Chapter 13
Christ did not abrogate the
natural precepts of the law, but rather fulfilled and extended them. He removed
the yoke and bondage of the old law, so that mankind, being now set free, might
serve God with that trustful piety which becomes sons.
1. And that the Lord did not abrogate the natural
[precepts] of the law, by which man is justified, which also those who were
justified by faith, and who pleased God, did observe previous to the giving of
the law, but that He extended and fulfilled them, is shown from His words.
"For," He remarks, "it has been said to them of old time, Do not
commit adultery. But I say unto you, That every one who has looked upon a woman
to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart."
Matthew 5:27-28 And again: "It has been said, You shall not kill. But I
say unto you, Every one who is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be
in danger of the judgment." Matthew 5:21-22 And, "It has been said,
You shall not forswear yourself. But I say unto you, Swear not at all; but let
your conversation be, Yea, yea, and Nay, nay." Matthew 5:33, etc. And
other statements of a like nature. For all these do not contain or imply an
opposition to and an overturning of the [precepts] of the past, as Marcion's
followers do strenuously maintain; but [they exhibit] a fulfilling and an
extension of them, as He does Himself declare: "Unless your righteousness
shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:20 For what meant the excess referred to? In
the first place, [we must] believe not only in the Father, but also in His Son
now revealed; for He it is who leads man into fellowship and unity with God. In
the next place, [we must] not only say, but we must do; for they said, but did
not. And [we must] not only abstain from evil deeds, but even from the desires
after them. Now He did not teach us these things as being opposed to the law,
but as fulfilling the law, and implanting in us the varied righteousness of the
law. That would have been contrary to the law, if He had commanded His
disciples to do anything which the law had prohibited. But this which He did
command — namely, not only to abstain from things forbidden by the law, but
even from longing after them — is not contrary to [the law], as I have
remarked, neither is it the utterance of one destroying the law, but of one
fulfilling, extending, and affording greater scope to it.
2. For the law, since it was laid down for those
in bondage, used to instruct the soul by means of those corporeal objects which
were of an external nature, drawing it, as by a bond, to obey its commandments,
that man might learn to serve God. But the Word set free the soul, and taught
that through it the body should be willingly purified. Which having been
accomplished, it followed as of course, that the bonds of slavery should be
removed, to which man had now become accustomed, and that he should follow God
without fetters: moreover, that the laws of liberty should be extended, and
subjection to the king increased, so that no one who is converted should appear
unworthy to Him who set him free, but that the piety and obedience due to the
Master of the household should be equally rendered both by servants and
children; while the children possess greater confidence [than the servants],
inasmuch as the working of liberty is greater and more glorious than that
obedience which is rendered in [a state of] slavery.
3. And for this reason did the Lord, instead of
that [commandment], "You shall not commit adultery," forbid even
concupiscence; and instead of that which runs thus, "You shall not
kill," He prohibited anger; and instead of the law enjoining the giving of
tithes, [He told us] to share Matthew 19:21 all our possessions with the poor;
and not to love our neighbours only, but even our enemies; and not merely to be
liberal givers and bestowers, but even that we should present a gratuitous gift
to those who take away our goods. For "to him that takes away your
coat," He says, "give to him your cloak also; and from him that takes
away your goods, ask them not again; and as you would that men should do unto
you, do unto them:" Luke 6:29-31 so that we may not grieve as those who
are unwilling to be defrauded, but may rejoice as those who have given willingly,
and as rather conferring a favour upon our neighbours than yielding to
necessity. "And if any one," He says, "shall compel you [to go]
a mile, go with him two;" Matthew 5:41 so that you may not follow him as a
slave, but may as a free man go before him, showing yourself in all things
kindly disposed and useful to your neighbour, not regarding their evil
intentions, but performing your kind offices, assimilating yourself to the
Father, "who makes His sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sends rain
upon the just and unjust." Matthew 5:45 Now all these [precepts], as I
have already observed, were not [the injunctions] of one doing away with the
law, but of one fulfilling, extending, and widening it among us; just as if one
should say, that the more extensive operation of liberty implies that a more
complete subjection and affection towards our Liberator had been implanted
within us. For He did not set us free for this purpose, that we should depart
from Him (no one, indeed, while placed out of reach of the Lord's benefits, has
power to procure for himself the means of salvation), but that the more we
receive His grace, the more we should love Him. Now the more we have loved Him,
the more glory shall we receive from Him, when we are continually in the presence
of the Father.
