that the apostle has not defined "virgins" by name, but " women," ® as " to be veiled; " nor the sex generally, so as to say " females," but a i/ass of the sex, by saying " women: " for if he had Hamed the sex by saying " fe- males," he would have made his limit abso- lute for ci't'rv woman; but while he names one class of the sex, he separates another class by being silent. For, they say, he might either have named "virgins" specially; or gener- ally, by a compendious term, " females."
CHAP. XXII. ANSWER TO THE FOREGOING AR- GUMENTS.
They who make this concession ' ought to reflect on the nature of the word itself — what is the meaning of "woman" from the very first records of the sacred writings. Here they find it to be t/ie name of the sex, not a class of the sex: if, that is, God gave to Eve, when she had not yet known a man, the sur- name "woman" and " female " '"• — ("fe- male," whereby the sex generally; " woman," whereby a class of the sex, is marked)." So, since at that time the as yet unwedded Eve was called by the word "woman," that word has been made common even to a virgin." Nor is it wonderful that the apostle — guided, of course, by the same Spirit by whom, as all the divine Scripture, so that book Genesis, was drawn up — has used the selfsame word in wTiting "women," which, by the example of Eve unwedded, is applicable too to a "vir- gin." In fact, all the other passages are in consonance herewith. For even by this very fact, that he has not named " virgins " (as he does in another place '^ where he is teaching touching marr3ang), he sufficiently predicates that his remark is made touching every woman, and touching the 7vhole sex; and that there is no distinction made between a virgin and any other, while he does not name her at all. For he who elsewhere — namely, where the difference requires — remembers to make the distinction, (moreover, he makes it by desig- nating each species by their appropriate names,) wishes, where he makes no distinc- tion (while he does not name each), no differ- ence to be understood. What of the fact that in the Greek speech, in which the apostle wrote his letters, it is usual to say, "women" rather than "females;" that is, }'vi-dimt: 9 As to the distinction between " women " and " virgins." ■°Gen. ii. 23. In the LXX. and in the Eng. ver. there is but the one word " woman."
" 'I'hese words are regarded by Dr. Routh as spurious, and not without reason. Mr. Dodgson likewise omits them, and refers to de Virg. Vel. cc. 4 and 5.
'2 In de Virg. X'el. 5, Tertullian speaks even more strongly: " And so you have the name, I say not now common^ hnt proper to a virgin;a name which from the beginning a znrgin received."
ON PRAYER.
[chap. xxii.
(gunatkas) rather than B/iMac {theleias)? There- lore if that word/ which by interpretation represents what "female" {femina) repre- sents,- is frequently used instead oi the name of the sex, 3 he has named the sex in saying ywaina', but in the sex even the virgin is em- braced. But, withal, the declaration is plain: ""Every woman," saith he, " praying and prophesying with head uncovered,* dishon- oureth her own head."^ What is '"''every woman, but 7uonian of every age, of every rank, of every condition? By saying ' ' every ' ' he excepts nought of womanhood, just as he excepts nought of manhood either from fiol being covered; for just so he says, '"^ Every man." * As, then, in the masculine sex, under the name of " man " even the " youth " is forbidden to be veiled; so, too, in the feminine, under the name of " woman," even the " virgin " is biddeti to be veiled. Equally in each sex let the younger age follow the dis- cipline of the elder; or else let the male "virgins," 7 too, be veiled, if the female vir- gins withal are tiot veiled, because they are not mentioned by fiame. Let " man " and " youth" be different, if "woman" and "virgin " are different. For indeed it is " on account of the angels" ^ that he saith women must be veiled, because on account of "the daughters of men " angels revolted from God.^ Who, then, would contend that '''" wojneti" alone — that is," such as were already wedded and had lost their virginity — were the objects of angelic concupiscence, unless "virgins" are incapable of excelling in beauty and finding lovers? Nay, let us see whether it were not virgins alone whom they lusted after; since Scriptures saith " the daughters of men; " " inasmuch as it might have named '"'' avives of men," or " females," indifferently.'^ Like- wise, in that it saith, "And they took them to themselves for wives," '3 it does so on this ground, that, of course, such are " received y<?r 7t>ives" as are devoid of that title. But it would have expressed itself differently concerning such as were not thus ' yvvri.
