Part 5
God, whether they be predestinated to condemnation, owing to the iniquity of their pride, or whether they are to be judged contrary to their very pride, and to be disciplined out of the rudeness thereof, if they are children of mercy and grace. Accordingly Jeremiah, after saying, " I know, Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, and that it belongeth not to any man to walk and direct his steps," * immediately adds, " Correct me, Lord, but with judgment, and not in Thine anger; 2 as much as to say, I know that it is owing to my own fault, and that it is a part of Thy chastisement, that I am not assisted by Thee, that my footsteps should be perfectly directed : but yet do not in this so deal with me as Thou dost in Thine anger, when Thou dost determine to condemn the wicked ; but as Thou dost in Thy judgment whereby Thou dost teach Thy children not to be proud and arrogant. "Whence in another passage it is said, " And Thy judgments shall help me."
Chap. 27. The divine remedies against pride; grace pre-eminent in Christ; how it happens that righteousness sometimes affords pleasure more or less, sometimes not.* You cannot therefore attribute to God the cause of any sin or shortcoming in man. For of all human faults the cause
'ride, for the conviction and removal of which a great remedy comes from heaven. God in His mercy humbles
Himself, descends from above, and displays to man, lifted up
1 Jer. x. 23. * Jer. x. 24. 3 Ps. cxix. 175. 4 See below, in ch. 33 ; also De Naturd et Gratid, 29-32 ; and De Corrept.
ti Gratia, 10.
100 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
in pride, a pure and manifest grace in our own very manhood, which He undertook out of the vast love He bore to those who partake [of this nature] along with Himself. For [Christ]
1 (uniting Himdid not undertake this dispensation of grace self so intimately with the Word of God as by the very union to become in one and the same person both Son of God and also Son of man) owing to any merits or claims antecedent to His own will. It behoved Him to be one ; if it were possible that there should be two, or three, or more, such a dispensation would not have come from the pure and simple gift of God, but from man's free will and choice. This, then, is what is especially commended to us [in the gospel of God] this, so far as I dare to think, is the divine lesson taught and learned in those treasures of wisdom and knowledge which are hidden in Christ. Every one of us, therefore, either knows or knows not—either rejoices or rejoices not—to begin, continue, and complete a good work, discovering that it is duenot to his own will, but to the gift of God that he either knows or rejoices [to accomplish such a work]. This results in his being cured of the pride and vanity which elated him, and in his knowing how truly it is said not simply of this earth of ours, but in the spiritual sense, " The Lord will give kindness and sweet grace, and our land shall yield her fruit." 2 A good work, moreover, affords greater delight, in proportion as God is more and more loved as the highest unchangeable
Good, and as the Author of all good things of every kind whatever. And that God may be loved, "His love is shed abroad in our hearts," not by ourselves, but "by the Holy
Ghost that is given unto us.
Chap. 28. [xvni.] A good will comes from God.
Men, however, are toiling to discover in our own will some good thing of our own,—not given to us by God ; but how it is to be found I cannot imagine. The apostle says, when speaking of men's good works, "What hast thou that thou didst not receive ? now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it ? " 4 But, besides this, even nature itself, which may be taken into the account
1 Fecit. 2 Ps. lxxxv. 12 (Sept.). 3 Bom. v. 5. * 1 Cor. iv. 7-
CHAP. XXX.] HOW A GOOD WILL COMES FROM GOD. 101 by such as we, on such subjects as these, firmly keeps every one of us in our investigations within narrow bounds ; ^forbidding us so to maintain God's grace as to seem to take away free will, or, on the other hand, so to assert its liberty as to lay ourselves open to the censure of being ungrateful to the grace of God, in the arrogance of our impiety.
Chap. 29. A subterfuge of the Pelagians.
Now, with reference to the passage of the apostle which I have quoted, some of them would maintain it to mean that
" whatever amount of good inclination a man has, must on this account be attributed to God, because even this amount could not be in him if he were not a human being. Now, inasmuch as he only has from God the capacity of being anything at all, and of being human, why should there not be also attributed to God whatever there is in him of a good will, which could not exist unless he existed in whom it is found ?"
But on these terms it may also be maintained that a bad and depraved will also comes from God as its author ; because even it could not exist in man unless he were a man in whom it existed. Now God is the author of his human existence ; He must therefore be the author also of this depraved will, which could have no existence if it had not a man to give it being. But to argue thus is blasphemy.
Chap. 30. A free will is that which is freely bent hither and thither ; there are certain good things the use of which cannot be evil; all will is either good, and then it loves righteousness, or evil, when it does not love righteousness.
