XIV.
up in bad deeds. For they both do wickedly, and yet for their wicked deeds they are not stricken. They sin and thrive, they add to their sins, and multiply earthly good. But ' their erecting is cut down' then, when they are either dragged from the present life to destruction, or from the sight of the Eternal Judge to the eternal burning of hell. Which people, though here they quit their dead flesh, yet that same in the resurrection they receive again, that together with that flesh they may burn, in which flesh they did their sin. For as their sin was in mind and body, so the punishment shall be in spirit and flesh alike. Therefore, whereas not even that shall be quit of torment to them, which here they leave dead, it is rightly said now, the remnant of them thejire hath consumed. It goes on;
Ver. 21, 22. Be at one then with Him, and be at peace; therehy thou shall have the best fruits. Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. XV. 20. There is the sin of pride in teaching one better than Alleg. one's self, which heretics are often guilty of, who touching things which they have wrong notions of, take upon them as if to instruct Catholics. For such they think are then ' at one with God,' if it chance for them to assent to their bad ways; and to those thus ' at one' they promise peace, in that they lienceforth cease to quarrel with those
Heretics presii7?ie to recall Holy Church to God. 237 who agree with themselves. Now * the best fruits' they Book promise to those agreeing with themselves, in that they believe that they only do good works, whom they triumph in themselves drawing in to their own tenets; which persons this also suits that he adds, Receive, I pray, the law out of His mouth; because the things they think of their own heads, they fancy proceed fi-om the mouth of God. And lay up His words in thine heart; as if he asserted it in plain words, saying, ' which up to this present time in thy mouth thou hast held, and not in thine heart,' For because ho' rejected their corrupted tenets, they allege against 'al.Holy hira^ that tlie words of God he had held not in the feeling, 2 ^I'^jigr but in the shewing off. Whence, as if under a certain *c. appearance of sweetness, they insinuate the poison of pestilent persuading, so as to admonish the Church to lay up the words of God in the heart; which words, if they had ever departed from her heart, from those persons she would never have heard such things. It follows;
Ver. 23. //' tliou return to the Almighty, thou shall he built up, thou shall put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
21. That the faithful people have gone away from God is xvi. the opinion of heretics, because they see it opposed to their preachings; which same, when they see it aiBicted with present calamities, they endeavour, as if by admonition, to draw to their Maker's Grace, saying. If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up. As if they said in plain words; Whereas by gainsaying our doctrines thou hast gone away from the Lord, therefore to the building up of righteousness thou art undone. Now by a tabernacle we understand sometimes the habitation of the body, and sometimes the habitation of the heart; for as by the soul we inhabit the body, so by the thoughts we inhabit the mind. Therefore 'iniquity in the tabernacle' of the mind is an evil bent in the attachment of the thought. But ' iniquity in the tabernacle' of the body is carnal doing in the fulfilment of the deed. Thus Eliphaz, forasmuch as he was the friend of a blessed person, seeing some things true, and yet in those points in which he departs from the right line, holding the likeness of heretics, not knowing that it was in consequence of good
Job 22, qualities blessed Job was stricken, fancied that he had erred whom he saw smitten, and makes him promises if he would return to Almighty God, saying, Thou slialt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. As if he said in plain speech, ' Whosoever after erring ways is brought back to God, is purified both in thought and in deed together.' It follows;
Ver. 24. He shall give the Jlint for earth, and for the flint golden torrents. xvii. 22. What is denoted by * earth' but weakness in conduct, what by the hardness of the flint but strength, what do we undei'stand by ' the golden torrents,' but the instruction of interior brightness? Now to those that turn themselves to Him Almighty God ' gives for earth the flint,' in that for weak conduci? He bestows the strength of vigorous practice. He also gives ' for the flint golden torrents,' in that for vigorous practice He redoubles the instruction of bright preaching, that every converted sinner may from weak be enabled to prove strong, and in his strength rise up even to the uttering forth words of the inner brightness, so that in that person, both weakness of conduct, in which like earth he is crumbled, by strength of good living may be firmly settled, and whereas perception is derived from the life, from that same firmness torrents of gold may run out, seeing that in the mouth of those that live well brightness of teaching runs over. It follows;
Ver. 25. Yea the Almighty shall he against thine enemies, and thou shall have heaps of silver. xviii, 23. What other enemies are we more subject to than evil spirits, who in our thoughts besiege us, that they may break into the city of our minds, and hold it, taken captive, under the yoke of their dominion.? Now by the name of ' silver,' the Psalmist testifies the sacred oracles are denoted, when he Ps. J2, says. The ivords of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth. And often when we apply ourselves to the sacred oracles, we are more grievously subject to the artifices of evil spirits, in that they sprinkle upon our mind the dust of earthly thoughts, that the eyes of our heeding they may darken to the light of the interior vision. Which same the Psalmist had undergone when he said, Depart from me, ye evil ones, and I will search into the command- ments of my God; i. e. plainly teaching us that he could not Book search into the commandments of God, when he was suffer '- ing in mind the snares of the evil spirits. Which thing in the work of Isaac too we know to be represented under the evil doing of the Philistines, who with a heap of earth Gen.26, filled up the wells which Isaac had dug. For these very same wells we ourselves dig, when in the hidden meanings of Holy Scripture we penetrate deep. Which wells however the Philistines secretly fill up, when to us advancing to deep things unclean spirits bring in earthly thoughts, and as it were take away the water of divine knowledge which has been discovered. But because no one can overcome these enemies by his own power, it is said by Eliphaz, Yea the Almiglity shall be against thine enemies, and thou shall have heaps of silver. As if it were said in plain words; ' While the Lord drives away from thee the evil spirits by His power, the shining talent of divine revelation within gains growth.' It proceeds;
Ver. 26. Then shah thou abound with delicacies over the Almighty.
24. To ' abound with delicacies over the Almighty' is in xix. the love of Him to be filled to the full with the banquet of Holy Scripture. In Whose words surely we find as many delicacies, as for our profiting we obtain diversities of meaning, so that now the bare history should be our food, now, veiled under the text of the letter, the moral allegory refresh us fi'om our inmost soul, and now to the deeper things contemplation should hold us suspended, already, in the darkness of the present life, shining in upon us from the light of eternity. And it is necessary to be known, that whosoever ' abounds with delicacies,' is released in a kind of loosening of himself, and slacks from devotion to labour as it were from weariness, because the soul when it has begun to abound with the interior delicacies, henceforth consents not ever to give itself to earthly employments, but being captivated by the love of the Creator, and by its captivity henceforth free, for the contemplating of His likeness fainting it draws breath, and as it were whilst giving over, is invigorated; because whereas sordid burthens it is now no longer able to bear, unto Him through rest it hastens Whom it loves within. Hence also
Job 22, in admiration of the spouse it is written, Who is this that ' cometh up from the wilderness abounding with delicacies?
Cant. 8J ill that truly except Holy Church ' abounded with the delica-
5« "Vulg. gjgg' q£ God's words, she could not mount up from the deserts of the present life to the regions above. Thus she ' abounds with delicacies and comes up,' in that whilst she is fed by mystical senses, she is lifted up for the contemplating day by day the things above. Hence likew'ise the Psalmist says,.
