Chapter XVIII.—Dress as Connected with Idolatry.

But we must now treat of the garb only and apparatus of office. There is a dress proper to every one, as well for daily use as for office and dignity. That famous purple, therefore, and the gold as an ornament of the neck, were, among the Egyptians and Babylonians, ensigns of dignity, in the same way as bordered, or striped, or palm-embroidered togas, and the golden wreaths of provincial priests, are now; but not on the same terms. For they used only to be conferred, under the name of honour, on such as deserved the familiar friendship of kings (whence, too, such used to be styled the “purpled-men”132    Or, “purpurates.” of kings, just as among us,133    [Not us Christians, but us Roman citizens.] some, from their white toga, are called “candidates”134    Or, “white-men.”); but not on the understanding that that garb should be tied to priesthoods also, or to any idol-ceremonies. For if that were the case, of course men of such holiness and constancy135    Or, “consistency.” would instantly have refused the defiled dresses; and it would instantly have appeared that Daniel had been no zealous slave to idols, nor worshipped Bel, nor the dragon, which long after did appear. That purple, therefore, was simple, and used not at that time to be a mark of dignity136    i.e., Official character. among the barbarians, but of nobility.137    Or, “free” or “good” “birth.” For as both Joseph, who had been a slave, and Daniel, who through138    Or, “during.” captivity had changed his state, attained the freedom of the states of Babylon and Egypt through the dress of barbaric nobility;139    i.e., the dress was the sign that they had obtained it. so among us believers also, if need so be, the bordered toga will be proper to be conceded to boys, and the stole to girls,140    I have departed from Oehler’s reading here, as I have not succeeded in finding that the “stola” was a boy’s garment; and, for grammatical reasons, the reading of Gelenius and Pamelius (which I have taken) seems best. as ensigns of birth, not of power; of race, not of office; of rank, not of superstition. But the purple, or the other ensigns of dignities and powers, dedicated from the beginning to idolatry engrafted on the dignity and the powers, carry the spot of their own profanation; since, moreover, bordered and striped togas, and broad-barred ones, are put even on idols themselves; and fasces also, and rods, are borne before them; and deservedly, for demons are the magistrates of this world: they bear the fasces and the purples, the ensigns of one college. What end, then, will you advance if you use the garb indeed, but administer not the functions of it? In things unclean, none can appear clean. If you put on a tunic defiled in itself, it perhaps may not be defiled through you; but you, through it, will be unable to be clean. Now by this time, you who argue about “Joseph” and “Daniel,” know that things old and new, rude and polished, begun and developed, slavish and free, are not always comparable. For they, even by their circumstances, were slaves; but you, the slave of none,141    See 1 Cor. ix. 19. in so far as you are the slave of Christ alone,142    St. Paul in his epistle glories in the title, “Paul, a slave,” or “bondman,” “of Christ Jesus.” who has freed you likewise from the captivity of the world, will incur the duty of acting after your Lord’s pattern.  That Lord walked in humility and obscurity, with no definite home: for “the Son of man,” said He, “hath not where to lay His head;”143    Luke ix. 58; Matt. viii. 20. unadorned in dress, for else He had not said, “Behold, they who are clad in soft raiment are in kings’ houses:”144    Matt. xi. 8; Luke vii. 25. in short, inglorious in countenance and aspect, just as Isaiah withal had fore-announced.145    Isa. liii. 2. If, also, He exercised no right of power even over His own followers, to whom He discharged menial ministry;146    See John xiii. 1–17. if, in short, though conscious of His own kingdom,147    See John xviii. 36. He shrank back from being made a king,148    John vi. 15. He in the fullest manner gave His own an example for turning coldly from all the pride and garb, as well of dignity as of power. For if they were to be used, who would rather have used them than the Son of God? What kind and what number of fasces would escort Him? what kind of purple would bloom from His shoulders? what kind of gold would beam from His head, had He not judged the glory of the world to be alien both to Himself and to His? Therefore what He was unwilling to accept, He has rejected; what He rejected, He has condemned; what He condemned, He has counted as part of the devil’s pomp.  For He would not have condemned things, except such as were not His; but things which are not God’s, can be no other’s but the devil’s. If you have forsworn “the devil’s pomp,”149    In baptism. know that whatever there you touch is idolatry.  Let even this fact help to remind you that all the powers and dignities of this world are not only alien to, but enemies of, God; that through them punishments have been determined against God’s servants; through them, too, penalties prepared for the impious are ignored.  But “both your birth and your substance are troublesome to you in resisting idolatry.”150    i.e., From your birth and means, you will be expected to fill offices which are in some way connected with idolatry. For avoiding it, remedies cannot be lacking; since, even if they be lacking, there remains that one by which you will be made a happier magistrate, not in the earth, but in the heavens.151    i.e., Martyrdom (La Cerda, quoted by Oehler).  For the idea of being “a magistrate in the heavens,” [sitting on a throne] compare such passages as Matt. xix. 28; Luke xxii. 28, 30; 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3; Rev. ii. 26, 27; iii. 21.

