Chapter I.

1. The subject of mercy, with the treatment of which the first book came to a close, is followed by that of the cleansing of the heart, with which the present one begins.240    Hereditate possidebunt. Vulgate omits hereditate. The passage is quoted almost literally in the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, iii. 7.    Jesus passes from the precepts of the genuine righteousness to the actual practice of the same (Meyer, Weiss), from moral to religious duties (Lange), from actions to motives; having spoken to the heart before by inference, he now speaks directly (Alford). The cleansing of the heart, then, is as it were the cleansing of the eye by which God is seen; and in keeping that single, there ought to be as great care as the dignity of the object demands, which can be beheld by such an eye. But even when this eye is in great part cleansed, it is difficult to prevent certain defilements from creeping insensibly over it, from those things which are wont to accompany even our good actions,—as, for instance, the praise of men. If, indeed, not to live uprightly is hurtful; yet to live uprightly, and not to wish to be praised, what else is this than to be an enemy to the affairs of men, which are certainly so much the more miserable, the less an upright life on the part of men gives pleasure? If, therefore, those among whom you live shall not praise you when living uprightly, they are in error: but if they shall praise you, you are in danger; unless you have a heart so single and pure, that in those things in which you act uprightly you do not so act because of the praises of men; and that you rather congratulate those who praise what is right, as having pleasure in what is good, than yourself; because you would live uprightly even if no one were to praise you: and that you understand this very praise of you to be useful to those who praise you, only when it is not yourself whom they honour in your good life, but God, whose most holy temple every man is who lives well; so that what David says finds its fulfilment, “In the Lord shall my soul be praised; the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.”241    Ps. cxlii. 5.    Ps. xxxiv. 2. It belongs therefore to the pure eye not to look at the praises of men in acting rightly, nor to have reference to these while you are acting rightly, i.e. to do anything rightly with the very design of pleasing men. For thus you will be disposed also to counterfeit what is good, if nothing is kept in view except the praise of man; who, inasmuch as he cannot see the heart, may also praise things that are false. And they who do this, i.e. who counterfeit goodness, are of a double heart. No one therefore has a single, i.e. a pure heart, except the man who rises above the praises of men; and when he lives well, looks at Him only, and strives to please Him who is the only Searcher of the conscience. And whatever proceeds from the purity of that conscience is so much the more praiseworthy, the less it desires the praises of men.

2. “Take heed,242    Rom. xii. 21.    Cavete facere; Vulgate, attendite ne faciatis. therefore,” says He, “that ye do not your righteousness243    The order in which Augustin places this Beatitude is followed in Cod. D, and approved by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Neander, and others (not Westcott and Hort). The meek not only bear provocation, but quietly submit to God’s dealings, and comply with His designs. The temporal possession promised is one of the few temporal promises in the New Testament. The inheritance of the earth is referred to “earthly good and possessions,” by Chrysostom, Euthymius, Luther, etc.; to conquest of the world by the kingdom of God, by Neander, to the actual kingdom on this earth, first in its millennial then in its blessed state, by Alford; typically to the Messiah kingdom, by Meyer; to the land of the living beyond the heavens by Gregory of Nyssa. “Humility and meekness have been proved to be a conquering principle in the world’s history” (Tholuck).    In agreement with the best Greek text. (See Revised Version.) This verse is a general proposition. The three leading manifestations of righteousness and practical piety among the Jews follow,—alms-giving, prayer, fasting. before men, to be seen of them:” i.e., take heed that ye do not live righteously with this intent, and that ye do not place your happiness in this, that men may see you. “Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father who is in heaven:” not if ye should be seen by men; but if ye should live righteously with the intent of being seen by men. For, [were it the former], what would become of the statement made in the beginning of this sermon, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works”? But He did not set up this as the end; for He has added, “and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”244    Lugentes. Greek, πενθοῦντες. The Vulgate, qui lugent, which Augustin follows, p. 7.    Matt. v. 14–16. But here, because he is finding fault with this, if the end of our right actions is there, i.e. if we act rightly with this design, only of being seen of men; after He has said, “Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men,” He has added nothing. And hereby it is evident that He has said this, not to prevent us from acting rightly before men, but lest perchance we should act rightly before men for the purpose of being seen by them, i.e. should fix our eye on this, and make it the end of what we have set before us.