'PB.V6Q,Even the flight shall be light about me in my delicacies;
Vulff. ^^ that while by mystical perception the earnest mind is regaled, henceforth the darkness of the present life is lighted up in her by the radiance of the day to come. So that ever in the blindness of this state of corruption the force of the future light should break out into her understanding, anc she being fed with delicacies of words, might leam by thus foretasting what to hunger for of the food of truth. It goes on;
And shall lift up thy face unto God. XX. 25. To lift up the face to God, is to raise the heart for thd searching into what is loftiest. For as by the bodily face w( are known and distinguishable to man, so by the interio figure to God. But when by the guilt of sin we are weighec to the earth, we are afraid to lift the face of our heart to God for whereas it is not buoyed up by any of the confidence o good works, the mind is full of affright to gaze on thi highest things, because conscience of itself accuses sell But when by the tears of penance sin is now washed out and things committed are so bewailed that nothing to b bewailed is any more committed, a great confidence spring up in the mind, and for the contemplating the joys of th recompensing from above ' the face of our heart is liflc up.' Now these things Eliphaz would have spoken arigh: if he had been admonishing one that was weak; but whe he looks down upon a righteous man on account of hi scourges, what is this, but that he pours out words of know ledge in not knowing? Which same words if we bring int a type of heretics, they are they that with false promise engage for us to ' lift our face to God,' As if they sai plainly to the faithful people, ' As long as thou dost nc, follow our preaching, thine heart thou sinkest down i things below/ But whereas Eliphaz charged blessed Job Book to return to God, from Wliom observe that same blessed - man had never departed, he yet further subjoins, as promising;
Ver. 27. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him, and He shall hear thee,
26. For they make their prayer to God, but never obtain xxi. to be listened to, who set at nought the precepts of the Lord, when He enjoins them. Whence it is written, HeFrov. that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his ^^' ^* prayer shall be abomination. So long then as Eliphaz believed that blessed Job was not heard, he determined that that person had surely done wrong in his practice. And hence he adds further.
And thou shalt pay thy vows.
He that has vowed vows, but is unable from weakness to pay the same, has it dealt to him in punishment of sin, that whilst willing good, the having the power should be taken away from him. But when in the sight of the interior Judge, the sin which hinders is done away, it is immediately brought to pass, that the being able attends upon the vow.
Ver. 28. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee.
27. This is used to be the special conclusion of those xxii. going weakly, that in such proportion they esteem a man righteous as they see him obtain all that he desires; whereas in truth we know that earthly goods are sometimes withheld from the righteous, while they are bestowed with liberal
'^ bounty upon the unrighteous; seeing that to sick persons also when they are despaired of, physicians order whatever
''^Ithey call for to be supplied, but those whom they foresee may be brought back to health, the things which they long
'^■jfor they refuse to have given them. Now if Eliphaz introjduced these declarations with reference to spiritual gifts, be it known that ' a thing is decreed and is established' to a man, when the virtue which is longed for in the desire, is,
^|by God's granting it, happily forwarded by the carrying of
^'•j it out as well. And hence it is yet further added; And the light shall shine upon thy tmys.
Job 22, 28. Since for ' light to shine in the ways' of the righteous,' ' is by extraordinary deeds of virtue to scatter the tokens
Moral, of their brightness, that wherever they go in the benl xxui. q£ ^j^g mind, from the hearts of those beholding them the) may dispel the night of sin, and by the example of their owr practice pour into them the light of righteousness; but whatever justness of practice there may be, in the eye of th( interior Judge it is nothing, if pride of heart uplifts it Hence it is added;
Ver. 29. For he that has been abased shall be in glory and he that has bent down his eyes, the same shall h saved. xxiv, 29. Which same sentence is not at variance with th Lukei4, mouth of ' Truth,' when It says. For whosoever exaltel himself shall be abased^ and he that humbleth himself shai
Prov. be exalted. And hence it is said by Solomon, Be/or destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honou\ is humility. But it is properly said, For he that has bet down his eyes., the same shall be saved; in that so far as it is t be discovered through the ministering of the members, the fir; manifestation of pride is used to be with the eyes. Henc
Ps-18, it is written, And wilt bring down high looks. Hence it said of the very head himself of those that behave proudl;
Job 4], He beholdeth all high things. Hence it is written coi
Pj.'^^ cerning her, who by unbelief attached hei'self to him, The,
30, 13. is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their ey lids are lifted up. So to ' bend down the eyes, is no vai j on looking upon him to look down upon, but one's self to lo( I upon as inferior and below all one sees. He then th ' bends down his eyes shall be saved;' because he who qu" the false height of pride, scales the loftiness of truth,
Ver..30. The innocent shall be saved, but he shall be sav by the cleanness of his hands. XXV. 30. Which same sentence now if it be delivered touchi the recompense of the kingdom of heaven, is supported Kom. 2, truth, in that whereas it is written concerning God, W renderetli to every 7nan according to his deeds, that m in the Last Inquest the justice of the Judge Eternal save whom here His pitifulness sets free from impure deeds. Bui a man is to this purport supposed to be here saved by the clean- Book ness of his own hands, that by his own powers he should be made L innocent, assuredly it is an error; for if Grace above do not prevent him when faulty, assuredly it will never find any one ni faultless to recompense without fault. Whence it is said by It- the truth-telling voice of Moses; And no man of himself is 'Exoi. k innocent in Thg sight. And so heavenly pity first works ' it something in ourselves without the help of ourselves, that, our own free will following it up as well, the good which we)) now desire, it may do along with ourselves; yet the good k coming by grace bestowed, in the Last Judgment, He so rewards in ourselves, as if it had proceeded only from our- \[ selves. For whereas the Goodness of God prevents us to 4 make us innocent, Paul says, But hy the grace of God I am \^°^' 1/ what I am. And whereas our free will follows that grace ^,)n he adds, And His grace which tvas bestowed upon me was mot in vain, hut I laboured more abundantly than they all. • Who whereas he saw that he was nothing of himself, says, Yet not /, and yet forasmuch as he saw that he was something in union with grace, he added, but the grace of God with me. For he would not have said, ivith me, if together with preventing grace he had not had free will following it up. Therefore in order to shew that he was nothing without grace, he says, Yet not /, but that he might shew that along with grace he had worked by free will, he added, but the grace of God with me. Thus ' the innocent man shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands,' in that he who is here prevented by the gift, that he may be made innocent, when he is brought to judgment, is rewarded of merit. All which things, as was before said, Eliphaz though he delivered rightly, yet to whom he was delivering them he knew not; because one better than himself it was not his business to teach, but to hear. All which particulars however agree in a figure with the promises of heretics, who when they find any of the faithful afflicted in the present hfe suppose them stricken for the sin of misbelief, and promise them if they will follow their doctrine the saving health of innocency by j cleanness of good works. But the mind of the faithful looks
•244 The Elect in pain here., and more when ill consoled. Job 23, down upon them so much the deeper down, in proportion as it does not see them to possess the innocency which they Piov 1 pi'omise. Whence it is well said by Solomon, Surely in vain 17. the net is spread in the sight of any winged foitl. For the ' winged fowl' are the spirits of good men, which whilst in the hope of truth they soar up to the higher regions, shun the nets of bad men set for their deceiving. It goes on;
Chap, xxiii. 1, 2. Then Job answered and said. Now alsc is my complaint bitter: and the hand of my stroke is heaviei than my groaning. XX vi. 31, In his own way blessed Job sets out with the plainei sort of words, but his declaration he closes by the deej following on of mystery. For the pain of the afflicted mai ought to have been healed by the consoling of his friends but because their consoling broke out into the soothings o deceit, the pain of the stiicken man was made harsher. Fo whereas Eliphaz was not afraid to promise him better thing on being converted, it was as if by a poisonous remed; the wound were increased. Hence it is rightly said, Evei to-day is my complaint bitter, and the hand of my stroke i heavier than my groaning, in this respect, viz. that th straining of unregulated consoling increased the stroke mani fold, which it ought to have diminished; by which sam words taken in a type of Holy Church, the pain of tb faithful is likewise set forth, who groan the more, the moi they see the wicked using the acts of flattery, who, accordin Rom. to the declaration of Paul, by good words and fair speech* deceive the hearts of the simple.
