Chapter V.

The objection from the unchangeableness of God is answered from several passages of Scripture, wherein God promises forgiveness to sinners on their repentance. St. Ambrose also shows that mercy will be more readily accorded to such as have sinned, as it were, against their will, which he illustrates by the case of prisoners taken in war, and by language put into the mouth of the devil.

21. But they say that they make these assertions in order not to seem to make God liable to change, as He would be if He forgave those with whom He was angry. What then? Shall we reject the utterances of God and follow their opinions? But God is not to be judged by the statements of others, but by His own words. What mark of His mercy have we more ready at hand than that He Himself, through the prophet Hosea, is at once merciful as though reconciled to those whom in His anger He had threatened? For He says: “O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee, or what shall I do unto thee, O Judah? Your kindness,” etc.30    Hos. vi. 4. And further on: “How shall I establish thee? I will make thee as Admah, and as Zeboim.”31    Hos. xi. 8. In the midst of His indignation He hesitates, as it were, with fatherly love, doubting how He can give over the wanderer to punishment; for although the Jew deserves it, God yet takes counsel with Himself. For immediately after having said, “I will make thee as Admah and as Zeboim,” which cities, owing to their nearness to Sodom, suffered together in like destruction, He adds, “My heart is turned against Me, My compassion is aroused, I will not do according to the fierceness of Mine anger.”32    Hos. xi. 8.

22. Is it not evident that the Lord Jesus is angry with us when we sin in order that He may convert us through fear of His indignation? His indignation, then, is not the carrying out of vengeance, but rather the working out of forgiveness, for these are His words: “If thou shalt turn and lament, thou shalt be saved.”33    Ps. xxx. 15 [LXX.]. He waits for our lamentations here, that is, in time, that He may spare us those which shall be eternal. He waits for our tears, that He may pour forth His goodness. So in the Gospel, having pity on the tears of the widow, He raised her son. He waits for our conversion, that He may Himself restore us to grace, which would have continued with us had no fall overtaken us. But He is angry because we have by our sins incurred guilt, in order that we may be humbled; we are humbled, in order that we may be found worthy rather of pity than of punishment.

23. Jeremiah, too, may certainly teach when he says: “For the Lord will not cast off for ever; for after He has humbled, He will have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies, Who hath not humbled from His whole heart nor cast off the children of men.”34    Lam. iii. 31, 32. This passage we certainly find in the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and from it, and from what follows, we note that the Lord humbles all the prisoners of the earth under His feet,35    Lam. iii. 34. in order that we may escape His judgment. But He does not bring down the sinner even to the earth with His whole heart Who raises the poor even from the dust and the needy from the dunghill. For He brings not down with His whole heart Who reserves the intention of forgiving.

24. But if He brings not down every sinner with His whole heart, how much less does He bring down him with His whole heart who has not sinned with his whole heart! For as He said of the Jews: “This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me,”36    Isa. xxix. 13. so perhaps He may say of some of the fallen: “They denied Me with their lips, but in heart they are with Me. It was pain which overcame them, not unfaithfulness which turned them aside.”37    S. Matt. xv. 8. But some without cause refuse pardon to those whose faith the persecutor himself confessed up to the point of striving to overcome it by torture. They denied the Lord once, but confess Him daily; they denied Him in word, but confess Him with groans, with cries, and with tears; they confess Him with willing words, not under compulsion. They yielded, indeed, for a moment to the temptation of the devil, but even the devil afterwards departed from those whom he was unable to claim as his own. He yielded to their weeping, he yielded to their repentance, and after making them his own lost those whom he attached when they belonged to Another.

25. Is not the case such as when any one carries away captive the people of a conquered city? The captive is led away, but against his will. He must of necessity go to foreign lands, does not willingly make the journey; he takes his native land with him in his heart, and seeks an opportunity to return. What then? When any such return, does any one urge that they should not be received; with less honour indeed, but with readier will, that the enemy may have nothing with which to reproach them? If you pardon an armed man who was able to fight, do you not pardon him in whom faith alone waged the battle?

26. If we were to enquire what is the opinion of the devil concerning those who have fallen after this sort, would he not probably reply: “This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me? For how can he be with me who does not depart from Christ? Without any cause do they appear to honour me who keep the doctrine of Jesus, and I thought that they would teach mine. They condemn me all the more when they forsake me after trial. Indeed Jesus is more glorified in these, when He receives them on their return to Him. All the angels rejoice, for in heaven there is greater joy over one sinner that repents, than over ninety and nine just persons who need not repentance. I am triumphed over in heaven and on earth. Christ loses nothing when they who came to me with weeping return with longing to the Church, and I am in danger even as regards my own, who will learn that in reality there is nothing here where men are led on by present rewards, but that there must be very much there where groans and tears and fasts are preferred to my feasts.”

CAPUT V.

Objectioni ab immutabilitate Dei petitae respondetur, allatis Scripturae testimoniis, quibus misericordiam emergentibus e volutabro suo peccatoribus Deus promittit: additurque indulgentiam iis parari propensiorem, qui quodammodo inviti deliquerunt, quod eleganti bello captorum exemplo, et ipsiusmet diaboli prosopopaeia illustratur.

