that she conquers, that by herself she may be conquered? Who can bear this absurdity? In no wise therefore may we say, that they who assert that it is sometimes right to lie, in asserting that are truthful; lest, what is most absurd and foolish to believe, truth should teach us to be liars. For what sort of thing is it, that no man learns of chastity that we may commit adultery; that we may offend God none learns of piety; that we may do any man harm, none learns of kindness; and that we may tell lies, we are to learn of truth! But then if this thing truth teaches not, it is not true; if not true, it is not meet to be learned; if not meet to be learned, never therefore is it meet to tell a lie.
39. But, some man will say, " Strong meat is for them that are perfect." ' For in many things a relaxation by way of indulgence is allowed to infirmity, although in her utmost sincerity the things be nowise pleasing to truth. Let him say this, whoever dreads not the consequences which are to be dreaded, if once there shall be in any way any lies per- mitted. In nowise, however, must they be permitted to climb up to such a height as to reach to perjuries and blasphemies: nor must any plea whatever be held out, for which it should be right that perjury should be com- mitted, or, what is more execrable, that God 1 Heb. v. 14.
1 Heb. v. 14.
should be blasphemed. For it does not follow that because the blaspheming is only in pre- tence and a lie, therefore He is not blas- phemed. For at this rate it might be said that perjury is not committed, because it is by a lie that it is committed: for who can be by truth a perjurer? So also by truth can no man be a blasphemer. Doubtless it is a milder kind of false swearing, when a person does not know that thing to be false and be- lieves it to be true, which he swears: like as also Saul blasphemed more excusably, be- cause he did it ignorantly.2 But the reason why it is worse to blaspheme than to perjure one's self, is, that in false swearing God is taken to witness a false thing, but in blas- pheming false things are spoken of God Himself. Now by so much is a man more in- excusable, whether perjurer or blasphemer, by how much the more, while asserting the things wherein they perjure or blaspheme, they know or believe them to be false. Who- ever therefore says that for an imperilled man's temporal safety or life a lie may be told, doth too much himself swerve from the path of eternal safety and life, if he says that on that behalf one may even swear by God, or even blaspheme God.
40. But sometimes a peril to eternal salva- tion itself is put forth against us; 3 which peril, they cry out, we by telling a lie, if otherwise it cannot be, must ward off. As, for instance, if a person who is to be baptized be in the power of impious and infidel men, and cannot be got at that he may be washed with the laver of regeneration, but by deceiving his keepers with a lie. From this most invidious cry, by which we are compelled, not for a man's wealth or honors in this world which are fleet- ing by, not for the life itself of this present time, but for the eternal salvation of a human being, to tell a lie, whither shall I betake me for refuge but unto thee, O truth? And by thee is put forth before me,4 Chastity. For why, if those keepers may be enticed to admit us to baptize the man, by our committing lewdness, do we refuse to do things contrary to chastity, and yet, if by a lie they may be deceived, consent to do things contrary to truth? when without doubt no man would faithfully think chastity amiable, but because it is enjoined of truth? So then, to get at a man to baptize him, let the keepers be de- ceived by lying, if truth bid it. But how can truth bid in order that a man may be baptized, that we should tell a lie, if chastity biddeth not, in order that a man be baptized, that we should commit whoredom? Now *iTi im. 1. 13.
3 Qp/>om'tier.
4 Yxoponitur.
5°o THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
why doth chastity not bid this, but because this truth teacheth not? If then, save what truth teacheth, we ought not to do, when truth teacheth not even for the sake of baptizing a man to do what is contrary to chastity, how shall she teach us to do for the sake of bap- tizing a man what is contrary to herself, the truth? But like as eyes not strong enough to look upon the sun yet do gladly look upon the objects which are by the sun enlightened, so, souls which have already strength to de- light in the beauty of chastity are yet not straightway able to consider in her very self that truth whence chastity hath her light, in- somuch that when it cometh to the doing of somewhat that is adverse to truth, they should so start back in horror as they do start back in horror if aught be proposed to be done that is adverse to chastity. But that son, who, receiving the word shall be far from perdition, and nothing false cometh forth of his mouth,1 accounts it as much debarred from him if, to the succoring of his fellow man he be urged to pass through a lie, as if it were through the deed of lewdness. And the Father heareth and granteth his prayer that he may avail without a lie to succor whom the Father Himself, Whose judgments are unsearchable, willeth to be succored. Such a son therefore so keeps watch against a lie, as he doth against sin. For indeed sometimes the name of lie is put for the name of sin: whence is that saying, "All men are liars.''3 For it is so said, as if it were said, "All men are sinners." And that: " But if the truth of God hath abounded through my lie."3 And therefore, when he lies as a man he sins as a man, and will be held by that sentence in which it is said, "All men are liars;" and, " If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."4 But when nothing false cometh forth of his mouth, according to that grace will it so be, of which is said: " He that is born of God, sinneth not." s For were this nativity by itself alone in us, no man would sin: and when it shall be alone, no man will sin. But now, we as yet drag on that which we were born corrupti- ble: although, according to that which we are new-born, if we walk aright, from day to day we are renewed inwardly.6 But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, life will swallow it up wholly, and not a sting of death will remain.7 Now this sting of death is sin. 41. Either then we are to eschew lies by right doing, or to confess them by repenting: but not, while they unhappily abound in our living, to make them more by teaching also.
