made to shine, the bad man who dreads to be corrected is darkened in sorrow. And so it is well said, If tJie morning snddeidy appear, thetj think it is the shadow of death. For ' the morning' is the mind of the righteous man, which quitting the darkness of its sin, now breaks out into the light of eternity, as it is said of Holy Church likewise; IVho is she that looketh Song of forth as the morning f Therefore in the same measure that lo. ' every righteous person shining with the light of righteous- ness is in the present life reared to a height with honours, in the same measure before the eyes of the wicked comes the * darkness of death,' in that they who remember that they have done bad things are in fear of being corrected. For they desire always to have a loose given them in their iniquities, to live free from correction, and from sin to have delight; whose fatal mirth is itself appropriately described in the words that are directly introduced, And they walk so in darkness, as in the light.
78. For with a froward mind they delight in deeds of Ixiv. w^ickedness, through their sin they are day by day being dragged to punishment, and are full of assurance. Hence it is said by Solomon, And there are wicked men that are a^Eccl. 8, secure as if they had the deeds of the righteous. Concerning * whom it is written again, Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the most wicked doings. Thus ' they walk in dark- ness as in the light,' in that they so delight in the night of sin as if the light of righteousness spread around them. Or otherwise, wdiereas darkness not inappropriately represents the present life, wherein the consciences of other men are not seen, whilst our light is the eternal land, in which when we look at faces, our hearts within us we mutually see; and because the wicked so love the present life, and embrace these times of exile, as if they already reigned in their native country, it is rightly said. They walk in darkness as in the light, in that they are as full of gladness in the present state of blindness, as if they already enjoyed the light of the eternal country. It goes on; He is light above the face of the water.
79. From the plural number he returns to the singular, Ixv, VOL. II. T 274 Mind of Uie nicked borne away by the?( ind oflewplaiion.
Job 24, because most frequently one person begins what is bad, and -—- — numbers by imitating him follow after, but the fault is pri- marily his, who to the bad men following after furnished examples of wickedness; and hence the sentence frequently returns to him who was the leader in sin. Now the surface of water is carried hither and thither by the breath of the air, and not being steadied with any fixedness is put in motion every where. And so the mind of the wicked man is ' lighter than the surface of water,' in that every breath of temptation that touches it, draws it on without any retarding of resistance. For if we imagine the unstable heart of any bad man, what do we discover but a surface of water set in the wind? For that man one while the breath of anger drives on, now the breath of pride, now the breath of lust, now the breath of envy, now the breath of falsehood forces along. And so he is * light above the surface of the water,' whom every wind of error when it comes drives before it. Whence too it Ps. 83, jg ^^,^Y\ said by the Psalmist, O my God, make them like a nheel, as the stubble before the wind. For the wicked are *made like a wheel,' in that being sent into the round of labour, whilst the things that are before they neglect, and those which ought to be given up they follow, in the hind parts they are lifted up, and in the fore parts they fall. And they are likewise rightly compared to * stubble before the face of the wind,' in that, when the breath of temptation comes upon them, having no principle of gravity to rest upon, they are only lifted up to be dashed to the ground, and they often account themselves of some merit in proportion as the blast of error bears them on high. It goes on; Let their portion be cursed in the earth; and let him not walk by the way of the vineyards, Ixvi. go. Whoever in the present life does what is right and meets with misfortunes, is seen indeed to travail in adver- sity, but for the blessing of the everlasting inheritance he is finished complete; but whoever does what is bad and yet meets with good fortune, and does not even by the bountiful- ness of blessings withhold himself from wicked deeds, is seen indeed to prosper, but is tied fast by the bond of everlasting cursing. Hence it is rightly said now. Let their portion be cursed in the earthy in that though he is blessed for a time, Not guided hij the Churchy they go from error to error. 275 yet ho is held f\\st in tlie bond of cursinir. ConcerninQ- Book whom too it is fitly added, He walketh not by the way of '- the vifteyards. F'or ' the way of the vineyards,' is the light- ness of the Churches. Wherein nothing hinders but that we understand either the heretic or every carnal man, because * the way of the vineyards,' i. c. the rightness of the Churches, is parted with, when either the right faith or the right rule of just living is not held. For he ' walks by the way.of the vineyards,' who taking to heart the preaching of the Holy Catholic Church, deviates neither from the right line of faith nor of good deeds. Since to * walk in the way of the vine- yards' is to behold the Fathers of Holy Church as hanging clusters of the vine, whose words whilst he heeds in the toils of the journey, he is intoxicated with the love of Eternity. It goes on; Ver. 19. Let him pass to excessive heal from the snow waters.
