20. Among all these things, then, those only are the true objects of enjoyment which we have spoken of as eternal and unchangea- ble. The rest are for use, that we may be able to arrive at the full enjoyment of the former. We, however, who enjoy and use other things are things ourselves. For a great thing truly is man, made after the image and similitude of God, not as respects the mortal body in which he is clothed, but as respects the rational soul by which he is exalted in honor above the beasts. And so it becomes an important question, whether men ought to enjoy, or to use, themselves, or to do both. For we are commanded to love one another: but it is a question whether man is to be loved by man for his own sake, or for the sake of something else. If it is for his own sake, we enjoy him; if it is for the sake of some- thing else, we use him. It seems to me, then, that he is to be loved for the sake of something else. For if a thing is to be loved for its own sake, then in the enjoyment of it consists a happy life, the hope of which at least, if not yet the reality, is our comfort in the present time. But a curse is pronounced on him who places his hope in man.1 21. Neither ought any one to have joy in himself, if you look at the matter clearly, be- cause no one ought to love even himself for his own sake, but for the sake of Him who is the true object of enjoyment. For a man is never in so good a state as when his whole life is a journey towards the unchangeable life, and his affections are entirely fixed upon that. If, however, he loves himself for his own sake, he does not look at himself in rela- tion to God, but turns his mind in upon him- 1 Jer. xvii. 5.
5^8 ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
[Book I.
self, and so is not occupied with anything that is unchangeable. And thus he does not en- joy himself at his best, because he is better when his mind is fully fixed upon, and his affections wrapped up in, the unchangeable good, than when he turns from that to enjoy even himself. Wherefore if you ought not to love even yourself for your own sake, but for His in whom your love finds its most worthy object, no other man has a right to be angry if you love him too for God's sake. For this is the law of love that has been laid down by Divine authority: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;" but, "Thou shalt love God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind: " x so that you are to concentrate all your thoughts, your whole life, and your whole intelligence upon Him from whom you derive all that you bring. For when He says, " With all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," He means that no part of our life is to be unoc- cupied, and to afford room, as it were, for the wish to enjoy some other object, but that whatever else may suggest itself to us as an object worthy of love is to be borne into the same channel in which the whole current of our affections flows. Whoever, then, loves his neighbor aright, ought to urge upon him that he too should love God with his whole heart, and soul, and mind. For in this way, loving his neighbor as himself, a man turns the whole current of his love both for himself and his neighbor into the channel of the love of God, which suffers no stream to be drawn off from itself by whose diversion its own vol- ume would be diminished.
CHAP. 23. MAN NEEDS NO INJUNCTION TO LOVE HIMSELF AND HIS OWN BODY.
22. Those things which are objects of use are not all, however, to be loved, but those only which are either united with us in a com- mon relation to God, such as a man or an angel, or are so related to us as to need the goodness of God through our instrumentality, such as the body. For assuredly the mar- tyrs did not love the wickedness of their per- secutors, although they used it to attain the favor of God. As, then, there are four kinds of things that are to be loved, — first, that which is above us; second, ourselves; third, that which is on a level with us; fourth, that which is beneath us, — no precepts need be tiiven about the second and fourth of these. For, however far a man may fall away from the truth, he still continues to love himself, and to love his own body. The soul which 1 Matt. xxii. 37-39. Compare Lev. xix. 18; Deut. vi. 5.
flies away from the unchangeable Light, the Ruler of all things, does so that it may rule over itself and over its own body; and so it cannot but love both itself and its own body.
23. Morever, it thinks it has attained something very great if it is able to lord it over its companions, that is, other men. For it is inherent in the sinful soul to desire above all things, and to claim as due to itself, that which is properly due to God only. Now such love of itself is more correctly called hate. For it is not just that it should desire what is beneath it to be obedient to it while itself will not obey its own superior; and most justly has it been said, " He who loveth iniquity hateth his own soul."2 And accordingly the soul becomes weak, and endures much suffer- ing about the mortal body. For, of course, it must love the body, and be grieved at its corruption; and the immortality and incorrup- tibility of the body spring out of the health of the soul. Now the health of the soul is to cling steadfastly to the better part, that is, to the unchangeable God. But when it aspires to lord it even over those who are by nature its equals, — that is, its fellow-men, — this is a reach of arrogance utterly intolerable.