I Unless, therefore, we obtain not simply a choice of will, which is freely turned in this direction and that, and has its place amongst those natural goods which a man by using wrongly may become evil, but also a good will and desire, which has its place among those good gifts of which it is impossible for us to make a wrong use (unless our having it from God negative the point of possibility to us), I know not how we are to defend the principle expressed [in the apostle's question], "What hast thou that thou didst not receive?" For if we have from God a certain freedom of will, which may still be either a good will or an evil one ; and if the good will
1 See De Gratid Christi, 52 ; and Be Gratia et Libero Arbitrio, 1.
102 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
comes from ourselves ; then that which emanates from ourselves is a better thing than that which proceeds from Him.
But inasmuch as it is the height of absurdity to say this, they ought to acknowledge that we learn from God how to acquire even a good will. It would indeed be a strange thing
A sVAT'*' if our will could remain in a certain condition of neutrality , so as to be neither good nor bad ; for we either love righteousness, and then our will is a good one (and if our love for it be greater or less, then our will is more or less good) ; or else we do not love it at all, and in that case our will is not a good one. For who can hesitate to affirm that, when the will loves not righteousness in any way at all, it is not only a bad, but even a wholly depraved will ? Since therefore the will is either good or bad, and since of course we have not the bad will from God, it remains that we have of God a good will and besides, I know no other gift of His, since our justification is from Him, in which we ought to rejoice. Hence I suppose wl and in the it is written, " The will is prepared of the Lord ;
Psalms, " The steps of a man will be rightly ordered by the
2 and that
Lord, and His way will be the choice of his will;" which the apostle says, " For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of His own good pleasure."
Chap. 31. Grace is given to some men in mercy ; is withheld from others in justice and truth.
Forasmuch then as our turning away from God is our own act and deed, and this is our depraved will; since also our turning to God is not in our power, except He rouses and helps us, and this is our good will,—what have we that we have not received ? And since we are recipients, why do we glory as if we had received nothing ? Therefore, as " he that
4 it comes from His grace glorieth must glory in the Lord," and mercy that God wills to impart such gifts to some, and from His truth and equity that He wills not to impart them to others. For to sinners punishment is justly due, because
"the Lord God loveth mercy and truth," 5 and "mercy and
6 and "all the paths of the Lord are
truth are met together;"
1 [4i\wf, Sept.], Prov. viii. 35. * [h\i<ru, Sept.], Ps. xxxvii. 23.
3 Phfl. ii. 13. 4 Isa. xlv. 25 ; Jer. ix. 23, 24 ; 1 Cor. i. 31.
5 Ps. lxxxiv. 11 (Septuagint). 6 Ps. lxxxv. 10.
CHAP. XXXIII.] GOD'S GIFT OF GRACE INSCRUTABLE. 103
1 And who can tell the numberless inmercy and truth."
stances in which Holy Scripture combines these two attributes ?
Sometimes, by a change in the terms, grace is put for mercy, as in the passage, " We beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only -begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
Sometimes also judgment occurs instead of truth, as in the passage, " I will sing of mercy and judgment unto Thee,
Lord."
Chap. 32.— Why grace is not given to all men, and not always even to the saints.
As to the reason why He wills to convert some, and to punish others for turning away from Him, although nobody can justly censure Him for being merciful in conferring His blessing, nor can any man justly find fault with His truthfulness in awarding punishment (as no one could justly blame Him, in the parable of the labourers, for paying to some their stipulated hire, and asserting for others such as had not been
4 ), yet, after all, the purpose of His more hidden judgment lies entirely in His own hand, [xix.] So far as it agreed on has been given us to have wisdom and understanding, the Lord our God—if we are able to form a judgment—is even good in withholding sometimes from His saints either the certain knowledge or the triumphant joy of a good work, that they may discover how it is not from themselves but from Him that they receive the light which illuminates their darkness, and the sweet grace which causes their land
5 to yield
her fruit.
Chap. 33. Through grace we have both the knowledge of good, and the delight which it affords ; need of grace to assist us ; it is given in mercy, or withheld in judgment ; we must, above all things, watch against pride.
But when we pray Him to give us His help to do and accomplish righteousness, what else do we pray for than that He would open and explain what used to be hidden, and impart sweetness to that which once gave no pleasure ? For even this very duty of praying to Him we have learned by His grace, since before we knew no such duty ; and by His grace have come to love it, whereas before it gave us no
