CHAP. I .--SUMMARY OF THE FOREGOING BOOKS, AND
SCOPE OF THAT WHICH FOLLOWS.
I. The man who fears God seeks diligently in Holy
Scripture for a knowledge of His will. And when he has become meek
through piety, so as to have no love of strife; when furnished also
with a knowledge of languages, so as not to be stopped by unknown
words and forms of speech, and with the knowledge of certain
necessary objects, so as not to be ignorant of the force and nature
of those which are used figuratively; and assisted, besides, by
accuracy in the texts, which has been secured by skill and care in
the matter of correction;--when thus prepared, let him proceed to
the examination and solution of the ambiguities of Scripture. And
that he may not be led astray by ambiguous signs, so far as I can
give him instruction (it may happen, however, that either from the
greatness of his intellect, or the greater clearness of the light
he enjoys, he shall laugh at the methods I am going to point out as
childish),--but yet, as I was going to say, so far as I can give
instruction, let him who is in such a state of mind that he can be
instructed by me know, that the ambiguity of Scripture lies either
in proper words or in metaphorical, classes which I have already
described in the second book.(1)
CHAP. 2.--RULE FOR REMOVING AMBIGUITY BY
ATTENDING TO PUNCTUATION.
2. But when proper words make Scripture ambiguous,
we must see in the first place that there is nothing wrong in our
punctuation or pronunciation. Accordingly, if, when attention is
given to the passage, it shall appear to be uncertain in what way
it ought to be punctuated or pronounced, let the reader consult the
rule of faith which he has gathered from the plainer passages of
Scripture, and from the authority of the Church, and of which I
treated at sufficient length when I was speaking in the first book
about things. But if
both readings, or all of them (if there are more than two), give a
meaning in harmony with the faith, it remains to consult the
context, both what goes before and what comes after, to see which
interpretation, out of many that offer themselves, it pronounces
for and permits to be dovetailed into itself.
3. Now look at some examples. The heretical
pointing,(1) "In principio erat verbum, et verbum erat apud Deum,
et Deus erat,"(2) so as to make the next sentence run, "Verbum hoc
erat in principio apud Deum ,"(3) arises out of unwillingness to
confess that the Word was God. But this must be rejected by the
rule of faith, which, in reference to the equality of the Trinity,
directs us to say: "el Deus erat verbum;"(4) and then to add: "hoc
erat in principio apud Deum."(5)
4. But the following ambiguity of punctuation does
not go against the faith in either way you take it, and therefore
must be decided from the context. It is where the apostle says:
"What I shall choose I wot not: for I am in a strait betwixt two,
having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far
better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for
you."(6) Now it is uncertain whether we should read, "ex duobus
concupiscentiam habens" [having a desire for two things], or
"compellor autem ex duobus" [I am in a strait betwixt two]; and so
to add: "concupiscentiam habeas dissolvi, et esse cum Christo"
[having a desire to depart, and to be withChrist].But since there
follows "multo enim magis optimum" [for it is far better], it is
evident that he says he has a desire for that which is better; so
that, while he is in a strait betwixt two, yet he has a desire for
one and sees a necessity for the other; a desire, viz., to be with
Christ, and a necessity to remain in the flesh. Now this ambiguity
is resolved by one word that follows, which is translated enim
[for]; and the translators who have omitted this particle have
preferred the interpretation which makes the apostle seem not only
in a strait betwixt two, but also to have a desire for two.(7) We
must therefore punctuate the sentence thus: "et quid eligam ignoro:
compellor autem ex duobus" [what I shall choose I wot not: for I am
in a strait betwixt two]; and after this point follows:
"concupiscentiam habens dissolvi, et esse cum Christo" [having a
desire to depart, and to be with Christ]. And, as if he were asked
why he has a desire for this in preference to the other, he adds:
"multo enim magis optimum" [for it is far better]. Why, then, is he
in a strait betwixt the two? Because there is a need for his
remaining, which he adds in these terms: "manere in carne
necessarium propter vos" [nevertheless to abide in the flesh is
more needful for you].
5. Where, however, the ambiguity cannot be cleared
up, either by the rule of faith or by the context, there is nothing
to hinder us to point the sentence according to any method we
choose of those that suggest themselves. As is the case in that
passage to the Corinthians: "Having therefore these promises,
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Receive
us; we have wronged no man."(8) It is doubtful whether we should
read, mundemus nos ab omni coinquinatione carnis et spiritus" [let
us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit],
in accordance with the passage, "that she may be holy both in body
and in spirit,"(9) or, "mundemus nos ab omni coinquinatione carnis"
[let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh], so as
to make the next sentence, "et spiritus perficientes
sanctificationem in timore Dei capite has" [and perfecting holiness
of spirit in the fear of God, receive us]. Such ambiguities of
punctuation, therefore, are left to the reader's discretion.
CHAP. 3.--HOW PRONUNCIATION SERVES TO REMOVE
AMBIGUITY: DIFFERENT KINDS OF INTERROGATION.
6. And all the directions that I have given about
ambiguous punctuations are to be observed likewise in the case of
doubtful pronunciations. For these too, unless the fault lies in
the carelessness of the reader, are corrected either by the rule of
faith, or by a reference to the preceding or succeeding context; or
if neither of these methods is applied with success, they will
remain doubtful, but so that the reader will not be in fault in
whatever way he may pronounce them. For example, if our faith that
God will not bring any charges against His elect, and that Christ
will not condemn His elect, did not stand in the way, this passage,
"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" might be
pronounced in such a way as to make what follows an answer to this
question, "God who justifieth," and to make a second question, "Who
is he that condemneth?" with the answer, "Christ Jesus who
died."(1) But as it would be the height of madness to believe this,
the passage will be pronounced in such a way as to make the first
part a question of inquiry,(2) and the second a rhetorical
interrogative.(3) Now the ancients said that the difference between
an inquiry and an interrogative was this, that an inquiry admits of
many answers, but loan interrogative the answer must be either "No"
or "Yes."(4) The passage will be pronounced, then, in such a way
that after the inquiry, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect?" what follows will be put as an interrogative: "Shall
God who justifieth?"--the answer" No" being understood. And in the
same way we shall have the inquiry, "Who is he that condemneth?"
and the answer here again in the form of an interrogative, "Is it
Christ who died? yea, rather, who is risen again? who is even at
the right hand of God? who also maketh intercession for us?"--the
answer "No" being understood to every one of these questions. On
the other hand, in that passage where the apostle says, "What shall
we say then? That the Gentiles which followed not after
righteousness have attained to righteousness;"(5) unless after the
inquiry, "What shall we say then?" what follows were given as the
answer to this question: "That the Gentiles, which followed not
after righteousness, have attained to righteousness;" it would not
be in harmony with the succeeding context. But with whatever tone
of voice one may choose to pronounce that saying of Nathanael's,
"Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"(6)--whether with that of
a man who gives an affirmative answer, so that "out of Nazareth" is
the only part that belongs to the interrogation, or with that of
a man who asks the whole question with doubt and hesitation,--I do
not see how a difference can be made. But neither sense is opposed
to faith.
7. There is, again, an ambiguity arising out of the
doubtful sound of syllables; and this of course has relation to
pronunciation. For example, in the passage, "My bone [os meum] was
not hid from Thee, which Thou didst make in secret,"(7) it is not
clear to the reader whether he should take the word os as short or
long. If he make it short, it is the singular of ossa [bones]; if
he make it long, it is the singular of ora [mouths]. Now
difficulties such as this are cleared up by looking into the
original tongue, for in the Greek we find not CHAP. 4.--HOW AMBIGUITIES MAY BE SOLVED.
8. And not only these, but also those ambiguities
that do not relate either to punctuation or pronunciation, are to
be examined in the same way. For example, that one in the Epistle
to the Thessalonians: Propterea consolati sumus fratres in
vobis.(10) Now it is doubtful whether fratres [brethren] is in the
vocative or accusative case, and it is not contrary to faith to
take it either way. But in the Greek language the two cases are not
the same in form; and accordingly, when we look into the original,
the case is shown to be vocative. Now if the translator had chosen
to say, propterea consolationem habuimus fratres in vobis, he would
have followed the words less literally, but there would have been
less doubt about the meaning; or, indeed, if he had added nostri,
hardly any one would have doubted that the vocative case was meant
when he heard propterea consolati sumus fratres nostri in vobis.