CHAP. 24. NO MAN HATES HIS OWN FLESH, NOT EVEN THOSE WHO ABUSE IT.
24. No man, then, hates himself. On this point, indeed, no question was ever raised by any sect. But neither does any man hate his own body. For the apostle says truly, "No man ever yet hated his own flesh."3 And when some people say that they would rather be without a body altogether, they en- tirely deceive themselves. For it is not their body, but its corruptions and its heavi- ness, that they hate. And so it is not no body, but an uncorrupted and very light body, that they want. But they think a body of that kind would be no body at all, because they think such a thing as that must be a spirit. And as to the fact that they seem in some sort to scourge their bodies by abstinence and toil, those who do this in the right spirit do it not that they may get rid of their body, but that they may have it in subjection and ready for every needful work. For they strive by a kind of toilsome exercise of the body itself to root out those lusts that are hurtful to the body, that is, those habits and affections of the soul that lead to the enjoyment of unworthy objects. They are not destroying themselves; they are taking care of their health.
25. Those, on the other hand, who do this in a perverse spirit, make war upon their own = Ps.x. S(LXX.).
3 Eph. v. 29.
Chap. XXVI.J ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
5?9 body as if it were a natural enemy. And in this matter they are led astray by a mistaken interpretation of what they read: " The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other."1 For this is said of the carnal habit yet unsubdued, against which the spirit lusteth, not to destroy the body, but to eradicate the lust of the body — i.e., its evil habit — and thus to make it subject to the spirit, which is what the order of nature de- mands. For as, after the resurrection, the body, having become wholly subject to the spirit, will live in perfect peace to all eternity; even in this life we must make it an object to have the carnal habit changed for the better, so that its inordinate affections may not war against the soul. And until this shall take place, "the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh;" the spirit struggling, not in hatred, but for the mastery, because it desires that what it loves should be subject to the higher principle; and the flesh struggling, not in hatred, but because of the bondage of habit which it has derived from its parent stock, and which has grown in upon it by a law of nature till it has become inveterate. The spirit, then, in subduing the flesh, is working as it were to destroy the ill- founded peace of an evil habit, and to bring about the real peace which springs out of a good habit. Nevertheless, not even those who, led astray by false notions, hate their bodies would be prepared to sacrifice one eye, even supposing they could do so without suffering any pain, and that they had as much sight left in one as they formerly had in two, unless some object was to be attained which would overbalance the loss. This and other indications of the same kind are sufficient to show those who candidly seek the truth how well-founded is the statement of the apostle when he says, "No man ever yet hated his own flesh." He adds too, "but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church."2 CHAP. 25. — A MAN MAY LOVE SOMETHING MORE THAN HIS BODY, BUT DOES" NOT THEREFORE HATE HIS BODY.
26. Man, therefore, ought to be taught the due measure of loving, that is, in what meas- ure he may love himself so as to be of service to himself. For that he does love himself, and does desire to do good to himself, no- body but a fool would doubt. He is to be taught, too, in what measure to love his body, so as to care for it wisely and within due 1 Gal. v. 17.
- Eph. v. 29.
limits. For it is equally manifest that he loves his body also, and desires to keep it safe and sound. And yet a man may have something that he loves better than the safety and sound- ness of his body. For many have been found voluntarily to suffer both pains and amputa- tions of some of their limbs that they might obtain other objects which they valued more highly. But no one is to be told not to desire the safety and health of his body because there is something he desires more. For the miser, though he loves money, buys bread for him- self,— that is, he gives away money that he is very fond of and desires to heap up, — but it is because he values more highly the bodily health which the bread sustains. It is super- fluous to argue longer on a point so very plain, but this is just what the error of wicked men often compels us to do.
CHAP. 26. THE COMMAND TO LOVE GOD AND OUR NEIGHBOR INCLUDES A COMMAND TO LOVE OURSELVES.
