mouth of the Lord this so threatening sentence
is heard, "Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou oughtest to give my money
to the exchangers,"(7) what madness, I pray thee, is it thus, seeing that
our sin pains us, to be minded to sin again, by refusing to give the Lord's
money to one who desires it and asks it! When these and such like
considerations and reflections have succeeded in dispelling the darkness of
weary feelings, the bent of mind is rendered apt for the duty of
catechising, so that that is received in a pleasant manner which breaks
forth vigorously and cheerfully from the rich vein of charity. For these
things indeed which are uttered here are spoken, not so much by me to you,
as rather to us all by that very "love which is shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Spirit that is given to us."(8)

CHAP. 15.--OF THE METHOD IN WHICH OUR ADDRESS SHOULD BE ADAPTED TO
DIFFERENT CLASSES OF HEARERS.

   23. But now, perhaps, you also demand of me as a debt that which,
previous to the promise which I made, I was under no obligation to give,
namely, that I should not count it burdensome to unfold some sort of
example of the discourse intended, and to set it before you for your study,
just as if I were myself engaged in catechising some individual. Before I
do that, however, I wish you to keep in mind the fact that the mental
effort is of one kind in the case of a person who dictates, with a future
reader in his view, and that it is of quite another kind in the case of a
person who speaks with a present hearer to whom to direct his attention.
And further, it is to be remembered that, in this latter instance in
particular, the effort is of one kind when one is admonishing in private,
and when there is no other person at hand to pronounce judgment on us;
whereas it is of a different order when one is conveying any instruction in
public, and when there stands around him an audience of persons holding
dissimilar opinions; and again, that in this exercise of teaching, the
effort will be of one sort when only a single individual is being
instructed, while all the rest listen, like persons judging or attesting
things well known to them, and that it will be different when all those who
are present wait for what we have to deliver to them; and once more, that,
in this same instance, the effort will be one thing when all are seated, as
it were, in private conference with a view to engaging in some discussion,
and that it will be quite another thing when the people sit silent and
intent on giving their attention to some single speaker who is to address
them from a higher position. It will likewise make a considerable
difference, even when we are discoursing in that style, whether there are
few present or many, whether they are learned or unlearned, or made up of
both classes combined; whether they are city-bred or rustics, or both the
one and the other together; or whether, again, they are a people composed
of all orders of men in due proportion. For it is impossible but that they
will affect in different ways the person who has to speak to them and
discourse with them, and that the address which is delivered will both bear
certain features, as it were, expressive of the feelings of the mind from
which it proceeds, and also influence the hearers in different ways, in
accordance with that same difference (in the speaker's disposition), while
at the same time the hearers themselves will influence one another in
different ways by the simple force of their presence with each other. But
as we are dealing at present with the matter of the instruction of the
unlearned, I am a witness to you, as regards my own experience, that I find
myself variously moved, according as I see before me, for the purposes of
catechetical instruction, a highly educated man, a dull fellow, a citizen,
a foreigner, a rich man, a poor man, a private individual, a man of honors,
a person occupying some position of authority, an individual of this or the
other nation, of this or the other age or sex, one proceeding from this or
the other sect, from this or the other common error,--and ever in
accordance with the difference of my feelings does my discourse itself at
once set out, go on, and reach its end. And inasmuch as, although the same
charity is due to all, yet the same medicine is not to be administered to
all, in like manner charity itself travails with some, is made weak
together with others; is at pains to edify some, tremblingly apprehends
being an offense to others; bends to some, lifts itself erect to others; is
gentle to some, severe to others; to none an enemy, to all a mother. And
when one, who has not gone through the kind of experience to which I refer
in the same spirit of charity, sees us attaining, in virtue of some gift
which has been conferred upon us, and which carries the power of pleasing,
a certain repute of an eulogistic nature in the mouth of the multitude, he
counts us happy on that account. But may God, into whose cognizance the
"groaning of them that are bound enters,"(1) look upon our humility, and
our labor, and forgive us all our sins.(2) Wherefore, if anything in us has
so far pleased you as to make you desirous of hearing from us some remarks
on the subject of the form of discourse which you ought to follow,(2) you
should acquire a more thorough understanding of the matter by contemplating
us, and listening to us when we are actually engaged with these topics,
than by a perusal when we are only dictating them.

CHAP. 16.--A SPECIMEN OF A CATECHETICAL ADDRESS; AND FIRST, THE CASE OF A
CATECHUMEN WITH WORTHY VIEWS.

   24. Nevertheless, however that may be, let us here suppose that some
one has come to us who desires to be made a Christian, and who belongs
indeed to the order of private persons,(4) and yet not to the class of
rustics, but to that of the city-bred, such as those whom you cannot fail
to come across in numbers in Carthage. Let us also suppose that, on being
asked whether the inducement leading him to desire to be a Christian is any
advantage looked for in the present life, or the rest which is hoped for
after this life, he has answered that his inducement has been the rest that
is yet to come. Then perchance such a person might be instructed by us in
some such strain of address as the following: "Thanks be to God, my
brother; cordially do I wish you joy, and I am glad on your account that,
amid all the storms of this world, which are at once so great and so
dangerous, you have bethought yourself of some true and certain security.
For even in this life men go in quest of rest and security at the cost: of
heavy labors, but they fail to find such in consequence of their wicked
lusts. For their thought is to find rest in things which are unquiet, and
which endure not. And these objects, inasmuch as they are withdrawn from
them and pass away in the course of time, agitate them by fears and griefs,
and suffer them not to enjoy tranquillity. For if it be that a man seeks to
find his rest in wealth, he is rendered proud rather than at ease. Do we
not see how many have lost their riches on a sudden,--how many, too, have
been undone by reason of them, either as they have been coveting to possess
them, or as they have been borne down and despoiled of them by others more
covetous than themselves? And even should they remain with the man all his
life long, and never leave their lover, yet would he himself (have to)
leave them at his death. For of what measure is the life of man, even if he
lives to old age? Or when men desire for themselves old age, what else do
they really desire but long infirmity? So, too, with the honors of this
world,--what are they but empty pride and vanity, and peril of ruin? For
holy Scripture speaks in this wise: 'All flesh is grass, and the glory of
man is as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, the flower thereof
falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth for ever.(1) Consequently,
if any man longs for true rest and true felicity, he ought to lift his hope
off things which are mortal and transitory, and fix it on the word of the
Lord; so that, cleaving to that which endures for ever, he may himself
together with it endure for ever.

