sipid; and I confess it is hard to say why Raciiel desired it so much, unless it was for its rarity and its sweet smell. Why the inci- dent should be narrated in Scripture, in which the fancies of women would not be mentioned as important unless it was intended that we should learn some important lesson from them, the only thing I can think of is the very simple idea that the fruit represents a good character; not the praise given a man by a few just and wise people, but popular report, which bestows greatness and renown on a man, and which is not desirable for its own sake, but is essential to the success of good men in their endeavors to benefit their fellow-men. So the apostle says, that it is proper to have a good report of those that are without;' for though they are not infallible, the lustre of their praise and the odor of their good opinion are a great help to the efforts of those who seek to benefit them. And this popular renown is not obtained by those that are highest in the Church, unless they expose themselves to the toils and hazards of an active life. Thus the son of Leah found the mandrakes when he went out into the field, that is, when walking honestly to- wards those that are without. The pursuit of wisdom, on the other hand, retired from the busy crowd, and lost in calm meditation, could never obtain a particle of this public approval, except through those who take the management of public business, not for the sake of being leaders, but in order to be use- ful. These men of action and business exert themselves for the public benefit, and by a popular use of their influence gain the ap- proval of the people even for the quiet life of the student and inquirer after truth; and thus through I^eah the mandrakes come into the hands of Rachel. Leah herself got them from her first-born son, that is, in honor of her fertility, which represents all the useful result of a laborious life exposed to the com mon vicissitudes; a life which many avoid on account of its troublesome engagements, be- cause, although they might be able to take the lead, they are bent on study, and devote all their powers to the quiet pursuit of knowl- edge, in love with the beauty of Rachel.
57. But as it is right that this studious life should gain public approval by letting itself be known, while it cannot rightly gain this approval if it keeps its follower in retirement, instead of using his powers for the manage- ment of ecclesiastical affairs, and so prevents his being generally useful; to this purpose Leah says to her sister, "Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and would-- est thou take away my son's mandrakes also?"= The husband represents all those j who, though fit for active life, and able to govern the Church, in administering to be- lievers the mystery of the faith, from their love of learning and of the pursuit of wisdom, desire to relinquish all troublesome occupa- tions, and to bury themselves in the class- room. Thus the words, " Is it a small mat- ter that thou hast taken my husband? and] wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also?" mean, " Is it a small matter that the! life of study keeps in retirement men required for the toils of public life? and does it ask for popular renown as well? " 58. To get this renown justly, Rachel gives her husband to her sister for the night; that is, those wno, by a talent for business, are fitted for government, must for the public benefit consent to bear the burden and suffer the hardships of public life; lest the pursuit of wisdom, to which their leisure is devoted, should be evil spoken of, and should not gain from the multitude the good opinion, repre- sented by the fruit, which is necessary for the encouragement of their pupils. But the life of business must be forced upon them. This is clearly shown by Leah's meeting Jacob when coming from the field, and laying hold of him, saying, " Thou shalt come in to mej for I have hired thee with my son's man- drakes.''^ As if she said. Dost thou wish the knowledge which thou lovest to be well thought of? Do not shirk the toil of busi- ness. The same thing happens constantly in the Church. What we read is explained by what we meet with in our own experience. Do we not everywhere see men coming from secular employments, to seek leisure for the study and contemplation of truth, their be loved Rachel, and intercepted mid-way by ecclesiastical affairs, which require them t be set to work, as if Leah said to them, You must come in to me? When such men mia ister in sincerity the mystery of God, so as in the night of this world to beget sons in thel faith, popular approval is gained also for thai life, in love for which they were led to aban don worldly pursuits, and from the adoption] of which they were called away to undertake the benevolent task of government. In all their labors they aim chiefly at this, that their chosen way of life may have greater and wider renown, as having supplied the people with such leaders; as Jacob consents to goi with Leah, that Rachel may obtain the sweet I I Tim. iii. 7.
smelling and good-looking fruit. Rachel,!
- Gen. xxx. 15.
3 Gen. xxx. 16.
Book XXII.]
REPLY TO FAUSTUS THE MANICH.^AN.