3. For the apostle also says, “If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ;”245    The mourning is a mourning over sins of their own and others (Chrysostom, etc.); too restricted, as is also Augustin’s explanation. Spiritual mourning in general (Ambrose, Jerome, Tholuck, etc.) sorrow according to God (2 Cor. vii. 10). We are helped to the meaning by comparing the woe on those that laugh (Luke vi. 22); that is, upon those who are satisfied with earthly things, and avoid the seriousness of repentance.    Gal. i. 10. while he says in another place, “Please all men in all things, even as I also please all men in all things.”246    John iv. 34, 14.    1 Cor. x. 32, 33. And they who do not understand this think it a contradiction; while the explanation is, that he has said he does not please men, because he was accustomed to act rightly, not with the express design of pleasing men, but of pleasing God, to the love of whom he wished to turn men’s hearts by that very thing in which he was pleasing men. Therefore he was both right in saying that he did not please men, because in that very thing he aimed at pleasing God: and right in authoritatively teaching that we ought to please men, not in order that this should be sought for as the reward of our good deeds; but because the man who would not offer himself for imitation to those whom he wished to be saved, could not please God; but no man possibly can imitate one who has not pleased him. As, therefore, that man would not speak absurdly who should say, In this work of seeking a ship, it is not a ship, but my native country, that I seek: so the apostle also might fitly say, In this work of pleasing men, it is not men, but God, that I please; because I do not aim at pleasing men, but have it as my object, that those whom I wish to be saved may imitate me. Just as he says of an offering that is made for the saints, “Not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit;”247    Ipsorum miserabitur; closer to the Greek than the Vulgate ipsi misericordiam consequentur. The same thought that underlies the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, as Augustin also says, Retract. I. xix. 3.    Phil. iv. 17.i.e., In seeking your gift, I seek not it, but your fruit. For by this proof it could appear how far they had advanced Godward, when they offered that willingly which was sought from them not for the sake of his own joy over their gifts, but for the sake of the fellowship of love.

4. Although when He also goes on to say, “Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father who is in heaven,”248    Mundi corde; the Vulgate, mundo corde.    Acts otherwise noble and praiseworthy become sin when done to make an appearance before men, and get honour from them. Bad intentions vitiate pious observances. He points out nothing else but that we ought to be on our guard against seeking man’s praise as the reward of our deeds, i.e. against thinking we thereby attain to blessedness.

CAPUT PRIMUM.---1. Misericordiam, usque ad cujus tractationem liber primus terminum accepit, sequitur cordis mundatio, unde iste sumit exordium. Cordis autem mundatio est, tanquam oculi quo videtur Deus; cujus simplicis habendi tantam curam esse oportet, quantam ejus rei dignitas flagitat, quae tali oculo conspici potest. Huic autem oculo magna ex parte mundato difficile est non subrepere sordes aliquas de his rebus quae ipsas bonas nostras actiones comitari solent, veluti est laus humana. Si quidem non recte vixere, perniciosum est: recte autem vivere, et nolle laudari, quid est aliud quam inimicum esse rebus humanis, quae utique tanto sunt miseriores, quanto minus placet recta vita hominum? Si ergo inter quos vivis, te recte viventem non laudaverint, illi in errore sunt: si autem laudaverint, tu in periculo; nisi tam simplex cor habueris et mundum, ut ea quae recte facis, non propter laudes hominum facias; magisque illis recta laudantibus gratuleris, quibus id quod bonum est placet, quam tibi ipsi; quia recte viveres, etiam si nemo laudaret: ipsamque laudem tuam tunc intelligas utilem esse laudantibus, si non teipsum in tua bona vita, sed Deum honorent, cujus sanctissimum templum est quisquis vivit bene; ut illud impleatur quod ait David, In Domino laudabitur anima mea; audiant mites, et jucundentur (Psal. XXXIII, 3). Pertinet ergo ad oculum mundum non intueri in recte faciendo laudes hominum, et ad eas referre quod recte facis, id est, propterea recte 1270 facere aliquid, ut hominibus placeas. Sic enim etiam simulare bonum libebit, si non attenditur nisi ut homo laudet; qui quoniam videre cor non potest, potest etiam falsa laudare. Quod qui faciunt, id est, qui bonitatem simulant, duplici corde sunt. Non ergo habet simplex, id est, mundum cor, nisi qui transcendit humanas laudes, et illum solum intuetur, cum recte vivit, et ei placere nititur, qui conscientiae solus inspector est. De cujus conscientiae puritate quidquid procedit, tanto est laudabilius, quanto humanas laudes minus desiderat.