32. Which words may also be rightly applied to tH viewing with greater exactness the mind of the faithful, wH can never be without bitterness even if they seem to prosp in this world. Which persons when adversity too befalls, redoubles that pain which it finds. Whence it is right said. No IV also is my complaint bitter, that it might 1 plainly shewn that even in prosperity the mind of the Ele should not be without bitterness. And it is well said, Ai the hand of my stroke is heavier than my groaning. F ' the hand of a stroke,' is the force of the striking. For th< first striking the Select see to be, that from the vision their Creator they are parted, that the brightness of t interior illumining they never enjoy, but groan as being Book banished in the exile of the present life as in a place of.^Z£l darkness. Thus they always have their groaning in this ' hand of their stroke;' but when over and above adversities also befall them in this life, ' the hand of their stroke is heavier than their groaning.' For there was groaning for the stroke even when the adversities of the present life were away. But the bitterness of the original stroke is increased over and above by the trial of adversity. Therefore he says, And the hand of nvj stroke is heavier than my groaning? In that any just man adversity did not smite whilst happy in this life, but came to redouble in him the pain of the wound. Yet it happens by the extraordinary governance of Almighty God, that when in this life the spirit of the righteous man travails most in adversities, he thirsts the more ardently after the beholding of his Maker's face. Hence it is fitly subjoined here,
Ver, 3. O that one uould grant me that I might know and find Him, that I might come even to His seat!
33. An elect person if he did not know God, assuredly ^xvii, would not love Him. But it is one thing to ' know' by faith, and another to know by His own Form, one thing to find by trustfulness, another to find Him by contemplation. In consequence whereof it is brought to pass that Him Whom they know by faith, all of the Elect long to see by His own Form as well. With the love of Whom they bum and glow, because the honey of His sweetness they already taste of in the mere certainty of their faith. Which that person in the country of the Gerasenes cured of the devils well represents, who wishes to depart with Jesus; but by the Master of health it is told h\m, Return to thine own house, and sheic Luke 8, what great things God hath done unto thee. For on him that"^' loves delay is still imposed, that by the longing of love delayed the title to rewarding may be heightened. And so to us Almighty God is made sweet in miracles, and yet in His own loftiness remains hidden from our eyes, that both by shewing something of Himself, He may by secret inspiration set us on fire in the love of Him, and yet by hiding the gloriousness of His Majesty may increase the force of that love of Him by the heat of longing desire. For except the holy
•246 Angels are GocVs Throne. Jud(jin<j self in His sight.
Job 23, man sought to see This Being in His Majesty, surely he — — — would not bring in the words, that I might come even to His Ai.hEo.seat? For what is the ' seat' of God but those angelical Spirits, who as Scripture testifies are called ' Thrones?' He then that desires to ' come to the seat of God,' what else does he long for but to be among the Angelic spirits, that no failing moments of the periods of time he henceforth be liable to, but rise up to abiding glory in the contemplation of eternity.
34. Which words nevertheless are likewise appropriate to the righteous whilst placed in this life. For when they see any thing done against their wish and desire, they have recourse to the hidden judgments of God, that therein thej may read that that is not irregularly ordered within, whicl seems to pass irregularly without. For when they beholc with the eyes of faith the Creator of all things, ruling ove the Angelical Spirits, then they ' come to His seat.' An( whereas they observe that He, Who rules the Angels in j wonderful manner, does not dispose of man in any wa^^ contrary to justice, then indeed the principles of cases the; see to be as just as they are, whilst the cases themselve externally seem to be unjust. And whereas they do thi with humility, they often lay blame to themselves in thai will, and their own wishes they sometimes judge i themselves, whilst they ponder that those things are bettt which the Creator appoints. Hence it is well added ii addition,
Ver. 4. / will order my cause before Him, and Jill rm mouth with reproaches. xxviii. 35. To ' order our cause before God' is within the secrr depth of our mind by the contemplating of faith to open til eyes of our view to the awful inquisition of His Majesty, mark what man as a sinner deserves, of the now hidden an secret Judge to take thought how terrible He will hereafti appear. In consequence of which it happens, that the so is recalled to the knowledge of itself with greater exactnes and in proportion as it sees its secret Judge the greater obje of alarm, is so much the more horribly wrung with fears il its actions. It trembles with anxious alarm; its offences prosecutes with lamentation; in repenting it charges hoii what it remembers itself to have been; whence now too after Book I^Jit had been said, / will order my cause before Him, it is ^^^' rightly subjoined, And Jill my month with reproaches. For he who ' orders his cause before God,' does ' fill his mouth with reproaches,' in that while he beholds the exact scrutiny of the awful Judge directed against himself, he pursues himself with the charges of bitter repentance. Now it often happens that whilst we neglect to take account of our faults, what blaming of them may follow in the Judgment we are left ignorant of: but whilst we pursue them by exercising repentance, what the Judge in His Inquisition may say to us concerning them, we find out. Whence it is further added with propriety,
Ver. 5. That I may know the words that he will answer me^ and understand what he will say unto me.
3G. For we then bewail our sins, when we begin to weigh xxix. them; but we then weigh them the more exactly, when more anxiously we bewail them, and by our lamentations it rises up ' more perfectly in our hearts, what the severity of God ' one threatens those with that commit sin, what will be those known.' rebukings upon the children of perdition, what the terror, what the abhorrence of the unappeasable Majesty. For so great things shall the Lord then being angry ' say' to the lost, as great as He permits them of justice to undergo. Which same words of His visitation, the righteous, because now they anxiously fear them, escape free from. But who in that inquisition might be found righteous, if God according to the Majesty of His Might, so sifted the life of man.? Therefore it is fi.tly subjoined,
Ver. 6. / would not that He should contend with me with great power, nor oppress me with the weight of His mightiness.