295 too, in course of time, by the mercy of God, brings forth a child herself, but not till after some time; for it seldom happens that there j is a sound, though only partial, apprehension, I without fleshly ideas, of such sacred lessons of wisdom as this: " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the I Word was God." ' ; 59. This must suffice as a reply to the false accusations brought by Faustus against the ; three fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from whom the God whom the Catholic Church worship was pleased to take His name. This is not the place to discourse on the merits and piety of these three men, or on the dignity of their prophetic character, which is beyond the comprehension of carnal minds. It is enough in this treatise to defend them against the calumnious attacks of male- volence and falsehood, in case those who read the Scriptures in a carping and hostile spirit should fancy that they have proved anything ngainst the sacredness and the profitableness of these books, by their attempts to blacken the character of men who are there mentioned so honorably.
60. It should be added that Lot, the brother, that is the blood relation, of Abra- ham, is not to be ranked as equal to those of whom God says, " I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob;'' nor does he belong to those testified to in Scripture as having continued righteous to the end, although in Sodom he lived a pious and virtuous life, and showed a praiseworthy hospitality, so that he was rescued from the fire, and a land was given by God to his seed to dwell in, for the sake of his uncle Abraham. On these ac- counts he is commended in Scripture — not for intemperance or incest. But when we find bad and good actions recorded of the same person, we must take warning from the one, and example from the other. As, then, 'iie sin of Lot, of whom we are told that he was righteous previous to this sin, instead of ''ringing a stain on the character of God, or iie truth of Scripture, rather calls on us to approve and admire the record in its resem- blance to a faithful mirror, which reflects not only the beauties and perfections, but also the faults and deformities, of those who approach it; still more, in the case of Judah, who lay with his daughter-in-law, we may see how L;roundless are the reproaches cast on the narative. The sacred record has an authority which raises it far above not merely the cavils of a handful of Manichaians, but the deter- mined enmity of the whole Gentile world; ■ John i. I.
for, in confirmation of its claims, we see that already it has brought nearly all people from their idolatrous superstitions to the worship of one God, according to the rule of Chris- tianity. It has conquered the world, not by violence and warfare, but by the resistless force of truth. Where, then, is Judah praised in Scripture? Where is anything good said of him, except that in the blessing pronounced by his father he is distinguished above the rest, because of the prophecy that Christ would come in the flesh from his tribe? ' 61. Judah, as Faustus says, committed for- nication; and besides that, we can accuse him of selling his brother into Egypt. Is it any disparagement to light, that in revealing all things it discloses what is unsiglitly? So neither is the character of Scripture affected by the evil deeds of which we are informed by the record itself. Undoubtedly, by the eternal law, which requires the preservation of natural order, and forbids the transgression of it, conjugal intercourse should take place only for the procreation of children, and after the celebration of marriage, so as to maintain the bond of peace. Therefore, the prostitu- tion of women, merely for the gratification of sinful passion, is condemned by the divine and eternal law. To purchase the degrada- tion of another, disgraces the purchaser; £0 that, though the sin would have been greater if Judah had knowingh^ lain with his daugh- ter-in-law (for if, as the Lord says, man and wife are no more two, but one flesh, ^ a daugh- ter-in-law is the same as a daughter); still, it is plain that, as regards his own intention, he was disgraced by his intercourse with an har- lot. The woman, on the other hand, who de- ceived her father-in-law, sinned not from wantonness, or because she loved the gains of iniquity, but from her desire to have chil- dren of this particular family. So, being dis- appointed in two of the brothers, and not ob- taining the third, she succeeded by craft in getting a child by their fatner; and the re- ward which she got was kept, not as an orna- ment, but as a pledge. It would certainly have been better to have remained childless than to become a mother without marriage. Still, her desire to have her father-in-law as the father of her children was verj^ different from having a criminal affection for him. And when, by his order, she was brought out to be killed, on her producing the staff and necklace and ring, saying that the father of the child was the man who had given her those i)Iedges, Judah acknowledged them, and said, " She hath been more righteous than I" 2 Gen..\li.\. S-12.
3.Ma'.t. xix. 6.
296 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Book XXII.