CAPUT XVIII.

Jam vero de solo suggestu et apparatu honoris retractandum; proprius habitus uniuscujusque est, tam ad usum quotidianum, quam ad honorem 0687C et dignitatem. Igitur purpura illa et aurum cervicis ornamentum eodem more apud Aegyptios et Babylonios insignia erant dignitatis, quo more nunc praetextae , vel trabae, vel palmatae , et coronae aureae sacerdotum provincialium, sed non 0688A eadem conditione. Tantum enim honoris nomine conferebantur his qui familiaritatem regum merebantur. Unde et purpurati regum vocabantur a purpura, sicut apud nos a toga candida candidati: sed non ut suggestus ille sacerdotiis quoque aut aliquibus idolorum officiis adstringeretur. Nam si ita esset, utique tantae sanctitatis et constantiae viri statim habitus inquinatos recusassent, statimque apparuisset Danielem (Dan., XII) idolis non deservisse, nec Belem nec draconem colere, quod multo postea apparuit. Simplex igitur purpura illa, nec jam dignitatis erat, sed ingenuitatis apud Barbaros insigne. Quemadmodum enim et Joseph (Gen., XLI) qui servus fuerat, et Daniel (Dan., VII) qui per captivitatem statum verterat, civitatem Babyloniam et Aegyptiam sunt consecuti 0688B per habitum barbaricae ingenuitatis: sic penes nos quoque fideles si necesse fuerit, poterit et pueris praetexta concedi, et puellis stola, nativitatis insignia, non potestatis: generis, non honoris: ordinis, non superstitionis. Caeterum purpura vel caetera insignia dignitatum et potestatum, insertae dignitati et potestatibus idololatriae ab initio dicata, habent profanationis suae maculam: cum praeterea ipsis etiam idolis induantur praetextae, et trabeae et laticlavi , fasces quoque et virgae praeferantur, et merito. Nam daemonia magistratus sunt saeculi, hujus collegii insignia fasces et purpuras gestant . Quid ergo proficies, si suggestu quidem utaris, opera vero ejus non administres? Nemo in immundis mundus videri potest. Tunicam si induas inquinatam per se, 0688C poterit forsitan illa non inquinari per te, sed tu per illam mundus esse non poteris. Jam nunc qui de Joseph (Gen., XLI) et Daniel (Dan., VII) argumentaris, scito non semper comparanda esse vetera et nova, rudia et polita, coepta et explicita, servilia et liberalia. 0689A Nam illi etiam servi conditione erant: tu vero nullius servus, in quantum solius Christi, qui te etiam captivitate saeculi liberavit, ex forma dominica agere debebis. Ille Dominus in humilitate et ignobilitate incessit domicilio incertus (Luc., IX): Nam Filius, inquit, hominis non habet ubi caput suum collocet; vestitu incultus, neque enim dixisset (Matth. XI, 8): Ecce qui teneris vestiuntur, in domibus regum sunt; vultu denique et aspectu inglorius, sicut et Esaias (Is. LIII, 2) pronuntiaverat. Si potestatem quoque nullam ne in suos quidem exercuit, quibus sordido ministerio functus est (Joan. XIII): si regem se denique fieri , conscius sui regni, refugit (Joan. VI), plenissime dedit formam suis dirigendo omni fastigio et suggestu tam dignitatis quam potestatis. 0689B Quis enim magis his usus fuisset quam Dei Filius? quales et quanti eum fasces producerent! qualis purpura de humeris ejus floreret! quale aurum de capite radiaret, nisi gloriam saeculi alienam et sibi et suis judicasset! Igitur, quae noluit, rejecit; quae rejecit, damnavit; quae damnavit, in pompa diaboli deputavit. Non enim damnasset, nisi non sua: alterius autem esse non possent, nisi diaboli, quae Dei non sunt. Tu si diaboli pompam ejerasti , quicquid ex ea attigeris, id scias esse idololatriam; vel hoc 0690A te commonefaciat omnes hujus saeculi potestates, et dignitates, non solum alienas, verum et inimicas Dei esse, quod per illas adversus Dei servos supplicia consulta sunt , per illas et poenae ad impios paratae irrogantur . Sed et nativitas et substantia tua molestae tibi sunt adversus idololatriam. Ad evitandum remedia deesse non possunt; cum etsi defuerint, supersit unicum illud quo felicior factus non in terris magistratus, sed in coelis.