   25. "There are also other men who neither crave to be rich nor go about
seeking the vain pomps of honors, but who nevertheless are minded to find
their pleasure and rest in dainty meats, and in fornications, and in those
theatres and spectacles which are at their disposal in great cities for
nothing. But it fares with these, too, in the same way; or they waste their
small means in luxury, and subsequently, under pressure of want, break out
into thefts and burglaries, and at times even into highway robberies, and
so they are suddenly filled with fears both numerous and great; and men who
a little before were singing in the house of revelry, are now dreaming of
the sorrows of the prison. Moreover, in their eager devotion to the public
spectacles, they come to resemble demons, as they incite men by their cries
to wound each other, and instigate those who have done them no hurt to
engage in furious contests with each other, while they seek to please an
insane people. And if they perceive any such to be peaceably disposed, they
straightway hate them and persecute them, and raise an outcry, asking that
they should be beaten with clubs, as if they had been in collusion to cheat
them; and this iniquity they force even the judge, who is the (appointed)
avenger of iniquities, to perpetrate. On the other hand, if they observe
such men exerting themselves in horrid hostilities against each other,
whether they be those who are called sintoe,(2) or theatrical actors and
players,(3) or charioteers, or hunters,--those wretched men whom they
engage in conflicts and struggles, not only men with men, but even men with
beasts,--then the fiercer the fury with which they perceive these unhappy
creatures rage against each other, the better they like them, and the
greater the enjoyment they have in them; and they favor them when thus
excited,(4) and by so favoring them they excite them all the more, the
spectators themselves striving more madly with each other, as they espouse
the cause of different combatants, than is the case even with those very
men whose madness they madly provoke, while at the same time they also long
to be spectators of the same in their mad frenzy.(5) How then can that mind
keep the soundness of peace which feeds on strifes and contentions? For
just as is the food which is received, such is the health which results. In
fine, although mad pleasures are no pleasures, nevertheless let these
things be taken as they are, and it still remains the case that, whatever
their nature may be, and whatever the measure of enjoyment yielded by the
boasts of riches, and the inflation of honors, and the spendthrift
pleasures of the taverns, and the contests of the theatres, and the
impurity of fornications, and the pruriency of the baths, they are all
things of which one little fever deprives us, while, even from those who
still survive, it takes away the whole false happiness of their life. Then
there remains only a void and wounded conscience, destined to apprehend
that God as a Judge whom it refused to have as a Father, and destined also
to find a severe Lord in Him whom it scorned to seek and love as a tender
Father. But thou, inasmuch as thou seekest that true rest which is promised
to Christians after this life, wilt taste the same sweet and pleasant rest
even here among the bitterest troubles of this life, if thou continuest to
love the commandments of Him who hath promised the same. For quickly wilt
thou feel that the fruits of righteousness are sweeter than those of
unrighteousness, and that a man finds a more genuine and pleasurable joy in
the possession of a good conscience in the midst of troubles than in that
of an evil conscience in the midst of delights. For thou hast not come to
be united to the Church of God with the idea of seeking from it any
temporal advantage.

CHAP. 17.--THE SPECIMEN OF CATECHETICAL DISCOURSE CONTINUED, IN REFERENCE
SPECIALLY TO THE REPROVAL OF FALSE AIMS ON THE CATECHUMEN'S PART.

   26. "For there are some whose reason for desiring to become Christians
is either that they may gain the favor of men from whom they look for
temporal advantages, or that they are reluctant to offend those whom they
fear. But these are reprobate; and although the church bears them for a
time, as the threshing-floor bears the chaff until the period of winnowing,
yet if they fail to amend and begin to be Christians in sincerity in view
of the everlasting rest which is to come, they will be separated from it in
the end. And let not such flatter themselves, because it is possible for
them to be in the threshing-floor along with the grain of God. For they
will not be together with that in the barn, but are destined for the fire,
which is their due. There are also others of better hope indeed, but
nevertheless in no inferior danger. I mean those who now fear God, and mock
not the Christian name, neither enter the church of God with an assumed
heart, but still look for their felicity in this life, expecting to have
more felicity in earthly things than those enjoy who refuse to worship God.
And the consequence of this false anticipation is, that when they see some
wicked and impious men strongly established and excelling in this worldly
prosperity, while they themselves either possess it in a smaller degree or
miss it altogether, they are troubled with the thought that they are
serving God without reason, and so they readily fall away from the faith.

   27. "But as to the man who has in view that everlasting blessedness and
perpetual rest which is promised as the lot destined for the saints after
this life, and who desires to become a Christian, in order that he may not
pass into eternal fire with the devil, but enter into the eternal kingdom
together with Christ,(1) such an one is truly a Christian; (and he will be)
on his guard in every temptation, so that he may neither be corrupted by
prosperity nor be utterly broken in spirit by adversity, but remain at once
modest and temperate when the good things of earth abound with him, and
brave and patient when tribulations overtake him. A person of this
character will also advance in attainments until he comes to that
disposition of mind which will make him love God more than he fears hell;
so that even were God to say to him, 'Avail yourself of carnal pleasures
for ever, and sin as much as you are able, and you shall neither die nor be
sent into hell, but you will only not be with me, he would be terribly
dismayed, and would altogether abstain from sinning, not now (simply) with
the purpose of not falling into that of which he was wont to be afraid, but
with the wish not to offend Him whom he so greatly loves: in whom alone
also there is the rest which eye hath not seen, neither hath ear heard,
neither hath it entered into the heart of man (to conceive),--the rest
which God hath prepared for them that love Him.(2)

   28. "Now, on the subject of this rest Scripture is significant, and
refrains not to speak, when it tells us how at the beginning of the world,
and at the time when God made heaven and earth and all things which are in
them, He worked during six days, and rested on the seventh day.(3) For it
was in the power of the Almighty to make all things even in one moment of
time. For He had not labored in the view that He might enjoy (a needful)
rest, since indeed "He spake, and they were made; He commanded, and they
were created;"(4) but that He might signify how, after six ages of this
world, in a seventh age, as on the seventh day, He will rest in His saints;
inasmuch as these same saints shall rest also in Him after all the good
works in which they have served Him,--which He Himself, indeed, works in
them, who calls them, and instructs them, and puts away the offenses that
are past, and justifies the man who previously was ungodly. For as, when by
His gift they work that which is good, He is Himself rightly said to work
(that in them), so, when they rest in Him, He is rightly said to rest
Himself. For, as regards Himself, He seeks no. cessation, because He feels
no labor Moreover He made all things by His Word; and His Word is Christ
Himself, in whom the angels and all those purest spirits of heaven rest in
holy silence. Man, however in that he fell by sin, has lost the rest which
he possessed in His divinity, and receives it again (now) in His humanity;
and for this purpose He became man, and was born of a woman, at the
seasonable time at which He Himself knew it behoved it so to be fulfilled
And from the flesh assuredly He could not sustain any contamination, being
Himself rather destined to purify the flesh. Of His future coming the
ancient saints, in the revelation of the Spirit, had knowledge, and
prophesied. And thus were they saved by believing that He was to come, even
as we are saved by believing that He has come. Hence ought we to love God
who has so loved us as to have sent His only Son, in order that He might
endue Himself with the lowliness(1) of our mortality, and die both at the
hands of sinners and on behalf of Sinners. For even in times of old, and in
the opening ages, the depth of this mystery ceases not to be prefigured and
prophetically announced.

CHAP. 18.--OF WHAT IS TO BE BELIEVED ON THE SUBJECT OF THE CREATION OF MAN
AND OTHER OBJECTS.

   29. "Whereas, then, the omnipotent God, who is also good and just and
merciful, who made all things,--whether they be great or small, whether
they be highest or lowest, whether they be things which are seen, such as
are the heavens and the earth and the sea, and in the heavens, in
particular, the sun and the moon and other luminaries, and in the earth and
the sea, again, trees and shrubs and animals each after their kind, and all
bodies celestial or terrestrial alike, or whether they be things which are
not seen, such as are those spirits whereby bodies are animated and endowed
with life,--made also man after His own image, in order that, as He
Himself, in virtue of His omnipotence, presides over universal creation, so
man, in virtue of that intelligence of his by which he comes to know even
his Creator and worships Him, might preside over all the living creatures
of earth: Whereas, too, he made the woman to be an helpmeet for him: not
for carnal concupiscence,--since, indeed, they had not corruptible bodies
at that period, before the punishment of sin invaded them in the form of
mortality,--but for this purpose, that the man might at once have glory of
the woman in so far as he went before her to God, and present in himself an
example to her for imitation in holiness and piety, even as he himself was
to be the glory of God in so far as he followed his wisdom:

   30. "Therefore did he place them in a certain locality of perpetual
blessedness, which the Scripture designates Paradise: and he gave them a
commandment, on condition of not violating which they were to continue for
ever in that blessedness of immortality; while, on the other hand, if they
transgressed it, they were to sustain the penalties of mortality. Now God
knew beforehand that they would trangress it. Nevertheless, in that He is
the author and maker of everything good, He chose rather to make them, as
He also made the beasts, in order that He might replenish the earth with
the good things proper to earth. And certainly man, even sinful man, is
better than a beast. And the commandment, which they were not to keep, He
yet preferred to give them, in order that they might be without excuse when
He should begin to vindicate Himself against them. For whatever man may
have done, he finds God worthy to be praised in all His doings: if he shall
have acted rightly, he finds Him worthy to be praised for the righteousness
of His rewards: if he shall have sinned, he finds Him worthy to be praised
for the righteousness of His punishments: if he shall have confessed his
sins and returned to an upright  life, he finds Him worthy to be praised
for the mercy of His pardoning favors. Why, then, should God not make man,
although He foreknew that he would sin, when He might crown him if he
stood, and set him right if he fell, and help him if he rose, Himself being
always and everywhere glorious in goodness, righteousness, and clemency?
Above all, why should He not do so, since He also foreknew this, namely,
that from the race of that mortality there would spring saints, who should
not seek their own, but give glory to their Creator; and who, obtaining
deliverance from every corruption by worshipping Him, should be counted
worthy to live for ever, and to live in blessedness with the holy angels?
For He who gave freedom of will to men, in order that they might worship
God not of slavish necessity but with ingenuous inclination, gave it also
to the angels; and hence neither did the angel, who, in company with other
spirits who were his satellites, forsook in pride the obedience of God and
became the devil, do any hurt to God, but to himself. For God knoweth how
to dispose of souls(1) that leave Him, and out of their righteous misery to
furnish the inferior sections of His creatures with the most appropriate
and befitting laws of His wonderful dispensation. Consequently, neither did
the devil in any manner harm God, whether in falling himself, or in
seducing man to death; nor did man himself in any degree impair the truth,
or power, or blessedness(2) of His Maker, in that, when his partner was
seduced by the devil, he of his own deliberate inclination consented unto
her in the doing of that which God had forbidden. For by the most righteous
laws of God all were condemned, God Himself being glorious in the equity of
retribution, while they were shamed through the degradation of punishment:
to the end that man, when he turned away from his Creator, should be
overcome by the devil and made his subject, and that the devil might be set
before man as an enemy to be conquered, when he turned again to his
Creator; so that whosoever should consent unto the devil even to the end,
might go with him into eternal punishments; whereas those who should humble
themselves to God, and by His grace overcome the devil, might be counted
worthy of eternal rewards.

CHAP. 19.--OF THE CO-EXISTENCE OF GOOD AND EVIL IN THE CHURCH, AND THEIR
FINAL SEPARATION.

   31. "Neither ought we to be moved by the consideration that many
consent unto the devil, and few follow God; for the grain, too, in
comparison with the chaff, has greatly the defect in number. But even as
the husbandman knows what to do with the mighty heap of chaff, so the
multitude of sinners is nothing to God, who knows what to do with them, so
as not to let the administration of His kingdom be disordered and
dishonored in any part. Nor is the devil to be supposed to have proved
victorious for the mere reason of his drawing away with him more than the
few by whom he may be overcome. In this way there are two communities--one
of the ungodly, and another of the holy--which are carried down from the
beginning of the human race even to the end of the world, which are at
present commingled in respect of bodies, but separated in respect of wills,
and which, moreover, are destined to be separated also in respect of bodily
presence in the day of judgment. For all men who love pride and temporal
power with vain elation and pomp of arrogance, and all spirits who set
their affections on such things and seek their own glory in the subjection
of men, are bound fast together in one association; nay, even although they
frequently fight against each other on account of these things, they are
nevertheless precipitated by the like weight of lust into the same abyss,
and are united with each other by similarity of manners and merits. And,
again, all men and all spirits who humbly seek the glory of God and not
their own, and who follow Him in piety, belong to one fellowship. And,
notwithstanding this, God is most merciful and patient with ungodly men,
and offers them a place for penitence and amendment.

   32. "For with respect also to the fact that He destroyed all men in the
flood, with the exception of one righteous man together with his house,
whom He willed to be saved in the ark, He knew indeed that they would not
amend themselves; yet, nevertheless, as the building of the ark went on for
the space of a hundred years, the wrath of God which was to come upon them
was certainly preached to them:(3) and if they only would have turned to
God, He would have spared them, as at a later period He spared the city of
Nineveh when it repented, after He had announced to it, by means of a
prophet, the destruction that was about to overtake it.(4) Thus, moreover,
God acts, granting a space for repentance even to those who He knows will
persist in wickedness, in order that He may exercise and instruct our
patience by His own example; whereby also we may know how greatly it befits
us to bear with the evil in long-suffering, when we know not what manner of
men they will prove hereafter, seeing that He, whose cognizance nothing
that is yet to be escapes, spares them and suffers them to live. Under the
sacramental sign of the flood, however, in which the righteous were rescued
by the wood, there was also a fore-announcement of the Church which was to
be, which Christ, its King and God, has raised on high; by the mystery of
His cross, in safety from the submersion of this world. Moreover, God was
not ignorant of the fact that, even of those who had been saved in the ark,
there would be born wicked men, who would cover the face of the earth a
second time with iniquities. But, nevertheless, He both gave them a pattern
of the future judgment, and fore-announced the deliverance of the holy by
the mystery of the wood. For even after these things wickedness did not
cease to sprout forth again through pride, and lusts, and illicit
impieties, when men, forsaking their Creator,  not only fell to the
(standard of the) creature  which God made, so as to worship instead of God
that which God made, but even bowed their souls to the works of the hands
of men and to the contrivances of craftsmen, wherein a more shameful
triumph was to be won over them by the devil, and by those evil spirits who
rejoice in finding themselves adored and reverenced in such false devices,
while they feed(1) their own errors with the errors of men.

   33. "But in truth there were not wanting in those times righteous men
also of the kind to seek God piously and to overcome the pride of the
devil, citizens of that holy community, who were made whole by the
humiliation of Christ, which was then only destined to enter, but was
revealed to them by the Spirit. From among these, Abraham, a pious and
faithful servant of God, was chosen, in order that to him might be shown
the sacrament of the Son of God, so that thus, in virtue of the imitation
of his faith, all the faithful of all nations might be called his children
in the future. Of him was born a people, by whom the one true God who made
heaven and earth should be worshipped when all other nations did service to
idols and evil spirits. In that people, plainly, the future  Church was
much more evidently prefigured.  For in it there was a carnal multitude
that worshipped God with a view to visible benefits. But in it there were
also a few who thought of the future rest, and looked longingly for the
heavenly fatherland, to whom through prophecy was revealed the coming
humiliation of God in the person of our King and Lord Jesus Christ, in
order that they might be made whole of all pride and arrogance through that
faith. And with respect to these saints who in point of time had precedence
of the birth of the Lord, not only their speech, but also their life, and
their marriages, and their children, and their doings, constituted a
prophecy of this time, at which the Church is being gathered together out
of all nations through faith in the passion of Christ. By the
instrumentality of those holy patriarchs and prophets this carnal people of
Israel, who at a later period were also called Jews, had ministered unto
them at once those visible benefits which they eagerly desired of the Lord
in a carnal manner, and those chastisements, in the form of bodily
punishments, which were intended to terrify them for the time, as was
befitting for their obstinacy. And in all these, nevertheless, there were
also spiritual mysteries signified, such as were meant to bear upon Christ
and the Church; of which Church those saints also were members, although
they existed in this life previous to the birth of Christ, the Lord,
according to the flesh. For this same Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
the Word of the Father, equal and co-eternal with the Father, by whom all
things were made, was Himself also made man for our sakes, in order that of
the whole Church, as of His whole body, He might be the Head. But just as
when the whole man is in the process of being born, although he may put the
hand forth first in the act of birth, yet is that hand joined and compacted
together with the whole body under the bead, even as also among these same
patriarchs some were born(2) with the hand put forth first as a sign of
this very thing: so all the saints who lived upon the earth previous to the
birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, although they were born antecedently, were
nevertheless united under the Head with that universal body of which He is
the Head.