81. Iniquity is on this account likened to cold, because Ixvii. the mind that sins it binds up with insensibility. Hence it is written; As a fountain has made her waters cold^ so she^^^-^i has made her wickedness cold. Contrariwise charity is * heat,' in this respect that it fires the soul it fills. Of which * heat' it is written, Because iniquity shall abound, the love Mat.24, of many shall ua.v cold. And there are some who while they shun the cold of their wickednesses come to true faith or to the wearing of sanctity, but because they presume on their own faculties for perceiving more than should be, oftentimes in the faith which they receive they are minded to pry curiously into the things that they do not take in, so as to be held fast in God rather by reason than by faith. But because the mind of man has not power to dive into the mysteries of God, all that they cannot get to the bottom of by reason, they care not to believe, and by overmuch investigation they fall into error. So these, when they did not as yet believe, or were still busied for works of wickedness, were ' snow waters;' but when abandoning carnal deeds, in the faith to which they have been brought they aim to dive deeper than they have capacity for, they are hot beyond w-hat they ought to be. And so touching this wicked kind of person the sen- tence of one prophesying only and not wishing the thing is t2 27 i) Sin unrrpcnicd here is carried on to Hell.
Job 24, rightly delivered. Let him pass to overmuch heat from the — — '— snow waters. As if it were said in plain speech; ' he that is not restrained in humility under the fetters of self-disci- pline, from his unbelief, or from the coldness of bad practice, through immoderate wisdom falls into error. Whence too the great Preacher getting quit of this excessive heat of too refined wisdom from the hearts of his disciples saith well, Rom. ^gf f^ j^Q ^i^^ of himself ahove that he ought to he wise; hut to he wise unto sobriety. Lest perchance excessive heat might destroy those, of whom 'snow waters,' i.e. unbelief, or the fruits of deadened actions, held possession in the way to die. And because it is very difficult for him who accounts himself wise to bring down his mind to humility and believe those that preach right things, and reject the view of his own wrong thought, it is rightly said; Ver. 19. And his sin even to helL Ixviii. 82. For sin is ' brought even to hell,' which before the end of the present life is not by chastening reformed unto 1 John repentance. Of which same sin it is said by John, There '^' ' is a sin unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it.
For ' a sin unto death' is a sin even until death in this way, that the pardon of that sin is sought in vain which is not corrected here. Concerning which same it is yet further subjoined; Ver. 20. Let mercy forget him.
Almighty God's mercy is said to ' forget him,' who has forgotten Almighty God's justice, in that whoever does not fear Him now as just, can never find him merciful afterward. Which same sentence is not only held out against him, who abandons the preachings of true faith, but against hira like- wise, who being in the right faith lives a carnal life, in that the vengeance of eternal condemnation is not got quit of, whether sin lie in faith or practice. For though the kind of condemnation be unequal, yet guilt which is not wiped away by repentance, there is no means supplied for the absolving thereof. It goes on; Tlie worm is his sweetness. Ixix. 83. Whoever desires to make his way prosperous in this world, to surpass the rest of the world, to swell high with substance and honours, to this man no doubt worldly busi- Ihe delight of the wicked is the won/i, restless and foul. 277 ness is a delight, and repose a labour. For he is very much Book tired if the business of the world be lacking wherewith to be - lired. Now because it belongs to the nature of worms to be put in motion unceasingly every moment, restlessness of thoughts is not unjustly denoted by the name of ' worms.' And so ' the worm is the sweetness' of the wicked soul, in that he is fed to his satisfaction from the same source whence he is unceasingly agitated in restlessness. More- over it may be that by the title of the ' worm' the flesh may be more plainly denoted. Hence it is said further on, How much less man that is a worm? or the son qfmancA7,i4. ivhich is a worm? And so of every one that is full ofg" ' lust and devoted to the pleasures of the flesh, how great is the blindness is shewn, when it is said. The worm is his sweetness. For what is our flesh but ' rottenness' and ' the worm?' And whosoever pants with carnal desires, what else does he but love ' the worm?' For what the substance of the flesh is, our graves bear witness. What parent, what faith- ful friend can bear to touch the flesh of one however beloved fraught with worms? And so when the flesh is lusted after, let it be considered what it is when lifeless, and it is under- stood what it is that is loved. For nothing has so much efficacy to subdue the appetite of carnal desire, as for every one to consider, what that which he loves alive will be when dead. For when we consider the corruption of the flesh, we see in a moment, that when the flesh is unlawfully lusted after, corruption is desired. Therefore it is well said of the mind of the lustful man, the icorin is his sweetness, in that he who is on fire with the desire of carnal corruption, pants after the stink of rottenness.