1 Prov. xxix. 27. Lat. 2 Ps. cxvi. 11. [See R. V.]
But let him who thinks this, choose out whereby he may help his fellow man being in peril, to what safety he will, what kinds soever of lies; provided yet even of such men we obtain our demand, that upon no cause must we be carried on to false-swearing and to blaspheming. These wickednesses at least let us judge either greater than deeds of lewd- ness, or certainly not smaller. For indeed it is worth thinking of, that very often men, where they suspect them of adultery, chal- lenge their wives to an oath: which surely they would not do, unless they believed that even they who were not afraid to perpetrate adultery, might be afraid of perjury. Be- cause in fact also some lewd women who were not afraid by unlawful embraces to deceive their husbands, have been afraid to call God deceitfully to witness unto those same hus- bands whom they had deceived. What cause then can there be, that a chaste and religious person should be unwilling by adultery to help a man to baptism, yet be willing to help him by perjury, which even adulterers are wont to dread? And then, if it be shocking to do this by perjuring one's self, how much rather by blaspheming? Far be it then from a Christian to deny and blaspheme Christ, that he may make another man a Christian; and by losing himself seek to find one, whom, if he teach him such things, he may cause to be lost when found. The book then which is called "the Pound," thou must in this method refute and destroy; namely, that head of it in which they dogmatize that for the purpose of concealing religion a lie may be told, this thou shalt understand must be the first to be amputated; in such manner, that their testi- monies by which they labor to advance the Holy Books as patrons of their lies, thou must demonstrate partly not to be lies, partly, even those which are such, to be not meet to be imitated: and if infirmity usurps to herself thus much, that somewhat shall be venially permitted unto her which truth approve not, yet that thou unshakenly hold and defend, that in divine religion it is at no time what- ever right to tell a lie. And, as for con- cealed heretics, that, as we are not to find out concealed adulterers by committing of adul- teries, nor murderers by committing of mur- ders, nor practisers of black arts8 by practising of black arts, so neither must we seek to find out liars by telling lies or blasphemers by blaspheming: according to the reasonings which we have in this volume so copiously set forth, that unto the goal of the same, which we fixed to be in this place, we have with difficulty come at last.
8 Malefuos.
ST. AUGUSTIN: OF THE WORK OF MONKS.
fDE OPERE MONACHORUM.]
TRANSLATED BY REV. H. BROWNE, M.A., OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; LATE PRINCIPAL OF THE DIOCESAN COLLEGE, CHICHESTER.
OF THE WORK OF MONKS.
[DE OPERE MONACHORUM.]
From the Retractations, ii. 21.
To write the Book on the Work of Monks, the need whicti compelled me was this. When at Carthage there had begun to be monasteries, some maintained themselves by their own hands, obeying the Apostle; but others wished so to live on the oblations of the faith- ful, that doing no work whence they might either have or supply the necessaries of life, they thought and boasted that they did rather fulfill the precept of the Gospel, where the Lord saith, Behold the fowls of heaven, and the lilies of the field, (Matt. vi. 26). Whence also among laics of inferior purpose, but yet fervent in zeal, there had begun to arise tumultuous con- tests, whereby the Church was troubled, some defending the one, others the other part. Add to this, that some of them who were for not "working, wore their hair long. Whence contentions between those who reprehended and those who justified the practice, were, according to their party affections, increased. On these accounts the venerable old Aurelius, Bishop of the Church of the. same city, desired me to write somewhat of this matter; and I did so. This Book begins, " Jussioni tuae, sancte frater Aureli."
This work is placed in the Retractations next after that " On the Good of Marriage," which belongs to the year 401.
1. Thy bidding, holy "brother Aurelius, it was meet that I should comply withal, with so much the more devotion, by how much the more it became clear unto me Who, out of thee, did speak that bidding. For our Lord Jesus Christ, dwelling in thine inner part, and inspiring into thee a solicitude of fatherly and brotherly charity, whether our sons and that I should hereof write somewhat unto thee. May He therefore Himself be present with me also, that I may obey in such sort that from His gift, in the very usefulness of fruitful labor, I may understand that I am indeed obeying Him.