1 Ps. xxv. 10. 2 John i. 14. 3 Ps. ci. 1.
4 Matt. xx. 1-16. 5 i.e. the soil of their hearts. See above, c. 27.
104 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
pleasure,—so that " he who giorieth must glory in the Lord," and not in himself. To be lifted up, indeed, to pride is the result of men's own will, not of the operation of God ; for to such an emotion God neither urges us nor helps us. There first occurs then in the will of man a certain appetite of its own power, to become disobedient through pride. If it were not for this appetite, indeed, there would be nothing to cause trouble; and whenever man willed it, he might refuse without difficulty. There ensued, however, out of the penalty which was justly due to sin such a flaw and damage |~to our moral nature ], that henceforth it became difficult to be obedient unto righteousness ; and unless this damage were overcome by the assistance of grace, no one would turn to holiness ; nor would any one enjoy the peace of righteousness unless the flaw were mended by the operation of grace. But whose grace is it that overcomes and repairs the damage, but His to whom the prayer is directed : " Convert us, God of our salvation, and turn
1 And even when He does this, He does it in mercy, so that it is said of Him, " Not according
Thine anger away from us V' to our sins hath He dealt with us, nor hath He recompensed
2 and when He refrains from us according to our iniquities;" doing this to any, it is in judgment that He refrains. And who shall say to Him, "What hast Thou done ?" when with pious mind the saints sing to His praise of His mercy and judgment ? Wherefore even in the case of His saints and faithful servants He applies to them a tardier cure in certain of their failings, in. order that, while they are involved in these, a less pleasure than is compatible with the fulfilling of righteousness in all its perfection may be experienced by them at any good they may achieve, whether latent or manifest so that in respect of His most perfect rule of equity and truth "no man living can be justified in His sight"
3 \/ In His own self, indeed, He wishes none of us to fall under condemnation, but that we should become humble ; and He displays to us all the self-same grace of His own. Let us not, however, after we have made trial of its facility in all things, suppose that [virtue] to be our own which is really His ; for that would be an error most antagonistic to religion and piety.
1 Ps. lxxxv. 4. 2 Ps. ciii. 10. 3 Ps. cxliii. 2.
CHAP. XXXIV.] NO MAN BUT ONE SINLESS. 105
Nor let us think that we should, because of His grace, continue in the same sins as of old ; but against that very pride, which causes us our humiliation so long as we continue in them, let us, above all things, both vigilantly strive and ardently seek His help, knowing at the same time that it is by
His gift that we have the power thus to strive and thus to pray ; so that in every case, while we look not at ourselves, but raise our hearts above, we may render thanks to the Lord our God, and whenever we glory, glory in Him alone.
Chap. 34. [xx.] He answers the fourth question proposed : That no man, with the exception of Christ, has ever lived, or can live without sin.
There now remains our fourth point, after the explanation of which, as God shall help us, this lengthened treatise of ours may at last be brought to an end. It is this : Whether the man who has never sinned at all, or never can sin, is not only now living as one of the sons of men, but also could ever have existed at any time, or will yet. in time to come exist ? Now it is altogether most certain that such a man neither does now live, nor has lived, nor ever will live, except the one only Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. We have already said a good deal on this subject in our remarks on the baptism of infants ; for if these have no sin, not only are there at present, but also there have been, and there will be, persons innumerable without sin. Now if the point which we treated of under the second head be truly substantiated, that there is in fact no man without sin, then of course not even infants are without sin. From which the conclusion arises, that even supposing a man could possibly exist in the present life so far advanced in virtue as to have reached the perfect fulness of holy living which is absolutely free from sin, he still must have been undoubtedly a sinner previously, and have been converted from the sinful state to this subsequent newness of life. Now when we were discussing the second head, a different question was before us from that which is before us under this fourth head. For then the point we had to consider was,
"Whether any man in this life could ever attain to such perfection as to be absolutely without sin by the grace of God, by the hearty desire of his own will ? whereas the question now
1 See above, c. 8.
106 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
proposed in this fourth place is, Whether there be among the sons of men, or could possibly ever have been, or yet ever could be, a man who has not indeed emerged out of sin and attained to perfect holiness, but has never, at any time whatever, been under the bondage of sin ? If, therefore, the remarks are true which we have made at so great length concerning infants, there neither is, has been, nor will be, among the sons of men any man, except the one Mediator, in whom there accrues to us that propitiation and justification through which we have reconciliation with God, by putting an end to the enmity produced by our sins. It will therefore be not unsuitable to retrace a few considerations, so far as the present subject seems to require, from the very commencement of the human race, in order that they may inform and strengthen the reader's mind in answer to some objections which may possibly disturb him.