37. For the soul of one however righteous, if he be judged xxx. with strictness by Almighty God, is borne down by the weight of His mightiness. In which same words this is likewise to be understood, that whereas the holy man shews the might of God, what else of Him does he desire, but His weakness? And it is written, the weakness of God is stronger i Cor. i, than men. Whence too he directly adds,
For wbo «^ sftTii^ fbe MedudbcH- betwei» Gt»i and i^ tjbe Man Oirist Jesos, is danofeed bv the uile cf * eqmlT V I <^'h Concerning Whom it is written. If 1m» «|f GetJI is mmde mmU m misdem €md r^tmmme^s. And nbi^Deais thfe righteonsness came into this wodd against the vr;av^ ^UB^^ we get the better of our old enemy, bv whom were held captiTe. So l<dt him saij, / mamid imi ikmi tkmM cemiemd m?iik me ttilA, fremi pmeer^ mttr ^/Mress miUk ike meHfht «f Hk wuifkiufess. Lei Bim prnt Jmrtk «f «r«ff mgmim^ tme^«md atf^M^ansnf ShmU t»me mmto wktt'-y. I i. e. ' for die vehaking of my vnajns, let Him send His In:: - nale Son, and then the plotting Ibe, by the sentience of u. afasoking, I as vicfeiNr will tnm oot.'' F<Mr if die Onhr-begot;^:i Son of God had so lemained nnidUe in the strength df the IXTine >ilatiiie, as not to haf« admitted anght datired firam oar weakness, when could weak men ever hare 1&>and tibie acoe^ of grace to EGm^ For the wei^t of His greatne^ being considered^ would nther have opj^esed dan aided him; bstt die Stroi^ aboTe all dungs came weak amoog aU dungs, diat whexeas He agreed widme^l^Ta^nmed weakness, He mig^ deralbe its to EEis own aludbig strength. For in lis lofione^ die Divine Xatme could nerer ha^re been a^tdiended bj ik, inasmndi as bang too fitde, but He bowed Himself down to man duon^ human nature, and we as it were mounted up on ffim laid low; He rose, and we were lifted up. Whence this too ^ added directhr, whereby the Divine Bcii^ may be shewed inviable and inccH^iehenaUe. Thus it goes on; Ter. 8, a Wlf i* ike Ernst, He wgppemrHA mei; ^lyo fa tile fTesl^ I tAmtt mst m»derdmmd Htm; if If im tike t^ hmmd, wkat duM I d»i I AM md etmprekemd Him; if I tmrm mnp^ie Oie right kami I dkmil moi tee B[iMm^ ■y^^ 3& F((» die CieatiM-of all dungs ^ notinapaityinasnndi as He is ereiy vhere. And then He is found the le^ vrhen He, That ^ whole ereiy where;, is sou^t in a pait. For the IiK iwuMfhf niiiblr ^nrit contained aO things widun Itsei^ Wluch at the same time both vdule fiUbig encnmpasselh, and
«r], If I f)0 to th/i F/ut, //? afpeareth nrA; if I go to th^ \WesC, I ah/ill not uwln'ritaad Him; if I go trj?/«« left hnnA, vhat ih/xll I rJo? I shall not corripreheTui Him; if I turn tyself to ttte right han/l I shall not see Him; he tfaerenpon led, Btxt He knov.eth the way that I take. Aa if he aaid plain words, ' I am nnable to see Him, Who seeth me, id Him that beholdeth me most minatelv, I have no)wer to behold:' that is to sav, that he might shew that He so much the more heedfally to be feared, in proportion as Te is not discernible. For He Who §0 beholds us that He lay not be by us beheld. Is so much the more to be dreaded proportion as in seeing all things He is not seen in the Jleast deon-ee. For when we believe that there is anv one hidden in ambush to assault us, we dread him the more that we do not at all see him; and when we do not at all discover his ambush where it is placed, we apprehend it even there rhere it does not exist And our Creator, Who is whole every where, and while discerning all things is not discerned, is the more to be dreaded in proportion as continuing invisible, what He may determine concerning our actions and at what time is not known. Which words, too, may be understood in another sense also. For we ' go to the East,' when we lift up our mind in thinking of His Majesty. But ' He appeareth not,' seeing that such as He is in His own Nature, by mortal thought He cannot be seen to be. If I go to the West, I shall not understand Him; we ' go to the west,' when the eye of the heart that is lifted up in God, but made to recoil by the mere immensity of the light, we bring back to our own selves, and being spent with labour, we learn that the thing is very much above us which we were seeking; and viewing our own mortal condition find out that as yet we are creatures unfit to have the power to behold One that is Immortal. If I go to the left hand, what shall I do? I shall not comprehend Him. To * go to the left hand' is to yield one's self to the enjoyments of our sins. And it is surely plain, that he cannot ' apprehend God,' who still in the gratification of sin lies prostrate along the left side. If I turn myself to the right side I shall not see Him, He trulv is ' turned to the right hand,'
Job 23, who is lifted up on the ground of virtuous attainments.
' But he cannot see God, who is glad with selfish joy for his good deeds; because in that man the swelling of pride weighs down the eye of the heart. Whence it is well said
Deut. elsewhere, Thou shall not declitie to the right hand nor to 17!!• the left. In all which particulars the soul very often searches out itself, nor yet is able perfectly to find out itself. Whence it is fitly added here,
But He Himself knoweth the way that I take. xxxii. 39. As if he said in plain terms, ' I for mine own part both search myself strictly, and am not able to know myself thoroughly; yet He, Whom 1 have not power to see, seeth most minutely all the things that I do.' It goes on;
And He shall try me like gold which passeth through the fire.
Gold in the furnace is advanced to the brightness of its nature, whilst it loses the dross. And so like ^ gold that passeth through the fire' the souls of the righteous are tried, which by the burning of tribulation through and through, both have their defects removed, and their good points increased. Nor was it of pride that the holy man likened himself as set in tribulation to gold, in that he who, by the voice of God, was pronounced righteous before the stroke, was not for this reason permitted to be tried that bad qualities might be cleared off, but that excellences might be heightened; but gold is purified by fire; less then than he was did he thint of his own self, in that, being delivered over to suffer tribulation, he believed that he was being purified, whereas he hac not any thing in him to be purified.
40. Now it is necessary for us to know, that though the mind of the righteous entertains humble thoughts touching itself, yet the several things that they do, they see to be as right as they are, while they never presume on the rightness o them. Whence it is yet further added; My fool hath hek his steps, his way have I kept and not declined. Neither have I gone hack from the commandment of his lips, and. have hid the words of his mouth in my hosom. But in th( midst of all this let us see whether he thinks himself to b( any thing. It follows; But He is Himself alone. By th* subjoining of which sentence, he shews that amidst all thi good things which he had done he believed himself to be Book nothing. But taking up these same words from the begin- - ning, let us run over them as well as we are able.
Ver. 11. My foot hath held His steps.
41. For as a kind of footsteps of God are His doings xxxiii. which we see, by which doings both the good and bad man is governed, by which the righteous and unrighteous are arranged in their classes, whereto both every one that is subject is led on day by day to better things, and he that is in rebellion against them is borne with going headlong into worse. Concerning which same footsteps the Prophet said, Thy goings have been seen, O God. And so we, when we Ps. 68, behold the efficacy of His long-suffering and pitifulness, and^^" upon so beholding strive to imitate the same, what else do we but follow the ' footsteps of His goings,' in that we imitate some outskirts of His method of proceeding. Thus these footsteps of His Father ' Truth' gave it in charge to imitate when He said, Pray for them which persecute you and^i^tt.5, falsely accuse you; that ye may be the children of your Father Which is in heaven. For He makelh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good. It may be too that blessed Job who had already said with assured faith, / know that my Redeemer liveth, and that I shall arise Job 19, at the latter day from the earth; so dwelt on the future * working of Wisdom Incarnate to be, in like manner as we behold by faith the works of that Wisdom now past, how that the Mediator between God and man should be kind to give, humble to bear, patient to afford an example. Whose life while blessed Job, filled with the Spirit from above, regarded with heedful intentness, foreseeing the future lowliness of His mild character, he refers as it were to a pattern set before him, so that whatever he did in this life he might bind fast to His footsteps in imitating, that so he who was incapable of seeing the high things of His secret ordering, as it were looking on the ground, might keep His footsteps for imitation. Of which same ' footsteps' of Him it is said by Peter, Because Christ also suffered for its, leaving i Pet. 2, us an example, that ye should follow His footsteps. Concerning whom it is yet further added;
Job 23, \e\: 11. His way have I kept, and not declined.
xxxiv. practises the thing whereon his mind is bent. Since to * keep' in the bent is ' not to decline' in the practice. For this is the anxiety of the righteous, that day by day they should try their actions by the ways of truth, and proposing these as a rule to themselves, they should not decline from the track of their right course. Thus day by day they strive to get above themselves, and in proportion as they are lifted up upon the summit of virtues, they judge with heedfiil censure, whatever there is of themselves left remaining below themselves. And they are in haste to draw the whole of themselves there, where they find that they have been brought in part. It goes on;
Ver. 12. Neither have I gone back from the commandments of His lips.