4. Inasmuch, then, as all natural precepts are
common to us and to them (the Jews), they had in them indeed the beginning and
origin; but in us they have received growth and completion. For to yield assent
to God, and to follow His Word, and to love Him above all, and one's neighbour
as one's self (now man is neighbour to man), and to abstain from every evil
deed, and all other things of a like nature which are common to both
[covenants], do reveal one and the same God. But this is our Lord, the Word of
God, who in the first instance certainly drew slaves to God, but afterwards He
set those free who were subject to Him, as He does Himself declare to His
disciples: "I will not now call you servants, for the servant knows not
what his lord does; but I have called you friends, for all things which I have
heard from My Father I have made known." John 15:15 For in that which He
says, "I will not now call you servants," He indicates in the most
marked manner that it was Himself who did originally appoint for men that
bondage with respect to God through the law, and then afterwards conferred upon
them freedom. And in that He says, "For the servant knows not what his
lord does," He points out, by means of His own advent, the ignorance of a
people in a servile condition. But when He terms His disciples "the
friends of God," He plainly declares Himself to be the Word of God, whom
Abraham also followed voluntarily and under no compulsion (sine vinculis),
because of the noble nature of his faith, and so became "the friend of
God." James 2:23 But the Word of God did not accept of the friendship of
Abraham, as though He stood in need of it, for He was perfect from the
beginning ("Before Abraham was," He says, "I am" John 8:58),
but that He in His goodness might bestow eternal life upon Abraham himself,
inasmuch as the friendship of God imparts immortality to those who embrace it.
Chapter 14
If God demands obedience from
man, if He formed man, called him and placed him under laws, it was merely for
man's welfare; not that God stood in need of man, but that He graciously
conferred upon man His favours in every possible manner.
1. In the beginning, therefore, did God form Adam,
not as if He stood in need of man, but that He might have [some one] upon whom
to confer His benefits. For not alone antecedently to Adam, but also before all
creation, the Word glorified His Father, remaining in Him; and was Himself
glorified by the Father, as He did Himself declare, "Father, glorify Me
with the glory which I had with You before the world was." John 17:5 Nor
did He stand in need of our service when He ordered us to follow Him; but He
thus bestowed salvation upon ourselves. For to follow the Saviour is to be a
partaker of salvation, and to follow light is to receive light. But those who
are in light do not themselves illumine the light, but are illumined and
revealed by it: they do certainly contribute nothing to it, but, receiving the
benefit, they are illumined by the light. Thus, also, service [rendered] to God
does indeed profit God nothing, nor has God need of human obedience; but He
grants to those who follow and serve Him life and incorruption and eternal
glory, bestowing benefit upon those who serve [Him], because they do serve Him,
and on His followers, because they do follow Him; but does not receive any
benefit from them: for He is rich, perfect, and in need of nothing. But for
this reason does God demand service from men, in order that, since He is good
and merciful, He may benefit those who continue in His service. For, as much as
God is in want of nothing, so much does man stand in need of fellowship with
God. For this is the glory of man, to continue and remain permanently in God's
service. Wherefore also did the Lord say to His disciples, "You have not
chosen Me, but I have chosen you;" John 15:16 indicating that they did not
glorify Him when they followed Him; but that, in following the Son of God, they
were glorified by Him. And again, "I will, that where I am, there they
also may be, that they may behold My glory;" John 17:24 not vainly
boasting because of this, but desiring that His disciples should share in His
glory: of whom Esaias also says, "I will bring your seed from the east,
and will gather you from the west; and I will say to the north, Give up; and to
the south, Keep not back: bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the
ends of the earth; all, as many as have been called in My name: for in My glory
I have prepared, and formed, and made him." Isaiah 43:5 Inasmuch as then,
"wheresoever the carcass is, there shall also the eagles be gathered
together," Matthew 24:28 we do participate in the glory of the Lord, who
has both formed us, and prepared us for this, that, when we are with Him, we
may partake of His glory.
2. Thus it was, too, that God formed man at the
first, because of His munificence; but chose the patriarchs for the sake of
their salvation; and prepared a people beforehand, teaching the headstrong to
follow God; and raised up prophets upon earth, accustoming man to bear His
Spirit [within him], and to hold communion with God: He Himself, indeed, having
need of nothing, but granting communion with Himself to those who stood in need
of it, and sketching out, like an architect, the plan of salvation to those
that pleased Him. And He did Himself furnish guidance to those who beheld Him
not in Egypt, while to those who became unruly in the desert He promulgated a
law very suitable [to their condition]. Then, on the people who entered into
the good land He bestowed a noble inheritance; and He killed the fatted calf
for those converted to the Father, and presented them with the finest robe.
Luke 15:22-23 Thus, in a variety of ways, He adjusted the human race to an
agreement with salvation. On this account also does John declare in the
Apocalypse, "And His voice as the sound of many waters." Revelation
1:15 For the Spirit [of God] is truly [like] many waters, since the Father is
both rich and great. And the Word, passing through all those [men], did
liberally confer benefits upon His subjects, by drawing up in writing a law
adapted and applicable to every class [among them].