CHAP. 20.--OF ISRAEL'S BONDAGE IN EGYPT, THEIR DELIVERANCE, AND THEIR
PASSAGE THROUGH THE RED SEA.

   34. "That people, then, having been brought down into Egypt, were in
bondage to the harshest of kings; and, taught by the most oppressive
labors, they sought their deliverer in God; and there was sent to them one
belonging to the people themselves, Moses, the holy servant of God, who, in
the might of God, terrified the impious nation of the Egyptians in those
days by great miracles, and led forth the people of God out of that land
through the Red Sea, where the water parted and opened up a way for them as
they crossed it, whereas, when the Egyptians pressed on in pursuit, the
waves returned to their channel and overwhelmed them, so that they
perished. Thus, then, just as the earth through the agency of the flood was
cleansed by the waters from the wickedness of the sinners, who in those
times were destroyed in their inundation, while the righteous escaped by
means of the wood; so the people of God, when they went forth from Egypt,
found a way through the waters by which their enemies were devoured. Nor
was the sacrament of the wood wanting there. For Moses smote with his rod,
in order that that miracle might be effected. Both these are signs of holy
baptism, by which the faithful pass into the new life, while their sins are
done away with like enemies, and perish. But more clearly was the passion
of Christ prefigured in the case of that people, when they were commanded
to slay and eat the lamb, and to mark their door-posts with its blood, and
to celebrate this rite every year, and to designate it the Lord's passover.
For surely prophecy speaks with the utmost plainness of the Lord Jesus
Christ, when it says that "He was led as a lamb to the slaughter."(1) And
with the sign of His passion and cross, thou art this day to be marked on
thy forehead, as on the door-post, and all Christians are marked with the
same.

   35. "Thereafter this people was conducted through the wilderness for
forty years. They also received the law written by the finger of God, under
which name the Holy Spirit is signified, as it is declared with the utmost
plainness in the Gospel. For God is not defined by the form of a body,
neither are members and fingers to be thought of as existent in Him in the
way in which we see them in ourselves. But, inasmuch as it is through the
Holy Spirit that God's gifts are divided to His saints, in order that,
although they vary in their capacities, they may nevertheless not lapse
from the concord of charity, and inasmuch as it is especially in the
fingers that there appears a certain kind of division, while nevertheless
there is no separation from unity, this may be the explanation of the
phrase. But whether this may be the case, or whatever other reason may be
assigned for the Holy Spirit being called the finger of God, we ought not
at any rate to think of the form of a human body when we hear this
expression used. The people in question, then, received the law written by
the finger of God, and that in good sooth on tables of stone, to signify
the hardness of their heart in that they were not to fulfill the law. For,
as they eagerly sought from the Lord gifts meant for the uses of the body,
they were held by carnal fear rather than by spiritual charity. But nothing
fulfills the law save charity. Consequently, they were burdened with many
visible sacraments, to the intent that they should feel the pressure of the
yoke of bondage in the observances of meats, and in the sacrifices of
animals, and in other rites innumerable; which things, at the same time,
were signs of spiritual matters relating to the Lord Jesus Christ and to
the Church; which, furthermore, at that time were both understood by a few
holy men to the effect of yielding the fruit of salvation, and observed by
them in accordance with the fitness of the time, while by the multitude of
carnal men they were observed only and not understood.

   36. "In this manner, then, through many varied signs of things to come.
which it would be tedious to enumerate in complete detail, and which we now
see in their fulfillment in the Church, that people were brought to the
land of promise, in which they were to reign in a temporal and carnal way
in accordance with their own longings: which earthly kingdom, nevertheless,
sustained the image of a spiritual kingdom. There Jerusalem was founded,
that most celebrated city of God, which, while in bondage, served as a sign
of the free city, which is called the heavenly Jerusalem(3) which latter
term is a Hebrew word, and signifies by interpretation the 'vision of
peace.' The citizens thereof are all sanctified men, who have been, who
are, and who are yet to be; and all sanctified spirits, even as many as are
obedient to God with pious devotion in the exalted regions of heaven, and
imitate not the impious pride of the devil and his angels. The King of this
city is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, by whom the highest angels
are governed, and at the same time the Word that took unto Himself human
nature,(4) in order that by Him men also might be governed, who, in His
fellowship, shall reign all together in eternal peace. In the service of
prefiguring this King in that earthly kingdom of the people of Israel, King
David stood forth pre-eminent,(5) of whose seed according to the flesh that
truest King was to come, to wit, our Lord Jesus Christ, 'who is over all,
God blessed for ever.'(6) In that land of promise many things were done,
which held good as figures of the Christ who was to come, and of the
Church, with which you will have it in your power to acquaint yourself by
degrees in the Holy Books.

CHAP. 21.--OF THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY, AND THE THINGS SIGNIFIED THEREBY.

   37. "Howbeit, after the lapse of some generations, another type was
presented, which bears very emphatically on the matter in hand. For that
city(7) was brought into captivity, and a large section of the people were
carried off into Babylonia. Now, as Jerusalem signifies the city and
fellowship of the saints, so Babylonia signifies the city and fellowship of
the wicked, seeing that by interpretation it denotes confusion. On the
subject of these two cities, which have been running their courses,
mingling the one with the other, through all the changes of time from the
beginning of the human race, and which shall so move on together until the
end of the world, when they are destined to be separated at the last
judgment, we have spoken already a little ago.(1) That captivity, then, of
the city of Jerusalem, and the people thus carried into Babylonia in
bondage, were ordained so to proceed by the Lord, by the voice of Jeremiah,
a prophet of that time.(2) And there appeared kings(3) of Babylon, under
whom they were in slavery, who on occasion of the captivity of this people
were so wrought upon by certain miracles that they came to know the one
true God who rounded universal creation, and worshipped Him, and commanded
that He should be worshipped. Moreover the people were ordered both to pray
for those by whom they were detained in captivity, and in their peace to
hope for peace, to the effect that they should beget children, and build
houses, and plant gardens and vineyards.(4) But at the end of seventy
years, release from their captivity was promised to them.(5) All this,
furthermore, signified in a figure that the Church of Christ in all His
saints, who are citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, would have to do
service under the kings of this world. For the doctrine of the apostles
speaks also in this wise, that 'every soul should be subject to the higher
powers,' and that there 'should be rendered all things to all men, tribute
to whom tribute (is due), custom to whom custom,'(6) and all other things
in like manner which, without detriment to the worship of our God, we
render to the rulers in the constitution of human society: for the Lord
Himself also, in order to set before us an example of this sound doctrine,
did not deem it unworthy of Him to pay tribute(7) on account of that human
individuality(8) wherewith He was invested. Again, Christian servants and
good believers are also commanded to serve their temporal masters in
equanimity and faithfulness;(9) whom they will hereafter judge, if even on
to the end they find them wicked, or with whom they will hereafter reign in
equality, if they too shall have been converted to the true God. Still all
are enjoined to be subject to the powers that are of man and of earth, even
until, at the end of the predetermined time which the seventy years
signify, the Church shall be delivered from the confusion of this world,
like as Jerusalem was to be set free from the captivity in Babylonia. By
occasion of that captivity, however, the kings of earth too have themselves
been led to forsake the idols on account of which they were wont to
persecute the Christians, and have come to know, and now worship, the one
true God and Christ the Lord; and it is on their behalf that the Apostle
Paul enjoins prayer to be made, even although they should persecute the
Church. For he speaks in these terms: 'I entreat, therefore, that first of
all supplications, adorations,(10) intercessions, and givings of thanks be
made for kings, for all men, and all that are in authority, that we may
lead a quiet and peaceable life, with all godliness and charity."(11)
Accordingly peace has been given to the Church by these same persons,
although it be but of a temporal sort,--a temporal quiet for the work of
building houses after a spiritual fashion, and planting gardens and
vineyards. For witness your own case, too,--at this very time we are
engaged, by means of this discourse, in building you up and planting you.
And the like process is going on throughout the whole circle of lands, m
virtue of the peace allowed by Christian kings, even as the same apostle
thus expresses himself: 'Ye are God's husbandry; ye are God's
building.'(12)