XXXV. 43. As servants that serve well are ever intent uj)on their masters' countenances, that the things they may bid they may hear readily, and strive to fulfil; so the minds of the righteous in their bent are upon Almighty God, and in His Scripture they as it were fix their eyes on His face, that whereas God delivers therein all that He wills, they may not be at variance with His will, in proportion as they learn that will in His revelation. Whence it happens, that His words do not pass superfluously through their ears, but that these words they fix in their hearts. Hence it is here xxxvi. 44. For we ' hide the words of His mouth in the bosom of our heart,' when we hear His commandments not in a passing way, but to fulfil them in practice. Hence it is that of the
Luke 2, Virgin Mother herself it is written, But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. Which same words even when they come forth to the practising lie hidden in the recesses of the heart, if through that which is done without, the mind of the doer be not lifted up within. For when the word conceived is carried on to the deed, if human praise is aimed at herein, the word of God assuredly is not ' hidden in the bosom of the mind.' But I would know, 0 blessed man, wherefore thou examinest thyself with Boc so much earnestness, wherefore thou takest thyself to task ^"^Iwith so much anxiety? It goes on,
Ver. 13. Bui He is Himself alone, and no man can turn away His thought.
45. Are there not angels and men, the heavens and thexxxvii. earth, the air and the waters of the ocean, all the winged creatures, quadrupeds, and creeping things.^ And surely it is Gen. 2, written, JJ'luch God created that they should be. Whereas^" then there is such a multitude of things in the circle of nature, wherefore is it now said by the voice of the blessed man. He is Himself alone? Why, it is one thing to be, and another thing to BE primarily, one thing to be subjectly to change, and another thing to BE independently of change. For these are all of them in being, but they are not maintained in being in themselves, and except they be maintained by the hand of a governing agent, they cannot ever be. For all things subsist in 11 im by Whom they were created, nor do the things that live owe their life to themselves, nor are those that are moved, but do not live, by their own caprice brought to motion. But He moveth all things, Who quickens some with life, whilst some that are not so quickened He preserves, disposing them in a wonderful way for last and lowest being. For all things were made out of nothing, and their being would again go on into nothing, except the Author of all things held it by the band of governance. All the things then that have been created, by themselves can neither subsist nor be moved, but they only so far subsist, as they have obtained that they should be, are only so far moved, as they are influenced by a secret impulse. For see the sinner is ordained to be scourged by human accidents; the earth is parched in his toilings, the sea tossed in the shipwreck of him, the air on fire in his sweating, the heavens are darkened in floods upon him, his fellow creatures bum with fire in oppressions of him, and the angelical powers are made active in his troubling. Are all these things which we have named being inanimate, or which we have named endued with life, put into activity by their own instincts, or rather by impidses from God? "Whatever therefore it be that is arrayed against us outwardly, in that thing
254 JVhat seems to change God's Will, co?nes of It.
Job 23, That Being is to be regarded Who ordains it inwardly. Tn
—^ — every case then He is to be regarded as alone, Who IS
^]l' primarily, Who also saith to Moses, / AM THAT I AM,
14. TJms shall thou say unto the children of Israel, He that IS hath sent me unto you. And so, when we are scourged by the things that we see, we ought anxiously to fear Him
Whom we do not see. And so let the holy man look down upon all that alarms him without, all that in respect of its being would go on to nothing except it were ruled, and with the eye of the mind, all else being kept back, let him see
Him only in comparison with Whose Being for ourselves to be is not to be, and let him say, He only is Himself alone.
46. Concerning Whose unchangeableness it is directly after added with propriety, No man can turn away His thought, for as He is unchangeable in Nature, so He is unchangeable in Will. For ' none turneth away His thought,' in that no man has power to resist His secret judgments. Since though there have been persons who might seem to * have turned away His thought,' yet His interior thought was this, that they should by praying have power to avert His sentence, and that they should obtain from Him what to effect with Him. So let him say, and no man turneth away His thought, in that His judgments once Ps. 148, fixed can never be altered. Whence it is written. He hath ', made a decree which shall not pass. And again. Heaven 13, SL and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass Is. 55,8. away. And again, For My thoughts are not as your thoughts, neither are your ways as My ways. And so whenever outwardly the sentence appears to be altered, inwardly the counsel is not altered, in that in relation to each particular thing that is unalterably established within, whatever is done alterably without. It goes on;
And tvhat His soul desireth, even that He doeth. xxviii, 47. Whereas God is exterior to all bodies, interior to all minds, that identical power of His, whereby He penetrates all things, and regulates all things, is called His ' soul.' Whose will not even those things oppose, which appear to be done contrary to His will, seeing that even what He does not order, to this end He sometimes suffers to be done, that so through this thing that which He does order may be the more surely done. For the will of the Apostate Angel is bad, Book yet by God it is wonderfully ordered, so that even his very ■' artifices as well should promote the welfare of the good, whom they purify whilst they try. So then ' whatever His soul desireth, that He doeth,' that from the same source as well He might fulfil His will, whence there seemed to be a resisting of His will. Therefore let the holy man be filled with alarm, and contemplating the weight of that great Majesty, let him find himself out to be weak.
48. But it is well to put the question amidst these words, and to say, ' O blessed Job, wherefore in the midst of such scourges dost thou dread still further afflictions?' Thou art already encompassed with sorrows, by innumerable calamities thou art already straitly beset. Misfortune is to be apprehended, which is not yet entered upon, Thou being in the midst of such great sorrow, what dost thou apprehend? But mark how the holy man satisfying our questioning adds;
Ver. 14. For when He hath accomplished His will in me, there are many other such things with Him.