3. Thus, too, He imposed upon the [Jewish] people
the construction of the tabernacle, the building of the temple, the election of
the Levites, sacrifices also, and oblations, legal monitions, and all the other
service of the law. He does Himself truly want none of these things, for He is
always full of all good, and had in Himself all the odour of kindness, and
every perfume of sweet-smelling savours, even before Moses existed. Moreover,
He instructed the people, who were prone to turn to idols, instructing them by
repeated appeals to persevere and to serve God, calling them to the things of
primary importance by means of those which were secondary; that is, to things
that are real, by means of those that are typical; and by things temporal, to
eternal; and by the carnal to the spiritual; and by the earthly to the
heavenly; as was also said to Moses, "You shall make all things after the
pattern of those things which you saw in the mount." Exodus 25:40 For
during forty days He was learning to keep [in his memory] the words of God, and
the celestial patterns, and the spiritual images, and the types of things to
come; as also Paul says: "For they drank of the rock which followed them:
and the rock was Christ." 1 Corinthians 10:11 And again, having first mentioned
what are contained in the law, he goes on to say: "Now all these things
happened to them in a figure; but they were written for our admonition, upon
whom the end of the ages has come." For by means of types they learned to
fear God, and to continue devoted to His service.
Chapter 15
At first God deemed it
sufficient to inscribe the natural law, or the Decalogue, upon the hearts of
men; but afterwards He found it necessary to bridle, with the yoke of the
Mosaic law, the desires of the Jews, who were abusing their liberty; and even
to add some special commands, because of the hardness of their hearts.
1. They (the Jews) had therefore a law, a course
of discipline, and a prophecy of future things. For God at the first, indeed,
warning them by means of natural precepts, which from the beginning He had
implanted in mankind, that is, by means of the Decalogue (which, if any one
does not observe, he has no salvation), did then demand nothing more of them.
As Moses says in Deuteronomy, "These are all the words which the Lord
spoke to the whole assembly of the sons of Israel on the mount, and He added no
more; and He wrote them on two tables of stone, and gave them to me."
Deuteronomy 5:22 For this reason [He did so], that they who are willing to
follow Him might keep these commandments. But when they turned themselves to
make a calf, and had gone back in their minds to Egypt, desiring to be slaves
instead of free-men, they were placed for the future in a state of servitude
suited to their wish — [a slavery] which did not indeed cut them off from God,
but subjected them to the yoke of bondage; as Ezekiel the prophet, when stating
the reasons for the giving of such a law, declares: "And their eyes were
after the desire of their heart; and I gave them statutes that were not good,
and judgments in which they shall not live." Ezekiel 20:24 Luke also has
recorded that Stephen, who was the first elected into the diaconate by the
apostles, and who was the first slain for the testimony of Christ, spoke
regarding Moses as follows: "This man did indeed receive the commandments
of the living God to give to us, whom your fathers would not obey, but thrust
[Him from them], and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, saying unto
Aaron, Make us gods to go before us; for we do not know what has happened to [this]
Moses, who led us from the land of Egypt. And they made a calf in those days,
and offered sacrifices to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their
own hands. But God turned, and gave them up to worship the hosts of heaven; as
it is written in the book of the prophets: Amos 5:25-26 O you house of Israel,
have you offered to Me sacrifices and oblations for forty years in the
wilderness? And you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of the god
Remphan, figures which you made to worship them;" Acts 7:38, etc. pointing
out plainly, that the law being such, was not given to them by another God, but
that, adapted to their condition of servitude, [it originated] from the very
same [God as we worship]. Wherefore also He says to Moses in Exodus: "I
will send forth My angel before you; for I will not go up with you, because you
are a stiff-necked people." Exodus 33:2-3
2. And not only so, but the Lord also showed that
certain precepts were enacted for them by Moses, on account of their hardness
[of heart], and because of their unwillingness to be obedient, when, on their
saying to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a writing of
divorcement, and to send away a wife?" He said to them, "Because of
the hardness of your hearts he permitted these things to you; but from the
beginning it was not so;" Matthew 19:7-8 thus exculpating Moses as a
faithful servant, but acknowledging one God, who from the beginning made male
and female, and reproving them as hard-hearted and disobedient. And therefore
it was that they received from Moses this law of divorcement, adapted to their
hard nature. But why say I these things concerning the Old Testament? For in
the New also are the apostles found doing this very thing, on the ground which
has been mentioned, Paul plainly declaring, "But these things I say, not
the Lord." 1 Corinthians 7:12 And again: "But this I speak by
permission, not by commandment." 1 Corinthians 7:6 And again: "Now,
as concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give my
judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful." 1
Corinthians 7:25 But further, in another place he says: "That Satan tempt
you not for your incontinence." 1 Corinthians 7:5 If, therefore, even in
the New Testament, the apostles are found granting certain precepts in
consideration of human infirmity, because of the incontinence of some, lest
such persons, having grown obdurate, and despairing altogether of their
salvation, should become apostates from God — it ought not to be wondered at,
if also in the Old Testament the same God permitted similar indulgences for the
benefit of His people, drawing them on by means of the ordinances already
mentioned, so that they might obtain the gift of salvation through them, while
they obeyed the Decalogue, and being restrained by Him, should not revert to
idolatry, nor apostatize from God, but learn to love Him with the whole heart.