^ Mr. Dodgson appears to think that there is some transposition here; and at first sight it may appear so. But when we look more closely, perhaps there is no need to make any difficulty: the stress is rather on the words " by interpretation " which, of course, is a different thing from " usage," and by interpretation yvvt) ap- pears to come nearer to " femina " than to " mulier."
4 Or, " unveiled."
5 I Cor. 6 7 For a similar use of the word " virgin," see Rev. xiv. 4. * I Cor. xi. ID.
9 See Gen. vi. 2 in the LXX., with the v. I. ed. Tisch. i860; and compare Tertullian, de Idol. c. 9, and the note there Mr. Dodftson refers, too, to de Virg. Vel. c. 7, where this curious sub- ject is more fully entered into.
'°i.e. according lO their definition, whom Tertullian is refuting.
'^i.e. If married •motnen had been meant, either word, " ux- ores " or " feminse,'* could have been used indififerently. ,'3 Gen. vi. 2. >4 i Cor. xi. 14.
devoid. And so (they who are named) are devoid as much of ividoichood as of virginity. So completely has Faul by naming the sex generally, mingled "daughters" and species together in the genus. Again, while he says that " nature herself," '* which has assigned hair as a tegument and ornament to women, " teaches that veiling is the duty of females, '* has not the same tegument and the same honour of the head been assigned also to vir- gins? If " it is shameful " for a woman to be shorn it is similarly so to a virgin too. From them, then, to whom is assigned one and the same law of the head,'^ one and the same disciplined^ of the head is exacted, — (which extends) even unto those virgins whom their childhood defends, '^ for from the first'^ a vir- gin was named " female." This custom, '^ in short, even Israel observes; but if Israel did not observe it, our Law,^ amplified and supplemented, would vindicate the addition for itself; let it be excused for imposing the veil on virgins also. Under our dispensation, let that age which is ignorant of its sex =' re- tain the privilege of simplicity. For both Eve and Adam, when it befell them to be " wise, ' ' '-'^ forthwith veiled what they had learnt to know.^ At all events, with regard to tho.se in whom girlhood has changed (into maturity), their age ought to remember its duties as to nature, so also, to discipline; for they are being transferred to the rank of " women ' both in their persons and in their functions. No one is a "virgin" from the time when she is capable of marriage; seeing that, in her, age has by that time been wedded to its own husband, that is, to time.='» " But some particular virgin has devoted herself to God. From that very moment she both changes the fashion of her hair, and converts all her gar!> into that of a 'woman.'" Let her, then, maintain the character wholly, and perform the whole function of a "virgin:" what she con- ceals =5 for the sake of God, let her cover quite over.^ It is our business to entrust to the knowledge of God alone that which the grace of God effects in us, lest we receive from man the reward we hope for from God.=^ Wliy do you denude before God =* what you cover »Si.e. long hair '*i.e. veiling.
■7 i.e. " exempts."
'8 i.e. from her creation.
■9 Of the universal veiling of women."
™ i e. as above, the Sermon on the Mount.
-' i.e. mere infancy.
=3 (Jen. ii. 27 (or in the LXX. iii. i), and iii. 7, 24 Routh refers us to Je Virg. I el. c, 1 1.
■'5 i.e. the redundance of her hair.
^ i.e. by a veil.
^ i.e. says Oehler, " lest we postpone the eternal favour of ( loci, which we hope for, to the temporal veneration of men; a risk which those virgins seemed likely to run, who, when devoted!■• God, used to go veiled in public, hut bareheaded in the chun h.'
^ i.e. in church.
CHAP. XXV.]
