if Me, our Creator, did not come to take our nature. For He is called in one sense ^ a corner stone,' because; Tie united in Himself two peoples, and in another, because He set forth in Himself ])atterns of both lives, that is, the active and the contemplative, united together. For the contemplative life differs very much from the active. But our Redeemer by coming Incarnate, while He gave a pattern of both, united both in Himself For when Luke 6, He wrought miracles in the city, and yet continued all night in prayer on the mountain, He gave His faithful ones an example, not to neglect, through love of con- templation, the care of their neighbours, nor again to abandon contemplative pursuits, from being too immo- derately engaged in the care of their neighbours; but so to keep together their mind, in applying it to the two cases, that the love of their neighbour might not interfere with the love of God, nor again the love of God cast out, because it transcends, the love of their neighbour. Because then the Mediator between God and man was manifested to the heart of man, when it knew not what it was doing, in order by His doings to set in order things transitory, and to shew by con- templation whence all things depended, it is rightly said. Or who hath laid the corner stone thereof? As if the Lord were openly saying. Except Myself, Who manifested in time for the salvation of men, Him Whom I begat as My only Son without time, that men might learn in His life that even diverse pursuits are not discordant. And it must be observed, that He does not state that He sent Him out, but that He 1 r,on e- sent Him away ^ Because in truth the Son, in taking human sed du' iiature, descended from a lofty, to the lowest, estate. But misisse. since even the Elect Angels, who are not redeemed by this 1 Pet. mystery, yet marvelled at the mystery of this Incarnation, it ' ' is rightly subjoined, Ver. 7. When the morning stars were jjraising Me together.
xiv. 34. For because the nature of rational spirits is believed to have been created first in time, the Angels are, not improperly, called ' morning stars.' But if this is so, whilst the earth was invisible, and in disorder, whilst darkness was over the Praise of Angels, exultation of men at GotVs Work.!i289 abyss, they anticipated in their existence the coming day Book of the following age through the light of wisdom. Nor^i^^ill* must we hear negligently the word * together' which is added; because the morning stars doubtless praise, together with those of the evening, the power of the Redeemer, while the Elect angels glorify even w^ith redeemed men in the end of the world the bounty of heavenly grace. For in order to excite us to praise our Creator, when the Light arose in the flesh, they proclaimed this which we before mentioned; Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men o/'Luke 2, good will. They praise then together, because they adapt to our redemption the words of their exultation. They praise together, because when ihey behold us admitted, they rejoice that their own number is filled up. But they are therefore perhaps also termed ' morning stars,' because they are frequently sent to exhort men, and while they announce the coming morn, they drive away from the hearts of men the darkness of the present life. But behold Angels praise the Divine Power, because the very sight of such great brightness expands them. But with what virtue do we, who though ransomed, are yet weighed down by the corruption of the flesh, praise the gift which we receive?
For how will our tongue be able to speak of that, which our mind is unable to understand.? It follows. And all the so?is of God exulting for joy.
35. For it is called ' exultation,' when the joy of the heart xv.
is not fully expressed by the power of the voice, but when he «rho rejoices makes known in certain ways the joy which he :an neither conceal, nor fully express. Let Angels therefore ;:>raise, who now behold above the loftiness of such great )rightness. But let men exult, who still sufler here below he straitness of their speech. But because the Lord knew hat these things would certainly happen. He does not speak f them as about to occur, but rather relates them as having )ccurred. But how is it that, when the good exult in the nystery of their redemption, envy inflames the wicked, and hat whilst the Elect make progress, the reprobate are roused o furious madness, and persecute their rising virtues, ►ecause they do not wish to imitate them? And yet He 'Vho has redeemed, forsakes us not even among these trials.
VOL. Ill, u 290 Sea of the world, born of evil thought, shut up by God.