27. Seeing, then, that there is no need of a command that every man should love him- self and his own body, — seeing, that is, that we love ourselves, and what is beneath us but connected with us, through a law of nature which has never been violated, and which is common to us with the beasts (for even the beasts love themselves and their own bodies), — it only remained necessary to lay injunc- tions upon us in regard to God above us, and our neighbor beside us. " Thou shalt love," He says, "the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." 3 Thus the end of the commandment is love, and that two- fold, the love of God and the love of our neighbor. Now, if you take yourself in your entirety, — that is, soul and body together, — and 5'our neighbor in his entirety, soul and body together (for man is made up of soul and body), you will find that none of the classes of things that are to be loved is over- looked in these two commandments. For though, when the love of God comes first, and the measure of our love for Him is prescribed in such terms that it is evident all other things are to find their centre in Him, nothing seems to be said about our love for ourselves; yet when it is said, " Thou shalt love thy neigh- bor as thyself," it at once becomes evident that our love for ourselves has not been over- looked.
3 Matt jcxii. 37-40.
34 53Q ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
[Book I.
CHAP. 27. THE ORDER OF LOVE.
28. Now he is a man of just and holy life who forms an unprejudiced estimate of things, and keeps his affections also under strict con- trol, so that he neither loves what he ought not to love, nor fails to love what he ought to love, nor loves that more which ought to be loved less, nor loves that equally which ought to be loved either less or more, nor loves that less or more which ought to be loved equally. No sinner is to be loved as a sinner; and every man is to be loved as a man for God's sake; but God is to be loved for His own sake. And if God is to be loved more than any man, each man ought to love God more than him- self. Likewise we ought to love another man better than our own body, because all things are to be loved in reference to God, and an- other man can have fellowship with us in the enjoyment of God, whereas our body cannot; for the body only lives through the soul, and it is by the soul that we enjoy God.
CHAP. 28. — HOW WE ARE TO DECIDE WHOM TO AID.
29. Further, all men are to be loved equally. But since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special regard to those who, by the ac- cidents of time, or place, or circumstance, are brought into closer connection with you. For, suppose that you had a great deal of some commodity, and felt bound to give it away to somebody who had none, and that it could not be given to more than one person; if two persons presented themselves, neither of whom had either from need or relationship a greater claim upon you than the other, you could do nothing fairer than choose by lot to which you would give what could not be given to both. Just so among men: since you can- not consult for the good of them all, you must take the matter as decided for you by a sort of lot, according as each man happens for the time being to be more closely connected with you.
CHAP. 29. — WE ARE TO DESIRE AND ENDEAVOR THAT ALL MEN MAY LOVE GOD.
30. Now of all who can with us enjoy God, we love partly those to whom we render ser- vices, partly those who render services to us, partly those who both help us in our need and in turn are helped by us, partly those upon whom we confer no advantage and from whom we look for none. We ought to desire, how- ever, that they should all join with us in lov- ing God, and all the assistance that we either give them or accept from them should tend to that one end. For in the theatres, dens of iniquity though they be, if a man is fond of a particular actor, and enjoys his art as a great or even as the very greatest good, he is fond of all who join with him in admiration of his favorite, not for their own sakes, but for the sake of him whom they admire in common; and the more fervent he is in his admiration, the more he works in every way he can to secure new admirers for him, and the more anxious he becomes to show him to others; and if he find any one comparatively indifferent, he does all he can to excite his interest by urging his favorite's merits: if, however, he meet with any one who opposes him, he is exceedingly displeased by such a man's contempt of his favorite, and strives in every way he can to remove it. Now, if this be so, what does it become us to do who live in the fellowship of the love of God, the en- joyment of whom is true happiness of life, to whom all who love Him owe both their own existence and the love they bear Him, con- cerning whom we have no fear that any one who comes to know Him will be disappointed in Him, and who desires our love, not for any gain to Himself, but that those who love Him may obtain an eternal reward, even Himself whom they love? And hence it is that we love even our enemies. For we do not fear them, seeing they cannot take away from us what we love; but we pity them rather, be- cause the more they hate us the more are they separated from Him whom we love. For if they would turn to Him, they must of neces- sity love Him as the supreme good, and love us too as partakers with them in so great a blessing.