2. Cavete ergo, inquit, facere justitiam vestram coram hominibus, ut videamini ab eis: id est, cavete hoc animo juste vivere, et ibi constituere bonum vestrum, ut vos videant homines. Alioquin mercedem non habebitis apud Patrem vestrum qui in coelis est: non si ab hominibus videamini; sed si propterea juste vivatis, ut ab hominibus videamini. Nam ubi erit, quod in principio sermonis hujus dictum est, Vos estis lumen mundi? Non potest civitas abscondi super montem constituta; neque accendunt lucernam et ponunt eam sub modio, sed super candelabrum, ut luceat omnibus qui in domo sunt. Sic luceat lumen vestrum coram hominibus, ut videant bona facta vestra. Sed non ibi constituit finem; addidit enim, et glorificent Patrem vestrum, qui in coelis est (Matth. V, 14-16). Hic autem, quia hoc reprehendit, si ibi sit finis recte factorum, id est, si propterea recte faciamus, ut tantum videamur ab hominibus; posteaquam dixit, Cavete facere justitiam vestram coram hominibus, ut videamini ab eis, nihil addidit. In quo apparet, non 1271 hoc eum prohibuisse ut recte fiat coram hominibus, sed ne ob id forte recte fiat coram hominibus, ut videamur ab eis, id est, ut hoc intueamur, et ibi finem nostri propositi collocemus.

3. Nam et Apostolus dicit, Si adhuc hominibus placerem, Christi servus non essem (Galat. I, 10); cum alio loco dicat, Placete omnibus per omnia, sicut et ego omnibus per omnia placeo (I Cor. X, 32, 33). Quod qui non intelligunt, contrarium putant; cum ille se dixerit non placere hominibus, quia non ideo recte faciebat ut placeret hominibus, sed ut Deo, ad cujus amorem corda hominum volebat convertere, eo ipso quo placebat hominibus. Itaque et non se placere hominibus recte dicebat, quia in eo ipso ut Deo placeret intuebatur: et placendum esse hominibus recte praecipiebat, non ut hoc appeteretur tanquam merces recte factorum; sed quia Deo placere non posset, qui non se iis quos salvos fieri vellet praeberet imitandum: imitari autem illum qui sibi non placuerit, nullo pacto quisquam potest. Sicut ergo non absurde loqueretur, qui diceret, In hac opera qua navem quaero, non navem quaero, sed patriam: sic et Apostolus convenienter diceret, In hac opera, qua hominibus placeo, non hominibus, sed Deo placeo, quia non hoc appeto, sed ad id refero ut me imitentur, quos salvos fieri volo. Sicut dicit de oblatione quae fit in sanctos, Non quia quaero datum, sed inquiro fructum (Philpp. IV, 17): id est, Quod quaero datum vestrum, non hoc quaero, sed fructum vestrum. Hoc enim indicio apparere poterat quantum profecissent in Deum, cum id libenter offerrent , quod non propter gaudium de muneribus, sed propter communionem charitatis ab eo quaerebatur.

4. Quanquam et cum addit, et dicit, Alioquin mercedem non habebitis apud Patrem vestrum qui in coelis est, nihil aliud demonstrat nisi id nos cavere oportere, ne humanam laudem pro nostrorum operum mercede quaeramus, id est, ea nos beatos effici arbitremur.