CHAPTER XVII

RELIGIOUS ARE ACCUSED OF SEEKING TO FIND FAVOUR WITH MEN

We will, in this chapter, examine the arguments brought forward to prove that religious ought not to seek to please men.

             1. We read in Ps. lii. 6, "God hath scattered the bones of them that please men; they have been confounded, because God hath despised them."

             2. St. Paul says (Gal. i. 10): "If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." Hence, religious, who profess to be the servants of Christ, ought not to seek to please men.

             3. We read in 1 Cor. iv. the following words: "Even unto this hour we both hunger and thirst." On this passage, the Gloss says, "the Apostles by preaching, fearlessly and without flattery, and by reproving the evildoers, won no favour with men." Hence, religious, who are bound to preach the truth freely, ought not to seek to please men.

             4. "He who is charged with the gifts of the bridegroom, and seeks to find favour with the bride, commits adultery in his heart," says St. Gregory (in Pastoral.). Now the bride is the Church, the bridegroom being God's minister. Therefore, religious, who, although ministers of God, seek the friendship of men, are guilty of spiritual adultery.

             5. The desire to win human favour is the outcome of self-love; and, as St. Gregory remarks, (in Pastoral.), "love of self renders a man indifferent to his Creator." Hence, in so far as a man strives to render himself popular with his fellow-men, he becomes estranged from God.

             6. Religious ought to beware of anything savouring of vice; and, as popularity may render a man suspected of vice, as Aristotle says (IV. Ethics), religious ought not to desire to be popular.

             These are the chief arguments brought forward by those who seek to prove that religious ought, under no circumstances, to desire to win human favour. It will now be our duty to expose the fallacy which underlies these objections.

             1. St. Paul says (Rom. xv. 2), "Let every one of you please his neighbour to good, unto edification."

             2. He, likewise, says, "Be without offence to the Jews, and to the Gentiles, and to the church of God; as, I, also, in all things please all men" (1 Cor. x. 32).

             3. St. Paul, likewise, says (Rom. xii. 17), "providing good things, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men." Now, this exhortation would be meaningless, if it were wrong for men to consider how they may please their neighbours. Therefore, everyone ought to take thought how he may please others.

             4. We read in St. Matt. (v. 16), "So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father who is in heaven." Now, men will not be moved to glorify God, by the sight of good works which do not please them. Hence, it is the duty of everyone to take care, that his works may be such, as will please his neighbour.

             We must, however, remember, that three circumstances may make it unlawful in us to seek to please men. Firstly, desire of human approbation, must not be the primary motive of our actions. We ought to seek to please men, for the sake of their salvation, and for the glory of God. This is what is meant by the words in the Pastorale of St. Gregory: "Good priests should seek to please men, not in order to be loved by them, but, in order, that, by winning their esteem, they may draw them to the desire of truth. They ought to wish to gain the hearts of their hearers, in order to lead them to the love of God. For it is very difficult for an unpopular preacher to gain an audience." He adds, "St. Paul points out this lesson in the words: 'I please all men in all things.'" St. Paul, likewise, says: "If I should please men, I should not be the servant of Christ." Hence, St. Paul did please men, and did not please them. For, when he wished to please them, he desired to win their favour, not for himself, but for the truth.

             Secondly, we may not displease God in order to please men. This is the interpretation given by St. Jerome to the words in Galatians, "if I should please men," etc. "If," he says, "we can please both God and men, we must please men. But if we cannot please men without displeasing God, we ought to please God rather than men."

             Thirdly, it happens, at times, that a man does all that in him lies, and yet he is rashly judged by others. If he do his best, and yet is misjudged by men, he ought to be content that his conscience assure him that he is approved by God, without distressing himself on account of the false judgments of men. The Gloss makes the following comments on the words, "if I should please men," etc. (Galat. i.): "Some men are false judges, backbiters, and fault-finders. They try to cast suspicion on what they do not see, and to asperse deeds, on which no suspicion has alighted. Against such as these, the testimony of our own conscience is our best defence."

             We shall have no difficulty in refuting the remaining objections.

             1 and 2. "God hath scattered the bones of them that please men," is to be understood, as applying to those who make the favour of men the chief object of their ambition, and who, in order to please mortals, are ready to offend God. The words of Galat. i., "If I should please men," are to be understood in the same sense.

             3. Although preachers of the truth may be hated by sinners who are unwilling to amend their lives, they gain the favour of those who desire instruction. "Rebuke a wise man and he will love thee" (Prov.

ix. 8).

             4. The words of St. Gregory, quoted as an objection to our proposition, refer to those who make it their sole ambition to find favour with men, and who desire to be loved with a love due to God alone, even though they do not commit any overt offence against Him. That this is the sense of the passage is clearly shown by its context, which runs as follows: "He is an enemy to our Redeemer, who desires, for the sake of his good works, to be loved by the Church."

             5. The words of St. Gregory, quoted in the fifth objection, are to be understood, as referring to that inordinate self love which causes men to seek, merely for their own sake, to please their neighbour.

             6. The word to seek popularity (esse placidum), used in the sixth objection, means, not simply one who seeks to please men, but one who desires, to an excessive degree to please them, and who is willing to do wrong for the sake of pleasing them. He that merely seeks to please others in an ordinate manner, ought to be called a friend, and is so called by the Philosopher.