   38. "And, indeed, after the lapse of the seventy years of which
Jeremiah had mystically prophesied, to the intent of prefiguring the end of
times, with a view still to the perfecting of that same figure, no settled
peace and liberty were conceded again to the Jews. Thus it was that they
were conquered subsequently by the Romans and made tributary. From that
period, in truth, at which they received the land of promise and began to
have kings, in order to preclude the supposition that the promise of the
Christ who was to be their Liberator had met its complete fulfillment in
the person of any one of their kings, Christ was prophesied of with greater
clearness in a number of prophecies; not only by David himself in the book
of Psalms, but also by the rest of the great and holy prophets, even on to
the time of their conveyance into captivity in Babylonia; and in that same
captivity there were also prophets whose mission was to prophesy of the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Liberator of all. And after the
restoration of the temple, when the seventy years had passed, the Jews
sustained grievous oppressions and sufferings at the hands of the kings of
the Gentiles, fitted to make them understand that the Liberator was not yet
come, whom they failed to apprehend as one who was to effect for them a
spiritual deliverance, and whom they fondly longed for on account of a
carnal liberation.

CHAP. 22.--OF THE SIX AGES OF THE WORLD.

   39. "Five ages of the world, accordingly, having been now completed
(there has entered the sixth). Of these ages the first is from the
beginning of the human race, that is, from Adam, who was the first man that
was made, down to Noah, who constructed the ark at the time of the
flood.(1) Then the second extends from that period on to Abraham, who was
called(2) the father indeed of all nations(3) which should follow the
example of his faith, but who at the same time in the way of natural
descent from his own flesh was the father of the destined people of the
Jews; which people, previous to the entrance of the Gentiles into the
Christian faith, was the one people among all the nations of all lands that
worshipped the one true God: from which people also Christ the Saviour was
decreed to come according to the flesh. For these turning-points(4) of
those two ages occupy an eminent place in the ancient books. On the other
hand, those of the other three ages are also declared in the Gospel,(5)
where the descent of the Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh is
likewise mentioned. For the third age extends from Abraham on to David the
king; the fourth from David on to that captivity whereby the people of God
passed over into Babylonia; and the fifth from that transmigration down to
the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. With His coming the sixth age has
entered on its process; so that now the spiritual grace, which in previous
times was known to a few patriarchs and prophets, may be made manifest to
all nations; to the intent that no man should worship God but freely,(6)
fondly desiring of Him not the visible rewards of His services and the
happiness of this present life, but that eternal life alone in which he is
to enjoy God Himself: in order that in this sixth age the mind of man may
be renewed after the image of God, even as on the sixth day man was made
after the image of God.(7) For then, too, is the law fulfilled, when all
that it has commanded is done, not in the strong desire for things
temporal, but in the love of Him who has given the commandment. Who is
there, moreover, who should not be earnestly disposed to give the return of
love to a God of supreme righteousness and also of supreme mercy, who has
first loved men of the greatest unrighteousness and the loftiest pride, and
that, too, so deeply as to have sent in their behalf His only Son, by whom
He made all things, and who being made man, not by any change of Himself,
but by the assumption of human nature, was designed thus to become capable
not only of living with them, but also of dying at once for them and by
their hands?

   40. "Thus, then, showing forth the New Testament of our everlasting
inheritance, wherein man was to be renewed by the grace of God and lead a
new life, that is, a spiritual life; and with the view of exhibiting the
first one as an old dispensation, wherein a carnal people acting out the
old man (with the exception of a few patriarchs and prophets, who had
understanding, and some hidden saints), and leading a carnal life,
desiderated carnal rewards at the hands of the Lord God, and received in
that fashion but the figures of spiritual blessings;--with this intent, I
say, the Lord Christ, when made man, despised all earthly good things, in
order that He might show us how these things ought to be despised; and He
endured all earthly ills which He was inculcating as things needful to be
endured; so that neither might our happiness be sought for in the former
class, nor our unhappiness be apprehended in the latter. For being born of
a mother who, although she conceived without being touched by man and
always remained thus untouched, in virginity conceiving, in virginity
bringing forth, in virginity dying, had nevertheless been espoused to a
handicraftsman, He extinguished all the inflated pride of carnal nobility.
Moreover, being born in the city of Bethlehem, which among all the cities
of Judges was so insignificant that even in our own day it is designated a
village, He willed not that any one should glory in the exalted position of
any city of earth. He, too, whose are all things and by whom all things
were created, was made poor, in order that no one, while believing in Him,
might venture to boast himself in earthly riches. He refused to be made by
men a king, because He displayed the pathway of humility to those unhappy
ones whom pride had separated from Him;(8) and yet universal creation
attests the fact of His everlasting kingdom. An hungered was He who feeds
all men; athirst was He by whom is created whatsoever is drunk, and who in
a spiritual manner is the bread of the hungry and the fountain of the
thirsty; in journeying on earth, wearied was He who has made Himself the
way for us into heaven; as like one dumb and deaf in the presence of His
revilers was He by whom the dumb spoke and the deaf heard; bound was He who
freed us from the bonds of infirmities; scourged was He who expelled from
the bodies of man the scourges of all distresses; crucified was He who put
an end to our crucial pains;(1) dead did He become who raised the dead. But
He also rose again, no more to die, so that no one should from Him learn so
to contemn death as if he were never to live again.

CHAP. 23.--OF THE MISSION OF THE HOLY GHOST FIFTY DAYS AFTER CHRIST'S
RESURRECTION.

   41. "Thereafter, having confirmed the disciples, and having sojourned
with them forty days, He ascended up into heaven, as these same persons
were beholding Him. And on the completion of fifty days from His
resurrection He sent to them the Holy Spirit (for so He had promised), by
whose agency they were to have love shed abroad in their hearts,(2) to the
end that they might be able to fulfill the law, not only without the sense
of its being burdensome, but even with a joyful mind. This law was given to
the Jews in the ten commandments, which they call the Decalogue. And these
commandments, again, are reduced to two, namely that we should love God
with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind; and that we
should love our neighbor as ourselves.(3) For that on these two precepts
hang all the law and the prophets, the Lord Himself has at once declared in
the Gospel and shown in His own example. For thus it was likewise in the
instance of the people of Israel, that from the day on which they first
celebrated the passover in a form,(4) slaying and eating the sheep, with
whose blood their door-posts were marked for the securing of their
safety,(5)--from this day, I repeat, the fiftieth day in succession was
completed, and then they received the law written by the finger of God,(6)
under which phrase we have already stated that the Holy Spirit is
signified.(7) And in the same manner, after the passion and resurrection of
the Lord, who is the true passover, the Holy Ghost was sent personally to
the disciples on the fiftieth day: not now, however, by tables of stone
significant of the hardness of their hearts; but, when they were gathered
together in one place at Jerusalem itself, suddenly there came a sound from
heaven, as if a violent blast were being borne onwards, and there appeared
to them tongues cloven like fire, and they began to speak with tongues, in
such a manner that all those who had come to them recognized each his own
language(8) (for in that city the Jews were in the habit of assembling from
every country wheresoever they had been scattered abroad, and had learned
the diverse tongues of diverse nations); and thereafter, preaching Christ
with all boldness, they wrought many signs in His name,--so much so, that
as Peter was passing by, his shadow touched a certain dead person, and the
man rose in life again.(9)