21. Sed aiunt ideo se ista asserere, ne mutabilem Deum facere videantur; si his 396 quibus fuerit iratus, ignoscat. [Alias cap. IV.] Quid ergo? Repudiabimus divina oracula, et opiniones istorum sequemur? Sed non Deus alienis assertionibus, sed suis aestimandus est vocibus. Quod enim promptius edere possumus 0472D insigne ejus misericordiae, quam quod ipse per prophetam Osee, quibus tamquam iratus minabatur, continuo tamquam reconciliatus indulget? Ait enim: Quid tibi faciam, Ephraem, aut quid faciam tibi, Juda? 0473A Misericordia vestra, etc. (Ose. VI, 4). Et infra: Quomodo te constituam? Velut Adama efficiam te, et sicut Seboim (Ose. XI, 8). In ipsa indignatione velut patrio quodam affectu haeret, quomodo ad poenam tradat errantem: etsi Judaeus meretur, Deus tamen adhuc secum examinat. Sed continuo (De Poenit., dist. I, cap. Sed contin.) qui dixerat: Sicut Adama faciam te, et sicut Seboim; quae duae urbes ex vicinia Sodomorum parilis excidii traxere consortium: Conversum est, inquit, cor meum in eo ipso, conturbata est poenitentia mea: non faciam secundum iracundiam furoris mei (Ose. XI, 8, 9).

22. Nonne apparet quod ideo nobis peccantibus indignetur Dominus Jesus, ut indignationis suae nos terrore convertat? Indignatio ergo ejus non ultionis 0473B exsecutio, sed magis absolutionis est operatio; sic enim dixit: Si conversus ingemueris, salvus eris (Esai XXX, 15). Exspectat gemitus nostros, sed temporales, ut remittat perpetuos: exspectat lacrymas nostras, ut profundat pietatem suam. Sic in Evangelio, viduae matris lacrymis compassus, filium ejus resuscitavit (Luc. VII, 13). Exspectat conversionem nostram, ut revertatur et ipse ad gratiam: quae, si nullus lapsus nobis irreperet, in nobis perseveraret: sed quia peccatis nostris contrahimus offensam, indignatur, ut humiliemur: humiliamur, ut digni simus magis miseratione quam poena.

23. Doceat te certe Hieremias dicens: Quia non repellet in aeternum Dominus; quoniam cum humiliaverit, miserebitur secundum multitudinem misericordiae 0473C suae: qui non humiliavit toto corde suo, neque repulit filios hominum (Thren. III, 31, 32). Hoc certe in Threnis Hieremiae legimus, et ex his, vel caeteris quae sequuntur advertimus quia ideo humiliat sub pedibus suis omnes vinctos terrae, ut judicium ejus declinemus (Psal. CXII, 7). Sed nec toto corde humiliat peccatorem usque ad terram, qui etiam de terra suscitat inopem, et de stercore erigit pauperem; non enim ex toto corde humiliat, qui se veniae reservat.

24. Quod si non ex toto corde omnem humiliat peccatorem, quanto magis non ex toto corde humiliat eum, qui non ex toto corde peccavit! Nam sicut dixit de Judaeis: Populus hic labiis me honorat, cor autem eorum longe est a me (Esa. XXIX, 13; Matth. XV, 8); fortasse et de aliquibus lapsis dicat: Isti labiis 0473D me negarunt, sed corde mecum sunt. Vicit eos poena, non avertit perfidia. Sine causa autem 397 his aliqui veniam negant, quorum fidem eousque confessus persecutor est, ut eam studeret expugnare tormentis. Negarunt semel, sed quotidie confitentur: 0474A negarunt sermone, sed confitentur gemitibus, confitentur ejulationibus, confitentur fletibus, confitentur liberis, non coactis vocibus. Cesserunt quidem ad tempus diaboli tentationi: sed etiam diabolus postea recessit ab his, quos sibi vindicare non potuit. Cessit eorum fletibus, cessit poenitentiae: quos invaserat alienos, perdidit suos.

25. Nonne ita istud est, ac si quis captivum victae urbis populum abducat? Captivus ducitur, sed invitus: qui in alienas terras necessitate contendat, intimo tamen non migret affectu, patriam secum animo vehat, quaerat copiam quemadmodum revertatur. Quid ergo? Cum hujuscemodi revertitur, num est aliquis qui persuadeat non recipiendum? minore scilicet honore, sed studio propensiore, ne habeat in quo 0474B insultet adversarius. Si armato ignoscis, qui pugnare potuit; non ignoscis ei, in quo sola pugnabat fides?

26. Ipsius diaboli de hujusmodi lapsis si requiramus sententiam, nonne videtur dicere: Populus hic labiis me honorat, cor autem eorum longe est a me? Quomodo enim mecum est, qui non recedit a Christo? Sine causa autem me colere videntur, qui doctrinam Jesu custodiunt: ego autem putabam quod meam docerent. Plus damnant, dum comperta deserunt. Certe Jesus in his amplius gloriatur, dum recipit revertentes. Exsultant omnes angeli; quia gaudium majus est in coelo super uno peccatore poenitentiam agente, quam in nonaginta et novem justis qui non indigent poenitentia (Luc. XV, 7). De me in coelo, de me in terris triumphus sumitur. Nihil 0474C Christo perit, quando hi qui ad me cum fletu venerant, cum desiderio ad Ecclesiam revertuntur: et horum exemplo etiam de meis periclitor, qui didicerint nihil hic esse, ubi homines praesentibus provocantur praemiis; et plurimum illic, ubi gemitus, lacrymae, jejunia meis epulis praeferuntur.