ON PRAYER.
before men? ' Will you be more modest in public than in the church? If your self- drooti&n is a grace of God, and you have re- ceived it, "why do you boast," saith he, "as if you have not received it? " ' Why, by your ostentation of yourself, do you judge others? Is it that, by your boasting, you invite others unto good? Nay, but even you yourself run the risk of losing, if you boast; and you drive others unto the same perils! What is assumed from love of boasting is easily destroyed. Be veiled, virgin, if virgin you are; for you ought to blush. If you are a virgin, shrink from (the gaze of) many eyes. Let no one wonder at your face; let no one perceive your falsehood. 3 You do well in falsely assuming the married character, if you veil your head; nay, you do not seem to as- sume it falsely J for you are wedded to Christ: to Him you have surrendered your body; act as becomes your Husband's discipline. If He bids the brides of others to be veiled, His own, of course, much more. " But each in- dividual man ♦ is not to think that the institu- tion of his predecessor is to be overturned." Many yield up their own judgment, and its consistency, to the custom of others. Granted that virgins be not compelled to be veiled, at all events such as voluntarily, are so should not be prohibited; who, likewise, cannot deny them- selves to be virgins,^ content, in the security of a good conscience before God, to damage their own fame.* Touching such, however, as are betrothed, I can with constancy " above my small measure"' pronounce and attest that they are to be veiled from that day forth on which they shuddered at the first bodily touch of a man by kiss and hand. For in them everything has been forewedded: their age, through maturity; their flesh, through age; their spirit, through consciousness; their modesty, through the experience of the kiss; their hope, through expectation; their mind, through volition. And Rebecca is example enough for us, who, when her betrothed had been pointed out, veiled herself for marriage merely on recognition of him.^ ' i.e. in public; see note 27, supra.
3 i.e. as Muratori, quoted by Oehler, says, your "pious" (?) fraud in pretending to be married when you are a virgin; because " devoted " virgins used to dress and wear veils like married women, as being regarded as " wedded to Christ."
4 i.e. each president of a church, or bishop.
Si.e. " are known to be such through the chastity of theirman- ner and life " (Oehler).
6 " By appearing in public as married women, while in heart they are virgins " (Oehler).
7 Does Tertullian refer to 2 Cor. x. 13? or does " modulus " mean, as Oehler thinks, " my rule? " [It seems to me a very plain reference to the text before mentioned, and to the Apostolic Canon of not exceeding one's Mission.]
1° i.e. abstaining from kneeling: /cnee/ing- being more " a pos- t'lrr of solicitude and of humility; standing, of "exultation."
CHAP, xxin -OF KNEELING.
In the mattter of kneeling also prayer is subject to diversity of observance, through the act of some few who abstain from kneeling on the Sabbath; and since this dissension is particularly on its trial before the churches, the Lord will give His grace that the dissen- tients may either yield, or else indulge their opinion without offence to others. We, how- ever (just as we have received), only on the day of the Lord's Resurrection ought to guard not only against kneeling, but every posture and office of solicitude; deferring even our businesses lest we give any place to the devil.' Similarly, too, in the period of Pentecost; which period we distinguish by the same so- lemnity of exultation.'" But who would hesi- tate ei^ery day to prostrate himself before God, at least in the first prayer with which we enter on the daylight? At fasts, moreover, and Stations, no prayer should be made without kneeling, and the remaining customary marks of humility; for (then) " we are not only pray- ing, but deprecating, and making satisfaction to God our Lord.'^ Touching times of prayer nothing at all has been prescribed, except clearly " to pray at every time and every place." '3 CHAP. XXIV. OF PLACE FOR PRAYER.
But how " in every place," since we are pro- hibited'■' (from praying) in public? In every place, he means, which opportunity or even necessity, may have rendered suitable: for that which was done by the apostles '^ (who, in gaol, in the audience of the prisoners, " began praying and singing to God") is not con- sidered to have been done contrary to the pre- cept; nor yet that which was done by Paul,'* who in the ship, in presence of all, " made thanksgiving to God." '' CHAP. XXV. OF TIME FOR PRAYER.
Touching the time, however, the extrin- sic'^ observance of certain hours will not be unprofitable — those common hours, I mean, which mark the intervals of the day — the third, the sixth, the ninth — which we " i.e. at fasts and Stations. [Sabbaths Saturday, su/ra.]
'2 VoT the meaning of " satisfaction '' as used by the Fathers, see Hooker, £cc/. I'ol. vi. 5.
uMatt. vi. 5, 6, which forbids praying in public '5 Paul and Silas (Acts.xvi. 25).