But this is a rather dangerous liberty to take. It has been taken,
however, in that passage to the Corinthians, where the apostle
says, "I protest by your rejoicing [per vestram gloriam] which I
have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."(1) For one translator
has it, per vestram juro gloriam, the form of adjuration appearing
in the Greek without any ambiguity. It is therefore very rare and
very difficult to find any ambiguity in the case of proper words,
as far at least as Holy Scripture is concerned, which neither the
context, showing the design of the writer, nor a comparison of
translations, nor a reference to the original tongue, will suffice
to explain.
CHAP. 5.--IT IS A WRETCHED SLAVERY WHICH TAKES
THE FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS OF SCRIPTURE IN A LITERAL SENSE.
9.But the ambiguities of metaphorical words, about
which I am next to speak, demand no ordinary care and diligence. In
the first place, we must beware of taking a figurative expression
literally. For the saying of the apostle applies in this case too:
"The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."(2) For when what
is said figuratively is taken as if it were said literally, it is
understood in a carnal manner. And nothing is more fittingly called
the death of the soul than when that in it which raises it above
the brutes, the intelligence namely, is put in subjection to the
flesh by a blind adherence to the letter. For he who follows the
letter takes figurative words as if they were proper, and does not
carry out what is indicated by a proper word into its secondary
signification; but, if he hears of the Sabbath, for example, thinks
of nothing but the one day out of seven which recurs in constant
succession; and when he hears of a sacrifice, does not carry his
thoughts beyond the customary offerings of victims from the flock,
and of the fruits of the earth. Now it is surely a miserable
slavery of the soul to take signs for things, and to be unable to
lift the eye of the mind above what is corporeal and created, that
it may drink in eternal light.
CHAP. 6.--UTILITY OF THE BONDAGE OF THE JEWS.
10. This bondage, however, in the case of the
Jewish people, differed widely from what it was in the case of the
other nations; because, though the former were in bondage to
temporal things, it was in such a way that in all these the One God
was put before their minds. And although they paid attention to the
signs of spiritual realities in place of the realities themselves,
not knowing to what the signs referred, still they had this
conviction rooted in their minds, that in subjecting themselves to
such a bondage they were doing the pleasure of the one invisible
God of all. And the apostle describes this bondage as being like to
that of boys under the guidance of a schoolmaster.(3) And those who
clung obstinately to such signs could not endure our Lord's neglect
of them when the time for their revelation had come; and hence
their leaders brought it as a charge against Him that He healed on
the Sabbath, and the people, clinging to these signs as if they
were realities, could not believe that one who refused to observe
them in the way the Jews did was God, or came from God. But those
who did believe, from among whom the first Church at Jerusalem was
formed, showed clearly how great an advantage it had been to be so
guided by the schoolmaster that signs, which had been for a season
imposed on the obedient, fixed the thoughts of those who observed
them on the worship of the One God who made heaven and earth. These
men, because they had been very near to spiritual things (for even
in the temporal and carnal offerings and types, though they did not
clearly apprehend their spiritual meaning, they had learnt to adore
the One Eternal God,) were filled with such a measure of the Holy
Spirit that they sold all their goods, and laid their price at the
apostles' feet to be distributed among the needy,(4) and
consecrated themselves wholly to God as a new temple, of which the
old temple they were serving was but the earthly type.
11. Now it is not recorded that any of the Gentile
churches did this, because men who had for their gods idols made
with hands had not been so near to spiritual things.
CHAP. 7.--THE USELESS BONDAGE OF THE GENTILES.
And if ever any of them endeavored to make it out
that their idols were only signs, yet still they used them in
reference to the worship and adoration of the creature. What
difference does it make to me, for instance, that the image of
Neptune is not itself to be considered a god, but only as
representing the wide ocean, and all the other waters besides that
spring out of fountains? As it is described by a poet of theirs,(5)
who says, if I recollect aright, "Thou, Father Neptune, whose hoary
temples are wreathed with the resounding sea, whose beard is the
mighty ocean flowing forth unceasingly, and whose hair is the
winding rivers." This husk shakes its rattling stones within a
sweet covering, and yet it is not food for men, but for swine. He
who knows the gospel knows what I mean.(1) What profit is it to me,
then, that the image of Neptune is used with a reference to this
explanation of it, unless indeed the result be that I worship
neither? For any statue you like to take is as much god to me as
the wide ocean. I grant, however, that they who make gods of the
works of man have sunk lower than they who make gods of the works
of God. But the command is that we should love and serve the One
God, who is the Maker of all those things, the images of which are
worshipped by the heathen either as gods, or as signs and
representations of gods. If, then, to take a sign which has been
established for a useful end instead of the thing itself which it
was designed to signify, is bondage to the flesh, how much more so
is it to take signs intended to represent useless things for the
things themselves! For even if you go back to the very things
signified by such signs, and engage your mind in the worship of
these, you will not be anything the more free from the burden and
the livery of bondage to the flesh.
CHAP. 8.--THE JEWS LIBERATED FROM THEIR BONDAGE
IN ONE WAY, THE GENTILES IN ANOTHER.
12. Accordingly the liberty that comes by Christ
took those whom it found under bondage to useful signs, and who
were (so to speak) near to it, and, interpreting the signs to which
they were in bondage, set them free by raising them to the
realities of which these were signs. And out of such were formed
the churches of the saints of Israel. Those, on the other hand,
whom it found in bondage to useless signs, it not only freed from
their slavery to such signs, but brought to nothing and cleared out
of the way all these signs themselves, so that the Gentiles were
turned from the corruption of a multitude of false gods, which
Scripture frequently and justly speaks of as fornication, to the
worship of the One God: not that they might now fall into bondage
to signs of a useful kind, but rather that they might exercise
their minds in the spiritual understanding of such.
CHAP. 9.--WHO IS IN BONDAGE TO SIGNS, AND WHO NOT.
13. Now he is in bondage to a sign who uses, or
pays homage to, any significant object without knowing what it
signifies: he, on the other hand, who either uses or honors a
useful sign divinely appointed, whose force and significance he
understands, does not honor the sign which is seen and temporal,
but that to which all such signs refer. Now such a man is spiritual
and free even at the time of his bondage, when it is not yet
expedient to reveal to carnal minds those signs by subjection to
which their carnality is to be overcome. To this class of spiritual
persons belonged the patriarchs and the prophets, and all those
among the people of Israel through whose instrumentality the Holy
Spirit ministered unto us the aids and consolations of the
Scriptures. But at the present time, after that the proof of our
liberty has shone forth so clearly in the resurrection of our Lord,
we are not oppressed with the heavy burden of attending even to
those signs which we now understand, but our Lord Himself, and
apostolic practice, have handed down to us a few rites in place of
many, and these at once very easy to perform, most majestic in
their significance, and most sacred in the observance; such, for
example, as the sacrament of baptism, and the celebration of the
body and blood of the Lord. And as soon as any one looks upon these
observances he knows to what they refer, and so reveres them not in
carnal bondage, but in spiritual freedom. Now, as to follow the
letter, and to take signs for the things that are signified by
them, is a mark of weakness and bondage; so to interpret signs
wrongly is the result of being misled by error. He, however, who
does not understand what a sign signifies, but yet knows that it is
a sign, is not in bondage. And it is better even to be in bondage
to unknown but useful signs than, by interpreting them wrongly, to
draw the neck from under the yoke of bondage only to insert it in
the coils of error.
CHAP. 10.--HOW WE ARE TO DISCERN WHETHER A PHRASE
IS FIGURATIVE.