And if certain persons, because of the disobedient and ruined Israelites, do
assert that the giver (doctor) of the law was limited in power, they will find
in our dispensation, that "many are called, but few chosen;" Matthew
20:16 and that there are those who inwardly are wolves, yet wear sheep's
clothing in the eyes of the world (foris); and that God has always preserved
freedom, and the power of self-government in man, while at the same time He
issued His own exhortations, in order that those who do not obey Him should be
righteously judged (condemned) because they have not obeyed Him; and that those
who have obeyed and believed on Him should be honoured with immortality.
Chapter 16
Perfect righteousness was
conferred neither by circumcision nor by any other legal ceremonies. The
Decalogue, however, was not cancelled by Christ, but is always in force: men
were never released from its commandments.
1. Moreover, we learn from the Scripture itself,
that God gave circumcision, not as the completer of righteousness, but as a
sign, that the race of Abraham might continue recognisable. For it declares:
"God said to Abraham, Every male among you shall be circumcised; and you
shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, as a token of the covenant
between Me and you." Genesis 17:9-11 This same does Ezekiel the prophet
say with regard to the Sabbaths: "Also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign
between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord, that sanctify
them." Ezekiel 20:12 And in Exodus, God says to Moses: "And you shall
observe My Sabbaths; for it shall be a sign between Me and you for your
generations." Exodus 21:13 These things, then, were given for a sign; but
the signs were not unsymbolical, that is, neither unmeaning nor to no purpose,
inasmuch as they were given by a wise Artist; but the circumcision after the
flesh typified that after the Spirit. For "we," says the apostle,
"have been circumcised with the circumcision made without hands."
Colossians 2:11 And the prophet declares, "Circumcise the hardness of your
heart." But the Sabbaths taught that we should continue day by day in
God's service. "For we have been counted," says the Apostle Paul,
"all the day long as sheep for the slaughter;" Romans 8:36 that is,
consecrated [to God], and ministering continually to our faith, and persevering
in it, and abstaining from all avarice, and not acquiring or possessing
treasures upon earth. Matthew 6:19 Moreover, the Sabbath of God (requietio
Dei), that is, the kingdom, was, as it were, indicated by created things; in
which [kingdom], the man who shall have persevered in serving God (Deo
assistere) shall, in a state of rest, partake of God's table.
2. And that man was not justified by these things,
but that they were given as a sign to the people, this fact shows — that
Abraham himself, without circumcision and without observance of Sabbaths,
"believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness; and he was
called the friend of God." James 2:23 Then, again, Lot, without
circumcision, was brought out from Sodom, receiving salvation from God. So also
did Noah, pleasing God, although he was uncircumcised, receive the dimensions
[of the ark], of the world of the second race [of men]. Enoch, too, pleasing
God, without circumcision, discharged the office of God's legate to the angels
although he was a man, and was translated, and is preserved until now as a
witness of the just judgment of God, because the angels when they had
transgressed fell to the earth for judgment, but the man who pleased [God] was
translated for salvation. Moreover, all the rest of the multitude of those
righteous men who lived before Abraham, and of those patriarchs who preceded
Moses, were justified independently of the things above mentioned, and without
the law of Moses. As also Moses himself says to the people in Deuteronomy:
"The Lord your God formed a covenant in Horeb. The Lord formed not this
covenant with your fathers, but for you." Deuteronomy 5:2
3. Why, then, did the Lord not form the covenant
for the fathers? Because "the law was not established for righteous
men." 1 Timothy 1:9 But the righteous fathers had the meaning of the
Decalogue written in their hearts and souls, that is, they loved the God who
made them, and did no injury to their neighbour. There was therefore no
occasion that they should be cautioned by prohibitory mandates (correptoriis
literis), because they had the righteousness of the law in themselves. But when
this righteousness and love to God had passed into oblivion, and became extinct
in Egypt, God did necessarily, because of His great goodwill to men, reveal
Himself by a voice, and led the people with power out of Egypt, in order that
man might again become the disciple and follower of God; and He afflicted those
who were disobedient, that they should not contemn their Creator; and He fed
them with manna, that they might receive food for their souls (uti rationalem
acciperent escam); as also Moses says in Deuteronomy: "And fed you with
manna, which your fathers did not know, that you might know that man does not
live by bread alone; but by every word of God proceeding out of His mouth does
man live." Deuteronomy 8:3 And it enjoined love to God, and taught just
dealing towards our neighbour, that we should neither be unjust nor unworthy of
God, who prepares man for His friendship through the medium of the Decalogue,
and likewise for agreement with his neighbour — matters which did certainly
profit man himself; God, however, standing in no need of anything from man.