   42. "But when the Jews perceived so great signs to be wrought in the
name of Him, whom, partly through ill-will and partly in ignorance, they
crucified, some of them were provoked to persecute the apostles, who were
His preachers; while others, on the contrary, marvelling the more at this
very circumstance, that so great miracles were being performed in the name
of Him whom they had derided as one overborne and conquered by themselves,
repented, and were converted, so that thousands of Jews believed on Him.
For these parties were not bent now on craving at the hand of God temporal
benefits and an earthly kingdom, neither did they look any more for Christ,
the promised king, in a carnal spirit; but they continued m immortal
fashion to apprehend and love Him, who in mortal fashion endured on their
behalf at their own hands sufferings so heavy, and imparted. to them the
gift of forgiveness for all their sins, even down to the iniquity of His
own blood, and by the example of His own resurrection unfolded immortality
as the object which they should hope for and long for at His hands.
Accordingly, now mortifying the earthly cravings of the old man, and
inflamed with the new experience of the spiritual life, as the Lord had
enjoined in the Gospel, they sold all that they had, and laid the price of
their possessions at the feet of the apostles, in order that these might
distribute to every man according as each had need; and living in Christian
love harmoniously with each other, they did not affirm anything to be their
own, but they had all things in common, and were one in soul and heart
toward God.(10) Afterwards these same persons also themselves suffered
persecution in their flesh at the hands of the Jews, their carnal fellow-
countrymen, and were dispersed abroad, to the end that, in consequence of
their dispersion, Christ should be preached more extensively, and that they
themselves at the same time should be followers of the patience of their
Lord. For He who in meekness had endured them,(1) enjoined them in meekness
to endure for His sake.

   43. "Among those same persecutors of the saints the Apostle Paul had
once also ranked; and he raged with eminent violence against the
Christians. But, subsequently, he became a believer and an apostle, and was
sent to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, suffering (in that ministry)
things more grievous on behalf of the name of Christ than were those which
he had done against the name of Christ. Moreover, in establishing churches
throughout all the nations where he was sowing the seed of the gospel, he
was wont to give earnest injunction that, as these converts (coming as they
did from the worship of idols and without experience in the worship of the
one God) could not readily serve God in the way of selling and distributing
their possessions, they should make offerings for the poor brethren among
the saints who were in the churches of Judea which had believed in Christ.
In this manner the doctrine of the apostle constituted some to be, as it
were, soldiers, and others to be, as it were, provincial tributaries, while
it set Christ in the centre of them like the corner-stone (in accordance
with what had been announced beforetime by the prophet),(2) in whom both
parties, like walls advancing from different sides, that is to say, from
Jews and from Gentiles, might be joined together in the affection of
kinship. But at a later period heavier and more frequent persecutions arose
from the unbelieving Gentiles against the Church of Christ, and day by day
was fulfilled that prophetic word which the Lord spake when He said,
'Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves.'(3)

CHAP. 24.--OF THE CHURCH IN ITS LIKENESS TO A VINE SPROUTING AND SUFFERING
PRUNING.

   44. "But that vine, which was spreading forth its fruitful shoots
throughout the circle of lands, according as had been prophesied with
regard to it, and as had been foretold by the Lord Himself, sprouted all
the more luxuriantly in proportion as it was watered with richer streams of
the blood of martyrs. And as these died in behalf of the truth of the faith
in countless numbers throughout all lands, even the persecuting kingdoms
themselves desisted, and were converted to the knowledge and worship of
Christ, with the neck of their pride broken. Moreover it behoved that this
same vine should be pruned in accordance with the Lord's repeated
predictions,(4) and that the unfruitful twigs should be cut out of it, by
which heresies and schisms were occasioned in various localities, under the
name of Christ, on the part of men who sought not His glory but their own;
whose oppositions, however, also served more and more to discipline the
Church, and to test and illustrate both its doctrine and its patience.

   45. "All these things, then, we now perceive to be realized precisely
as we read of them in predictions uttered so long before the event. And as
the first Christians, inasmuch as they did not see these things literally
made good in their own day, were moved by miracles to believe them; so as
regards ourselves, inasmuch as all these things have now been brought to
pass exactly as we read of them in those books which were written a long
time previous to the fulfillment of the things in question, wherein they
were all announced as matters yet future, even as they are now seen to be
actually present, we are built up unto faith, so that, enduring and
persevering in the Lord, we believe without any hesitation in the destined
accomplishment even of those things which still remain to be realized. For,
indeed, in the same Scriptures, tribulations yet to come are still read of,
as well as the final day of judgment itself, when all the citizens of these
two states shall receive their bodies again, and rise and give account of
their life before the judgment-seat of Christ. For He will come in the
glory of His power, who of old condescended to come in the lowliness of
humanity; and He will separate all the godly from the ungodly,--not only
from those who have utterly refused to believe in Him at all, but also from
those who have believed in Him to no purpose and without fruit. To the one
class He will give an eternal kingdom together with Himself, while to the
other He will award eternal punishment together with the devil. But as no
joy yielded by things temporal can be found in any measure comparable to
the joy of life eternal which the saints are destined to attain, so no
torment of temporal punishments can be compared to the everlasting torments
of the unrighteous.

CHAP. 25.--OF CONSTANCY IN THE FAITH OF THE RESURRECTION.

   46. "Therefore, brother, confirm yourself in the name and help of Him
in whom you believe, so as to withstand the tongues of those who mock at
our faith, in whose case the devil speaks seductive words, bent above all
on making a mockery of the faith in a resurrection. But, judging from your
own history,(1) believe that, seeing you have been, you will also be
hereafter, even as you perceive yourself now to be, although previously you
were not. For where was this great structure of your body, and where this
formation and compacted connection of members a few years ago, before you
were born, or even before you were conceived in your mother's womb? Where,
I repeat, was then this structure and this stature of your body? Did it not
come forth to light from the hidden secrets of this creation, under tile
invisible formative operations of the Lord God, and did it not rise to its
present magnitude and fashion by those fixed measures of increase which
come with the successive periods of life?(2) Is it then in any way a
difficult thing for God, who also in a moment brings together out of
secrecy the masses of the clouds and veils the heavens in an instant of
time, to make this quantity of your body again what it was, seeing that He
was able to make it what formerly it was not?(3)  Consequently, believe
with a manful and unshaken spirit that all those things which seem to be
withdrawn from the eyes of men as if to perish, are safe and exempt from
loss in relation to the omnipotence of God, who will restore them, without
any delay or difficulty, when He is so minded,--those of them at least, I
should say, that are judged by His justice to merit restoration; in order
that men may give account of their deeds in their very bodies in which they
have done them; and that in these they may be deemed worthy to receive
either the exchange of heavenly incorruption in accordance with the deserts
of their piety, or the corruptible condition of body(4) in accordance with
the deserts of their wickedness,--and that, too, not a condition such as
may be done away with by death, but such as shall furnish material for
everlasting pains.