49. As if he said in plain words, ' Already I weigh wellxxxix, what I am suffering, but I still dread things that I may undergo.' For He accomplishes His will in me, in that He afflicts one with many strokes, but ' there are many like things with Him,' in that if He is minded to strike. He sees yet further where the stroke may be added to. Hence we may collect how fearful he was before the scourge, who even after being scourged still dreads lest he should be farther stricken. For seeing the incomprehensible force both of power and penetration that resides in Him, the righteous man would not even on the ground of the scourge upon him be secure. And hence fearing still more He adds;
50. He is rightly ' troubled at the presence of the Lord,' xl. who sets before the view of his eyes the terribleness of His Majesty, and is throughly shaken by dread of His Righteousness, whilst he sees that he is not fit to render his accounts if he be judged with severity. Now it is rightly said, JVhen I consider I am afraid of Him, because the force of the Divine visitation when a man considers little,
Job 23, He dreads but little, and in this life is as it were secure, in -— ^ — proportion as he is a stranger to the consideration of the interior strictness. For the righteous are ever turning back into the secret chamber of the heart, contemplating the power of the hidden strictness, presenting themselves to the judgment of the interior Majesty, that they may one day be the more secure, in proportion as they would not make themselves secure here so long as they lived. For when the minds of evildoers refuse to consider what they have to fear, sooner or later by rejoicing they are brought to that, which they do not by fearing in any way escape. But see in regard to blessed Job, we know that he was devoted to frequent sacrifices to God, that he was given up to acts of hospitality, to the necessities of the poor, that he was humble towards his own dependants even, kind towards those that opposed him, and yet he received such numberless scourges, nor now became secure amidst them, but still entertained fear, still thinking of the power of the Divine strictness he is made to tremble. What then shall we miserable creatures say? what shall we sinners say, if he so fears, who so acted? But let him make known whether the weight of this great fear he has from himself. It goes on;
Ver. 16. For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty tronhleth me. xli. 51. By divine gift the heart of the righteous man is said to be made soft, in that it is penetrated with the fear of the judgment from Above. For that it is soft, which is capable of being penetrated, but that is hard, which cannot be Prov.28, penetrated. Whence it is said by Solomon, Happy is tht ^^' man that feareth always, hut he that hardeneth his hearx shall fall into mischief. And so the merit of his dread he ascribes not to himself but to his Creator, who says. For Goo maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty tronhleth me. No\^ the hearts of good men are not secure but troubled, in thai whilst they think on the heavy weight of the future reckoning, they do not seek to enjoy rest here, and they interrup' their security by the thought of the interior severity. Whicl: persons nevertheless, in the midst of the very chastenings o fear, often recall their mind to the gifts, and that by comfort ing they may cheer themselves, amidst this which they fear
Job not punished. Saints have to watch against faults, 'ihl hey bring back the eye to the gifts which they have received, Book hat hope may bnoy up him whom fear bears down. Hence '-
Ver. 17. Because I have not perished on account of the overhanging darkness; neither hath the darkness covered ny face.
52. For he, being set under the scourge, dies off from the xlii. lealth of the body ' on account of the overhanging darkness,' vho is for this reason smitten for the past that he may be shielded from future punishments. For scourges inflicted on;he good either wipe out evil things done, or parry off future 3nes which might have been done. But blessed Job, forasmuch as when set under the rod he was neither purified [rom foregoing sins nor shielded from those that threatened, ijut only had his goodness increased under the stroke, says with onfidence, Because I have not perished on account of the overlianging darkness, neither hath ihe darkness covered my face. For he that always had before his eyes the weight of divine dread, the face of his heart the darkness of sin never covered. And he whom no punishments followed, did not lose the health of the body ' on account of the overhanging darkness.'
53. And it is to be noted, that in his own person telling what had gone before, he never says ' neither hath darkness touched my face,' but ' neither hath darkness covered my face;' for often even the hearts of the righteous do thoughts arising defile, and affect them with the gratifications of things earthly, but whereas they are speedily put away by the hand of holy discretion, it is quickly brought to pass that darkness should not cover the face of the heart, which was already touching it by unlawful enjoyment; for often in the very sacrifice of prayer urgent thoughts press themselves on us, that they should have force to carry off or pollute what we are sacrificing in ourselves to God with weeping eyes. Whence when Abraham at sunset was offering up the sacrifice, he was subject to birds setting on, which he diligently drove away, that they might not carry off the sacrifice which had been offered. So let us, when we offer to God a holocuast upon the altar of our hearts, keep it from unclean birds, that the evil spirits and bad thoughts may not seize upon that
558 God knoicn hij FaitJi, hut wcomprehensihle in Nature.
JiiB 24, which our mind hopes that it is offering up to God to a good
C. xxiv. 1. Times are not hidden from the Almighty; they that knoH- Him, know not His days, xliii. 54. What are called ' the days' of God, save His very Eternity itself.'' which is sometimes described by the an- Ps. 84, nouncement of ' one day,' as where it is written. For one day in Thy courts is better than a thousand. But sometimes or account of its length it is represented by the expression of i Ps. 102, number of days, whereof it is written. Thy years are through otit all generations. We then are wrapped up within th( divisions of time, through this that we are created beings But God, Who is the Creator of all things, by His Eternit; encompasses our times. And so he says, Times are no hidden from the Almighty; they that know Him, know no His days; seeing that He, indeed, sees all of ours to th comprehending thereof, but all that is His we are in no dt gree able to comprehend. But whereas the nature of Go is simple, it is very much to be wondered at why he shou say, They that know Him, know not His days. For it is n( that He Himself is one thing and His ' days' anothei since God is that thing which He hath. For He hat eternity, yet He is Himself Eternity. He hath Light, yetH is Himself His own Light. He hath brightness, yet He Himself His own Brightness. And so in Him it is not or thing to be, and another thing to have. What does it mea then to say, They that know Him, know not His days, exce; that even they that know Him, do not know Him as yet For even they who already hold Him by faith, as yet knoi Him not by appearance. And whereas He, Whom we trui believe, is Himself eternity to Himself, yet in what way the' is that eternity of Him we know not. For in the thing that v hear touching the power of the Divine Nature, we are soni times used to imagine such things as we know by experiemi Thus every single thing that begins and ends, is bounded the beginning and ending. And if it be by any little del stayed frombeingended, it is calledlong; on which same leng. whilst a man carries back the eyes of his mind in recollectid and stretches them out before in anticipation, as it were o^ a space of time he expands them in imagination. And wh he hears the eternity of God mentioned in human sort, to his Book oaind on the stretch he sets forth long spaces of life, in which - same he may ever measure both what has gone away in the rear as a thing to be retained in the memory, and what remains before as a thing to be looked forward to in the intention.