— not praising her, but condemning himself. He blamed her desire to have children less than his own unlawful passion, which had led him to one whom he thought to be an harlot. In a similar sense, it is said of some that they justified Sodom;' that is, their sin was so great, that Sodom seemed righteous in com- parison. And even allowing that this woman is not spoken of as comparatively less guilty, but is actually praised by her father-in-law, while, on account of her not observing the established rites of marriage, she is a criminal in the eye of the eternal law of right, which forbids the transgression of natural order, both as regards the body, and first and chiefly as regards the mind, what wonder though one sinner should praise another?
62. The mistake of Faustus and of Manich- nsism generally, is in supposing that these ob- jections prove anything against us, as if our reverence for Scripture, and our profession of regard for its authority, bound us to ap- prove of all the evil actions mentioned in it; whereas the greater our homage for the Scripture, the more decided must be our con- demnation of what the truth of Scripture itself teaches us to condemn. In Scripture, all fornication and adultery are condemned by the divine law; accordingl)^, when actions of this kind are narrated, without being expressly condemned, it is intended not that we should praise them, but that we should pass judg- ment on them ourselves. Every one execrates the cruelty of Herod in the Gospel, when, in his uneasiness on hearing of the birth of Christ, he commanded the slaughter of so many infants. - But this is merely narrated without being condemned. Or if Manichaean absurdity is bold enough to deny the truth of this narrative, since they do not admit the birth of Christ, which w-as what troubled Herod, let them read the account of the blind fury of the Jews, which is related without any expression of reproach, although the feeling of abhorrence is the same in all.
63. But, it is said, Judah, who lay with his daughter-in-law, is reckoned as one of the twelve patriarchs. And was not Judas, who betrayed the Lord, reckoned among the twelve apostles? And was not this one of them, who was a devil, sent along with them to preach the gospel? ' In reply to this, it will be said that after his crime Judas hanged himself, and was removed from the number of the apostles; while Judah, after his evil conduct, was not only blessed along with his brethren, but got special honor and approval from his father, who is so highly spoken of I Ezek. xvi. 52 2 Matt. ii. 16.
3 John vi. 70, 71.
in Scripture. But the main lesson to be learned from this is, that this prophecy refers not to Judah, but to Christ, who was foretold as to come in the flesh from his tribe; and the very reason for the mention of this crime of Judah is to be found in the desirableness of teaching us to look for another meaning in the words of his father, which are seen not to be applicable to him in his misconduct, from the praise which they express.
64. Doubtless, the intention of Faustus' calumnies is to damage this very assertion, that Christ was born of the tribe of Judah. Especially, as in the genealogy given by Matthew we find the name of Zara, whom this woman Tamar bore to Judah. Had Faustus wished to reproach Jacob's family merely, and not Christ's birth, he might have taken the case of Reuben the first-born, who committed the unnatural crime of defiling his father's bed, of which fornication the apostle says, that it was not so much as named among the Gentiles.'* Jacob also mentions this in his blessing, charging his son with the infa- mous deed. Faustus might have brought up this, as Reuben seems to have been guilty of deliberate incest, and there was no harlot's disguise in this case, were it not that Tamar's conduct in desiring nothing but to have chil- dren is more odious to Faustus than if she had acted from criminal passion, and did he nut wish to discredit the incarnation, by bringing reproach on Christ's progenitors. Faustus unhappily is not aware that the most true and truthful Saviour is a teacher, not only in His words, but also in His birth. In His fleshly origin there is this lesson for those who should believe on Him from all nations, that the sins of their fathers need be no hindrance to them. Besides, the Bridegroom, who was to call good and bad to His marriage, ^ was pleased to assimilate Himself to His guests, in being born of good and bad. He thus confirms as typical of Himself the symbol of the Passover, in which it was commanded that the lamb to be eaten should be taken from the sheep or from the goats — that is, from the righteous or the wicked. * Preserv- ing throughout the indication of divinity and humanity, as man He consented to have both bad and good as His parents, while as God He chose the miraculous birth from a virgin.
65. The impiety, therefore, of Faustus' attacks on Scripture can injure no one but himself; for what he thus assails is now de- servedly the object of universal reverence. As has been said already, the sacred record, like a faithful mirror, has no flattery in its 4 I Cor. V. I.
5 Matt. x.\ii. 10.
6 Ex.
XII. 3-5.
Book XXII.]