   47. "Flee, therefore, by steadfast faith and good manners,--flee,
brother, those torments in which neither the torturers fail, nor do the
tortured die; to whom it is death without end, to be unable to die in their
pains. And be kindled with love and longing for the everlasting life of the
saints, in which neither will action be toilsome nor will rest be indolent;
in which the praise of God will be without irksomeness and without defect;
wherein there will be no weariness in the mind, no exhaustion in the body;
wherein, too, there shall be no want, whether on your own part, so that you
should crave for relief, or on your neighbor's part, so that you should be
in haste to carry relief to him. God will be the whole enjoyment and
satisfaction(5) of that holy city, which lives in Him and of Him, in wisdom
and beatitude. For as we hope and look for what has been promised by Him,
we shall be made equal to the angels of God,(6) and together with them we
shall enjoy that Trinity now by sight, wherein at present we walk by
faith.? For we believe that which we see not, in order that through these
very deserts of faith we may be counted worthy also to see that which we
believe, and to abide in it; to the intent that these mysteries of the
equality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the unity of this
same Trinity, and the manner in which these three subsistences are one God,
need no more be uttered by us in words of faith and sounding syllables, but
may be drunk in in purest and most burning contemplation in that silence.

   48. "These things hold fixed in your heart, and call upon the God in
whom you believe, to defend you against the temptations of the devil; and
be careful, lest that adversary come stealthily upon you from a strange
quarter, who, as a most malevolent solace for his own damnation, seeks
others whose companionship he may obtain in that damnation. For he is bold
enough not only to tempt Christian people through the instrumentality of
those who hate the Christian name, or are pained to see the world taken
possession of by that name, and still fondly desire to do service to idols
and to the curious rites of evil spirits, but at times he also attempts the
same through the agency of such men as we have mentioned a little ago, to
wit, persons severed from the unity of the Church, like the twigs which are
lopped off when the vine is pruned, who are called heretics or schismatics.
Howbeit sometimes also he makes the same effort by means of the Jews,
seeking to tempt and seduce believers by their instrumentality.
Nevertheless, what ought above all things to be guarded against is, that no
individual may suffer himself to be tempted and deceived by men who are
within the Catholic Church itself, and who are borne by it like the chaff
that is sustained against the time of its winnowing. For in being patient
toward such persons, God has this end in view, namely, to exercise and
confirm the faith and prudence of His elect by means of the perverseness of
these others while at the same time He also takes account of the fact that
many of their number make an advance, and are converted to the doing of the
good pleasure of God with a great impetus, when led to take pity upon their
own souls.(1) For not all treasure up for themselves, through the patience
of God, wrath in the day of the wrath of His just judgment;(2) but many are
brought by the same patience of the Almighty to the most wholesome pain of
repentance.(3) And until that is effected, they are made the means of
exercising not only the forbearance, but also the compassion of those who
are already holding by the right way. Accordingly, you will have to witness
many drunkards, covetous men, deceivers gamesters, adulterers, fornicators,
men who bind upon their persons sacrilegious charms and others given up to
sorcerers and astrologers,(4) and diviners practised in all kinds of
impious arts. You will also have to observe how those very crowds which
fill the theatres on the festal days of the pagans also fill the churches
on the festal days of the Christians. And when you see these things you
will be tempted to imitate them. Nay, why should I use the expression, you
will see, in reference to what you assuredly are acquainted with even
already? For you are not ignorant of the fact that many who are called
Christians engage in all these evil things which I have briefly mentioned.
Neither are you ignorant that at times, perchance, men whom you know to
bear the name of Christians are guilty of even more grievous offenses than
these. But if you have come with the notion that you may do such things as
in a secured position, you are greatly in error; neither will the name of
Christ be of any avail to you when He begins to judge in utmost strictness,
who also of old condescended in utmost mercy to come to man's relief. For
He Himself has foretold these things, and speaks to this effect in the
Gospel: 'Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father. Many shall say
unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, in thy name we have eaten and drunken.'(5)
For all, therefore, who persevere in such works the end is damnation.
Consequently, when you see many not only doing these things but also
defending and recommending them keep yourself firmly by the law of God, and
follow not its willful transgressors. For it is not according to their
mind, but according to His(6) truth that you will be judged.

   49. "Associate with the good, whom you perceive to be at one with you
in loving your King. For there are many such for you to discover, if you
also begin to cultivate that character yourself. For if in the public
spectacles you wished to be in congenial company, and to attach yourself
closely(7) to men who are united with you in a liking for some charioteer,
or some hunter, or some player or other, how much more ought you to find
pleasure in associating with those who are at one with you in loving that
God, with regard to whom no one that loves Him shall ever have cause for
the blush of shame, inasmuch as not only is He Himself incapable of being
overcome, but He will also render those unconquerable who are
affectionately disposed toward Him. At the same time, not even on those
same good men, who either anticipate you or accompany you on the way to
God, ought you to set your hope, seeing that no more ought you to place it
on yourself, however great may be the progress you have made, but on Him
who justifies both them and you, and thus makes you what you are. For you
are secure in God, because He changes not; but in man no one prudently
counts himself secure. But if we ought to love those who are not righteous
as yet, with the view that they may be so, how much more warmly ought those
to be loved who already are righteous? At the same time, it is one thing to
love man, and another thing to set one's hope in man; and the difference is
so great, that God enjoins the one and forbids the other. Moreover, if you
have to sustain either any insults or any sufferings in the cause of the
name of Christ, and neither fall away from the faith nor decline from the
good way,(1) you are certain to receive the greater reward; whereas those
who give way to the devil in such circumstances, lose even the less reward.
But be humble toward God, in order that He may not permit you to be tempted
beyond your strength."

CHAP. 26.--OF THE FORMAL ADMISSION OF THE CATECHUMEN, AND OF THE SIGNS
THEREIN MADE USE OF.

   50. At the conclusion of this address the person is to be asked whether
he believes these things and earnestly desires to observe them. And on his
replying to that effect then certainly he is to be solemnly signed and
dealt with in accordance with the custom of the Church. On the subject of
the sacrament, indeed,(2) which he receives, it is first to be well
impressed upon his notice that the signs of divine things are, it is true,
things visible, but that the invisible things themselves are also honored
in them, and that that species,(3) which is then sanctified by the
blessing, is therefore not to be regarded merely in the way in which it is
regarded in any common use. And thereafter he ought to be told what is also
signified by the form of words to which he has listened, and what in him is
seasoned(4) by that (spiritual grace) of which this material substance
presents the emblem. Next we should take occasion by that ceremony to
admonish him that, if he hears anything even in the Scriptures which may
carry a carnal sound, he should, even although he fails to understand it,
nevertheless believe that something spiritual is signified thereby, which
bears upon holiness of character and the future life. Moreover, in this way
he learns briefly that, whatever he may hear in the canonical books of such
a kind as to make him unable to refer it to the love of eternity, and of
truth, and of sanctity, and to the love of our neighbor, he should believe
that to have been spoken or done with a figurative significance; and that,
consequently, he should endeavor to understand it in such a manner as to
refer it to that twofold (duty of) love. He should be further admonished,
however, not to take the term neighbor in a carnal sense, but to understand
under it every one who may ever be with him in that holy city, whether
there already or not yet apparent. And (he should finally be counselled)
not to despair of the amendment of any man whom he perceives to be living
under the patience of God for no other reason, as the apostle(5) says, than
that he may be brought to repentance.

