Book II
Treatises · Saint Jerome
This book can hardly be said to form part of a dialogue. It is rather an argument from Scripture to prove the point of the Augustinian arguer, Atticus. From the fourth chapter onwards it consists, like the last five chapters of Book I., of a chain of Scripture texts, taken from the New Testament and the Prophets, to show the universality of sin, and thus to refute the Pelagian assertion that a man can be without sin if he wills. We shall, therefore, give, as in the previous case, a list of the texts and the first words of them, only giving Jerome’s words where he introduces some original remark of his own, or some noteworthy comment.
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The Pelagian begins by reiterating the dilemma: If the commandments are given to be obeyed, then man can be without sin; if he is, by his creation, such that he must be a sinner, then God, not he, is the author of sin. To the argument that sacrifices are enjoined for sins of ignorance, he replies by appealing from the Old Testament to the New, which leads to a discussion (2, 3) on St. Paul’s description of the conflict with sin, in Romans vii. Paul, it is argued, speaks not as a sinner, but as a man, and thus confesses the sinfulness of humanity. That men may be without ingrained vice is possible; that they can be without sin is not. This leads the Augustinian, Atticus, resuming his list of testimonies, to the fact that, though men are found who are righteous as avoiding wickedness (κακία), yet none is without sin (ἀναμάρτητος ).
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Ps. lviii. 3. Sinners are estranged from the womb; that is, either, as St. Paul says (Rom. v. 14), they sin “after the similitude of Adam”; or, “when Christ, as the firstborn, opened the virgin’s womb” (Exod. xiii. 2). The heretics refused to acknowledge the mystery, which was prefigured by the Eastern door of the Temple (Ezek. xliv. 2), which closed again when once the High Priest had gone through it.
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Prov. xx. 9. “Who will boast that he has a clean heart?” which shows at least that the commandments are not easy, as Pelagius says they are.
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Matt. xi. 30. “My yoke is easy,” are true only in comparison with Judaism, and should be compared with
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James iv. 11. “Thou judgest the law,” that is, if you say that the condemnation of sins of ignorance is unreasonable. That we all sin in such ways is evident from
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James i. 20. “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” But anger is constantly condemned as in
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Eccles. xi. 19. “I am the most foolish of all men.” This is said by Christ in the person of humanity. So
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Ecclus. i. 18. “In much wisdom is much grief,” shows the wise man’s sense of imperfection. So
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14. “There be righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked;” that is, God sees evil where we do not.
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x. 1. “Dead flies cause the ointment to stink;” That is, almost everyone is defiled by heresy or other faults.
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6. There are four emotions which agitate mankind, two relating to the present, two to the future; two to good, and two to evil. There is sorrow, called in Greek λύπη, and joy, in Greek χαρά or ἡδονή, although many translate the latter word by voluptas, pleasure; the one of which is referred to evil, the other to good. And we go too far if we rejoice over such things as we ought not, as, for example, riches, power, distinctions, the bad fortune of enemies, or their death; or, on the other hand, if we are tortured with grief on account of present evils, adversity, exile, poverty, weakness, and the death of kindred, all of which is forbidden by the Apostle. And again, if we covet those things which we consider good, inheritance, distinctions, unvaried prosperity, bodily health, and the like, in the possession of which we rejoice and find enjoyment; or if we fear those things which we deem adverse. Now, according to the Stoics, Zeno that is to say and Chrysippus, it is possible for a perfect man to be free from these emotions; according to the Peripatetics, it is difficult and even impossible, an opinion which has the constant support of all Scripture. Hence Josephus, the historian of the Maccabees, said that the emotions can be subdued and governed, not extirpated, and Cicero’s five books of “Tusculan Disputations” are full of these discussions.According to the Apostle, the weakness of the body and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places fight against us. And the same writer tells us that the works of the flesh and the works of the spirit are manifest, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that we do not the things that we would. If we do not what we would, but what we would not, how can you say that a man can be without sin if he chooses? You see that neither an Apostle, nor any believer can perform what he wishes.“Love covereth a multitude of sins,” not so much sins of the past as sins of the present, that we may not sin any more while the love of God abideth in us. Wherefore it is said concerning the woman that was a sinner,“Her sins which are many are forgiven her, for she loved much.” And this shows us that the doing what we wish does not depend merely upon our own power, but upon the assistance which God in His mercy gives to our will.