CHAP. 30. WHETHER ANGELS ARE TO BE RECK- ONED OUR NEIGHBORS.
31. There arises further in this connection a question about angels. For they are happy in the enjoyment of Him whom we long to enjoy; and the more we enjoy Him in this life as through a glass darkly, the more easy do we find it to bear our pilgrimage, and the more eagerly do we long for its termination. But it is not irrational to ask whether in those two commandments is included the love of angels also. For that He who commanded us to love our neighbor made no exception, as far as men are concerned, is shown both by our Lord Himself in the Gospel, and by the Apostle Paul. For when the man to whom our Lord delivered those two command- ments, and to whom He said that on these hang all the law and the prophets, asked Him, "And who is my neighbor?" He told him of a certain man who, going down from Jeru- salem to Jericho, fell among thieves, and was Chap. XXXII. ] ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
531 severely wounded by them, and left naked and half dead.1 And He showed him that nobody was neighbor to this man except him who took pity upon him and came forward to relieve and care for him. And the man- wjio had asked the question admitted the truth of this when he was himself interrogated in turn. To whom our Lord says, " Go and do thou likewise; " teaching us that he is our neighbor whom it is our duty to help in his need, or whom it would be our duty to help if he were in need. Whence it follows, that he whose duty it would be in turn to help us is our neighbor. For the- name "neighbor" is a relative one, and no one can be neighbor ex- cept to a neighbor. And, again, who does not see that no exception is made of any one as a person to whom the offices of mercy may be denied when our Lord extends the rule even to our enemies? " Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you."2 32. And so also the Apostle Paul teaches when he says: " For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false wit- ness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly compre- hended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor." 3 Whoever then sup- poses that the apostle did not embrace every man in this precept, is compelled to admit, what is at once most absurd and most perni- cious, that the apostle thought it no sin, if a man were not a Christian or were an enemy, to commit adultery with his wife, or to kill him, or to covet his goods. And as nobody but a fool would say this, it is clear that every man is to be considered our neighbor, be- cause we are to work no ill to any man.
33. But now, if every one to whom we ought to show, or who ought to show to us', the offices of mercy is by right called a neigh- bor, it is manifest that the command to love our neighbor embraces the holy angels also, seeing that so great offices of mercy have been performed by them on our behalf, as may easily be shown by turning the attention to many passages of Holy Scripture. And on this ground even God Himself, our Lord, desired to be called our neighbor. For our Lord Jesus Christ points to Himself under the figure of the man who brought aid to him who was lying half dead on the road, wounded and abandoned by the robbers. And the Psalmist says in his prayer, "I behaved my- self as though he had been my friend or brother."4 But as the Divine nature is of 2 Matt. v. 44.
3 Rom. xiii. 9, 10.
higher excellence than, and far removed above, our nature, the command to love God is dis- tinct from that to love our neighbor. For He shows us pity on account of His own good- ness, but we show pity to one another on ac- count of His; — that is, He pities us that we may fully enjoy Himself; we pity one another that we may fully enjoy Him.
CHAP. 31. — GOD USES RATHER THAN ENJOYS US.
34. And on this ground, when we say that we enjoy only that which we love for its own sake, and that nothing is a true object of en- joyment except that which makes us happy, and that all other things are for use, there seems still to be something that requires ex- planation. For God loves us, and Holy Scripture frequently sets before~us the love He has towards us. In what way then does He love us? As objects of use or as objects of enjoyment? If He enjoys us, He must be in need of good from us, and no sane man will say that; for all the good we enjoy is either Himself, or what comes from Himself. And no one can be ignorant or in doubt as to the fact that the light stands in no need of the glitter of the things it has itself lit up. The Psalmist says most plainly, " I said to the Lord, Thou art my God, for Thou need- est not my goodness." 5 He does not pnjr>y us then, but makes use of us. For if He neither enjoys nor uses us, I am at a loss to discover in what way He can love us.
CHAP. 32. IN WHAT WAY GOD USES MAN.