14. But in addition to the foregoing rule, which
guards us against taking a metaphorical form of speech as if it
were literal, we must also pay heed to that which tells us not to
take a literal form of speech as if it were figurative. In the
first place, then, we must show the way to find out whether a
phrase is literal or figurative. And the way is certainly as
follows: Whatever there is in the word of God that cannot, when
taken literally, be referred either to purity of life or soundness
of doctrine, you may set down as figurative. Purity of life has
reference to the love of God and one's neighbor; soundness of
doctrine to the knowledge of God and one's neighbor. Every man,
moreover, has hope in his own conscience, so far as he perceives
that he has attained to the love and knowledge of God and his
neighbor. Now all these matters have been spoken of in the first
book.
15. But as men are prone to estimate sins, not by
reference to their inherent sinfulness, but rather by reference to
their own customs, it frequently happens that a man will think
nothing blameable except what the men of his own country and time
are accustomed to condemn, and nothing worthy of praise or approval
except what is sanctioned by the custom of his companions; and thus
it comes to pass, that if Scripture either enjoins what is opposed
to the customs of the hearers, or condemns what is not so opposed,
and if at the same time the authority of the word has a hold upon
their minds, they think that the expression is figurative. Now
Scripture enjoins nothing except charity, and condemns nothing
except lust, and in that way fashions the lives of men. In the same
way, if an erroneous opinion has taken possession of the mind, men
think that whatever Scripture asserts contrary to this must be
figurative. Now Scripture asserts nothing but the catholic faith,
in regard to things past, future, and present. It is a narrative of
the past, a prophecy of the future, and a description of the
present. But all these tend to nourish and strengthen charity, and
to overcome and root out lust.
16. I mean by charity that affection of the mind
which aims at the enjoyment of God for His own sake, and the
enjoyment of one's self and one's neighbor in subordination to God;
by lust I mean that affection of the mind which aims at enjoying
one's self and one's neighbor, and other corporeal things, without
reference to God. Again, what lust, when unsubdued, does towards
corrupting, one's own soul and body, is called vice;(1) but what it
does to injure another is called crime.(2) And these are the two
classes into which all sins may be divided. But the vices come
first; for when these have exhausted the soul, and reduced it to a
kind of poverty, it easily slides into crimes, in order to remove
hindrances to, or to find assistance in, its vices. In the same
way, what charity does with a view to one's own advantage is
prudence; but what it does with a view to a neighbor's advantage is
called benevolence. And here prudence comes first; because no one
can confer an advantage on another which he does not himself
possess. Now in proportion as the dominion of lust is pulled down,
in the same proportion is that of charity built up.
CHAP. II.--RULE FOR INTERPRETING PHRASES WHICH
SEEM TO ASCRIBE SEVERITY TO GOD AND THE SAINTS.
17. Every severity, therefore, and apparent
cruelty, either in word or deed, that is ascribed in Holy Scripture
to God or His saints, avails to the pulling down of the dominion of
lust. And if its meaning be clear, we are not to, give it some
secondary reference, as if it were spoken figuratively. Take, for
example, that saying of the apostle: "But, after thy hardness and
impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day
of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will
render to every man according to his deeds: to them who, by patient
continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honor, and
immortality, eternal life; but unto them that are contentious, and
do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and
wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth
evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile."(3) But this is
addressed to those who, being unwilling to subdue their lust, are
themselves involved in the destruction of their lust. When,
however, the dominion of lust is overturned in a man over whom it
had held sway, this plain expression is used: "They that are
Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and
lusts."(4) Only that, even in these instances, some words are used
figuratively, as for example, "the wrath of God" and "crucified."
But these are not so numerous, nor placed in such a way as to
obscure the sense, and make it allegorical or enigmatical, which is
the kind of expression properly called figurative. But in the
saying addressed to Jeremiah, "See, I have this day set thee over
the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down,
and to destroy, and to throw down,"(5) there is no doubt the whole
of the language is figurative, and to be referred to the end I have
spoken of.
CHAP. 12.--RULE FOR INTERPRETING THOSE SAYINGS
AND ACTIONS WHICH ARE ASCRIBED TO GOD AND THE SAINTS, AND WHICH YET
SEEM TO THE UNSKILLFUL TO BE WICKED.
18. Those things, again, whether only sayings or
whether actual deeds, which appear to the inexperienced to be
sinful, and which are ascribed to God, or to men whose holiness is
put before us as an example, are wholly figurative, and the hidden
kernel of meaning they contain is to be picked out as food for the
nourishment of charity. Now, whoever uses transitory objects less
freely than is the custom of those among whom he lives, is either
temperate or superstitious; whoever, on the other hand, uses them
so as to transgress the bounds of the custom of the good men about
him, either has a further meaning in what he does, or is sinful. In
all such matters it is not the use of the objects, but the lust of
the user, that is to blame. Nobody in his sober senses would
believe, for example, that when our Lord's feet were anointed by
the woman with precious ointment,(1) it was for the same purpose
for which luxurious and profligate men are accustomed to have
theirs anointed in those banquets which we abhor. For the sweet
odor means the good report which is earned by a life of good works;
and the man who wins this, while following in the footsteps of
Christ, anoints His feet (so to speak) with the most precious
ointment. And so that which in the case of other persons is often
a sin, becomes, when ascribed to God or a prophet, the sign of some
great truth. Keeping company with a harlot, for example, is one
thing when it is the result of abandoned manners, another thing
when done in the course of his prophecy by the prophet Hosea.(2)
Because it is a shamefully wicked thing to strip the body naked at
a banquet among the drunken and licentious, it does not follow that
it is a sin to be naked in the baths.
19. We must, therefore, consider carefully what is
suitable to times and places and persons, and not rashly charge men
with sins. For it is possible that a wise man may use the daintiest
food without any sin of epicurism or gluttony, while a fool will
crave for the vilest food with a most disgusting eagerness of
appetite. And any sane man would prefer eating fish after the
manner of our Lord, to eating lentiles after the manner of Esau, or
barley after the manner of oxen. For there are several beasts that
feed on commoner kinds of food, but it does not follow that they
are more temperate than we are. For in all matters of this kind it
is not the nature Of the things we use, but our reason for using
them, and our manner of seeking them, that make what we do either
praiseworthy or blameable.
20. Now the saints of ancient times were, under the
form of an earthly kingdom, fore-shadowing and foretelling the
kingdom of heaven. And on account of the necessity for a numerous
offspring, the custom of one man having several wives was at that
time blameless: and for the same reason it was not proper for one
woman to have several husbands, because a woman does not in that
way become more fruitful, but, on the contrary, it is base harlotry
to seek either gain or offspring by promiscuous intercourse. In
regard to matters of this sort, whatever the holy men of those
times did without lust, Scripture passes over without blame,
although they did things which could not be done at the present
time, except through lust. And everything of this nature that is
there narrated we are to take not only in its historical and
literal, but also in its figurative and prophetical sense, and to
interpret as bearing ultimately upon the end of love towards God or
our neighbor, or both. For as it was disgraceful among the ancient
Romans to wear tunics reaching to the heels, and furnished with
sleeves, but now it is disgraceful for men honorably born not to
wear tunics of that description: so we must take heed in regard to
other things also, that lust do not mix with our use of them; for
lust not only abuses to wicked ends the customs of those among whom
we live, but frequently also transgressing the bounds of custom,
betrays, in a disgraceful outbreak, its own hideousness, which was
concealed under the cover of prevailing fashions.
CHAP. 13.--SAME SUBJECT, CONTINUED.
21. Whatever, then, is in accordance with the
habits of those with whom we are either compelled by necessity, or
undertake as a matter of duty, to spend this life, is to be turned
by good and great men to some prudent or benevolent end, either
directly, as is our duty, or figuratively, as is allowable to
prophets.
CHAP. 14.--ERROR OF THOSE WHO THINK THAT THERE
IS NO ABSOLUTE RIGHT AND WRONG.
