Chapter V.

Those things which are generally looked on as good are mostly hindrances to a blessed life, and those which are looked on as evil are the materials out of which virtues grow. What belongs to blessedness is shown by other examples.

16. But those things which seem to be good, as riches, abundance, joy without pain, are a hindrance to the fruits of blessedness, as is clearly stated in the Lord’s own words, when He said: “Woe to you rich, for ye have received your consolation! Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger, and to those who laugh, for they shall mourn!”374    Ps. xc. 3 [LXX.].    S. Luke vi. 24, 25. So, then, corporal or external good things are not only no assistance to attaining a blessed life, but are even a hindrance to it.

17. Wherefore Naboth was blessed, even though he was stoned by the rich; weak and poor, as opposed to the royal resources, he was rich in his aim and his religion; so rich, indeed, that he would not exchange the inheritance of the vineyard received from his father for the king’s money; and on this account was he perfect, for he defended the rights of his forefathers with his own blood. Thus, also, Ahab was wretched on his own showing, for he caused the poor man to be put to death, so as to take possession of his vineyard himself.375    Symmachus, said to have been an Ebionite, lived c. 193–211. He translated the Old Testament into Greek. This was one of the versions Origen made use of in his Hexapla edition of the Bible.    1 [3] Kings xxi. 13–16.

18. It is quite certain that virtue is the only and the highest good; that it alone richly abounds in the fruit of a blessed life; that a blessed life, by means of which eternal life is won, does not depend on external or corporal benefits, but on virtue only. A blessed life is the fruit of the present, and eternal life is the hope of the future.

19. Some, however, there are who think a blessed life is impossible in this body, weak and fragile as it is. For in it one must suffer pain and grief, one must weep, one must be ill. So I could also say that a blessed life rests on bodily rejoicing, but not on the heights of wisdom, on the sweetness of conscience, or on the loftiness of virtue. It is not a blessed thing to be in the midst of suffering; but it is blessed to be victorious over it, and not to be cowed by the power of temporal pain.

20. Suppose that things come which are accounted terrible as regards the grief they cause, such as blindness, exile, hunger, violation of a daughter, loss of children. Who will deny that Isaac was blessed, who did not see in his old age, and yet gave blessings with his benediction?376    Gen. xxvii. 28. Was not Jacob blessed who, leaving his father’s house, endured exile as a shepherd for pay,377    Gen. xxxi. 41. and mourned for the violated chastity of his daughter,378    Gen. xxxiv. 5. and suffered hunger?379    Gen. xlii. 2. Were they not blessed on whose good faith God received witness, as it is written: “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”?380    Ex. iii. 6. A wretched thing is slavery, but Joseph was not wretched; nay, clearly he was blessed, when he whilst in slavery checked the lusts of his mistress.381    Gen. xxxix. 7. What shall I say of holy David who bewailed the death of three sons,382    2 Sam. [2 Kings] xii. 16; xiii. 31; xviii. 33. and, what was even worse than this, his daughter’s incestuous connection?383    2 Sam. [2 Kings] xiii. 21. How could he be unblessed from whom the Author of blessedness Himself sprung, Who has made many blessed? For: “Blessed are they who have not seen yet have believed.”384    S. John xx. 29. All these felt their own weakness, but they bravely prevailed over it. What can we think of as more wretched than holy Job, either in the burning of his house, or the instantaneous death of his ten sons, or his bodily pains?385    Job i. 14 ff. Was he less blessed than if he had not endured those things whereby he really showed himself approved?

21. True it is that in these sufferings there is something bitter, and that strength of mind cannot hide this pain. I should not deny that the sea is deep because inshore it is shallow, nor that the sky is clear because sometimes it is covered with clouds, nor that the earth is fruitful because in some places there is but barren ground, nor that the crops are rich and full because they sometimes have wild oats mingled with them. So, too, count it as true that the harvest of a happy conscience may be mingled with some bitter feelings of grief. In the sheaves of the whole of a blessed life, if by chance any misfortune or bitterness has crept in, is it not as though the wild oats were hidden, or as though the bitterness of the tares was concealed by the sweet scent of the corn? But let us now proceed again with our subject.

CAPUT V.