All this, as I remember that I promised in the beginning B. xi. of this third part, I have run over in brief, that the things which follow after in this work "", as they are involved in great obscurity, may with God's aid be more fully gone into.
•= Opere. Ben. notes that some Mss. read ' corpora/ which would mean ' Volume.'
THE FOURTH PART.
BOOK XVII.
What remains of the twenty-fourth chapter beginning from the middle of verse 20, together with chapters twenty-five and twenty-six entire, he sets forth chiefly in a moral sense.
\^ As often as in the history of the holy man we betake Alleg. ourselves in a new book to unravel the mystery of the typical explanation, it must be either from that man's name or course of suifering that we mainly draw out the mystical inter- pretation, so that after the manner of dwelling houses, wliilst we set forth a superscription of the title on the very front of the door post, whereas it is known whose house it is, one may enter with greater security. Now 1 remember that I have often said that blessed Job, both by his course of suffering and his name, marked out the sufferings of our Redeemer, and of His Body, i. e. Holy Church. For ' Job' is by interpretation * Grieving-' And who else is represented in this grieving one saving He, concerning Whom it is Is. 53, 4. written. Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our ib. 5. sorrows. Concerning Whom again it is written, And with His bruise we are healed? But his friends bear the likeness of heretics, who, as v^e have often said already, while they set themselves to defend, only offend God. Thus let the holy man by words and wounds so tell things of his own as at tlie same time to set forth ours also, and most often, by the spirit of prophecy, relate things to come, surmount things present, yet sometimes so tell of those present as to be silent touching those future. The keeping then of this exercise of discernment being understood in accordance with the altering of his voice, let our understanding likewise turn about, that it may agree the more truly with his ideas in pro])()rtion as it also shifts itself with his accents. Thus by the preceding words the holy man, in sentences eloquently Ibniied by the The tvicked how forgotten of God, and how remembered. 279 art of wisdom, set forth the offences of the bad man of Book XVII whatever kind, and represented how damnable his conduct -j- — '- was, of whose punishment he directly adds, saying. Moral.
Let hhn not he in remembrance; let him be crushed like an unfrnHful stump.
2. For he is not brought back into the * remembrance' of ii. his Creator, whosoever to the very end of his life is in subjection to evil habits. Since if the recollection of the regard from Above did make itself feh on such an one, assuredly it would recall him from his wickedness. For his deserts require that he should be utterly blotted out from his Maker's remembrance. But it is to be borne in mind that God can never strictly be said to ' remember;' for One Who cannot forget, in what way is it possible for Him to re- member? But whereas it is our way that those whom we remember we embrace, but those whom we forget we part far from, after the usage of man God is both said to * remember,' when He bestows gifts, and to forget, when He forsakes one in guilt. But because He weighs all things, views all without any alternating of intermission, He both remembers the good, whom still He never forgets, and no Avise remembers the bad, whom nevertheless in judgment He does ever behold. For He as it were returns to the recollection of the good, which same nevertheless He never quitted, and as it were He never regards the bad, whose deeds howsoever He has an eye on, but reserves for the last scene the judgment of condemnation thereupon. For hence it is written. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Prov.15, beholding the evil and the good. Hence it is said by the Psalmist, The face of the Lord is upon them that do evil, to Ps. 34, cut ojf the remembrance of them from, the earth. Therefore the persons for Him to punish He does regard, but those very persons before He did not see, in that He ' knows them not.' For He shall say to some at the end, / laiow you not whence Lukeis ye are; depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Thus, in a^^* wonderful way. He both beholds and forgets the life of bad men, in that those whom by severity of sentence He judges, as regards the remembrance of mercy He is ignorant of.
3. And these same, because they do not come into His remembrance, like an unfruitful stump are broken to pieces 280 Fruitless tree broken. TJte FlesJt barren, the soul widowed.