22. But when men unacquainted with other modes of
life than their own meet with the record of such actions, unless
they are restrained by authority, they look upon them as sins, and
do not consider that their own customs either in regard to
marriage, or feasts, or dress, or the other necessities and
adornments of human life, appear sinful to the people of other
nations and other times. And, distracted by this endless variety of
customs, some who were half asleep (as I may say)--that is, who
were neither sunk in the deep sleep of folly, nor were able to
awake into the light of wisdom--have thought that there was no such
thing as absolute right, but that every nation took its own custom
for right; and that, since every nation has a different custom, and
right must remain unchangeable, it becomes manifest that there is
no such thing as right at all. Such men did not perceive, to take
only one example, that the precept, "Whatsoever ye would that men
should do to you, do ye even so to them,"(1) cannot be altered by
any diversity of national customs. And this precept, when it is
referred to the love of God, destroys all vices when to the love of
one's neighbor, puts an end to all crimes. For no one is willing to
defile his own dwelling; he ought not, therefore, to defile the
dwelling of God, that is, himself. And no one wishes an injury to
be done him by another; he himself, therefore, ought not to do
injury to another.
CHAP. 15.--RULE FOR INTERPRETING FIGURATIVE
EXPRESSIONS.
23. The tyranny of lust being thus over-thrown,
charity reigns through its supremlly just laws of love to God for
His own sake, and love to one's self and one's neighbor for God's
sake. Accordingly, in regard to figurative expressions, a rule such
as the following will be observed, to carefully turn over in our
minds and meditate upon what we read till an interpretation be
found that tends to establish the reign of love. Now, if when taken
literally it at once gives a meaning of this kind, the expression
is not to be considered figurative.
CHAP. 16.--RULE FOR INTERPRETING COMMANDS
AND PROHIBITIONS.
24. If the sentence is one of command, either
forbidding a crime or vice, or enjoining an act of prudence or
benevolence, it is not figurative. If, however, it seems to enjoin
a crime or vice, or to forbid an act of prudence or benevolence, it
is figurative. "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man," says
Christ, "and drink His blood, ye have no life in you."(2) This
seems to enjoin a crime or a vice; it is therefore a figure,
enjoining that we should have a share in the sufferings of our
Lord, and that we should retain a sweet and profitable memory of
the fact that His flesh was wounded and crucified for us. Scripture
says: "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him
drink;" and this is beyond doubt a command to do a kindness. But in
what follows, "for in so doing thou shall heap coals of fire on his
head,"(3) one would think a deed of malevolence was enjoined. Do
not doubt, then, that the expression is figurative; and, while it
is possible to interpret it in two ways, one pointing to the doing
of an injury, the other to a display of superiority, let charity
on the contrary call you back to benevolence, and interpret the
coals of fire as the burning groans of penitence by which a man's
pride is cured who bewails that he has been the enemy of one who
came to his assistance in distress. In the same way, when our Lord
says, "He who loveth his life shall lose it,"(4) we are not to
think that He forbids the prudence with which it is a man's duty to
care for his life, but that He says in a figurative sense, "Let him
lose his life"--that is, let him destroy and lose that perverted
and unnatural use which he now makes of his life, and through which
his desires are fixed on temporal things so that he gives no heed
to eternal. It is written: "Give to the godly man, and help not a
sinner."(5) The latter clause of this sentence seems to forbid
benevolence; for it says, "help not a sinner." Understand,
therefore, that "sinner" is put figuratively for sin, so that it is
his sin you are not to help.
CHAP. 17.--SOME COMMANDS ARE GIVEN TO ALL IN
COMMON, OTHERS TO PARTICULAR CLASSES.
25. Again, it often happens that a man who has
attained, or thinks he has attained, to a higher grade of spiritual
life, thinks that the commands given to those who are still in the
lower grades are figurative; for example, if he has embraced a life
of celibacy and made himself a eunuch for the kingdom of heaven's
sake, he contends that the commands given in Scripture about loving
and ruling a wife are not to be taken literally, but figuratively;
and if he has determined to keep his virgin unmarried, he tries to
put a figurative interpretation on the passage where it is said,
"Marry thy daughter, and so shall thou have performed a weighty
matter."(6) Accordingly, another of our rules for understanding the
Scriptures will be as follows,--to recognize that some commands are
given to all in common, others to particular classes of persons,
that the medicine may act not only upon the state of health as a
whole, but also upon the special weakness of each member. For that
which cannot be raised to a higher state must be cared for in its
own state.
CHAP. 18.--WE MUST TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE
TIME AT WHICH ANYTHING WAS ENJOYED OR ALLOWED.
26. We must also be on our guard against supposing
that what in the Old Testament, making allowance for the condition
of those times, is not a crime or a vice even if we take it
literally and not figuratively, can be transferred to the present
time as a habit of life. For no one will do this except lust has
dominion over him, and endeavors to find support for itself in the
very Scriptures which were intended to overthrow it. And the
wretched man does not perceive that such matters are recorded with
this useful design, that men of good hope may learn the salutary
lesson, both that the custom they spurn can be turned to a good
use, and that which they embrace can be used to condemnation, if
the use of the former be accompanied with charity, and the use of
the latter with lust.
27. For, if it was possible for one man to use many
wives with chastity, it is possible for another to use one wife
with lust. And I look with greater approval on the man who uses the
fruitfulness of many wives for the sake of an ulterior object, than
on the man who enjoys the body of one wife for its own sake. For in
the former case the man aims at a useful object suited to the
circumstances of the times; in the latter case he gratifies a lust
which is engrossed in temporal enjoyments. And those men to whom
the apostle permitted as a matter of indulgence to have one wife
because of their incontinence,(1) were less near to God than those
who, though they had each of them numerous wives, yet just as a
wise man uses food and drink only for the sake of bodily health,
used marriage only for the sake of offspring. And, accordingly, if
these last had been still alive at the advent of our Lord, when the
time not of casting stones away but of gathering them together had
come,(2) they would have immediately made themselves eunuchs for
the kingdom of heaven's sake. For there is no difficulty in
abstaining unless when there is lust in enjoying. And assuredly
those men of whom I speak knew that wantonness even in regard to
wives is abuse and intemperance, as is proved by Tobit's prayer
when he was married to his wife. For he says: "Blessed art Thou, O
God of our fathers, and blessed is Thy holy and glorious name for
ever; let the heavens bless Thee, and all Thy creatures. Thou
madest Adam, and gavest him Eve his wife for an helper and stay. .
. . And now, O Lord, Thou knowest that I take not this my sister
for lust, but uprightly: therefore have pity on us, O Lord."(3)
CHAP. 19.--WICKED MEN JUDGE OTHERS BY
THEMSELVES.
28. But those who, giving the rein to lust, either
wander about steeping themselves in a multitude of debaucheries, or
even in regard to one wife not only exceed the measure necessary
for the procreation of children, but with the shameless licence of
a sort of slavish freedom heap up the filth of a still more beastly
excess, such men do not believe it possible that the men of ancient
times used a number of wives with temperance, looking to nothing
but the duty, necessary in the circumstances of the time, of
propagating the race; and what they themselves, who are entangled
in the meshes of lust, do not accomplish in the case of a single
wife, they think utterly impossible in the case of a number of
wives.
29. But these same men might say that it is not
right even to honor and praise good and holy men, because they
themselves when they are honored and praised, swell with pride,
becoming the more eager for the emptiest sort of distinction the
more frequently and the more widely they are blown about on the
tongue of flattery, and so become so light that a breath of rumor,
whether it appear prosperous or adverse, will carry them into the
whirlpool of vice or dash them on the rocks of crime. Let them,
then, learn how trying and difficult it is for themselves to escape
either being caught by the bait of praise, or pierced by the stings
of insult; but let them not measure others by their own standard.
CHAP. 20.--CONSISTENCY OF GOOD MEN IN ALL
OUTWARD CIRCUMSTANCES.
Let them believe, on the contrary, that the
apostles of our faith were neither puffed up when they were honored
by men, nor cast down when they were despised. And certainly
neither sort of temptation was wanting to those great men. For they
were both cried up by the loud praises of believers, and cried down
by the slanderous reports of their persecutors. But the apostles
used all these things, as occasion served, and were not corrupted;
and in the same way the saints of old used their wives with
reference to the necessities of their own times, and were not in
bondage to lust as they are who refuse to believe these things.