4. And therefore does the Scripture say,
"These words the Lord spoke to all the assembly of the children of Israel
in the mount, and He added no more;" Deuteronomy 5:22 for, as I have
already observed, He stood in need of nothing from them. And again Moses says:
"And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear
the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the
Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul?" Deuteronomy
10:12 Now these things did indeed make man glorious, by supplying what was
wanting to him, namely, the friendship of God; but they profited God nothing,
for God did not at all stand in need of man's love. For the glory of God was
wanting to man, which he could obtain in no other way than by serving God. And
therefore Moses says to them again: "Choose life, that you may live, and
your seed, to love the Lord your God, to hear His voice, to cleave unto Him;
for this is your life, and the length of your days." Deuteronomy 30:19-20
Preparing man for this life, the Lord Himself did speak in His own person to
all alike the words of the Decalogue; and therefore, in like manner, do they
remain permanently with us, receiving by means of His advent in the flesh,
extension and increase, but not abrogation.
5. The laws of bondage, however, were one by one
promulgated to the people by Moses, suited for their instruction or for their
punishment, as Moses himself declared: "And the Lord commanded me at that
time to teach you statutes and judgments." Deuteronomy 4:14 These things,
therefore, which were given for bondage, and for a sign to them, He cancelled
by the new covenant of liberty. But He has increased and widened those laws
which are natural, and noble, and common to all, granting to men largely and
without grudging, by means of adoption, to know God the Father, and to love Him
with the whole heart, and to follow His word unswervingly, while they abstain
not only from evil deeds, but even from the desire after them. But He has also
increased the feeling of reverence; for sons should have more veneration than
slaves, and greater love for their father. And therefore the Lord says,
"As to every idle word that men have spoken, they shall render an account
for it in the day of judgment." Matthew 12:36 And, "he who has looked
upon a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his
heart;" Matthew 5:28 and, "he that is angry with his brother without
a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment." Matthew 5:22 [All this is
declared,] that we may know that we shall give account to God not of deeds
only, as slaves, but even of words and thoughts, as those who have truly
received the power of liberty, in which [condition] a man is more severely
tested, whether he will reverence, and fear, and love the Lord. And for this
reason Peter says "that we have not liberty as a cloak of
maliciousness," 1 Peter 2:16 but as the means of testing and evidencing
faith.
Chapter 17
Proof that God did not appoint
the Levitical dispensation for His own sake, or as requiring such service; for
He does, in fact, need nothing from men.
1. Moreover, the prophets indicate in the fullest
manner that God stood in no need of their slavish obedience, but that it was
upon their own account that He enjoined certain observances in the law. And
again, that God needed not their oblation, but [merely demanded it], on account
of man himself who offers it, the Lord taught distinctly, as I have pointed
out. For when He perceived them neglecting righteousness, and abstaining from
the love of God, and imagining that God was to be propitiated by sacrifices and
the other typical observances, Samuel did even thus speak to them: "God
does not desire whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices, but He will have His
voice to be hearkened to. Behold, a ready obedience is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams." 1 Samuel 15:22 David also says: "Sacrifice
and oblation You did not desire, but my ears have You perfected;
burnt-offerings also for sin You have not required." He thus teaches them
that God desires obedience, which renders them secure, rather than sacrifices
and holocausts, which avail them nothing towards righteousness; and [by this
declaration] he prophesies the new covenant at the same time. Still clearer,
too, does he speak of these things in the fiftieth Psalm: "For if You had
desired sacrifice, then would I have given it: You will not delight in burnt-offerings.
The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart the Lord
will not despise." Because, therefore, God stands in need of nothing, He
declares in the preceding Psalm: "I will take no calves out of your house,
nor he-goats out of your fold. For Mine are all the beasts of the earth, the
herds and the oxen on the mountains: I know all the fowls of heaven, and the
various tribes of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you:
for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof. Shall I eat the flesh of
bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" Then, lest it might be supposed that
He refused these things in His anger, He continues, giving him (man) counsel:
"Offer unto God the sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most
High; and call upon Me in the day of your trouble, and I will deliver you, and
you shall glorify Me;" rejecting, indeed, those things by which sinners
imagined they could propitiate God, and showing that He does Himself stand in
need of nothing; but He exhorts and advises them to those things by which man
is justified and draws near to God. This same declaration does Esaias make:
"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? Says the
Lord. I am full." Isaiah 1:11 And when He had repudiated holocausts, and
sacrifices, and oblations, as likewise the new moons, and the sabbaths, and the
festivals, and all the rest of the services accompanying these, He continues,
exhorting them to what pertained to salvation: "Wash you, make you clean,
take away wickedness from your hearts from before my eyes: cease from your evil
ways, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the
fatherless, plead for the widow; and come, let us reason together, says the
Lord."