REPLY TO FAUSTUS THE MANICH^AN 297 portraits, and either itself passes sentence upon human actions as worthy of approval or disapproval, or leaves the reader to do so. And not only does it distinguish men as lijameworthy or praiseworthy, but it also takes notice of cases where the blameworthy deserve praise, and the praiseworthy blame. Thus, although Saul was blameworthy, it was not tiie less praiseworthy in him. to examine so carefully who had eaten food during the curse, and to pronounce the stern sentence in obedience to the commandment of God. ' So, too, he was right in banishing those that had familiar spirits and wizards out of the land. ' And although David was praise- worthy, we are not called on to approve or imitate his sins, which God rebukes by the prophet. And so Pontius Pilate was not wrong in pronouncing the Lord innocent, in spite of the accusations of the Jews;^ nor was it praiseworthy in Peter to deny the Lord thrice; nor, again, was he praiseworthy on that occasion when Christ called him Satan, l)ecause, not understanding the things of God, he wished to withhold Christ from his passion, that is, from our salvation. Here Peter, im- mediately after being called blessed, is called Satan. •• Which character most truly belonged to him, we may see from his apostleship, and from his crown of martyrdom.
66. In the case of David also, we read of iioth good and bad actions. But where David's strength lay, and what was the secret of his success, is sufficiently plain, not to the bhnd malevolence with which Faustus assails iioly writings and holy men, but to pious dis- cernment, which bows to the divine authority, and at the same time judges correctly of human conduct. The Manichaeans will find, if they read the Scriptures, that God rebukes David more than Faustus does, ^ But they will read also of the sacrifice of his penitence, of his surpassing gentleness to his merciless and bloodthirsty enemy, whom David, pious as he was brave, dismissed unhurt when now and again he fell into his hands. '^ They will 1 read of his memorable humility under divine chastisement, when the kingly neck was so l)Owed under the Master's yoke, that he bore with perfect patience bitter taunts from his enemy, though he was armed, and had armed men with him. And when his companion was enraged at such things being said to the king, and was on the point of requiting the insult on the head of the scoffer, he mildly restrained him, appealing to the fear of God in support of his own royal order, and saying that this had happened to him as a punish- ' I Sam. xiv.
' I Sam. xiv.
2 I Sam. 5 2 Sam.
xxviii. 3. 3 John xix. 4, 6. xii. 6 I Sam. xxiv. and xxvi.
ment from God, who had sent the man to curse him. ^ They will read how, with the love of a shepherd for the flock entrusted to him, he was willing to die for them, when, after he had numbered the people, God saw good to punish his sinful pride by lessening the number he boasted of. In this destruc- tion, God, with whom there is no iniquity, in His secret judgment, both took away the lives of those whom He knew to be unworthy of life, and by this diminution cured the vain- glory which had prided itself on the number of the people. They will read of that scrupu- lous fear of God in his regard for the emblem of Christ in the sacred anointing, which made David's heart smite him with regret for hav- ing secretly cut off a small piece of Saul's garment, that he might prove to him that he had no wish to kill him, when he might have done it. They will read of his judicious be- havior as regards his children, and also of his tenderness toward them — how, when one was sick, he entreated the Lord for him with many tears and with much self-abasement, but when he died, an innocent child, he did not mourn for him; and again, how, when his youthful son was carried away with unnatural hostility to an infamous violation of his father's bed, and in a parricidal war, he wished him to live, and wept for him when he was killed; for he thought of the eternal doom of a soul guilty of such crimes, and desired that he should live to escape this doom by being brought to submission and repentance. These, and many other praiseworthy and ex- emplary things, may be seen in this holy man by a candid examination of the Scripture narrative, especially if in humble piety and unfeigned faith we regard the judgment of God, who knew the secrets of David's heart, and who, in His infallible inspection, so ap- proves of David as to commend him as a pattern to his sons.
67. It must have been on account of this inspection of the depths of David's heart by the Spirit of God that, when on being re- proved by the prophet, he said, I have sin.ned, he was considered worthy to be told, immediately after this brief confession, that he was pardoned — that is, that he was ad- mitted to eternal salvation. For he did not escape the correction of the fatherly rod, of which God spoke in His threatening, that, while by his confession he obtained eternal exemption, he might be tried by temporal chastisement. And it is a remarkable evi- dence of the strength of David's faith, and of his meek and submissive spirit, that, when 7 2 Sam. xvi.