55. But as often as in the case of eternity we have such thoughts, we do not as yet know eteraity. For that which is neither commenced by a beginning nor finished by an ending, is there, where neither is there looked forward to that which shall come, nor does there pass by that which may be recalled to mind, but that alone is, which is everlasting BEING, Which though we and the Angels with a beginning begin to see to be, yet we see it to be without beginning, where it is to be always without end, in such a way, that the mind never extends itself to things following in a sequence, as if things that are were multiplied and made long. For though by the Spirit of Prophecy it is said, TJie Lord shall reign for ever and^ for Exod. worlds and further; after the manner of Holy Writ, thej^^^^ i Spirit spoke in man's way to men, so as to speak of further' so. a there, where looking forward could not enter. For eternity has no ' further,' which has it always to be, wherein no part of its length goes by that another part should take its place, but the whole at once is Being, that nothing should seem to be wanting to it, which it may not see, in which eternity every thing that is the mind sees to be at once not slow and long. But in speaking such things of the days of eternity we are trying to see something more than we do see. el And so let it be rightly said. They thai know Him know not J^His days; in that though we already know God by faith, yet how His Eternity is at once without a past before all ages, without a future after all ages, long without delay, and everlasting without looking forward, we do not see. Thus blessed Job, whilst bearing a type of Holy Church, (because he restrains himself under a great bridling of knowledge, so as not to be wiser than he ought to be,) and testifying that the days of God can never be understood, directly brings s(j back the view of the mind to the pride of Heretics who aim tiijl to be deeply enlightened, and what they are incapable of ovjl taking in at all, they boast that they know in perfect meajtJl sure. Thus it goes on; i s2
Job 24, Ver. 2. Others remove the landmarks; they violently take xliv. 56. Whom does he denote by the title of others,' saving Heretics, who to the bosom of Holy Church are strangers? For they the same persons remove landmarks, in that the constitutions of the Fathers they by walking awry do overstep. Concerning which same constitutions it is written
P'ov.22, Jieifiove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set And these violently take away the Jlocks, and feed them, ir that all the inexperienced, by wicked persuasions, they drav to themselves, and with baneful lessons nourish them fo: slaughtering. For that the ignorant multitudes are repre sented by the designation of ' flocks,' the words of thi Spouse bear witness, Who addresses His Espoused, in tb words. Except thou know tJiyself, O beautiful amongs ivomen, depart forth, and go after the footsteps of tJie flocks i. e. ' excepting that by living well, thou knowest thin honour whereby thou art created after the likeness of Goc depart forth from the sight of the contemplation of Me, an^
' al. ' the follow the life' of the uninstructed multitudes. It goes on:
Ver. 3. They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they tak the widow's ox for a pledge. xlv. 57. Whom do we understand by the fatherless in th' place, but the Elect of God, who are set in tendernef of mind, are nourished with the efficacious grace of faitl and do not yet see the face of their Father, Who has alreadJ died in their behalf And there are very many in tlij Church, who see certain persons aiming at the things heaven, having all earthly things in contempt, and thou§J they themselves are toiling with all their strength in tllJ world's labours, yet to those whom they see panting aftd heavenly things, fi'om the goods which they possess in titj world, they bring this life's aid and support. And thouj they cannot themselves follow a spiritual life, yet to thoi reaching forth to the things above they gladly yield means support. For an ass is used to bear the burthens of me I He then is as it were a kind of ass of the Elect, who whi yielding himself to earthly courses, carries loads for the us] of men, And often when Heretics turn aside any suJ person from the bosom of Holy Church, they are as it wh driviny- off the ass of the fatherless, in that when they force Book him into their own misbelief, they drive him away from tendance on the good.
58. But who is to be understood by the ' widow' saving Holy Church, who is bereft in the mean season of the sight of her slain Husband } Now ' the ox' of this ' widow' is every individual preacher. And it often chances that Heretics by their perverted tenets draw over even those very persons that appeared to be preachers. And so they ' take the widow's ox,' when they carry off from Holy Church even a person preaching. And it is rightly added here,/b;- a pledge. For when a pledge is taken away, one thing indeed is held in our hands, but another yet further is sought for. And very often Heretics for this reason try to carry off those that f preach, that they may draw to them their followers likewise.
Thus ' the \\ idow's ox is taken away for a pledge,' when the ID same person that practised preaching is for this reason i carried off, that others may follow after him. By whose itt downfall it is very often brought about, that they also go forth from the bosom of Holy Church, who, imbued with (li godly habits in her, seemed to be meek and humble. Hence it is added;
Ver. 4. They have turned the needy out of the nay; and i&have oppressed together the meek of the earth.
59. For by the term of ' poverty,' humility is very often xlvi. denoted; and very often they that appear gentle and humble, till if they have not learnt to maintain discretion, fall by the >ij examples of other men. But there are some Heretics, who eschew to mix themselves with the multitudes, and seek the;li|relirement of a life of greater privacy, and these very often I with the bane of their persuasion poison those that they meet with the more, in proportion as by the claims of their life they the more seem deserving of respect. Concerning ie|vvhom it is subjoined;
Ver. 5. Others as wild asses^ in the desert go forth io^ onmjri
60. For the ' onager' is a wild ass; and in this place Heretics xlvi i. are rightly likened to ' wild asses,' in that being let loose in
;fl|j their pleasures, they are strange to the fetters of faith and reason. Hence it is written; A wild ass used to the ivilder- Jer. 2,
Job 24, ness that snuffelh up the wind of his love at his pleasure. For
'- — he is a wild ass used to the wilderness, who whilst he does not cultivate the ground of his heart with excellence of discipline, there dwells, where there is no fruit. Since he ' snuffeth up the wind of his love at his pleasure,' in that the things that from the desire of knowledge he conceives in his mind, are efficacious lCor.8,to puff up but not to edify. Against whom it is said, Know-
^' ledge piiffeih upy but charity edijieth. Hence here too the words are suitably brought in; they go forth to their work.
For it is not the work of God, but their own work that they do, whereas they follow not right doctrines, but their own Ps. 101, desires. For it is written, He that walketh in a perfect way^
^' he served me. So he that does not walk in a perfect way, serves himself more than the Lord. It goes on;
Watching for a prey, they provide bread for their children. xlviii. 61- They ' watch for a prey,' who are always trying to seize the words of the righteous according to their own perception, that by them they may provide the bread of erroi for evil-minded children. Of which some bread it is said ir Solomon, in the words of the woman that bears the figure ol Prov. 9, heretical wickedness, Stolen icaters are sweet, and breac eaten in secret is pleasant. It goes on;
Ver. 6. They reap a field not their oivti, and the vineyarc
62. By the name of a ' field' may be denoted the wid( compass of Holy Scripture, and Heretics ' reap' it not beinj their own, in that they carry away from it sentences whicl are infinitely removed from their own notions; which same i furthermore described by the title of a ' vineyard,' in thai through the sentences of truth it puts forth the clusters o the virtues; the owner of which vineyard, i. e. the originate of Holy Scripture, they as it were ' oppress with violence because they endeavour violently to twist and turn a sens^
Is. 43, of His upon* the words of Holy Writ; as He saith. But th(y<
I L, (,„]y /m.s# made Me to serve rvith thy sins, thou hast given. Ml reads labour in thine iniquity. And they ' reap the vintage « words.' that vineyard,' in that they heap together therefrom clustei of sentences after the bent of their own understanding.
may be that by the title of a ' field' or of a ' vineyard' tb
Church Universal is set forth, which corrupt preachers *reap and by oppressing in His members the Anthor ofit, ' gather the Book vintage,' in that in bearing down upon the grace of our_^Zil. Creator, whilst they seize ofl" therefrom persons who seemed to be righteous, what else is this but that they carry off ' ears' or ' clusters' of souls? Of whom it is yet further added;
Ver. 7. They send men away naked, taking aicay their garments, who have no covering in the cold.
63. As garments cover the body, so do good works the \^ soul. Whence it is said to one, Blessed is lie that walcheth^Q^,\(\ and keepelh his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see ^^' his shame. So Heretics, when in the minds of any they destroy good works, manifestly take away the garments of clothing; and it is well said, who hare no covering in the cold. For ' covering' has relation to righteousness, 'cold' to sin. And there are some that in some points commit sin, but in some points follow good works. He then that does wrong by one set of actions, and practises righteousness by another, what is this man but clothed in the cold? He is cold, and he is covered, in that in one part of practice he is made warm for righteousness, in another he is made cold for sin. But whenever Heretics take away their good works from such persons, they bring it to pass that they have not in the cold wherewith to clothe themselves. Therefore it is rightly said. They send men away naked, taking away their garments, who have no covering in the cold; that is, for the cold of sin by itself to kill those whom the warmth of a different practice in some degree covered. But it may be, that by the cold there is denoted desire, by the garment practice. And there are great numbers who are still agitated with wrong desires, but striving with themselves in the spirit, they fight against themselves by right works, and with good actions cover that which they perceive through temptation to spring against them of the wrong sort. And so these from the cause that they desire what is evil are cold, and by the act by which they practise what is good, they are clothed. But when Heretics by wrong statements do away with the works of a right faith, what else do they bring to pass but that those that still feel the cold of carnal desires should die without the clothing of good works? It proceeds;
Job 24, Ver. 8. Tkey are wet with the showers of the viountainSy
., ' ' and embrace the stoues for want of a qarment.