2. For it was not because He was angry, like a
man, as many venture to say, that He rejected their sacrifices; but out of
compassion to their blindness, and with the view of suggesting to them the true
sacrifice, by offering which they shall appease God, that they may receive life
from Him. As He elsewhere declares: "The sacrifice to God is an afflicted
heart: a sweet savour to God is a heart glorifying Him who formed it." For
if, when angry, He had repudiated these sacrifices of theirs, as if they were
persons unworthy to obtain His compassion, He would not certainly have urged
these same things upon them as those by which they might be saved. But inasmuch
as God is merciful, He did not cut them off from good counsel. For after He had
said by Jeremiah, "To what purpose did you bring Me incense from Saba, and
cinnamon from a far country? Your whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices are not
acceptable to Me;" Jeremiah 6:20 He proceeds: "Hear the word of the
Lord, all Judah. These things says the Lord, the God of Israel, Make straight
your ways and your doings, and I will establish you in this place. Put not your
trust in lying words, for they will not at all profit you, saying, The temple
of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, it is [here]." Jeremiah 7:2-3
3. And again, when He points out that it was not
for this that He led them out of Egypt, that they might offer sacrifice to Him,
but that, forgetting the idolatry of the Egyptians, they should be able to hear
the voice of the Lord, which was to them salvation and glory, He declares by
this same Jeremiah: "Thus says the Lord; Collect together your
burnt-offerings with your sacrifices and eat flesh. For I spoke not unto your
fathers nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of Egypt, concerning
burnt-offerings or sacrifices: but this word I commanded them, saying, Hear My
voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and walk in all My
ways whatsoever I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. But they
obeyed not, nor hearkened; but walked in the imaginations of their own evil
heart, and went backwards, and not forwards." Jeremiah 7:21 And again,
when He declares by the same man, "But let him that glories, glory in
this, to understand and know that I am the Lord, who does exercise
loving-kindness, and righteousness, and judgment in the earth;" Jeremiah
9:24 He adds, "For in these things I delight, says the Lord," but not
in sacrifices, nor in holocausts, nor in oblations. For the people did not
receive these precepts as of primary importance (principaliter), but as
secondary, and for the reason already alleged, as Isaiah again says: "You
have not [brought to] Me the sheep of your holocaust, nor in your sacrifices
have you glorified Me: you have not served Me in sacrifices, nor in [the matter
of] frankincense have you done anything laboriously; neither have you bought
for Me incense with money, nor have I desired the fat of your sacrifices; but
you have stood before Me in your sins and in your iniquities." Isaiah
43:23-24 He says, therefore, "Upon this man will I look, even upon him
that is humble, and meek, and who trembles at My words." Isaiah 46:2
"For the fat and the fat flesh shall not take away from you your
unrighteousness." Jeremiah 11:15 "This is the fast which I have chosen,
says the Lord. Loose every band of wickedness, dissolve the connections of
violent agreements, give rest to those that are shaken, and cancel every unjust
document. Deal your bread to the hungry willingly, and lead into your house the
roofless stranger. If you have seen the naked, cover him, and you shall not
despise those of your own flesh and blood (domesticos seminis tui). Then shall
your morning light break forth, and your health shall spring forth more
speedily; and righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord
shall surround you: and while you are yet speaking, I will say, Behold, here I
am." Isaiah 58:6, etc. And Zechariah also, among the twelve prophets,
pointing out to the people the will of God, says: "These things does the Lord
Omnipotent declare: Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion each
one to his brother. And oppress not the widow, and the orphan, and the
proselyte, and the poor; and let none imagine evil against your brother in his
heart." Zechariah 7:9-10 And again, he says: "These are the words
which you shall utter. Speak the truth every man to his neighbour, and execute
peaceful judgment in your gates, and let none of you imagine evil in his heart
against his brother, and you shall not love false swearing: for all these
things I hate, says the Lord Almighty." Zechariah 8:16-17 Moreover, David
also says in like manner: "What man is there who desires life, and would
fain see good days? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips that they speak no
guile. Shun evil, and do good: seek peace, and pursue it."
4. From all these it is evident that God did not
seek sacrifices and holocausts from them, but faith, and obedience, and
righteousness, because of their salvation. As God, when teaching them His will
in Hosea the prophet, said, "I desire mercy rather than sacrifice, and the
knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings." Hosea 6:6 Besides, our Lord
also exhorted them to the same effect, when He said, "But if you had known
what [this] means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have
condemned the guiltless." Matthew 12:7 Thus does He bear witness to the
prophets, that they preached the truth; but accuses these men (His hearers) of
being foolish through their own fault.