"5 I have followed Muratori s reading here.
>7 Mr. Dodgson renders "celebrated the Eucharist;" but that rendering appears very doubtful. See Acts xxvii. 35.
'8 Mr. Dodgson supposes this word to mean "' outward, as con- trasted with the inward, ' praying always.' " Oehler interprets, " ex vita communi." But perhaps what Tertullian says lower down in the chapter, "albeit they stand si»ij>ly luitltoiit utiy pre- cept enjoining their observance,'^ may give us the true clue!•> his meaning; so that " extrinseciis " would — "extrinsic to any direct injunction of our Lord or His apostks."
ON PRAYER.
[chap. XXIX.
may find in the Scriptures to have been more solemn than the rest. The first infusion t)f the Holy Spirit into the congregated disci- ples took place at " the third hour." ' Peter, on the day on which he e.xperienced the vision of Universal Community,^ (exhibited) in that ^rnall vessel, 3 had ascended into the more lofty parts of the house, for prayer's sake " at tie sixth hour."'' The same (apostle) was ^oing into the temple, with John, "at the ninth hour,''^ when he restored the paralytic to his health. Albeit xhtse practices stand sim- )iy without any precept for their observance, -still it may be granted a good thing to es- tablish some definite presumption, which may both add stringency to the admonition to l)ray, and may, as it were by a law, tear us out from our businesses unto such a duty; so that — what we read to have been observed by Daniel also,* in accordance (of course) with Israel's discipline — we pray at least not less than thrice in the day, debtors as we are to Three — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: of course, in addition to our regular prayers which are due, without any admonition, on the entrance of light and of night. But, withal, it becomes believers not to take food, :md not to go to the bath, before interposing a prayer; for the refreshments and nourishments of the spirit are to be held prior to those of the fiesh, and things heavenly prior to things earthly.
CHAP. XXVI. — OF THE PARTING OF BRETHREN.
You will not dismiss a brother who has en- tered your house without prayer. — " Have you ?,e&n" szys Scripture, "a brother? you have seen your Lord; " " — especially " a stranger," lest perhaps he be "an angel." But again, when received yourself by brethren, you will not make® earthly refreshments prior to heavenly, for your faith will forthwith be judged. Or else how will you — according to the precept 5 — say, "Peace to this house," unless you exchange mutual peace with them who are in the house?
- Communitatis omnis (Oehlor). Mr. Dodgson renders, " of every sort of common thing." Perhaps, as Routh suggests, we should read " omnium."
SVasculo. But in Acts it is, <r(tcOo? ti ut o96viiv ij.fydKr)v ISinaii is here comparatively used, with reference to Universality of which it was the symbol.]
5 Acts iii. i: but the man is not said to have been " paralytic," but " lame from his mother's womb."
6 Dan. vi. 10; comp. Ps. Iv. 17 (in the LXX. it is liv. 18).
7 I have ventured to turn the first part of the sentence into a question. What " scripture " this may be, no one knows. [It seems to me a clear reference to Matt. xxv. 38, amplified by the 45th verse, in a way not unusual with our author.] Perhaps, in addition to the passages in (jen. xviii. and Heb. xiii. 2, to which the editors naturally refer, Tertullian may allude to such passages »•; Mark ix 37,.Matt. xxv. 40. 45. [Christo in pauperibus.]
J* 1 have followed Routh's conjecture, " feceris " /or " ftcerit," which Oehler docs not even notice.
CHAP. XXVII. — OF SUBJOINING A PSALM.
The more diligent in prayer are wont to subjoin in their prayers the " Hallelujah," '" and such kind of psalms, in the closes of which the company respond. And, of course, every institution is excellent which, for the extolling and honouring of God, aims unitedly to bring Him enriched prayer as a choice victim."
CHAP. XXVIII. OF THE SPIRITUAL VICTIM, WHICH PRAYER IS.