Quae putantur bona, plerumque impedimento esse ad beatam vitam: et quae mala, materiam esse virtutum: quod beatitudinis ac aliis exemplis confirmatur.

16. Sed et illa quae videntur bona, divitias, satietatem, 0107D laetitiam expertem doloris, detrimento esse ad fructum beatitudinis, Dominico declaratum judicio liquet, cum dicitur: Vae vobis divitibus, quia habetis consolationem vestram! Vae vobis qui saturati estis, 0108A quia esurietis (Ibid., 24 et seq.)! Et illis qui rident, quia lugebunt. Sic ergo non solum adminiculo non sunt ad vitam beatam corporis, aut externa bona, sed etiam dispendio sunt.

17. Inde enim beatus Nabuthe etiam cum lapidaretur a divite (III Reg. XXI, 13), quia pauper et infirmus adversus opes regias, solo erat affectu et religione dives, ut pecunia regali non commutaret paternae vineae haereditatem: eoque perfectus, quia sanguine proprio defenderet jura majorum suorum. Inde quoque miser Achab etiam suo judicio, quia pauperem necari fecerat; ut ejus possideret vineam.

18. Certum est solum et summum bonum esse virtutem, eamque abundare solam ad vitae fructum beatae: nec externis aut corporis bonis, sed virtute 0108B sola vitam praestari beatam, per quam vita aeterna acquiritur. Vita enim beata fructus praesentium: vita autem aeterna spes futurorum est.

75 19. Sunt tamen qui in hoc corpore tam infirmo, tam fragili, impossibilem vitam beatam putent, in quo necesse est angi, dolere, deplorare, aegrescere: quasi vero ego in corporis exsultatione dicam vitam beatam consistere, et non in altitudine sapientiae, suavitate conscientiae, virtutis sublimitate. Non enim in passione esse, sed victorem esse passionis beatum est, nec frangi temporalis motu doloris.

20. Pone accidere haec quae gravia ad vim doloris feruntur, caecitatem, exsilium, famem, stuprum filiae, amissionem liberorum. Quis neget beatum Isaac, qui non videbat in senectute, et beatitudines suis 0108C benedictionibus conferebat (Gen. XVII, 1 et seq.)? Annon beatus Jacob qui profugus patria domo, mercenarius pastor exsilium sustinuit, filiae pudicitiam ingemuit esse temeratam, famem pertulit (Gen. XXXI, 1, et seq.)? Non ergo beati quorum fide Deus accipit testimonium, cum dicitur: Deus Ahrabam, Deus Isaac, Deus Jacob (Gen. XXXIV, 1 et seq.)? Misera est servitus, sed non miser Joseph; immo plane beatus, cum dominae libidines in servitute positus coerceret (Gen. XXXIV, 8 et seq.) Quid de sancto David loquar, qui trium filiorum deploravit obitum (II Reg. XIII, 3), et quod his durius, incestum filiae (II Reg. XVIII, 33)? Quomodo non beatus, de cujus successionne beatitudinis auctor exortus est, qui plurimos fecit beatos? Beati enim qui non viderunt et crediderunt (Joan. XX, 29). Fuerunt 0108D et ipsi in sensu infirmitatis, sed evaluerunt de infirmitate fortes. Quid laboriosius autem sancto Job vel in domus incendio, vel filiorum decem interitu momentaneo, doloribus corporeis? Numquid minus 0109A beatus, quam si illa non pertulisset, in quibus magis probatus est (Job I, 14 seq.; II, 7 seq.)?

21. Esto tamen fuisse in illis aliquid acerbitatis, quem virtus animi non abscondit dolorem. Neque enim profundum mare negaverim, quia vadosa sunt littora; neque coelum lucidum, quia interdum obtexitur nubibus: neque terram fecundam, quia aliquibus locis jejuna glarea est: aut laetas segetes, quia intermixtam solent habere sterilem avenam. Similiter puta beatae messem conscientiae interpellari aliquo acerbo doloris. Nonne totius manipulis vitae beatae, si quid forte accidit adversi atque amaritudinis, tamquam sterilis avena absconditur, aut tamquam lolii amaritudo frumenti suavitate obducitur? Sed jam ad proposita pergamus.