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In 1 John i. 5, John i. 7, 8, Matt. v. 14, Christ and the Apostles are called the Light of the world. The world therefore is darkness.
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1 Tim. vi. 16. God only hath immortality and is “only wise”; yet others, like the Prince of Tyre (Ezek. xxviii. 3), are wise derivatively. So we are pure, but only by grace. Thus
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11. We now turn to the Gospels “and supplement the flickering flame of the Apostolic light with the brightness of the lamp of Christ.”
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Matt. v. 22. “Every man who is angry…shall be in danger of the council.” Which of us is not here condemned?
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23, 24. “First be reconciled to thy brother.” Who is there that finds this command easy?
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37. “Let your speech be Yea, yea, Nay, nay.” Who has ever kept this commandment? The Psalmist says Ps. cxvi. 11. All men are liars.
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vii. 14. “Narrow is the gate which leadeth to life.” How can you say that the commandments are easy?
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Is. lxvi. 1, 2. “On whom shall I rest but on him that is humble?” Christ finds few on whom to rest. How then can His commands be said to be easy?
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Matt. ix. 12, 13. “I came not to call the righteous.” “They that are whole need not the physician.” Had the world not been full of sin, Christ would not have come. So
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Matt. x. 9. “Get you no gold…nor shoes.” Who has fulfilled this? Not even the Apostles, for
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Matt. x. 22–34. Describes the persecutions of Christ’s followers, and gives the command to take up the cross. Are these easy?
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Matt. xxvi. 39. “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” Yet Critobulus says, by his own will he can do right.
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vii. 24. “He went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon.” If Christ could not do as he wished, how can we?
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viii. 3. None of the accusers of the woman taken in adultery were without sin. Christ wrote their names in the earth (Jerem. xvii. 13).
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2 Sam. viii. 13, 14. David receives the promises with the humble confession of his weakness. “Is this the law of man, O God?”
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2 Chron. xxii. 9. Ahaziah received burial among kings because descended from righteous Jehoshaphat.
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2 Kings xx. 1, 5. Hezekiah wept when death was at hand, and recovered through special mercy.
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Numb. xx. 10, 12. Moses is punished for his sin at Meribah. This is the meaning of Ps. cxli. 6. Vulgate. Their judges were swallowed up, joined to the Rock, etc.
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xi. 9. “I will not enter into the city.” Only the Holy One is not joined to the mass of ungodliness.
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vi. 8. The command of justice, mercy, and a humble walk with God is only possible to humble faith, for
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Zech. iii. 1. Joshua is represented as clothed in filthy garments, and is freed through God’s mercy.
