Chapter VI.

The Spirit rebukes just as do the Father and the Son; and indeed judges could not judge without Him, as is shown by the judgments of Solomon and Daniel, which are explained in a few words, by the way; and no other than the Holy Spirit inspired Daniel.

35. Why do we reject like words when we assert the oneness of power, since the oneness of power extends so far that the Spirit rebukes, as the Father rebukes, and as the Son rebukes. For so it is written: “O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger, neither chasten me in Thy displeasure.”492    Ps. vi. 1. Then in the forty-ninth [fiftieth] Psalm, the Lord speaks thus: “I will rebuke thee, and will set thy sins before thy face.”493    Ps. l. [xlix.] 21. And in like manner the Son said of the Holy Spirit: “When I go away, I will send the Paraclete to you. And He, when He is come, will rebuke the world, concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment.”494    S. John xvi. 7, 8.

36. But whither is the madness of faithless men leading us, so that we appear to be proving, as if it were a matter of doubt, that the Holy Spirit rebukes, whereas judges themselves are unable to judge, except through the Spirit. Lastly, that famous judgment of Solomon, when, amongst the difficulties arising from those who were contending, as one, having overlain the child which she had borne, wished to claim the child of another, and the other was protecting her own son, he both discovered deceit in the very hidden thoughts, and affection in the mother’s heart, was certainly so admirable only by the gift of the Holy Spirit. For no other sword would have penetrated the hidden feeling of those women, except the sword of the Spirit, of which the Lord says: “I am not come to send peace but a sword.”495    S. Matt. x. 34. For the inmost mind cannot be penetrated by steel, but by the Spirit: “For the Spirit of understanding is holy, one only, manifold, subtle, lively,” and, farther on, “overseeing all things.”496    Wisd. vii. 22, 23.

37. Consider what the prophet says, that He oversees all things. And so Solomon also oversaw, so that he ordered that sword to be brought, because while pretending that he intended to divide the infant, he reflected that the true mother would have more regard for her son than for her comfort, and would set kindness before right, not right before kindness. But that she who feigned the feelings of a mother, blinded by the desire of gaining her end, would think little of the destruction of him in regard to whom she felt no outgoing of tenderness. And so that spiritual man, that he might judge all things (for he that is spiritual judgeth all things),497    1 Cor. ii. 15. sought in the feelings the natural disposition which was concealed in the language, and questioned tenderness that he might set forth the truth. So the mother overcame by the affection of love, which is a fruit of the Spirit.

38. He judges in a prophet, for the word of wisdom is given by the Spirit;498    1 Cor. xii. 8. how, then, do men deny that the Spirit can rebuke the world concerning judgment, Who removes doubt from judgment, and grants the successful issue?

39. Daniel also, unless he had received the Spirit of God, would never have been able to discover that lustful adultery, that fraudulent lie. For when Susanna, assailed by the conspiracy of the elders, saw that the mind of the people was moved by consideration for the old men, and destitute of all help, alone amongst men, conscious of her chastity she prayed God to judge; it is written: “The Lord heard her voice, when she was being led to be put to death, and the Lord raised up the Holy Spirit of a young youth, whose name was Daniel.”499    Hist. Sus. [Dan. iii.] 44, 45. And so according to the grace of the Holy Spirit received by him, he discovered the varying evidence of the treacherous, for it was none other than the operation of divine power, that his voice should make them whose inward feelings were concealed to be known.

41. Understand, then, the sacred and heavenly miracle of the Holy Spirit. She who preferred to be chaste in herself, rather than in the opinion of the people, she who preferred to hazard [the reputation of] her innocence, rather than her modesty, who when she was accused was silent, when she was condemned held her peace, content with the judgment of her own conscience, who preserved regard for her modesty even in peril, that they who were not able to force her chastity might not seem to have forced her to petulance; when she called upon the Lord, she obtained the Spirit, Who made known the hidden consciousness of the elders.

42. Let the chaste learn not to dread calumny. For she who preferred chastity to life did not suffer the loss of life, and retained the glory of chastity. So, too, Abraham, once bidden to go to foreign lands, and not being held back either by the danger to his wife’s modesty, nor by the fear of death before him, preserved both his own life and his wife’s chastity.500    Gen. xx. 1 ff. So no one has ever repented of trusting God, and chastity increased devotion in Sarah, and devotion chastity.

43. And lest any one should perhaps think that, as the Scripture says, “God raised up the Holy Spirit of a young youth,” the Spirit in him was that of a man, not the Holy Spirit, let him read farther on, and he will find that Daniel received the Holy Spirit, and therefore prophesied. Lastly, too, the king advanced him because he had the grace of the Spirit. For he speaks thus: “Thou, O Daniel, art able, forasmuch as the Holy Spirit of God is in thee.”501    Dan. v. 14. And farther on it is written: “And Daniel was set over them, because an excellent Spirit was in him.”502    Dan. vi. 3. And the Spirit of Moses also was distributed to those who were to be judges.503    Num. xi. 25.

CAPUT VI.

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Spiritum perinde ac Patrem et Filium arguere; immo vero judicare non posse judices absque ipso, ut Salomonis Danielisque judiciis, quae obiter paucis explicantur, ostenditur; neque alium Danieli aspirasse, quam Spiritum sanctum.