5. Again, giving directions to His disciples to
offer to God the first-fruits of His own, created things — not as if He stood
in need of them, but that they might be themselves neither unfruitful nor
ungrateful — He took that created thing, bread, and gave thanks, and said,
"This is My body." Matthew 26:26, etc. And the cup likewise, which is
part of that creation to which we belong, He confessed to be His blood, and
taught the new oblation of the new covenant; which the Church receiving from
the apostles, offers to God throughout all the world, to Him who gives us as
the means of subsistence the first-fruits of His own gifts in the New
Testament, concerning which Malachi, among the twelve prophets, thus spoke
beforehand: "I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord Omnipotent, and I
will not accept sacrifice at your hands. For from the rising of the sun, unto
the going down [of the same], My name is glorified among the Gentiles, and in
every place incense is offered to My name, and a pure sacrifice; for great is
My name among the Gentiles, says the Lord Omnipotent;" Malachi 1:10-11 —
indicating in the plainest manner, by these words, that the former people [the
Jews] shall indeed cease to make offerings to God, but that in every place
sacrifice shall be offered to Him, and that a pure one; and His name is
glorified among the Gentiles.
6. But what other name is there which is glorified
among the Gentiles than that of our Lord, by whom the Father is glorified, and
man also? And because it is [the name] of His own Son, who was made man by Him,
He calls it His own. Just as a king, if he himself paints a likeness of his
son, is right in calling this likeness his own, for both these reasons, because
it is [the likeness] of his son, and because it is his own production; so also
does the Father confess the name of Jesus Christ, which is throughout all the
world glorified in the Church, to be His own, both because it is that of His
Son, and because He who thus describes it gave Him for the salvation of men. Since,
therefore, the name of the Son belongs to the Father, and since in the
omnipotent God the Church makes offerings through Jesus Christ, He says well on
both these grounds, "And in every place incense is offered to My name, and
a pure sacrifice." Now John, in the Apocalypse, declares that the
"incense" is "the prayers of the saints."
Chapter 18
Concerning sacrifices and
oblations, and those who truly offer them.
1. The oblation of the Church, therefore, which
the Lord gave instructions to be offered throughout all the world, is accounted
with God a pure sacrifice, and is acceptable to Him; not that He stands in need
of a sacrifice from us, but that he who offers is himself glorified in what he
does offer, if his gift be accepted. For by the gift both honour and affection
are shown forth towards the King; and the Lord, wishing us to offer it in all
simplicity and innocence, did express Himself thus: "Therefore, when you
offer your gift upon the altar, and shall remember that your brother has
anything against you, leave your gift before the altar, and go your way; first
be reconciled to your brother, and then return and offer your gift."
Matthew 5:23-24 We are bound, therefore, to offer to God the first-fruits of
His creation, as Moses also says, "You shall not appear in the presence of
the Lord your God empty;" Deuteronomy 16:16 so that man, being accounted
as grateful, by those things in which he has shown his gratitude, may receive
that honour which flows from Him.
2. And the class of oblations in general has not
been set aside; for there were both oblations there [among the Jews], and there
are oblations here [among the Christians]. Sacrifices there were among the
people; sacrifices there are, too, in the Church: but the species alone has
been changed, inasmuch as the offering is now made, not by slaves, but by
freemen. For the Lord is [ever] one and the same; but the character of a
servile oblation is peculiar [to itself], as is also that of freemen, in order
that, by the very oblations, the indication of liberty may be set forth. For
with Him there is nothing purposeless, nor without signification, nor without
design. And for this reason they (the Jews) had indeed the tithes of their
goods consecrated to Him, but those who have received liberty set aside all
their possessions for the Lord's purposes, bestowing joyfully and freely not
the less valuable portions of their property, since they have the hope of
better things [hereafter]; as that poor widow acted who cast all her living
into the treasury of God.
3. For at the beginning God had respect to the
gifts of Abel, because he offered with single-mindedness and righteousness; but
He had no respect unto the offering of Cain, because his heart was divided with
envy and malice, which he cherished against his brother, as God says when
reproving his hidden [thoughts], "Though you offer rightly, yet, if you do
not divide rightly, have you not sinned? Be at rest;" since God is not
appeased by sacrifice. For if any one shall endeavour to offer a sacrifice
merely to outward appearance, unexceptionably, in due order, and according to
appointment, while in his soul he does not assign to his neighbour that
fellowship with him which is right and proper, nor is under the fear of God —
he who thus cherishes secret sin does not deceive God by that sacrifice which
is offered correctly as to outward appearance; nor will such an oblation profit
him anything, but [only] the giving up of that evil which has been conceived
within him, so that sin may not the more, by means of the hypocritical action,
render him the destroyer of himself. Wherefore did the Lord also declare:
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whited
sepulchres. For the sepulchre appears beautiful outside, but within it is full
of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness; even so you also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within you are full of wickedness and hypocrisy."