Job 38, For it is written; Bui God is faithful, Who will not suffer njor"" y^^ '^ ^^ /6'/A//?/<?6/ above that ye are able, but will with the 10, 13. temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. For our Creator knows when to sufler the stoim of temptation to arise, when to restrain it on rising. He knows how to restrain, in order to our protection, that which He allows to come forth against us for our exercise; that the raging storm may wash over, and may not over- whelm us. Whence also it follows; Ver. 8. Who shut up the sea with doors, when it was breaking forth, as if proceeding from the womb? xvi. 36. For what do we understand by the ^ sea,' but the •^^^^^' world, and what by the ' womb,' but the corruption of carnal thoughts? For in this place by the word ' womb' is desig- nated the secret and evil thought of carnal things. And this womb conceives not a bodily substance in order to produce offspring, but a cause of sorrow, in order to fulfil its wicked- ness. Of this womb of the heart of the wicked it is said in Ps. 7,14. another place, He hath conceived sorrow, and hath brought forth iniquity. By this womb do the wicked conceive when they think evil things. By this womb do they bring forth, when they execute the evils they have thought. The sea then was bursting forth, as if proceeding from the womb, when the waves of worldly threats, conceived in the iniquity of carnal thoughts, were raging for the destiTiction of Holy Church. But, by God's help, this sea was shut up with doors, because holy men wxre opposed as a kind of door, against the pride of persecutors, in order that the wrath of persecutors might be crushed by their miracles, and reve- rence. For when the princes of this world had been brought low, the Lord exalted Holy Church, by their means, above the height of the world, and restrained the assaults of the raging sea, by having raised up the power of the samel Church. But let us hear what the Lord did to this ragincj sea. It follows; Ver. 9. When I was making a cloud the garment thereof and was covering it with darkness as with swaddling clothes xvii. 37. The raging sea is covered with a ' cloud,' because th( cruelty of persecutors is covered with the veil of their owr folly. For it is unable to behold the clear light of truth JEvil men clouded and swaddled in darkness. 291 from the interposed darkness of their unbelief; and through Rook the desert of its own blindness, it knows not what it!2!^Zfil" is doing by the impulse of cruelty. For had they knoum, iCov.i^ Q as says the Apostle, ihcy ivould never have crucified ' the Lord of glory. This cloud is wont to cover not only the unbelievers who are placed without the Church, but also to obscure those who live in a carnal manner within it. Whence holy men, who sympathize even with others' negligence, and think that they themselves are also suffering that which they perceive others enduring, pray to God, and say. Thou hast Lam. 3, placed a cloud before Thee, that our prayer should not pass through. As if they openly said, To our mind accustomed to worldly pleasures Thou presentest, by a righteous judg- ment, the phantoms of its cares, by which Thou confusest it, in the very earnestness of its prayer; and that which Thou art not ignorant is given up to the most degrading desires, Thou rightly repellest, when blinded, from beholding the brightness of Thy light; so that when it reaches towards Thee, it is turned away from beholding Thee, by the cloud of its own thoughts; and that that which constantly thinks on these worldly subjects, because it wishes for them, may endure them also in its prayer, when it does not wish for them. Because then the very wickedness of persecutors is so restrained by God's ordering, as not to burst forth as much as it wishes against holy men; after He said, When I was laying the cloud as the garment thereof, He fitly sub- joined. And was covering it with darkness as with swaddling clothes. For the feet and arms are bound with swaddling clothes, lest they should be thrown about hither and thither with unrestricted liberty. Because, therefore, the persecutors of Holy Church, restless from their instability of heart, and devoted to this world, savour not the things of age, but of childhood; they who are fast bound by darkness and ob- scurity, (not by a sense of the Divine judgment,) so as to be unable to persecute as much as they wish, are said to be wrapped in swaddling clothes. Because, as has been said, they savour of childish things, and yet, constrained by the Divine dispensation they do not stretch forth their arms wherever they please; and if they desire lightly to perpetrate 292 IIulij Preachers, doors, open to some, sJiul to others.