35. But neither does He use after our fashion of using. For when we use objects, we do so with a view to the full enjoyment of the goodness of God. God, however, in His use of us, has reference to His own goodness. For it is because He is good we exist; and so far as we truly exist we are good. And, further, because He is also just, we cannot with impunity be evil; and so far as we are evil, so far is our existence less complete. Now He is the first and supreme existence, who is altogether unchangeable, and who could say in the fullest sense of the words, " I am that I am," and " Thou shalt say to them, I am hath sent me unto you; "6 so that all other things that exist, both owe their ex- istence entirely to Him, and are good only so far as He has given it to them to be so. That use, then, which God is said to make of us has no reference to His own advantage, but to ours only; and, so far as He is con- cerned, has reference only to His goodness.
5 Ps. xvi. 2 (LXX.).
6 Ex. iii. 14.
532 ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
[Book I.
When we take pity upon a man and care for him, it is for his advantage we do so; but somehow or other our own advantage follows by a sort of natural consequence, for God does not leave the mercy we show to him who needs it to go without reward. Now this is our highest reward, that we should fully enjoy Him, and that all who enjoy Him should en- joy one another in Him..
CHAP. 33. IN WHAT WAY MAN SHOULD BE EN- JOYED.
36. For if we find our happiness complete in one another, we stop short upon the road, and place our hope of happiness in man or angel. Now the proud man and the proud angel arrogate this to themselves, and are glad to have the hope of others fixed upon them. But, on the contrary, the holy man and the holy angel, even when we are weary and anxious to stay with them and rest in them, set themselves to recruit our energies with the provision which they have received of God for us or for themselves; and then urge us thus refreshed to go on our way towards Him, in the enjoyment of whom we find our common happiness. For even the apostle exclaims, " Was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?"1 and again: "Neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; bat God that giveth the increase." 2 And the angel admonisheth the man who is about to worship him, that he should rather worship Him who is his Master, and under whom he himself is a fellow-servant.3 37. But when you have joy of a man in God, it7s~Gbd rather than man that you en- joy. For you enjoy Him by whom you are made happy, and you rejoice to have come to Him in whose presence you place your hope of joy. And accordingly, Paul says to Phile- mon, "Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord."4 For if he had not added " in the Lord," but had only said, " Let me have joy of thee," he would have implied that he fixed his hope of happiness upon him, al- though even in the immediate context to " enjoy " is used in the sense of to " use with delight." For when the thing that we love is near us, it is a matter of course that it should bring delight with it. And if you pass be- yond this delight, and make it a means to that which you are permanently to rest in, you are using it, and it is an abuse of language to say that you enjoy it. But if you cling to it, and rest in it, finding your happiness complete in it, then you may be truly and properly said to enjoy it. And this we must never do except in the case of the Blessed Trinity, who is the Supreme and Unchangea- ble. Good.
CHAP. 34. CHRIST THE FIRST WAY TO GOD.
38. And mark that even when He who is Himself the Truth and the Word, by whom all things were made, had been made flesh that He might dwell among us, the apostle yet says: "Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more."5 For Christ, de- siring not only to give the possession to those who had completed the journey, but also to be Himself the way to those who were just setting out, determined to take a fleshly body. Whence also that expression, " The Lord created6 me in the beginning of His way,"7 that is, that those who wished to come might begin their journey in Him. The apostle, therefore, although still on the way, and fol- lowing after God who called him to the reward of His heavenly calling, yet forgetting those things which were behind, and pressing on towards those things which were before,8 had already passed over the beginning of the way, and had now no further need of it; yet by this way all must commence their journey who desire to attain to the truth, and to rest in eternal life. For He says: " I am the way, and the truth, and the life;"9 that is, by me men come, to me they come, in me they rest. For when we come to Him, we come to the Father also, because through an equal an equal is known; and the Holy Spirit binds, and as it were seals us, so that we are able to rest permanently in the supreme and un- changeable Good. And hence we may learn how essential it is that nothing should detain us on the way, when not even our Lord Him- self, so far as He has condescended to be our way, is willing to detain us, but wishes us rather to press on; and, instead of weakly clinging to temporal things, even though these have been put on and worn by Him for our salvation, to pass over them quickly, and to struggle to attain unto Himself, who has freed our nature from the bondage of temporal things, and has set it down at the right hand of His Father.