30. For if they had been under the influence of any
such passion, they could never have restrained themselves from
implacable hatred towards their sons, by whom they knew that their
wives and concubines were solicited and debauched.
CHAP. 21.--DAVID NOT LUSTFUL, THOUGH HE
FELL INTO ADULTERY.
But when King David had suffered this injury at the
hands of his impious and unnatural son, he not only bore with him
in his mad passion, but mourned over him in his death. He certainly
was not caught in the meshes of carnal jealousy, seeing that it was
not his own injuries but the sins of his son that moved him. For it
was on this account he had given orders that his son should not be
slain if he were conquered in battle, that he might have a place of
repentance after he was subdued; and when he was baffled in this
design, he mourned over his son's death, not because of his own
loss, but because he knew to what punishment so impious an
adulterer and parricide had been hurried.(1) For prior to this, in
the case of another son who had been guilty of no crime, though he
was dreadfully afflicted for him while he was sick, yet he
comforted himself after his death.(2)
31. And with what moderation and self-restraint
those men used their wives appears chiefly in this, that when this
same king, carried away by the heat of passion and by temporal
prosperity, had taken unlawful possession of one woman, whose
husband also he ordered to be put to death, he was accused of his
crime by a prophet, who, when he had come to show him his sin, set
before him the parable of the poor man who had but one ewe-lamb,
and whose neighbor, though he had many, yet when a guest came to
him spared to take of his own flock, but set his poor neighbor's
one lamb before his guest to eat. And David's anger being kindled
against the man, he commanded that he should be put to death, and
the lamb restored fourfold to the poor man; thus unwittingly
condemning the sin he had wittingly committed.(3) And when he had
been shown this, and God's punishment had been denounced against
him, he wiped out his sin in deep penitence. But yet in this
parable it was the adultery only that was indicated by the poor
man's ewe-lamb; about the killing of the woman's husband,--that is,
about the murder of the poor man himself who had the one
ewe-lamb,--nothing is said in the parable, so that the sentence of
condemnation is pronounced against the adultery alone. And hence we
may understand with what temperance he possessed a number of wives
when he was forced to punish himself for transgressing in regard to
one woman. But in his case the immoderate desire did not take up
its abode with him, but was only a passing guest. On this account
the unlawful appetite is called even by the accusing prophet, a
guest. For he did not say that he took the poor man's ewe-lamb to
make a feast for his king, but for his guest. In the case of his
son Solomon, however, this lust did not come and pass away like a
guest, but reigned as a king. And about him Scripture is not
silent, but accuses him of being a lover of strange women; for in
the beginning of his reign he was inflamed with a desire for
wisdom, but after he had attained it through spiritual love, he
lost it through carnal lust.(4)
CHAP. 22.--RULE REGARDING PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE
IN WHICH APPROVAL IS EXPRESSED OF ACTIONS WHICH ARE NOW CONDEMNED
BY GOOD MEN.
32. Therefore, although all, or nearly all, the
transactions recorded in the Old Testament are to be taken not
literally only, but figuratively as well, nevertheless even in the
case of those which the reader has taken literally, and which,
though the authors of them are praised, are repugnant to the habits
of the good men who since our Lord's advent are the custodians of
the divine commands, let him refer the figure to its
interpretation, but let him not transfer the act to his habits of
life. For many things which were done as duties at that time,
cannot now be done except through lust.
CHAP. 23.--RULE REGARDING THE NARRATIVE
OF SINS OF GREAT MEN.
33. And when he reads of the sins of great men,
although he may be able to see and to trace out in them a figure of
things to come, let him yet put the literal fact to this use also,
to teach him not to dare to vaunt himself in his own good deeds,
and in comparison with his own righteousness, to despise others as
sinners, when he sees in the case of men so eminent both the storms
that are to be avoided and the shipwrecks that are to be wept over.
For the sins of these men were recorded to this end, that men might
everywhere and always tremble at that saying of the apostle:
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he
fall."(5) For there is hardly a page of Scripture on which it is
not clearly written that God resisteth the proud and giveth grace
to the humble.(6)
CHAP. 24.--THE CHARACTER OF THE EXPRESSIONS
USED IS ABOVE ALL TO HAVE WEIGHT.
34. The chief thing to be inquired into, therefore,
in regard to any expression that we are trying to understand is,
whether it is literal or figurative. For when it is ascertained to
be figurative, it is easy, by an application of the laws of things
which we discussed in the first book, to turn it in every way until
we arrive at a true interpretation, especially when we bring to our
aid experience strengthened by the exercise of piety. Now we find
out whether an expression is literal or figurative by attending to
the considerations indicated above.
CHAP. 25.--THE SAME WORD DOES NOT ALWAYS
SIGNIFY THE SAME THING.
And when it is shown to be figurative, the words in
which it is expressed will be found to be drawn either from like
objects or from objects having some affinity.
35. But as there are many ways in which things show
a likeness to each other, we are not to suppose there is any rule
that what a thing signifies by similitude in one place it is to be
taken to signify in all other places. For our Lord used leaven both
in a bad sense, as when He said, "Beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees,"(1) and in a good sense, as when He said, "The kingdom
of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three
measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."(2)
This is the point at which Augustine reports in his Retractations that he interrupted writing this book c. 395/96 and took it up again only thirty years later.
36. Now the rule in regard to this variation has
two forms. For things that signify now one thing and now another,
signify either things that are contrary, or things that are only
different. They signify contraries, for example, when they are used
metaphorically at one time in a good sense, at another in a bad, as
in the case of the leaven mentioned above. Another example of the
same is that a lion stands for Christ in the place where it is
said, "The lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed;"(3) and
again, stands for the devil where it is written, "Your adversary
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may
devour."(4) In the same way the serpent is used in a good sense,
"Be wise as serpents;"(5) and again, in a bad sense, "The serpent
beguiled Eve through his subtilty."(6) Bread is used in a good
sense, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven;"(7) in
a bad, "Bread eaten in secret is pleasant."(8) And so in a great
many other cases. The examples I have adduced are indeed by no
means doubtful in their signification, because only plain instances
ought to be used as examples. There are passages, however, in
regard to which it is uncertain in what sense they ought to be
taken, as for example, "In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and
the wine is red: it is full of mixture."(9) Now it is uncertain
whether this denotes the wrath of God, but not to the last
extremity of punishment, that is, "to the very dregs;" or whether
it denotes the grace of the Scriptures passing away from the Jews
and coming to the Gentiles, because "He has put down one and set up
another,"--certain observances, however, which they understand in
a carnal manner, still remaining among the Jews, for "the dregs
hereof is not yet wrung out." The following is an example of the
same object being taken, not in opposite, but only in different
significations: water denotes people, as we read in the
Apocalypse,(10) and also the Holy Spirit, as for example, "Out of
his belly shall flow rivers of living water;"(11) and many other
things besides water must be interpreted according to the place in
which they are found.
37. And in the same way other objects are not
single in their signification, but each one of them denotes not two
only but sometimes even several different things, according to the
connection in which it is found.
CHAP. 26.--OBSCURE PASSAGES ARE TO BE
INTERPRETED BY THOSE WHICH ARE CLEARER.
Now from the places where the sense in which they
are used is more manifest we must gather the sense in which they
are to be understood in obscure passages. For example, there is no
better way of understanding the words addressed to God, "Take hold
of shield and buckler and stand up for mine help,(12) than by
referring to the passage where we read, "Thou, Lord, hast crowned
us with Thy favor as with a shield."(13) And yet we are not so to
understand it, as that wherever we meet with a shield put to
indicate a protection of any kind, we must take it as signifying
nothing but the favor of God. For we hear also of the shield of
faith, "wherewith," says the apostle, "ye shall be able to quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked.(14) Nor ought we, on the other
hand, in regard to spiritual armor of this kind to assign faith to
the shield only; for we read in another place of the breastplate of
faith: "putting on," says the apostle, "the breastplate of faith
and love.(15)
CHAP. 27.--ONE PASSAGE SUSCEPTIBLE OF VARIOUS
INTERPRETATIONS.