Jon 3H,(.v(j,y \i\\\([ of sin, yet tlicy;ir(; by no uieans permitted to ^-j^'£g- fulfil all they wish. It follows, Ver. 10. I surroiuided it with My houndtirics. The Lord surrounds the sea with His boundaries, because He so restricts the wrath of ])ersecutors by the dispensation of His judgments, that the swelling wave of their mad wrath is broken on the level shore of His secret dispensation. It follows; Ver. 10, 11. And I set a bar and doors, and said, Hitherto shall thou come, and thou shall not proceed further, and here shall thou break tliy swelling waves. xviii. 38. What is designated by ^ doors,' but holy preachers, and what by the * bar,' except the Lord Incarnate? For He has in truth opposed these doors as a firmer barrier against the force of the swelling sea, the mqre He has strengthened them by barring them Himself. For because these doors of Holy Church are strengthened by this bar being placed against them, they could be battered indeed by the waves, but they could not be broken through: so that though the wave of persecution might dash on them from without, yet it could not penetrate to the centre of their heart. And because holy Preachers open themselves by their preaching to their followers, but close themselves by their authority against those who oppose them, they are, not improperly, called lal. con-« doors,' that is, open to the conversation ^ of the humble, and closed to the terrors of the proud. They are, not improperly, called ' doors:' because they both open an entrance for the faithful, and again oppose themselves to the entrance of the unbelieving. Let us consider what a door of the Church was Peter, who admitted Cornelius, when enquiring into the faith, and rejected Simon when seeking miraculous powers Acts 10, for a price; saying to the one, I have found in truth that God is no respecter of persons, he graciously opened the Acts 8, secrets of the kingdom. Declaring to the other. Thy money ^^' perish with thee, he closes the entrance of the heavenly court by a sentence of strict condemnation. What are all the Apostles but doors of Holy Church, when they hear by John20, the voice of their Redeemer, Receive the Holy Ghost; whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose"- Persecution limited hy conversion of the Heathen. 293 soever sitis ye retain^ they are retained? As if it were plainly Book said to them; By you, those to whom ye open yourselves!^!^ZHI' shall come in to Me; and those to whom ye close yourselves, shall be rejected. Whilst then the sea rages, the Lord opposes His bar and doors; because whilst the storm of persecution spreads itself out in the world from bitter and faithless hearts, God exalts the glory of His Only Begotten, and the reverence of His preachers; and while He makes known the mysteries of the Divine strength. He breaks in the ungodly the waves of wrath.
39. But it is well said, Hitherto shall thou come, and thou shall not proceed further. Because there is doubtless a limit of the secret judgment, both when the storm of persecution should burst forth, and when it should cease, lest, if not aroused, it should not discipline the Elect, or, if unrestrained, should overwhelm them. But when the knowledge of the faith reaches as far as to the persecutors, the swelhng of the lroid)led sea is appeased, and there does the sea break its waves, because on coming to the knowledge of the truth, it blushes at every thing it has done wickedly. For the broken wave n truth glides back on itself; because wickedness when jvercome is accused even by the thought of its own heart; ind suffers, as it were, the very violence which it had inflicted, Decause it feels the stings of guilt, from the depravity which t had committed. Whence it is said to certain persons by Paul, What fruit had ye then in those things tvhereof ye «reRom. 6, low ashamed? As if it were said; Why did the waves of * '■our wickedness raise themselves aloft, which being now )roken in themselves, overwhelm you when converted, by he same means with which they puffed you up when per- erted. It is therefore rightly said. And here shall thou reak thy sicelling waves. But that the doors are spoken of second time, in this shutting up of the sea, after the manner f Holy Scripture, a thing once mentioned is repeated by 'ay of confirmation.
40. But if we ought to understand by the * sea' in this lace, not specially the crowd of persecutors, but the world 1 general; the Lord set up gates against the sea a second ime, because He first gave to the human race the precepts f the law, and afterwards the testament of new grace; He a 294 Jiestraintputjlrsl on sins of ad, then of thoufjht.