   51. If this discourse, in which I have supposed myself to have been
teaching some uninstructed person in my presence, appears to you to be too
long, you are at liberty to expound these matters with greater brevity. I
do not think, however, that it ought to be longer than this. At the same
time, much depends on what the case itself, as it goes on, may render
advisable, and what the audience actually present shows itself not only to
bear, but also to desire. When, however, rapid despatch is required, notice
with what facility the whole matter admits of being explained. Suppose once
more that some one comes before us who desires to be a Christian; and
accordingly, suppose further that he has been interrogated, and that he has
returned the answer which we have taken the former catechumen to have
given; for, even should he decline to make this reply, it must at least be
said that he ought to have given it;.--then all that remains to be said to
him should be put together in the following manner:--

   52. "Of a truth, brother, that is great and true blessedness which is
promised to the saints in a future world. All visible things, on the other
hand, pass away, and all the pomp, and pleasure, and solicitude(7) of this
world will perish, and (even now) they drag those who love them along with
them onward to destruction. The merciful God, willing to deliver men from
this destruction, that is to say, from everlasting pains, if they should
not prove enemies to themselves, and if they should not withstand the mercy
of their Creator, sent His only-begotten Son, that is to say, His Word,
equal with Himself, by whom He made all things. And He, while abiding
indeed in His divinity, and neither receding from the Father nor being
changed in anything, did at the same time, by taking on Himself human
nature,(7) and appearing to men in mortal flesh, come unto men; in order
that, just as death entered among the human race by one man, to wit, the
first that was made, that is to say, Adam, because he consented unto his
wife when she was seduced by the devil to the effect that they (both)
transgressed the commandment of God; even so by one man, Jesus Christ, who
is also God, the Son of God, all those who believe in Him might have all
their past sins done away with, and enter into eternal life.

CHAP. 27.--OF THE PROPHECIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THEIR VISIBLE
FULFILLMENT IN THE CHURCH.

   53. "For all those things, which at present you witness in the Church
of God, and which you see to be taking place under the name of Christ
throughout the whole world, were predicted long ages ago. And even as we
read of them, so also we now see them. And by means of these things we are
built up unto faith. Once of old there occurred a flood over the whole
earth, the object of which was that sinners might be destroyed. And,
nevertheless, those who escaped in the ark exhibited a sacramental sign of
the Church that was to be, which at present is floating on the waves of the
world, and is delivered from submersion by the wood of the cross of Christ.
It was predicted to Abraham, a faithful servant of God, a single man, that
of Him it was determined that a people should be born who should worship
one God in the midst of all other nations which worshipped idols; and all
things which were prophesied of as destined to happen to that people have
come to pass exactly as they were foretold. Among that people Christ, the
King of all saints and their God, was also prophesied of as destined to
come of the seed of that same Abraham according to the flesh, which (flesh)
He took unto Himself, in order that all those also who became followers of
His faith might be sons of Abraham; and thus it has come to pass: Christ
was born of the Virgin Mary, who belonged to that race. It was foretold by
the prophets that He would suffer on the cross at the hands of that same
people of the Jews, of whose lineage, according to the flesh, He came; and
thus it has come to pass. It was foretold that He would rise again: He has
risen again; and, in accordance with these same predictions of the
prophets, He has ascended into heaven and has sent the Holy Spirit to His
disciples. It was foretold not only by the prophets, but also by the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself, that His Church would exist throughout the whole
world, extended by the martyrdoms and sufferings of the saints; and this
was foretold at a time when as yet His name was at once undeclared to the
Gentiles, and made a subject of derision where it was known; and,
nevertheless, in the power of His miracles, whether those which He wrought
by His own hand or those which he effected by means of His servants, as
these things are being reported and believed, we already see the
fulfillment of that which was predicted, and behold the very kings of the
earth, who formerly were wont to persecute the Christians, even now brought
into subjection to the name of Christ. It was also foretold that schisms
and heresies would arise from His Church, and that under His name they
would seek their own glory instead of Christ's, in such places as they
might be able to command; and these predictions have been realized.

   54. "Will those things, then, which yet remain fail to come to pass? It
is manifest that, just as the former class of things which were foretold
have come to pass, so will these latter also come to pass. I refer to all
the tribulations of the righteous, which yet wait for fulfillment, and to
the day of judgment, which will separate all the wicked from the righteous
in the resurrection of the dead;--and not only will it thus separate those
wicked men who are outside the Church, but also it will set apart for the
fire, which is due to such, the chaff of the Church itself, which must be
borne with in utmost patience on to the last winnowing. Moreover, they who
deride the (doctrine of a) resurrection, because they think that this
flesh, inasmuch as it becomes corrupt, cannot rise again, will certainly
rise in the same unto punishment, and God will make it plain to such, that
He who was able to form these bodies when as yet they were not, is able in
a moment to restore them as they were. But all the faithful who are
destined to reign with Christ shall rise with the same body in such wise
that they may also be counted worthy to be changed into angelic
incorruption; so that they may be made equal unto the angels of God, even
as the Lord Himself has promised;(1) and that they may praise Him without
any failure and without any weariness, ever living in Him and of Him, with
such joy and blessedness as can be neither expressed nor conceived by man.

   55. "Believe these things, therefore, and be on your guard against
temptations (for the devil seeks for others who may be brought to perish
along with himself); so that not only may that adversary fail to seduce you
by the help of those who are without the Church, whether they be pagans, or
Jews, or heretics; but you yourself also may decline to follow the example
of those within the Catholic Church itself whom you see leading an evil
life, either indulging in excess in the pleasures of the belly and the
throat, or unchaste, or given up to the vain and unlawful observances of
curious superstitions, whether they be addicted to (the inanities of)
public spectacles, or charms, or divinations of devils,(1) or be living in
the pomp and inflated arrogance of covetousness and pride, or be pursuing
any sort of life which the law condemns and punishes. But rather connect
yourself with the good, whom you will easily find out, if you yourself were
once become of that character; so that you may unite with each other in
worshipping and loving God for His own sake;(2) for He himself will be our
complete reward to the intent that we may enjoy His goodness and beauty(3)
in that life. He is to be loved, however, not in the way in which any
object that is seen with the eyes is loved, but as wisdom is loved, and
truth, and holiness, and righteousness, and charity,(4) and whatever else
may be mentioned as of kindred nature; and further, with a love conformable
to these things not as they are in men, but as they are in the very
fountain of incorruptible and unchangeable wisdom. Whomsoever, therefore,
you may observe to be loving these things, attach yourself to them, so that
through Christ, who became man in order that He might be the Mediator
between God and men, you may be reconciled to God. But as regards the
perverse, even if they find their way within the walls of the Church, think
not that they will find their way into the kingdom of heaven; for in their
own time they will be set apart, if they have not altered to the better.
Consequently, follow the example of good men, bear with the wicked, love
all; forasmuch as you know not what he will be to-morrow who to-day is
evil. Howbeit, love not the unrighteousness of such; but love the persons
themselves with the express intent that they may apprehend righteousness;
for not only is the love of God enjoined upon us, but also the love of our
neighbor, on which two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.(5)
And this is fulfilled by no one save the man who has received the (other)
gift,(6) the Holy Spirit, who is indeed equal with the Father and with the
Son; for this same Trinity is God; and on this God every hope ought to be
placed. On man our hope ought not to be placed, of whatsoever character he
may be. For He, by whom we are justified, is one thing; and they, together
with whom we are justified, are another. Moreover, it is not only by lusts
that the devil tempts, but also by the terrors of insults, and pains, and
death itself. But whatever a man shall have suffered on behalf of the name
of Christ, and for the sake of the hope of eternal life, and shall have
endured  in constancy, (in accordance therewith) the greater reward shall
be given him; whereas, if he shall give way to the devil, he shall be
damned along with him. But works of mercy, conjoined with pious humility,
meet with this acknowledgment from God, to wit, that He will not suffer His
servants to be tempted more than they are able to bear."(7)


Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland, beginning in
1867. (LNPF I/III, Schaff). The digital version is by The Electronic Bible
Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.

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