38. When, again, not some one interpretation, but
two or more interpretations are put upon the same words of
Scripture, even though the meaning the writer intended remain
undiscovered, there is no danger if it can be shown from other
passages of Scripture that any of the interpretations put on the
words is in harmony with the truth. And if a man in searching the
Scriptures endeavors to get at the intention of the author through
whom the Holy Spirit spoke, whether he succeeds in this endeavor,
or whether he draws a different meaning from the words, but one
that is not opposed to sound doctrine, he is free from blame so
long as he is supported by the testimony of some other passage of
Scripture. For the author perhaps saw that this very meaning lay in
the words which we are trying to interpret; and assuredly the Holy
Spirit, who through him spoke these words, foresaw that this
interpretation would occur to the reader, nay, made provision that
it should occur to him, seeing that it too is founded on truth. For
what more liberal and more fruitful provision could God have made
in regard to the Sacred Scriptures than that the same words might
be understood in several senses, all of which are sanctioned by the
concurring testimony of other passages equally divine?
CHAP. 28.--IT IS SAFER TO EXPLAIN A DOUBTFUL
PASSAGE BY OTHER PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE THAN BY REASON.
39. When, however, a meaning is evolved of such a
kind that what is doubtful in it cannot be cleared up by
indubitable evidence from Scripture, it remains for us to make it
clear by the evidence of reason. But this is a dangerous practice.
For it is far safer to walk by the light of Holy Scripture; so that
when we wish to examine the passages that are obscured by
metaphorical expressions, we may either obtain a meaning about
which there is no controversy, or if a controversy arises, may
settle it by the application of testimonies sought out in every
portion of the same Scripture.
CHAP. 29.--THE KNOWLEDGE OF TROPES IS
NECESSARY.
40. Moreover, I would have learned men to know that
the authors of our Scriptures use all those forms of expression
which grammarians call by the Greek name tropes, and use them more
freely and in greater variety than people who are unacquainted with
the Scriptures, and have learnt these figures of speech from Other
writings, can imagine or believe. Nevertheless those who know these
tropes recognize them in Scripture, and are very much assisted by
their knowledge of them in understanding Scripture. But this is not
the place to teach them to the illiterate, lest it might seem that
I was teaching grammar. I certainly advise, however, that they be
learnt elsewhere, although indeed I have already given that advice
above, in the second book --namely, where I treated of the
necessary knowledge of languages. For the written characters from
which grammar itself gets its name (the Greek name for letters
being 41. It would be tedious to go over all the rest in
this way; for the speech of the vulgar makes use of them all, even
of those more curious figures which mean the very opposite of what
they say, as for example, those called irony and antiphrasis. Now
in irony we indicate by the tone of voice the meaning we desire to
convey; as when we say to a man who is behaving badly, "You are
doing well." But it is not by the tone of voice that we make an
antiphrasis to indicate the opposite of what the words convey; but
either the words in which it is expressed are used in the opposite
of their etymological sense, as a grove is called lucus from its
want of light;(2) or it is customary to use a certain form of
expression, although it puts yes for no by a law of contraries, as
when we ask in a place for what is not there, and get the answer,
"There is plenty;" or we add words that make it plain we mean the
opposite of what we say, as in the expression, "Beware of him, for
he is a good man." And what illiterate man is there that does not
use such expressions, although he knows nothing at all about either
the nature or the names of these figures of speech? And yet the
knowledge of these is necessary for clearing up the difficulties of
Scripture; because when the words taken literally give an absurd
meaning, we ought forthwith to inquire whether they may not be used
in this or that figurative sense which we are unacquainted with;
and in this way many obscure passages have had light thrown upon
them.
CHAP. 30.--THE RULES OF TICHONIUS THE
DONATIST EXAMINED.
42. One Tichonius, who, although a Donatist
himself, has written most triumphantly against the Donatists (and
herein showed himself of a most inconsistent disposition, that he
was unwilling to give them up altogether), wrote a book which he
called the Book of Rules, because in it he laid down seven rules,
which are, as it were, keys to open the secrets of Scripture. And
of these rules, the first relates to the Lord and His body, the
second to the twofold division of the Lord's body, the third to the
promises and the law, the fourth to species and genus, the fifth to
times, the sixth to recapitulation, the seventh to the devil and
his body. Now these rules, as expounded by their author, do indeed,
when carefully considered, afford considerable assistance in
penetrating the secrets of the sacred writings; but still they do
not explain all the difficult passages, for there are several other
methods required, which are so far from being embraced in this
number of seven, that the author himself explains many obscure
passages without using any of his rules; finding, indeed, that
there was no need for them, as there was no difficulty in the
passage of the kind to which his rules apply. As, for example, he
inquires what we are to understand in the Apocalypse by the seven
angels of the churches to whom John is commanded to write; and
after much and various reasoning, arrives at the conclusion that
the angels are the churches themselves. And throughout this long
and full discussion, although the matter inquired into is certainly
very obscure, no use whatever is made of the rules. This is enough
for an example, for it would be too tedious and troublesome to
collect all the passages in the canonical Scriptures which present
obscurities of such a kind as require none of these seven rules for
their elucidation.
43. The author himself, however, when commending
these rules, attributes so much value to them that it would appear
as if, when they were thoroughly known and duly applied, we should
be able to interpret all the obscure passages in the law--that is,
in the sacred books. For he thus commences this very book: "Of all
the things that occur to me, I consider none so necessary as to
write a little book of rules, and, as it were, to make keys for,
and put windows in, the secret places of the law. For there are
certain mystical rules which hold the key to the secret recesses of
the whole law, and render visible the treasures of truth that are
to many invisible. And if this system of rules be received as I
communicate it, without jealousy, what is shut shall be laid open,
and what is obscure shall be elucidated, so that a man travelling
through the vast forest of prophecy shall, if he follow these rules
as pathways of light, be preserved from going astray." Now, if he
had said, "There are certain mystical rules which hold the key to
some of the secrets of the law," or even "which hold the key to the
great secrets of the law," and not what he does say, "the secret
recesses of the whole law;" and if he had not said" What is shut
shall be laid open," but, "Many things that are shut shall be laid
open," he would have said what was true, and he would not, by
attributing more than is warranted by the facts to his very
elaborate and useful work, have led the reader into false
expectations. And I have thought it right to say thus much, in
order both that the book may be read by the studious (for it is of
very great assistance in understanding Scripture), and that no more
may be expected from it than it really contains. Certainly it must
be read with caution, not only on account of the errors into which
the author falls as a man, but chiefly on account of the heresies
which he advances as a Donatist. And now I shall briefly indicate
what these seven rules teach or advise.
CHAP. 31.--THE FIRST RULE OF TICHONIUS.
44. The first is about the Lord His body, and it is
this, that, knowing as we do that the head and the body--that is,
Christ and His Church--are sometimes indicated to us under one
person (for it is not in vain that it is said to believers, "Ye
then are Abraham's seed,"(1) when there is but one seed of Abraham,
and that is Christ), we need not be in a difficulty when a
transition is made from the head to the body or from the body to
the head, and yet no change made in the person spoken of. For a
single person is represented as saying, "He hath decked me as a
bridegroom with ornaments, and adorned me as a bride with
jewels"(2) and yet it is, of course, a matter for; interpretation
which of these two refers to the head and Which to the body, that
is, which to Christ and which to the Church.
CHAP. 32---THE SECOND RULE OF TICHONIUS.