Job 38, second time confined the violence of this sea by the gates ATLio ^^^ ^^^ aj^ainst it, since those, whom He chose to obey His will, lie first kcj)t from idols, by giving the law, and afterwards delivered from the carnal understanding of things by the revelation of grace. The sea a second time received gates, because God first prohibited mankind from works of iniquity, but afterwards restrained them from the sin of thought. Let us see how God first imposed gates on the swelling Ex. 20, sea. For behold it is said bv the law, Thou shall not kill.
Deut. 5 TJioii shall not commit adultery. Tliou shall not steal.
i7 — 20. Thou shall not hear false witness. Let us see how the Lord confines this sea with second gates. Behold He says in the Matt. 6, Gospel, Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adidtery with her already in his heart. And it is said again, ib.43.44. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you. Love your enemies, and do good to them that hate you. He therefore Who first prohibits wickednesses of deeds, and afterwards does away with the faults of the heart, doubt- less twice imposes gates on the swelling sea, that it pass not over the shores of justice which have been drawn around it.
41. But when He was saying, Who hath shut up the sea with doors? He immediately also subjoined the time, When it was breaking forth, as if proceeding from the womb Because, namely, He then opposed mankind by the preceplsj of the Law, when the world, though little removed from itsj first beginning, was going forth even from its very birth tc make progress in the carnal life. For to proceed from the womb, is to appear in the flesh in the light of present glory And it is rightly subjoined. When I was laying the cloud ai the garment thereof. Because, doubtless, God did not ther present Himself to men in open sight, but while He rescuec them from the error of unbelief, and yet laid not open tc them the brightness of His own light. He withdrew them, aj it were, from darkness, and yet covered them with a cloud in order that they might forsake their former deeds o "wickedness, and yet see not more clearly at present future Inferior precepts Jirst given, afterward better. 295 blessings. Whence also it is fitly subjoined, And covering Book XXVIIF.
it with darkness as with swaddling clothes. For when He " — taught not ignorant people by the open preaching of the Spirit, but bound them, in figurative language, with the literal precepts, He enveloped them, while yet weak in know- ledge, with the darkness of His words, as if with swaddling clothes; in order that they might gain strength by being bound by grosser commands, lest they should perish, through a fatal freedom, in their own pleasures. And since not love, but fear, was confining them to the way of righteousness, the Divine dispensation kept them close, as it were, in order to nourish them. For when the feeble people unwillingly endured the swaddling bands of precepts, it attained to a stronger condition from its very bondage. For because fear first restrained it from sin, it came forth afterwards, in a fitting condition, into the liberty of the Spirit. These swaddling clothes which He gave to beginners, the Lord Himself blames by the Prophet, saying, I gave them precepts that were Ez. 20, not good. For evil things cease, as it were, to be evil, by comparison with worse, and good things are, so to say, not good, in comparison with better. For as it is said of Sodom and Gomorrah, to guiltier Judah, Thou hast justified thy'^^.l^f sisters in all thine ahominai ions which thou hast done, so are the good precepts, which were given to the ignorant, spoken of as not good, by reason of the better precepts of the New Testament which succeed them. For neither would minds which were clinging to the practice of the carnal life be raised from their low condition, unless they advanced through a gradual course of preaching. For hence is it, that when they were settled in Egypt, their secret love of gain is condescended to by a considerate and righteous forbearance, and they are ordered to depart, after having first taken away the gold and silver vessels of their neigh- bours. But when brought to Mount Sinai, they hear at once, on receiving the Law, Thoit shall not covet a;zyEx. 20, thing that is thy neighhoufs. And hence it is, that in the same law they are directed to exact an eye for an eye, and aExod. tooth for a tooth, and yet at last, on the revelation of grace,^^'^^* they are commanded, when struck, to offer the other cheek. Ma<^t. 6, For because anger exacts more in vengeance than it has suf- fered in wrong; while they learn not to requite their wrongs in 296 Allegories oj tite Jmw a dark Swathing -band.