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But Jovinian’s heir says “I am quite free from sin, I have no filthy garments, I am governed by my own will, I am greater than an Apostle. The Apostle does what he would not, and what he would he does not; but I do what I will, and what I would not I do not: the kingdom of heaven has been prepared for me, or rather I have by my virtuous life prepared it for myself. Adam was subject to punishment, and so are others who think themselves guilty after the similitude of Adam’s transgressions; I and my crew alone have nothing to fear. Other men shut up in their cells and who never see women, because, poor creatures! they do not listen to my words, are tormented with desire: crowds of women may surround me, I feel no stirring of concupiscence. For to me may be applied thewords, ‘Holy stones are rolled upon the ground,’ and the reason why I am insensible to the attraction of sin is that in the power of free will I carry Christ’s trophy about with me.” But let us listen to God proclaiming by the mouth of Isaiah: “O my people, they which call thee happy cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Who is the greatest subverter of the people of God—he who, relying on the power of free choice, despises the help of the Creator, and is satisfied with following his own will, or he who dreads to be judged by the details of the Lord’s commandments? To men of this sort, Godsays, “Woe unto you that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own sight.” Isaiah, if we follow the Hebrew, lamentsand says, “Woe is me because I have been silent, because I am a man of unclean lips: and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the Lord of Hosts.” He for his meritorious and virtuous life enjoyed the sight of God, and conscious of his sins confessed that he had unclean lips. Not that he had said anything repugnant to the will of God, but because, either from fear, or from a deep sense of shame, he had beensilent, and had not reproved the errors of the people so freely as a prophet should. When do we sinners rebuke offenders, we who flatter wealth and accept the persons of sinners for the sake of filthy lucre? for we shall hardly say that we speak with perfect frankness to men of whose assistance we stand in need. Suppose that we do not such things as they, suppose we keep ourselves from every form of sin; to refrain from speaking the truth is certainly sin. In the Septuagint, however, we do not find the words “because I have been silent,” but “because I was pricked,” that is with the consciousness of sin; and thus the words of theprophet are fulfilled. “My life was turned into misery while I was pierced by the thorn.” He was pricked by the thorn of sin: you are decked with the flowers of virtue.“The moon shall be ashamed, and the sun confounded, when the Lord shall punish the host of heaven on high.” This is explained by another passage.“Even the stars are unclean in His sight,” and again, “He chargeth His angels with folly.” The moon is ashamed, the sun is confounded, and the sky covered with sackcloth, and shall we fearlessly and joyously, as though we were free from all sin, face the majesty of the Judge, when the mountains shall melt away, that is, all who are lifted up by pride, and all the host of the heavens, whether they be stars, or angelic powers, when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all their host shall fade away like leaves?
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Is. xxxiv. 5. “My sword hath drunk its fill in the heavens. It will come down in Edom.” How much more is there wrath against sin on earth! Edom means blood, which cannot inherit the kingdom (1 Cor. xv. 50).
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Let us confess with shame that these are the utterances of men who have already won their reward; sinners upon earth, and still in our frail and mortal bodies let us adopt the language of the saints in heaven who have even been endowed with incorruption and immortality.“And ye say the way of the Lord is not equal, when your ways are not equal.” It is Pharisaic pride to attribute to the injustice of the Creator sins which are due to our own will, and to slander His righteousness. The sons of Zadok, the priests of the spiritual temple, that is the Church,go not out to the people in their ministerial robes, lest by human intercourse they may lose their holiness and be defiled. And do you suppose that you, in the thick of the throng, and an ordinary individual, are pure?
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Jerem. xvii. 14. “Heal me, O Lord.” Otherwise Jeremiah could only say, as in the text next quoted,
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Amos vi. 14. “We have taken us horns by our own strength.” These are the boasts of heretics. But
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Jerem. i. 7, 20. Men’s sin will only be abolished because God is gracious to them. If you will abandon your assertions of natural ability, I will concede that your whole contention stands good, but only by the gift of God.
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Lam. iii. 26–42. It is good that a man should quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
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The words of 2 Maccabees v. 17, which say that Antiochus Epiphanes had power to overthrow the Temple, “because of the multitude of sins,” are quoted in connection with the confessions of Daniel.
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24. The prophecy of the seventy weeks shows that the prophet looked to God alone for the establishment of righteousness.
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So then, until that end shall come, and this corruptible and mortal shall put on incorruption and immortality, we must be liable to sin; not, as you falsely say, owing to the fault of our nature and creation, but through the frailty and fickleness of human will, which varies from moment to moment; because God alone changeth not. You ask in what respects Abel, Enoch, Joshua the son of Nun, or Elisha, and the rest of the saints have sinned. There is no need to look for a knot in a bulrush; I freely confess I do not know; and I only wish that, when sins are manifest, I might still be silent.“I know nothing against myself,” says St. Paul, “yet am I not hereby justified.”“Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” Before Him no man is justified. And so Paul says confidently,“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”; and“God hath shut up all under sin that He may have mercy upon all”; and similarly in other passages which we have repeated again and again.
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