45. The second rule is about the twofold division
of the body of the Lord; but this indeed is not a suitable name,
for that is really no part of the body of Christ which will not be
with Him in eternity. We ought, therefore, to say that the rule is
about the true and the mixed body of the Lord, or the true and the
counterfeit, or some such name; because, not to speak of eternity,
hypocrites cannot even now be said to be in Him, although they seem
to be in His Church. And hence this rule might be designated thus:
Concerning the mixed Church. Now this rule requires the reader to
be on his guard when Scripture, although it has now come to address
or speak of a different set of persons, seems to be addressing or
speaking of the same persons as before, just as if both sets
constituted one body in consequence of their being for the time
united in a common participation of the sacraments. An example of
this is that passage in the Song of Solomon, "I am black, but
comely, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon."(1) For
it is not said, I was black as the tents of Kedar, but am now
comely as the curtains of Solomon. The Church declares itself to be
at present both; and this because the good fish and the bad are for
the time mixed up in the one net.(2) For the tents of Kedar pertain
to Ishmael, who "shall not be heir with the son of the free
woman."(3) And in the same way, when God says of the good part of
the Church, "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I
will lead them in paths that they have not known; I will make
darkness light before them, and crooked things straight: these
things will I do unto them, and not forsake them;"(4) He
immediately adds in regard to the other part, the bad that is mixed
with the good, "They shall be turned back." Now these words refer
to a set of persons altogether different from the former; but as
the two sets are for the present united in one body, He speaks as
if there were no change in the subject of the sentence. They will
not, however, always be in one body; for one of them is that
wicked servant of whom we are told in the gospel, whose lord, when
he comes, "shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with
the hypocrites."(5)
CHAP. 33. THE THIRD RULE OF TICHONIUS.
46. The third rule relates to the promises and the
law, and may be designated in other terms as relating to the spirit
and the letter, which is the name I made use of when writing a book
on this subject. It may be also named, of grace and the law. This,
however, seems to me to be a great question in itself, rather than
a rule to be applied to the solution of other questions. It was the
want of clear views on this question that originated, or at least
greatly aggravated, the Pelagian heresy. And the efforts of
Tichonius to clear up this point were good, but not complete. For,
in discussing the question about faith and works, he said that
works were given us by God as the reward of faith, but that faith
itself was so far our own that it did not come to us from God; not
keeping in mind the saying of the apostle: "Peace be to the
brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ,"(6) But he had not come into contact with this
heresy, which has arisen in our time, and has given us much labor
and trouble in defending against it the grace of God which is
through our Lord Jesus Christ, and which (according to the saying
of the apostle, "There must be also heresies among you, that they
which are approved may be made manifest among you"(7)) has made us
much more watchful and diligent to discover in Scripture what
escaped Tichonius, who, having no enemy to guard against, was less
attentive and anxious on this point, namely, that even faith itself
is the gift of Him who "hath dealt to every man the measure of
faith."(8) Whence it is said to certain believers: "Unto you it is
given, in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but
also to suffer for His sake."(9) Who, then, can doubt that each of
these is the gift of God, when he learns from this passage, and
believes, that each of them is given? There are many other
testimonies besides which prove this. But I am not now treating of
this doctrine. I have, however, dealt with it, one place or
another, very frequently.
CHAP. 34.--THE FOURTH RULE OF TICHONIUS.
47. The fourth rule of Tichonius is about species
and genus. For so he calls it, intending that by species should be
understood a part, by genus the whole of which that which he calls
species is a part: as, for example, every single city is a part of
the great society of nations: the city he calls a species, all
nations constitute the genus. There is no necessity for here
applying that subtilty of distinction which is in use among
logicians, who discuss with great acuteness the difference between
a part and a species. The rule is of course the same, if anything
of the kind referred to is found in Scripture, not in regard to a
single city, but in regard to a single province, or tribe, or
kingdom. Not only, for example, about Jerusalem, or some of the
cities of the Gentiles, such as Tyre or Babylon, are things said in
Scripture whose significance oversteps the limits of the city, and
which are more suitable when applied to all nations; but in regard
to Judea also, and Egypt, and Assyria, or any other nation you
choose to take which contains numerous cities, but still is not the
whole world, but only a part of it, things are said which pass over
the limits of that particular country, and apply more fitly to the
whole of which this is a part; or, as our author terms it, to the
genus of which this is a species. And hence these words have come
to be commonly known, so that even uneducated people understand
what is laid down specially, and what generally, in any given
Imperial command. The same thing occurs in the case of men: things
are said of Solomon, for example, the scope of which reaches far
beyond him, and which are only properly understood when applied to
Christ and His Church, of which Solomon is a part.(1)
48. Now the species is not always overstepped, for
things are often said of such a kind as evidently apply to it also,
or perhaps even to it exclusively. But when Scripture, having up to
a certain point been speaking about the species, makes a transition
at that point from the species to the genus, the reader must then
be carefully on his guard against seeking in the species what he
can find much better and more surely in the genus. Take, for
example, what the prophet Ezekiel says: "When the house of Israel
dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way, and by
their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a
removed woman. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood
that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith
they had polluted it: and I scattered them among the heathen, and
they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way,
and according to their doings, I judged them."(2) Now it is easy to
understand that this applies to that house of Israel of which the
apostle says, "Behold Israel after the flesh;"(3) because the
people of Israel after the flesh did both perform and endure all
that is here referred to. What immediately follows, too, may be
understood as applying to the same people. But when the prophet
begins to say, "And I will sanctify my great name, which was
profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of
them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord,"(4) the reader
ought now carefully to observe the way in which the species is
overstepped and the genus taken in. For he goes on to say: "And I
shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you
from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and
will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from
all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of
flesh. And I will put y Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in
my statutes, and ye shall keep my commandments, and do them. And ye
shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall
be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all
your uncleannesses."(5) Now that this is a prophecy of the New
Testament, to which pertain not only the remnant of that one nation
of which it is elsewhere said, "For though the number of the
children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them
shall be saved,"(6) but also the other nations which were promised
to their fathers and our fathers; and that there is here a promise
of that washing of regeneration which, as we see, is now imparted
to all nations, no one who looks into the matter can doubt. And
that saying of the apostle, when he is commending the grace of the
New Testament and its excellence in comparison with the Old, "Ye
are our epistle . . . written not with ink, but with the Spirit of
the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the
heart,"(7) has an evident reference to this place where the prophet
says, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I
put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh."(8) Now the heart of
flesh from which the apostle's expression, "the fleshy tables of
the heart," is drawn, the prophet intended to point out as
distinguished from the stony heart by the possession of sentient
life; and by sentient he understood intelligent life. And thus the
spiritual Israel is made up, not of one nation, but of all the
nations which were promised to
the fathers in their seed, that is, in Christ.
49. This spiritual Israel, therefore, is
distinguished from the carnal Israel which is of one nation, by
newness of grace, not by nobility of descent, in feeling, not in
race; but the prophet, in his depth of meaning, while speaking of
the carnal Israel, passes on, without indicating the transition, to
speak of the spiritual, and although now speaking of the latter,
seems to be still speaking of the former; not that he grudges us
the dear apprehension of Scripture, as if we were enemies, but that
he deals with us as a physician, giving us a wholesome exercise for
our spirit. And therefore we ought to take this saying, "And I will
bring you into your own land," and what he says shortly afterwards,
as if repeating himself, "And ye shall dwell in the land that I
gave to your fathers," not literally, as if they referred to Israel
after the flesh, but spiritually, as referring to the spiritual
Israel. For the Church, without spot or wrinkle, gathered out of
all nations, and destined to reign for ever with Christ, is itself
the land of the blessed, the land of the living; and we are to
understand that this was given to the fathers when it was promised
to them for what the fathers believed would be given in its own
time was to them, on account of the unchangeableness of the promise
and purpose, the same as if it were already given; just as the
apostle, writing to Timothy, speaks. of the grace which is given to
the saints: "Not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began; but is now made manifest by the appearing of our
Saviour."(1) He speaks of the manifest. It is possible, however,
that these words may refer to the land of the age to come, when
there will be a new heaven and a new earth, wherein the unrighteous
shall be unable to dwell. And so it is truly said to the righteous,
that the land itself is theirs, no part of which will belong to the
unrighteous; because it is the same as if it were itself given,
when it is firmly settled that it shall be given.
CHAP. 35.--THE FIFTH RULE OF TICHONIUS.