298 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Book XXII.
he had been told by the propaet that God had forgiven him, altliouga the threatened consequences were still permitted to follow, he did not accuse the prophet of having de- luded him, or murmur against God as having mocked him with a declaration of forgiveness. This deeply holy man, whose soul was lifted up unto God, and not against God, knew that had not the Lord mercifully accepted his confession and repentance, his sins would have deserved eternal punishment. So when, instead of this, he was made to smart under temporal correction, he saw that, while the pardon remained good, wholesome discipline was also provided. Saul, too, when he was reproved by Samuel, said, I have sinned.' Wny, then, was he not considered fit to be told, as David was, that the Lord had par- doned his sin? Is there acceptance of persons with God? Far from it. While to the human ear the words were the same, the divine eye siw a difference in the heart. The lesson for us to learn from these things is, that the king- dom of heaven is within us,^ and that we must worship God from our inmost feelings, that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth may speak, instead of honoring Him with our lips, like the people of old, while our hearts nre far from Him. We may learn also to ;iudge of men, whose hearts we cannot see, only as God judges, who sees what we can- not, and who cannot be biased or misled. Having, on the high authority of sacred Script- ure, the plainest announcement of God's opinion of David, we may regard as absurd or deplorable the rashness of men who hold a different opinion. The authority of Script- ure, as regards the character of these men of ancient times, is supported by the evidence from the prophecies which they contain, and which are now receiving their fulfillment.
68. We see the same thing in the Gospel, where the devils confess that Christ is the Son of God in the words used by Peter, but with a very different heart. So, though the words were the same, Peter is praised for his faith, while the impiety of the devils is checked. For Christ, not by human sense, but by divine knowledge, could inspect and infallibly discriminate the sources from which the words came. Besides, there are multi- tudes who confess that Christ is the Son of the living God, without meriting the same approval as Peter — not only of those who shall say in that day, "Lord, Lord," and shall receive the sentence, " Depart from me," but also of those who shall be placed on the right hand. They may probably Sa m. XV. 24.
2 Luke xvii. 28.
never have denied Christ even once; they may never have opposed His suffering for our salvation; they may never have forced the Gentiles to do as the Jews; 3 and yet they shall not be honored equally with Peter, who, though he did all these things, will sit on one of the twelve thrones, and judge not only the twelve tribes, but the angels. So, again, many who have never desired another man's wife, or procured the death of the husband, as David did, will never reach the place which David nevertheless held in the divine favor. There is a vast difference between what is in itself so undesirable that it must be utterly rejected, and the rich and plenteous harvest which may afterwards appear. For farmers are best pleased with the fields from which, after we;eding them, it may be, of great this- tles, they receive an hundred-fold; not with fields which have never had any thistles, and hardly bear thirty-fold.
69. So Moses, too, who was so faithful a servant of God in all his house; the minister of the holy, just, and good law; of whose character the apostle speaks in the words here quoted;-* the minister also of the symbols which, though not conferring salvation, prom- ised the Saviour, as the Saviour Himself shows, when He says, " If ye believed Moses, ye would also believe me, for he wrote of me," — from which passage we have already sufficiently answered the presumptuous cavils of the Manichseans; — this Moses, the servant of the living, the true, the most high God, that made heaven and earth, not of a foreign substance, but of nothing — not from the pressure of necessity, but from plenitude of goodness — not by the suffering of His mem- bers, but by the power of His word; — this Moses, who humbly put from him this high ministry, but obediently accepted it, and faithfully kept it, and diligently fulfilled it; who ruled the people with vigilance, reproved them with vehemence, loved them with fer- vor, and bore with them in patience, standing for his subjects before God to receive His counsel, and to appease His wrath; — this great and good man is not to be judged of from Faustus' malicious representations, but from what is said by God, whose word is a true expression of His true opinion of this man, whom He knew because He made him. For the sins of men are also known to God, though He is not their author; but He takes notice of them as a judge in those who refuse to own them, and pardons them as a father in those who make confession. His servant Moses, as thus described, we love and ad-