2. First then, it is to be seen, what is said by persons of that profession, who will not brothers the monks, who neglect to obey J work: then, if we shall find that they think blessed Paul the Apostle, when he saith, " If \ not aright, what is meet to be said for their any will not work, neither let him eat," x are ' correction? " It is not," say they, " of this to have that license permitted unto them; corporal work in which either husbandmen or He, assuming unto His work thy will and tongue, hath commanded me out of thee, handicraftsmen labor, that the Apostle gave precept, when he said, ' If any will not work, neither let him eat.' '' For he could not be 1 2 Thess. iii. 10. [SeeR.v.]. | contrary to the Gospel, where the Lord Him- 504 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
self saith, " Therefore I say unto you, be not solicitous for your life, what ye shall eat, neither for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Consider the fowls of heaven, that they sow not, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye rather of more worth than they? But who of you by taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? And concerning raiment, why are ye solicit- ous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they labor not, neither spin; but I say unto you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these. But if the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, God so cloth- eth; how much more you, (O ye) of little faith! Be not therefore solicitous, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clad? for all these things do the Gentiles seek. And your heavenly Father knoweth that ye need all these. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these shall be added unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for the morrow: for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."1 Lo, say they, where the Lord biddeth us be without care concerning our food and clothing: how then could the Apostle think contrary to the Lord, that he should instruct us that we ought to be in such sort solicitous, what we shall eat, or what we shall drink, or wherewithal we shall be clothed, that he should even burden us with the arts, cares, labors of handicraftsmen? Wherefore in that he saith, "If any will not work, neither let him eat; " works spiritual, say they, are what we must understand: of which he saith in another place, "To each one according as the Lord hath given: I have planted, Apollos hath watered; but God gave the increase."2 And a little after, "Each one shall receive his reward according to his own labor. We are God's fellow- workers; God's husbandry, God's building are ye: ac- cording to the grace which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder* I have laid the foundation." As therefore the Apostle worketh in planting, watering, building, and foundation-laying, in that way whoso will not work, let him not eat. For what profiteth in eating spiritually to be fed with the word of God, if he do not thence work others' edifica- tion? As that slothful servant, what did it profit to receive a talent and to hide it, and not work for the Lord's gain? Was it that it 1 Matt. vi. 25-34.
2 1 Cor. iii. 5-10.
should be taken from him at last, and him- self cast into outer darkness? So, say they, do we also. We read with the brethren, who come to us fatigued from the turmoil of the world, that with us, in the word of God, and in prayers, psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, they may find rest. We speak to them, console, exhort, building up in them what- ever unto their life, according to their degree, we perceive to be lacking. Such works if we wrought not, with peril should we receive of the Lord our spiritual sustenance itself. For this is it the Apostie said, " If any one will not work, neither let him eat.'' Thus do these men deem themselves to comply with the apostolic and evangelic sentence, when both the Gospel they believe to have given precept concerning the not caring for the corporal and temporal indigence of this life, and the Apostle concerning spiritual work and food to have said, " If any will not work, neither let him eat."
3. Nor do they attend to this, that if an- other should say, that the Lord indeed, speaking in parables and in similitudes con- cerning spiritual food and clothing, did warn that not on these accounts should His ser- vants be solicitous; (as He saith, "When they shall drag you to judgment-seats, take no thought what ye shall speak. For it will be given you in that hour what ye shall speak: but it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you." 3 For the discourse of spiritual wisdom is that for which He would not that they should take thought, promising that it should be given unto them, nothing solicitous thereof;) but the Apostle now, in manner Apostolical, more openly dis- coursing and more properly, than figuratively speaking, as is the case with much, indeed well- nigh all, in his Apostolic Epistles, said it properly of corporal work and food, J' If any will not work, neither let him eat:" by those would their sentence be rendered doubtful, unless, considering the other words of the Lord; they should find somewhat whereby they might prove it to have been of not caring for corporal food and raiment that He spake when He said, " Be not solicitous what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed." As, if they should observe what He saith, " For all these things do the Gen- tiles seek; " for there He shows that it was of very corporal and temporal things that He spake. So then, were this the only thing that the Apostle has said on this subject, " If any will not work, neither let him eat;" these words might be drawn over to another mean- OF THE WORK OF MONKS.