64. ' The showers of the mountains' are the words of the learned. Of which same 'mountains' it is delivered by the Ps. 121, voice of Holy Church; I lifted up mine eyes iinto the hills: and so those persons, 'the showers of the mountains wet,' in that the streams of the holy fathers fill them to the full. But as we have already said before, ' the garment' we take for the covering of good practice, with which a man is covered, that in the eyes of Almighty God the fillhiness of his depravity should be clothed over. Whence it is written,
'Ps-^'i,^' Blessed are they whose transgression is/orgiven,u-hose sin is covered. Whom do we understand by the title of the stones' but the sti'ong ones within the bounds of Holy Church, to 1 Pet. 2, vjrj^otn it is declared by the first shephei'd; Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house. And so those who on the grounds of their own practice have no reliance, fly to the protection of the holy Martyrs, at their sacred bodies set themselves to tears, and entreat, at their intercessions, to obtain pardon '". What then do these do by such self-abasement, but because they lack the covering of good practice ' embrace the stones V It goes on;
Ver. 9. They have done violence in preying on the father - rum. 65. When Heretics lack the good fortune of the present lii- life, to weak minds they recommend by words of soft persuasion things that are wrong; but if the good fortune of the present time at all smiles upon them, they do not cease even by violence to draw those they are able. So that by the title of ' fatherless' they are denoted who are still delicate, being set within the pale of Holy Church, whose life their merciful Father by dying preserved, who are already brought forward to a good purpose of mind, but are not yet confirmed with any efficacy in good deeds. The Heretics, then, ' do violence in
;• preying on the fatherless,' in that upon the weak minds of Book the faithful they make assault with violence in words and ^^^' deeds. But ' the common folk of the poor' are the uninstructed multitude, which, if it had the riches of true knowledge, would never part with the covering of its faith. For genuine teachers are like a kind of senators within the bounds of Holy Church, who, while they multiply knowledge in the heart, abound in the true riches in themselves. But Heretics ' spoil the common sort of the poor,' in that whilst the learned they cannot, all the unlearned by their pestilent preaching they strip naked of the covering of the faith. It
Ver. 10. From the naked, and those gain q without clothing and a h lingered, tliey have taken aicay the ears of corn.
6Q. What he calls naked he repeats in the words without liii. clothing, but it is one thing to he naked and another thing to go naked. Thus every person that does neither what is good nor what is bad is naked and idle; but he that does what is evil ' goes naked,' in that without the covering of good practice he is going by the road of wickedness. But there are some who, as knowing the evil of their wickedness, are in haste to be filled with the bread of righteousness, and hunger to receive the sayings of Holy Scripture; and these, as often as they turn over in thought the sentences of the Fathers for the improvement of the mind, as it were from a good crop they carry ears of corn. And so ' from the naked and those going without clothing and a hungered, Heretics take away ears of corn;' in that whether any persons be idle and never exercise themselves in any thing good, or whether they are going by the way of shamelessness without the covering of good practice, even if they at any time have now the desire to return to repentance, and long for the food of the word, from those same being a hungered they take away the ears of corn, because in the minds of those persons by mischievous persuasions they destroy the sentences of the Fathers. Nor do we improperly say that the ears of corn signify the sentences of the Fathers, in that often whilst they are delivered in forms of figurative diction, we remove the covering of the letter from them like the chaflof corn, that we may be regaled with the marrow of the Spirit. It goes on;
Job 24, Ver. 11. Thei/ rest at mid-day amid the heaps of those
Alleq. Y^y ' 67. All those that persecute Holy Church, what else do they but ' tread the winepress?' Which is allowed to be by the Divine appointment, that the clusters of souls may flow out into spiritual wine, and beiug divested of the coiTuptible flesh run into the heavenly realms as into a receptacle. For whilst the unrighteous bear down the righteous, they as it were put clusters of the grape beneath their feet. And the clusters being squeezed run over for the fulness of the heavenly feast, which were before as if hanging in the freedom of this air. Thus David the Prophet, regarding the chastening of Holy Church'', writes the Psalm ' for the winepresses.' Now all that bear hard upon the life of the faithful, tread and thirst, in that by doing things that are cruel they are rendered the more savage; being blinded by just deserts of their ungodliness, they go about to do things more grievous the more they have already done grievous things. But Heretics, when they have not themselves the power of persecuting, stir up the men of this world that have power, and incline their minds for the exercising persecution, and inflame them with what persuasions they are able. And when they see these pursuing cruel measures against the lives of the Catholics, they as it were rest in the very fervour of the sun. Therefore it is well said now, They rest at mid-day amidst the heaps of those that thirst with the winepresses being trodden, in that they join the multitude of those whom they see already employed in hard measures and still thirsting after harder ones. And whilst the fervour of these satisfies their desires, they rest in the deeds of such as in the mid-day. It goes on;
Ver. 12. They have caused men to groan out of the cities. Iv. 68. Whereas cities (civitates) are so called from the people living together, (conviventes,) by the designation of * cities' the churches of the true faith are not unfitly represented, which being settled in the different parts of the world constitute one Catholic Church, in which all the Book faithful thinking what is right concerning God live together ^ in harmony. For this very harmony of people living together the Lord even by the distinguishing of places set forth in the Gospel, when being about to satisfy the people with five loaves, He bade them lie down by fifties or hundreds in ranks, so that the crowd of the faithful might take its food at once separate in places, and united in ways. For the rest of the jubilee is contained in a mystery of the number fifty, and fifty is carried twice to be brought to a hundred. Therefore because there is first rest from bad practice, that the soul may afterwards rest more perfectly in the thoughts, some lie down by fifties and some by hundreds, since there are some that already enjoy the rest of practice from evil deeds, and there are some that already enjoy the rest of the soul from evil thoughts. Wherefore since Heretics often, attaching themselves to the powerful evil-doers of this world, bear down upon the united life and harmony of the good, it is rightly said in this place, They have caused men to groan from the cities. Whom blessed Job rightly describes as ' men,' in that Heretics rather go about to put an end to those, who with perfect steps run in the way of God not effeminately and loosely but manfully; who when they see the wound of misbelief inflicted in the mind of the faithful little ones, always fall back to crying out and groaning. And hence it is rightly said.
69. For the soul of the righteous is ' wounded,' when the Ivi. faith of the weak is unsettled, unto whom this identical thing ' to cry' is to be now consumed for the downfall of another. But God does not suffer him to go unavenged, in that though by just appointment he suffers an unjust thing to be done, yet He does not let that unjust thing go unavenged which He has justly permitted to be done, seeing that at once by the injustice of the sons of perdition He smites certain sins of the Elect, which He sees to be in them, and yet by Eternal Justice does not neglect to smite the injustice of those smiters. It goes on,