Job 24, by IJis jndginont. P'or the earlli sui)p()rtccl them witli a ri — '- — temporal outfitting, the shower of preaching pomed down on them from above. But because their life never put forth the fruit of good works, the husbandman in anger cut it clean away, that according to the sentence of Truth it might not cumber the space, which another may occupy for fruit. Of Matt. 3, which same * unfruitful stump' it is said by John, And now Luke 3 ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^'^ ^'^^^ ^/ ^^'^ trees; therefore every ^' tree wJiicli bringeih not forth good fruit shall be hewn down, and cast into the fire. But in this place, in order that the eternal punishments of the lost sinner may be denoted, the tree is not said to be cut away, but to be broken to pieces, in that the death indeed of the flesh cuts off the reprobate, but the punishment ensuing breaks them in pieces. For here it is as it were cut down, when he is severed from the present life. But in hell it is broken in pieces, when he is tortured with everlasting damnation. But the holy man, as he set forth the strict punishment of the frovvard one, at once falls back to the sin, that by the immensity of the unjustness he may effectually teach that that excessive damnation of him was not unjust. It goes on; Ver. 21. For he fed the barren and her that hearetk not., aitd to the widoiv lie did not do good. Ill* 4. Who is it in this place that is denominated ' barren' saving the flesh, which while it goes after things present alone is not able to engender good thoughts? and who is styled ' a widow' but the soul, which same because the Maker was minded to unite to Himself, He came to the marriage chamber of the carnal womb, as the Psalmist Ps 19,6. testifies, who saith, WJncJt is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber'^ And she is rightly called ' a widow,' in that her Husband underwent death in her behalf, and now in the retreats of heaven hidden from her eyes as in the tract of another region He lives. Thus the wicked man ' feeds the barren' and scorns to ' do good to the widow,' because in obeying the desires of the flesh, he makes little of the care of the soul and its hfe. For with the whole bent and with every effort he considers how without necessities of any kind the flesli which is to die may be made to hold on, and he is indifferent to concern himself for the life of the soul.
The Church a Widow, Heretical sects barren. 281 which either in death or in bliss most snrely lives lor Book evermore. Now it is rightly clone that when it is said, - He fed the barren, it is directly added, and her that beareth not. For certain women we know from sacred history were found * barren,' but yet in the end of their days brought forth. But the flesh is not only called barren, but also she that beareth not^ in that of her own wit not even at the last is she capable of begetting good thoughts. For from her own vigour she is now already going off, and yet things transitory she still ceases not to long for, and being now spent of original force, is well nigh thrown off by that very world which she loves, yet by mischievous endeavour still strives to acquire what is temporal. She now no longer has the ability to do wicked things, yet does not a whit cease to mind in thought even the things which she does not in act.
Rightly therefore is she called not only ' barren,' but also * one that beareth not,' in that of her own wit, as we said, for the offspring of good thought, not even when she has become powerless does she conceive.
5. Which same may likewise be understood of heretical persons preaching. For every single preacher of error, while he teaches a people set without the pale of the Church's unity, is surely ^ feeding the barren, and her that cannot bear,' seeing that he is bestowing the serviceableness of his labour upon her, who never makes any return of spiritual fruits. ' Neither does he do good to the widow,* forasmuch as for that Holy Church Universal, whose Husband suffered the adverse treatment of death, he scorns to live to and to serve.
For to * do good to the widow' is to take much pains in the consoling of her, who by the love of her dead Husband is crushed to the ground. And hence by the voice of the Psalmist this same widow, i. e. Holy Church, makes complaint, saying, / looked for comforters, but I found none. Since Ps. 69, then only does she * find a comforter,' when from that death which her husband underwent, she beholds many within herself arise to life. Now very often the preacher of error is allied with the rich of this world, who for this reason, that they strain over earthly employments, are too blind to detect the crafty tricks of the things delivered, and whereas they go about to be powerful without, they are taken without 282 The niiyltty takot in. Had men believe not their ottn life.
Job 24, labour by the noose of froward preaching. Hence too it is '— added; Ver. 22. He took auay the mighty m his migiit. iv. 6. Since in the might of his wickedness the mighty he severally takes away, whilst by the craftiness of bis error he carries off the great ones of this world. In opposition to 1 Cor. 1, whom it is said by Paul, God hath chosen the weak thinys of the world to confound the thinys that are miglity. Now the ' might' of the corrupt preacher is the high-flown science of his speaking, puffed up with which he despises all the rest of the world, and in contempt of all men, as being ]3re- eminently proficient in himself, he swells big. Who whilst thinking what is great of himself, and not knowing what is true of God, is parted far from knowledge of the faith, and yet endeavours to make himself appear a preacher thereof. Whence it is further added; And when lie standeth, he will not believe his life. V. 7. Every evil preacher ' standeth' in this world, so long as he lives in an earthly body. But he refuses to * believe his life,' because he is too proud to open his eyes to what is true relating to God. For he would ' believe his life,* if he had right notions concerning the Substance of his Creator. These things, then, we were describing above as spoken of every bad man, but we suddenly made the meaning turn to the preacher of error. Whence it is to be noted, that we are so drawn on to the special case as not yet in any wise to be quite taken off from the general. For every bad man, even if he seem to maintain the faith in the bosom of the Church Universal, ' standeth and believeth not his life,' because they are right things indeed which by faith he understands of his Creator, yet the works of faith he carts not to maintain; and he is convicted of unbelief, in that, even from that which he sets forth as his creed, by his way of 1 John living he is condemned. For hence it is said by John, He ' ' that saith he knowetlt God, and keepetJt not His command- Tit. 1, ments,isa liar. Hence Paul sailh, 7 hey profess that they know God, but in, -works they deny Him. Hence James Jam. 2, saith, Faith without norks is dead. But amidst all this the Creator by a wonderful economy of counsel at once has an eye to offences, and bestows periods of living, that the Lengthened life given for repentance or condemnation. '2SS lengthened portions of temporal life may to the person either Book being converted be turned into the furtherance of reward, or - not being converted to the heightening of condemnation. Hence it is yet further subjoined, Ver. 23. God hath given unto him room for repentance, and he abuseth it in pride.