35. [Alias cap. VII.] Cur enim verborum similitudinem recusamus, ubi unitatem potestatis asserimus; cum eousque unitas potestatis sit, ut et arguat Spiritus, sicut arguit Pater, et arguit Filius? Sic enim scriptum est: Domine, ne ira tua arguas me, neque in furore tuo corripias me (Psalm. VI, 1). Deinde in quadragesimo nono psalmo sic dicit Dominus: Arguam te, et statuam ante faciem tuam peccata tua (Psal. XLIX, 21); ita etiam de Spiritu sancto Filius dixit: Cum autem abiero, mittam paraclitum ad 0784C vos: et ille veniens arguet mundum de peccato, et de justitia, et de judicio (Joan. XVI, 7, 8).

36. Sed quo nos perfidorum hominum deducit amentia, ut quasi de ambiguo quod Spiritus sanctus arguat, 672 videamur astruere; cum judices ipsi non queant nisi per Spiritum judicare? Denique nobile illud Salomonis judicium, quod inter dubia certantium; cum una, oppresso parvulo, quem ipsa susceperat, vindicare sibi vellet alienum, altera proprium filium defensaret; et fraudem in ipsis cogitationibus occultis, et pietatem in maternis visceribus deprehendit, utique per Spiritus sancti munus emicuit (III Reg. III, 16). Neque enim latentem conscientiam feminarum alia aliqua penetrasset nisi 0784D Spiritus sancti machaera, de qua ait Dominus: Non veni pacem mittere, sed machaeram (Matth. X, 34); quia non ferro, sed Spiritu mens interna penetrabilis: Est enim Spiritus intelligentiae sanctus, unicus, multiplex, subtilis, mobilis (Sap. VII, 22); et infra: Omnia prospiciens (Ibid., 23).

37. Vide propheta quid dicat, quia omnia prospicit. 0785A Et ideo etiam Salomon prospexit, ut machaeram illam juberet afferri (III Reg. III, 24); quia simulato quod dividere vellet infantem, consideravit quod vera mater plus consuleret filio quam solatio; et gratiam juri, non gratiae jura praeferret. At vero illa quae matris simularet affectum, vincendi studio caeca, parvi duceret ejus exitium, in quo nesciret pietatis dispendium. Itaque vir ille spiritalis, qui dijudicaret omnia (Spiritalis enim (I Cor. II, 15) dijudicat omnia) naturam in affectibus quaesivit, quae latebat in vocibus: et pietatem interrogavit, ut proderet veritatem. Vicit itaque mater charitatis affectu, quae fructus est Spiritus.

38. Dijudicat in propheta, quia per Spiritum datur sermo sapientiae: quomodo ergo negatur quod 0785B arguere possit Spiritus sanctus mundum de judicio, qui judicii tollit ambiguum, largitur eventum?

39 et 40. Daniel quoque nisi accepisset Dei Spiritum, numquam potuisset deprehendere adulterium libidinis, mendacium fraudis. Nam cum Susanna presbyterorum conjurationibus appetita, inflexam populi mentem videret contemplatione seniorum; et omnibus destituta subsidiis, sola inter homines pudicitiae suae conscia Deum arbitrum precaretur: Exaudivit, inquit, Dominus vocem ejus, cum duceretur, ut periret: et excitavit Dominus Spiritum sanctum pueri adolescentis, cui nomen Daniel (Dan. XIII, 44, 45). Itaque secundum accepti Spiritus sancti gratiam vacillantia perfidorum testimonia deprehendit; neque enim alia nisi divinae fuit operatio potestatis, 0785C ut eos vox sua proderet, quorum latebat affectus.

41. Percipite igitur Spiritus sancti sacrum et coeleste miraculum. Illa quae maluit sibi casta esse, quam populo: illa quae maluit innocentiae subire periculum, quam pudoris: quae cum accusaretur, tacebat: cum damnaretur, silebat, conscientiae suae contenta judicio: quae reverentiam pudoris etiam in periculis reservabat; ne extorsisse petulantiam viderentur, qui extorquere non potuerant castitatem: ubi 673 Dominum invocavit, Spiritum meruit qui latentem presbyterorum conscientiam revelavit.

42. Discant pudicae calumniam non timere. Nam quae castimoniam vitae praetulit, nec vitae dispendium 0785D pertulit, et gloriam retulit castitatis. Sic et Abraham quondam jussus adire peregrina, nec uxoriae periculo pudicitiae, nec mortis propositae terrore revocatus, et vitam suam, et castimoniam servavit uxoris. Nullum itaque Deo credidisse poenituit: et castitas devotionem cumulavit in Sara, et devotio castitatem.

43. Ac ne quis forte existimet, quia dicente Scriptura: Excitavit Deus Spiritum sanctum pueri adolescentis 0786A (Dan. IV, 21), spiritum in eo putet fuisse hominis, non Spiritum sanctum; legat in posterioribus, et inveniet quia Spiritum sanctum accepit Daniel, et ideo prophetavit. Denique et rex eum praetulit, quia habebat gratiam spiritalem. Sic enim dicit: Tu autem, Daniel, potes; quia Spiritus sanctus Dei in te est. Et infra Scriptura dicit: Et fuit Daniel praepositus illis; quoniam Spiritus erat superans in eo (Dan. VI, 3). Sed etiam Moysis Spiritus judicaturis divisus est (Num. XI, 25).