For this is the spiritual victim '^ which has abolished the pristine sacrifices. " To what purpose," saith He, " (bring ye) me the mul- titude of your sacrifices? I am full of holo- causts of rams, and I desire not the fat of rams, and the blood of bulls and of goats. For who hath required these from your hands?" '3 What, then, God has required the Gospel teaches. "An hour will come," saith He, "when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and truth. For God is a Spirit, and accordingly requires His adorers to be such." "* We are the true adorers and the true priests, '^ who, praying in spirit,'* sacrifice, in spirit, prayer, — a victim proper and acceptable to God, which assuredly He has required, which He has looked forward to '7 for Himself! This victim, devoted from the whole heart, fed pn faith, tended by truth, entire in innocence, pure in chastity, gar- landed with love,'^ we ought to escort with the pomp '5 of good works, amid psalms and hymns, unto God's altar,=° to obtain for us all things from God.
CHAP. XXIX. — OF THE POWER OF PRAYER.
For what has God, who exacts it ever de- nied''^ to prayer coming from "spirit and truth? ' ' How mighty specimens of its efficacy do we read, and hear, and believe! Old-world prayer, indeed, used to free from fires," and from beasts, -3 and from famine;^ and yet it had not (then) received its form from Christ. But how far more amply operative is Christian prayar! It does not station the angel of dew 'o Perhaps " the great Hallelujah," i.e. the last five psaln::s. '■ [The author seems to have in mind (Hos. xiv. 2) " the caives of our lips."]
■3lsa. i. II. See the LXX.
■5 Sacerdotes; comp. de Ex. Cast. c. 7. '7 Or, " provided."
•8" Agape," perhaps " the love-feast."
'9 Or, "procession." 1 =0 Altare. | -•' Routh would read, " What will God deny f •'- Dan. iii. -3 iJan. vi. =4 I Kings xviii.; Ja.s. v. 17, 18.
CHAP. XX1X\ ON PRAYER.
m mid-fires,' nor muzzle lions, nor transfer to the hungry the rustics' bread;= it has no delegated grace to avert any sense of suffer- ing; ^ but it supplies the suffering, and the feeling, and the grieving, with endurance: it amplifies grace by virtue, that faith may know what she obtains from the Lord, understand- inofwhat — for God's name's sake — she suffers. But in days gone by, withal prayer used to call down-* plagues, scatter the armies of foes, withhold the wholesome influences of the showers. Now, however, the prayer of right- eousness averts all God's anger, keeps bivouac on behalf of personal enemies, makes suppli- cation on behalf of persecutors. Is it wonder if // knows how to extort the rains of heaven ^ — (prayer) which was ono' able to procure its Jires7^ Prayer is alone that which van- quishes' God. But Christ has willed that it be operative for no evil: He had conferred on it all its virtue in the cause of good. And so it knows nothing save how to recall the souls of the departed from the very path of death, to transform the weak, to restore the sick, to purge the possessed, to open prison-bars, to loose the bonds of the innocent. Likewise it • i.e. " the angel who preserved in the furnace the three youths besprinkled, as it were, with dewy shower" (Muratori, quoted by Oehler). [Apocrypha, The Song, etc., verses 26, 27] 3 i.e. in brief, its tniracuious operations, as they are called, are suspended in these ways.
7 [A reference to Jacob's wrestling. Also, probably, to Matt.
washes away faults, repels temptations, ex- tinguishes persecutions, consoles the faint, spirited, cheers the high-spirited, escorts travellers, appeases waves, makes robbers stand aghast, nourishes the poor, governs the rich, upraises the fallen, arrests the falling, confirms the standing. Prayer is the wall of faith: her arms and missiles^ against the foe who keeps watch over us on all sides. And, so never walk we unarmed. By day, be we mindful of Station; by night, of vigil. Under the arms of prayer guard we the standard of our General; await we in prayer the angel's trump. ^ The angels, likewise, all pray; every creature prays; cattle and wild beasts pray and bend their knees; and when they issue from their layers and lairs,'" they look up heavenward with no idle mouth, making their breath vibrate " after their own manner. Nay, the birds too, rising out of the nest, up- raise themselves heavenward, and, instead of hands, e.xpand the cross of their wings, and say somewhat to seem like prayer.'- What more then, touching the office of prayer? Even the Lord Himself prayed; to whom be honour and virtue unto the ages of the ages!