8. Whosoever commits sin and lives, such a person vi. Divine Appointment for this reason bears with in iniquity, that it may withhold him from iniquity. But he that is borne with for a longer time, and yet is not withholden from iniquity, is vouchsafed indeed the benefit of the patience Above, yet with the chains of his guilt is by that very benefit binding himself the tighter. For because the times of repent- ance vouchsafed he diverts to sin, the strict Judge in the end converts the instances of mercy bestowed into punish- ment. Hence it is said by Paul; Or kuowest thou not that ^^^' 2, the longsuffering of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thg hardness and impenitent heart treamrest up unto thyself wrath against the dag of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Hence Isaiah saith, For the Is. Q^-, child shall die an hundred years old, hut the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. As though he deterred us in plain words, saying, ' The life of a child indeed is drawn to a great length, in order that he may be corrected of childish doings, but if he be not even by length of time restrained from the commission of sin, this very length of life, which he received in pitifulness, is made to grow to him into an aggravation of cursing.' Whence it is necessary that the longer time that we see ourselves to be waited for, we fear the very seasons of pitifulness before granted' 'praero- as the grounds of condemnation, lest by the clemency ^^^* of the Judge the punishment of the sinner should be height- ened, and by the same means whereby any one might have been rescued from death, he should tend to death in a man- ner the more disastrous. Which is for this reason very often brought to pass, because the eye of the mind is not in the least degree weaned from things present. For the sinner is careless to regard the ways of the Redeemer, and so he grows old in his own paths without stopping. Hence it is added; 284 Worldly men hilenl on fhctr ou')t iraijs, not tJiose of God.
Job 24, For his eyes are upon his ways.
9. For the sinner * regards his own ways,' because he sets vii. Moral, h^^self to mind only, to have an eye only for, things which may stand him in stead for temporal advantage. Thus it is Phil. 2, hence Paul saith, All seek their own, not the thinqfi wJiich are Jesus Chrisfs. For the way of the highminded is pride; the way of the robber, avarice; the way of the lecherous, carnal concupiscence. Thus every bad man bends his eyes down on his own ways, in that he is intent on vicious pur- suits alone, that by these he may satisfy his mind. Whence it is said by Solomon, The eyes of a fool are in tlie ends of the earth; because that only they regard with the whole bent of the heart, whereby they may attain to the end of earthly desire. Now the sinner would never fix the gaze of his looking on earth, if he lifted up the eyes of the mind to the holy paths of his Redeemer. Whence it is again said Eccl.2, by Solomon, Tlie wise manh eyes are in his head; in this way, viz. that with undivided intentness the wise man regards Him, of Whom he reflects by faith that he is a member. For these ways of man's walk and conversation, he had Ps. 119, deemed it little worth to have in his eye, who said, I will ^^' meditate in Thy statutes, and have respect unto Thy nays. As if he gave his word in plain terms, saying, ' The tilings which are mine own I henceforth eschew the seeing of, in that by the path of the imitating of Thee I burn to go on in the steps of behaviour.' For he who henceforth withstands the present world, by the continual inciting of love presents the ways of his Redeemer to the eyes of the heart, that so the mind may eschew what is prosperous, be in readiness for what is adverse, desire nought that soothes down, dread nought that is supposed to dismay, account sorrow joy, estimate the delights of the present life as the ills of w^oe, not fear the diminutions of a state of scorn, but thereby seek room for enduring glory. For these ways Truth shewed to the eyes of those that were following Him, when He said,