505 ing: but since in many other places of his Epistles, what is his mind on this point, he most openly teaches, they superfluously essay to raise a mist before themselves and others, that what that charity adviseth they may not only refuse to do, but even to understand it themselves, or let it be understood by others; not fearing that which is written, " He would not understand that he might do good." * 4. First then we ought to demonstrate that the blessed Apostle Paul willed the servants of God to work corporal works which should have as their end a great spiritual reward, for this purpose that they should need food and clothing of no man, but with their own hands should procure these for themselves: then, to show that those evangelical precepts from which some cherish not only their sloth but even arrogance, are not contrary to the Apos- tolical precept and example. Let us see then whence the Apostle came to this, that he should say, " If any will not work, neither let him eat," and what he thereupon joineth on, that from the very context 2 of this lesson may appear his declared sentence. "We com- mand you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh unquietly, and not according to the tradition which they have received 3 of us. For yourselves know how ye ought to imitate us; for we were not un- quiet among you, neither ate we bread of any man for nought, but in labor and travail night and day working that we might not burden any of you: not for that we have not power, but that we might give ourselves as a pattern to you in which ye should imitate us.
For also when we were with you, we gave you this charge, that if any will not work, let him not eat. For we have heard that certain among you walk unquietly, working not at all, but being busy-bodies. Now them that are such we charge and beseech in our Lord Jesus Christ, that with silence they work, and eat their own bread."4 What can be said to these things, since, that none might there- after have license to interpret this according to his wish, not according to charity, he by his own example hath taught what by precept he hath enjoined? To him, namely, as to an Apostle, a preacher of the Gospel, a soldier of Christ, a planter of the vineyard, a shepherd of the flock, had the Lord appointed that he should live by the Gospel; and yet himself exacted not the pay which was his due, that he might make himself a pattern to them which desired what was not their due; as he saith to the Corinthians, " Who goeth a war- 1 Ps. xxxvi. 3, (35, 4,) " noluit intelligere tit bene ageret." 2" Circumstantial 3 " Acceperunt." 4 2 Thess. iii. 6-12.
fare at any time at his own charges? Who planteth a vineyard, and of its fruit eateth not? Who feedeth a flock, and of the milk of the flock partaketh not? "5 Therefore, what was due to him, he would not receive, that by his example they might be checked, who, although not so ordained in the Church, did deem the like to be due to themselves. For what is it that he saith, " Neither ate we bread of any man for naught, but in labor and travail night and day working that we might not burden any of you; not for that we have not power, but that we might give our- selves as a pattern to you wherein ye should follow us?" Let them, therefore, hear to whom he hath given this precept, that is, they which have not this power which he had, to wit, that while only spiritually working they should eat bread by corporal labor not earned: 6 and as he says, "We charge and beseech in Christ that with silence they work and eat their own bread," let them not dispute against the most manifest words of the Apostle, be- cause this also pertaineth to that "silence" with which they ought to work and eat their own bread.
5. I would, however, proceed to a more searching 7 and diligent consideration and handling of these words, had I not other places of his Epistles much more manifest, by comparing which, both these are made more clearly manifest, and if these were not in existence, those others would suffice. To the Corinthians, namely, writing of this same thing, he saith thus, "Am I not free? am I not an Apostle? 8 Flave I not seen Christ Jesus our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an Apostle, to you as- suredly I am. For the seal of mine Apostle- ship are ye in the Lord. My defense to them which interrogate me is this. Have we not power to eat and to drink? Have we not power to lead about a woman who is a sister,9 as also the other Apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" See how first he shows what is lawful to him, and therefore lawful for that he is an Apostle. For with that he began, "Am I not free? am I not an Apostle? " and proves himself to be an Apos- tle, saying, " Have I not seen Christ Jesus our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord t" Which being proved, he shows that to be law- ful to him which was so to the other Apostles; that is, that he should not work with his hands, but live by the Gospel, as the Lord appointed, which in what follows he has most 8 So Griesbach and Lachmann. But text recept. "Am I not an Apostle? am I not free? " 506 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
openly demonstrated; for to this end did also faithful women which had earthly substance go with them, and minister unto them of their substance, that they might lack none of those things which "pertain to the necessaries of this life. Which thing blessed Paul demonstrates to be lawful indeed unto himself, as also the other Apostles did it, but that he had not chosen to use this power he afterwards men- tions. This thing some not understanding, have interpreted not " a woman which is a sister," when he said, " Have we not power to lead about a sister a woman;" but, "a sister a wife." They were misled by the am- biguity of the Greek word, because both " wife " and " woman " is expressed in Greek by the same word. Though indeed the Apostle has so put this that they ought not to have made this mistake; for that he neither says "a woman" merely, but "a sister woman;" nor ''to take'' (as in marriage), but "to take about" (as on a journey). Howbeit other interpreters have not been misled by this ambiguity, and they have inter- preted "woman" not "wife."