Matthew 23:27-28 For while they were thought to offer correctly so far as
outward appearance went, they had in themselves jealousy like to Cain;
therefore they slew the Just One, slighting the counsel of the Word, as did
also Cain. For [God] said to him, "Be at rest;" but he did not
assent. Now what else is it to "be at rest" than to forego purposed
violence? And saying similar things to these men, He declares: "You blind
Pharisee, cleanse that which is within the cup, that the outside may be clean
also." Matthew 23:26 And they did not listen to Him. For Jeremiah says,
"Behold, neither your eyes nor your heart are good; but [they are turned]
to your covetousness, and to shed innocent blood, and for injustice, and for
man-slaying, that you may do it." Jeremiah 22:17 And again Isaiah says,
"You have taken counsel, but not of Me; and made covenants, [but] not by
My Spirit." Isaiah 30:1 In order, therefore, that their inner wish and
thought, being brought to light, may show that God is without blame, and works
no evil — that God who reveals what is hidden [in the heart], but who works not
evil— when Cain was by no means at rest, He says to him: "To you shall be
his desire, and you shall rule over him." Genesis 4:7 Thus did He in like manner
speak to Pilate: "You should have no power at all against Me, unless it
were given you from above;" John 19:11 God always giving up the righteous
one [in this life to suffering], that he, having been tested by what he
suffered and endured, may [at last] be accepted; but that the evildœr, being
judged by the actions he has performed, may be rejected. Sacrifices, therefore,
do not sanctify a man, for God stands in no need of sacrifice; but it is the
conscience of the offerer that sanctifies the sacrifice when it is pure, and
thus moves God to accept [the offering] as from a friend. "But the
sinner," says He, "who kills a calf [in sacrifice] to Me, is as if he
slew a dog." Isaiah 66:3
4. Inasmuch, then, as the Church offers with
single-mindedness, her gift is justly reckoned a pure sacrifice with God. As
Paul also says to the Philippians, "I am full, having received from
Epaphroditus the things that were sent from you, the odour of a sweet smell, a
sacrifice acceptable, pleasing to God." Philippians 4:18 For it behooves
us to make an oblation to God, and in all things to be found grateful to God
our Maker, in a pure mind, and in faith without hypocrisy, in well-grounded
hope, in fervent love, offering the first-fruits of His own created things. And
the Church alone offers this pure oblation to the Creator, offering to Him,
with giving of thanks, [the things taken] from His creation. But the Jews do
not offer thus: for their hands are full of blood; for they have not received
the Word, Who is offered to God. [The text here fluctuates between quod
offertur Deo ("Who is offered to God") and per quod offertur Deo
("through Whom it is offered to God").] Nor, again, do any of the
conventicles (synagogæ) of the heretics [offer this]. For some, by maintaining
that the Father is different from the Creator, do, when they offer to Him what
belongs to this creation of ours, set Him forth as being covetous of another's
property, and desirous of what is not His own. Those, again, who maintain that
the things around us originated from apostasy, ignorance, and passion, do,
while offering unto Him the fruits of ignorance, passion, and apostasy, sin
against their Father, rather subjecting Him to insult than giving Him thanks.
But how can they be consistent with themselves, [when they say] that the bread
over which thanks have been given is the body of their Lord, and the cup His
blood, if they do not call Himself the Son of the Creator of the world, that
is, His Word, through whom the wood fructifies, and the fountains gush forth,
and the earth gives "first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in
the ear." Mark 4:28
5. Then, again, how can they say that the flesh,
which is nourished with the body of the Lord and with His blood, goes to
corruption, and does not partake of life? Let them, therefore, either alter
their opinion, or cease from offering the things just mentioned. But our
opinion is in accordance with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn
establishes our opinion. For we offer to Him His own, announcing consistently
the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit. For as the bread, which is
produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer
common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and
heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer
corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity.
6. Now we make offering to Him, not as though He
stood in need of it, but rendering thanks for His gift, and thus sanctifying
what has been created. For even as God does not need our possessions, so do we
need to offer something to God; as Solomon says: "He that has pity upon
the poor, lends unto the Lord." Proverbs 19:17 For God, who stands in need
of nothing, takes our good works to Himself for this purpose, that He may grant
us a recompense of His own good things, as our Lord says: "Come, you
blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you. For I was an
hungered, and you gave Me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink: I was a
stranger, and you took Me in: naked, and you clothed Me; sick, and you visited
Me; in prison, and you came to Me." Matthew 25:34, etc. As, therefore, He
does not stand in need of these [services], yet does desire that we should
render them for our own benefit, lest we be unfruitful; so did the Word give to
the people that very precept as to the making of oblations, although He stood
in no need of them, that they might learn to serve God: thus is it, therefore,
also His will that we, too, should offer a gift at the altar, frequently and
without intermission. The altar, then, is in heaven (for towards that place are
our prayers and oblations directed); the temple likewise [is there], as John
says in the Apocalypse, "And the temple of God was opened:"
Revelation 11:19 the tabernacle also: "For, behold," He says,
"the tabernacle of God, in which He will dwell with men."