8 Or, " her armour defensive and offensive." y I Cor. XV. 5c; I 'I'hess. iv. 16.
'" Or. " pens and dens."
" As if in prayer.
'2 [This beautiful passage should be supplemented by a similar one from Si. Bernard: " Nonne et aviculas levat, non onerat pen- narum numerositas ipsa? ToUe eas, et reliquum corpus pondere suo ferturad ima. Sic disciplinam Christi, sic suave jugum, sic onus leve, quo deponimus, eo deprimimur ipsi: quia portat potius quam portatur." Epistola, ccclxxxv. Bernardi Opp. Tom. i. p- 6gi. Ed. (Mabillon.) Gaume, Paris, 1839. Bearing the cross up- lifts the Christian.]
IV.
AD MARTYRAS; (TRANSLATED BY THE RE\. S. IHELWALL.)
CHAP. I.
Blessed Martyrs Designate, — Along with tlie provision which our lady mother the Church from her bountiful breasts, and each brother out of his private means, makes for your bodily wants in the prison, accept also from me some contribution to your spiritual sustenance; for it is not good that the flesh be feasted and the spirit starve: nay, if that which is weak be carefully looked to, it is but right that that which is still weaker should not be neglected. Not that I am specially entitled to exhort you; yet not only the trainers and overseers, but even the unskilled, nay, all who choose, with- out the slightest need for it, are wont to ani- mate from afar by their cries the most ac- complished gladiators, and from the mere throng of onlookers useful suggestions have sometimes come; first, then, O blessed, grieve not the Holy Spirit,= who has entered the prison with you; for if He had not gone with you there, you would not have been there this day. Do you give all endeavour, therefore, to retain Him; so let Him lead you thence to your Lord. The prison, indeed, is the devil's house as well, wherein he keeps his family. Eut you have come within its walls for the very purpose of trampling the wicked one under foot in his chosen abode. You had already in pitched battle outside utterly over- come him; let him have no reason, then, to say to himself, "They are now in my do- main; with vile hatreds I shall tempt them, with defections or dissensions among them- selves." Let him fly from your presence, and skulk away into his own abysses, shrunken and torpid, as though he were an outcharmed or smoked-out snake. Give him not the suc- ' Written in his early ministry, and strict orthodoxy. [It may he dated circa A.i). 197, as external evidence will shew.]
- Eph. iv. 30. [Some differences had rise- n between these holy sufferers, as to the personal merits of offenders who had ap- pealed to them for their interest in restoring them to communion.]
cess in his own kingdom of setting you at variance with each other, but let him find you armed and fortified with concord; for peace among you is battle with him. Some, not able to find this peace in the Church, have been used to seek it from the imprisoned mar- tyrs.^ And so you ought to have it dwelling with you, and to cherish it, and to guard it, that you may be able perhaps to bestow it upon others.
CHAP. II.
CHAP. II.
Other things, hindrances equally of the soul, may have accompanied you as far as the prison gate, to which also your relatives may have attended you. There and thenceforth you were severed from the world; how much more from the ordinary course of worldly life and all its affairs! Nor let this separation from the world alarm you; for if we reflect that the world is more really the prison, we shall see that you have gone out of a prison rather than into one. The world has the greater darkness, blinding men's hearts. The world imposes the more grievous fetters, binding men's very souls. The world breathes out the worst impurities — human lusts. The world contains the larger number of criminals, even the whole human race. Then, last of all, it awaits the judgment, not of the pro- consul, but of God. Wherefore, O blessed, you may regard yourselves as having been translated from a prison to, we may say, a place of safety. It is full of darkness, but ye yourselves are light; it has bonds, but God has made you free. Unpleasant exhalations are there, but ye are an odour of sweetness. The 1 [He favours this resource as sanctioned by custom, and gently persuades them, by agreeing as to its propriety, to bestow peace upon others. But, the foresight of those who objected was after- wards justified, for in Cyprian's day this practice led to greater evils, and he was obliged to discourage it (ep. xi.) in an epistle to confessors.]
AD MARTYRAS.
[chap. IV.