50. The fifth rule Tichonius lays down is one he
designates of times,--a rule by which we can frequently discover or
conjecture quantities of time which are not expressly mentioned in
Scripture. And he says that this rule applies in two ways: either
to the figure of speech called synecdoche, or to legitimate
numbers. The figure synecdoche either puts the part for the whole,
or the whole for the part. As, for example, in reference to the
time when, in the presence of only three of His disciples, our Lord
was transfigured on the mount, so that His face shone as the sun,
and His raiment was white as snow, one evangelist says that this
event occurred "after eight days,"(2) while another says that it
occurred "after six days."(3) Now both of these statements about
the number of days cannot be true, unless we suppose that the
writer who says "after eight days," counted the latter part of the
day on which Christ uttered the prediction and the first part of
the day on which he showed its fulfillment as two whole days; while
the writer who says "after six days," counted only the whole
unbroken days between these two. This figure of speech, which puts
the part for the whole, explains also the great question about the
resurrection of Christ. For unless to the latter part of the day on
which He suffered we join the previous night, and count it as a
whole day, and to the latter part of the night in which He arose we
join the Lord's day and He would be in the heart of the earth.(4)
51. In the next place, our author calls those
numbers legitimate which Holy Scriptures more highly favors such
as seven, or ten, or twelve, or any of the other numbers which the
diligent reader of Scripture soon comes to know. Now numbers of
this sort are often means just the same as "His praise shall
continually be in my mouth."(5) And their force is exactly the
same, either when multiplied by ten, as seventy hundred seven
hundred (whence the seventy years mentioned in Jeremiah may be
taken in a spiritual sense for into themselves, as ten into ten
gives one hundred, and twelve into twelve gives one hundred and
forty-four, which last number is used in the Apocalypse to signify
the whole body of the saints.(1) Hence it appears that it is not
merely questions about times that are to be settled by these
numbers, but that their significance is of much wider application,
and extends to many subjects. That number in the Apocalypse, for
example, mentioned above, has not reference to times, but to men.
CHAP. 36.--THE SIXTH RULE OF TICHONIUS.
52. The sixth rule Tichonius calls the
recapitulation, which, with sufficient watchfulness, is discovered
in difficult parts of Scripture. For certain occurrences are so
related, that the narrative appears to be following the order of
time, or the continuity of events, when it really goes back without
mentioning it to previous occurrences, which had been passed over
in their proper place. And we make mistakes if we do not understand
this, from applying the rule here spoken of. For example, in the
book of Genesis we read, "And the Lord God planted a garden
eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. And
out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is
pleasant to the sight, and good for food."(2) Now here it seems to
be indicated that the events last mentioned took place after God
had formed man and put him in the garden; whereas the fact is, that
the two events having been briefly mentioned, viz., that God
planted a garden, and there put the man whom He had formed, the
narrative goes back, by way of recapitulation, to tell what had
before been omitted, the way in which the garden was planted: that
out of the ground God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to
the sight, and good for fond. Here there follows "The tree of life
also was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of
good and evil." Next the river is mentioned which watered the
garden, and which was parted into four heads, the sources of four
streams; and all this has reference to the arrangements of the
garden. And when this is finished, there is a repetition of the
this: "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden
of Eden."(3) For it was after all these other things were done that
man was put in the garden, as now appears from the order of the
narrative itself: it was not after man was put there that the other
things were done, as the previous statement might be thought to
imply, did we not accurately mark and understand the recapitulation
by which the narrative reverts to what had previously been passed
over.
53. In the same book, again, when the generations
of the sons of Noah are recounted, it is said: "These are the sons
of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their
countries, and in their nations."(4) And, again, when the sons of
Shem are enumerated: "These are the sons of Shem, after their
families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their
nations."(5) And it is added in reference to them all: "These are
the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations in their
nations; and by these were the nations divided in the earth after
the flood. And the whole earth was of one language and of one
speech."(6) Now the addition of this sentence, "And the whole earth
was of one language and of one speech," seems to indicate that at
the time when the nations were scattered over the earth they had
all one language in common; but this is evidently inconsistent with
the previous words, in their families, after their tongues." For
each family or nation could not be said to have its own language if
all had one language in common. And so it is by way of
recapitulation it is added, "And the whole earth was of one
language and of one speech," the narrative here going back, without
indicating the change, to tell how it was, that from having one
language in common, the nations were divided into a multitude of
tongues. And, accordingly, we are forthwith told of the building of
the tower, and of this punishment being there laid upon them as the
judgment of God upon their arrogance; and it was after this that
they were scattered over the earth according to their tongues.
54. This recapitulation is found in a still more
obscure form; as, for example, our Lord says in the gospel: "The
same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire from heaven, and
destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son
of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the
house-top, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to
take it away; and he back. Remember Lot's wife."(7) Is it when our
Lord shall have been revealed that men are to give heed to these
sayings, and not to look behind them, that is, not to long after
the past life which they have renounced? Is not the present rather
the time to give heed to them, that when the Lord shall have been
revealed every man may receive his reward according to the things
he has given heed to or despised? And yet because Scripture says,
"In that day," the time of the revelation of the Lord will be
thought the time for giving heed to these sayings, unless the
reader be watchful and intelligent so as to understand the
recapitulation, in which he will be assisted by that other passage
of Scripture which even in the time of the apostles proclaimed:
"Little children, it is the last time."(1) The very time then when
the gospel is preached, up to the time that the Lord shall be
revealed, is the day in which men ought to give heed to these
sayings: for to the same day, which shall be brought to a close by
a day of judgment, belongs that very revelation of the Lord here
spoken of.(2)
CHAP. 37.--THE SEVENTH RULE OF TICHONIUS.
55. The seventh rule of Tichonius and the last, is
about the devil and his body. For he is the head of the wicked, who
are in a sense his body, and destined to go with him into the
punishment of everlasting fire, just as Christ is the head of the
Church, which is His body, destined to be with Him in His eternal
kingdom and glory. Accordingly, as the first rule, which is called
of the Lord and His body, directs us, when Scripture speaks of one
and the same person, to take pains to understand which part of the
statement applies to the head and which to the body; so this last
rule shows us that statements are sometimes made about the devil,
whose truth is not so evident in regard to himself as in regard to
his body; and his body is made up not only of those who are
manifestly out of the way, but of those also who, though they
really belong to him, are for a time mixed up with the Church,
until they depart from this life, or until the chaff is separated
from the wheat at the last great winnowing. For example, what is
said in Isaiah, "How he is fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the
morning !"(3) and the other statements of the context which, under
the figure of the king of Babylon, are made about the same person,
are of course to be understood of the devil; and yet the statement
which is made in the same place, "He is ground down on the earth,
who sendeth to all nations,"(4) does not altogether fitly apply to
the head himself. For, although the devil sends his angels to all
nations, yet it is his body, not himself, that is ground down on
the each, except that he himself is in his body, which is beaten
small like the dust which the wind blows from the face of the
earth.
56. Now all these rules, except the one about the
promises and the law, make one meaning to be understood where
another is expressed, which is the peculiarity of figurative
diction; and this kind of diction, it seems to me, is too widely
spread to be comprehended in its full extent by any one. For,
wherever one thing is said with the intention that another should
be understood we have a figurative expression, even though the name
of the trope is not to be found in the art of rhetoric. And when an
expression of this sort occurs where it is customary to find it,
there is no trouble in understanding it; when it occurs, however,
where it is not customary, it costs labor to understand it, from
some more, from some less, just as men have got more or less from
God of the gifts of intellect, or as they have access to more or
fewer external helps. And, as in the case of proper words which I
discussed above, and in which things are to be understood just as
they are expressed, so in the case of figurative words, in which
one thing is expressed and another is to be understood, and which
I have just finished speaking of as much as I thought enough,
students of these venerable documents ought to be counselled not
only to make themselves acquainted with the forms of expression
ordinarily used in Scripture, to observe them carefully, and to
remember them accurately, but also, what is especially and before
all things necessary, to pray that they may understand them. For in
these very books on the study of which they are intent, they read,
"The Lord giveth wisdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and
understanding;"(5) and it is from Him they have received their very
desire for knowledge, if it is wedded to piety. But about signs, so
far as relates to words, I have now said enough. It remains to
discuss, in the following book, so far as God has given me light,
the means of communicating our thoughts to others.