Job 38, a manifold manner, ihey would learn at last to bear them of - — '■ — their own accord, even when multiplied. Hence it is that Alleo...Jle prohibited this same ignorant people certain observances, but preserved others after their original use, tlioiigli Jfe applied them so as to prefigure a better condition. For they used to sacrifice brute animals to idols in Egypt, and Jle afterwards retained the sacrifice of animals, fur their ob- servance, but forbade the worship of idols; in order that, while losing a portion of their customs, their vreakness might be comforted by retaining something of them. But by a marvellous dispensation of wisdom the Lord converted into a mightier figure of the Spirit, that carnal custom which lie retained. For what do the sacrifices of those animals desig- nate, except the death of the Only-Begotten } What do the sacrifices of those animals signify, except the extinction of our carnal life } The weakness then of an ignorant people is condescended to, by the same means as the greater strength of the Spirit is announced through the shadowy forms of allego- ries. It is therefore rightly said. And I was covering it with darkness as with swaddling clothes; because He bore with the weaknesses of its tenderness, by the same means as He raised a lofty cloud of spiritual significations.
42. But because He kept them by the limits of the pre- cepts from um-estrained wanderings of mind, He rightly subjoins; / surrounded it with My boundaries. And be- cause He restrained the motions of this human race by sending the Mediator, He fitly subjoins; And I set a bar and doors. For He set in truth a bar and doors; because He confirms the preaching of the new life, by sending our Redeemer to oppose the sins of the guilty. For doors, when closed, are strengthened by a bar being placed against them. God, therefore, placed against them a bar, because against the wanton motives of the human race He sent the Only- Begotten, Who confirmed in His actions the spiritual pre- cepts, which He taught in words. But it is well subjoined; Hitherto shall thou come, and thou shall not proceed further, and here shall thou break thy sivelling waves. For this sea had in truth passed over its former doors, because the wave of human pride used to overleap the barriers of the door opposed to it. But after the world found the Only-Begotten opposed to it, it broke the force of its pride, and could not Christ the Bar. Storms ivithin the soul. 297 pass ov^er, because it found the boundary of its fury closed Book up by His strength. Whence it is rightly said by the'-^ — ^— Projjhet, The sea saw and fled. By doors, also, His sufferings Ps. 114, which were seen can, not unfitly, be understood. And He * secretly placed a bar against them, because He strengthened them by the invisible Godhead. Against which the waves of the world come, but they break and are scattered: because haughty men despise thera when they see them, but by experience dread their strength. For when the human race first derided, and then trembled at, the sufferings of the Only-Begotten, it came swelling with pride, like the sea which is about to dash against the opposing doors, and was broken and scattered by their power..
But because this is said to blessed Job, in order that the glorying of his heart, at his many virtues, might be kept down, (lest he should perchance attribute to himself what he knows of his lofty position,) if we consider these words in a moral sense also, we learn how much they were said for his edifi- cation. Let Him say therefore, Yer. 8. Who shut up the sea with doors?
43. What is this sea, except our heart, agitated by fury, xix. embittered by strife, swelling with the haughtiness of pride, ^°^* darkened by the deceit of wickedness } And how mightily this sea rages, any one observes, who understands in himself the secret temptations of thoughts. For behold we are now abandoning our perversities, we are adhering to proper desires, we are now cutting off, outwardly, our wicked works. But yet we are secretly harassed within, by that tempest of our former life, with which we have come thus far; and imless the barriers of unbounded fear were confin- ing it, with the thought of the judgment, and dread of eternal torment, all the foundations of the work which has been raised up in us would have utterly fallen. For if that which rages within in suggestion, were to burst forth in deliberate act, the whole fabric of our life would have lain utterly over- thrown. For being conceived in iniquity and born in sin, we bring with us into this world a contest, through the plague of innate corruptions, which we must strive hard to overcome. Whence it is rightly said also of the sea; When it was breaking forth, as if proceeding from the womb.
2i)8 Grace restrains the waves of thought by fear of God. Jon 38, For youlli is the womb of evil thoii''lit. Of which llje Lord 9.
says ])y Moses, For the sense ami l/LOHfjht of the human