Chap. 35. [xxi.] Adam and Eve; the tree of Jcnowledge of good and evil, why so called ; Adam,, previous to his fall, made use of the tree of life ; tJie tree of life a type of wisdom ; a paradisefor the body andfor the soul; obedience most strongly enjoined by God on man. When the first human pair—the man Adam, and his wife Eve who came out of him—-willed no longer to obey the commandment which they had received from God, a just and deserved punishment overtook them. The Lord had threatened that, on the day they dared to eat the forbidden fruit, they
1 Now, inasmuch as they had received
should surely die.
the permission of using for food every tree that grew in Paradise, among which God had planted the tree of life ; but since He had forbidden them to partake of one only tree, which He called the tree of knowledge of good and evil, to signify by this name the consequence of their discovering both what good they would experience if they kept the prohibition, and what evil if they transgressed it, they are no doubt rightly considered to have abstained from the forbidden food previous to the malignant advice of the devil, and to have used all the aliments which had been allowed them, and therefore, among all the others, and before all the others, the tree of life . For what could be more absurd than to suppose that they partook of the fruit of other trees, but not of that which had been
1 Gen. ii. 17.
CHAP. XXXV.] THE TWO TREES^ OF KNOWLEDGE AND OF LIFE. 107 equally with others granted to them, and which, by its extreme virtue, prevented even their animal bodies from undergoing change through the decay of age, and from dying at last through very decrepitude, applying this benefit from its own body to the man's body, and in a mystery demonstrating what, by virtue of the wisdom which it symbolized, it conferred on the rational soul, even that it should be quickened by its fruit, and not be changed into a worthless state of decay and death ? For of her it is rightly said, " She is a tree of life to them that lay hold of her."
1 The one was a tree for the bodily Paradise, the other for the spiritual; the one afforded vigour to the senses of the outward man, the other strength to those of the inner man,—a vital strength and vigour, without any change for the worse through lapse of time. They therefore serve God, that dutiful obedience being all along commended to them, whereby alone God can be worshipped. Now, however great [this tree] was in itself, and however efficient by itself alone to guard and preserve the rational creature under the Creator, it was yet impossible for it to be put to any higher use than that these rational creatures should by it be prohibited from a tree which had no inherent evil. For God forbid that the Creator of all good, who made all
2 should plant anythings, " and behold they were very good," thing evil amidst the fertility of even that material Paradise.
Still, however, it was well to show man, whose submission to such a Master was so very useful to him, how much good belonged simply to the obedience , which was all that He had demanded of His servant This obedience would find its account not so much in the lordship of the Master as in the advantage of the servant. They were in fact forbidden the use of a tree, which, if it had not been for the prohibition, they might have used without suffering any evil result whatever; and from this circumstance it may be clearly understood, that whatever evil they brought on themselves because they made use of it in spite of the prohibition, the tree did not produce it to their detriment from any noxious or pernicious quality in its fruit, but entirely from the fact of their violated obedience.
1 Prov. iii. 18. 9 Gen. i. 31.
103 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
Chap. 36. [xxn.] Man's state before the fall ; why the members of human generation are called "pudenda ;" sin dwelling in our members; the "opening of their eyes," what this meant in our first parents.
Before they had thus violated their obedience they were pleasing to God, and God was pleasant to them ; and though they carried about an animal body, they yet perceived in it no incentive moving them to disobedience . This was the righteous appointment [of the Creator,] that inasmuch as their soul had received from the Lord a body for its servant , so it should itself obey the same Lord as its Master, even as its own body was obedient to itself, and should exhibit a service suitable to the life given it without resistance. Hence " they were both naked, and were not ashamed." * It is with a natural instinct of shame that the rational soul is now indeed affected, because in that flesh, whose service it had once received as the just due of its own superior power, it can no longer, owing to some indescribable infirmity , prevent the motion of the members thereof, notwithstanding its own unwillingness, nor excite them to motion even when it wishes. Now these members are on this account, in every man of chastity, rightly called " jmclencla " [such as cause him shame], because they excite themselves, just as they like, in opposition to the mind which is their master, as if they were in fact their own masters ; and the sole authority which the bridle of virtue possesses over them is to check them from approaching impure and unlawful pollutions. Such disobedience of the flesh as this, which lies in the very excitement, even when it is not allowed to take effect, did not exist in the first man and woman whilst they were naked and not ashamed. For as yet the rational soul, which rules the flesh, had not developed such a disobedience to its Lord, as by a reciprocity of punishment to bring on itself the rebellion of its own servant the flesh, along with that feeling of confusion and trouble to itself which it certainly failed to inflict upon God by its own disobedience to Him ; for God is put to no shame or trouble when we do not obey Him, nor are we able in any wise to lessen His very great power over us ; but on ourselves shame is caused, whenever the flesh is not submissive tu our command,—a result which is brought
TOO
1 Gen. ii. 25.
CHAP. XXXVII.] THE LAW OF SIN IN THE MEMBERS. 109 about by the infirmity which we incur by sinning, and is
1 But this called " the sin which dwelleth in our members."
sin is of such a character that it becomes the chastisement of sin. As soon, indeed, as the transgression has been effected, and the soul in its disobedience has turned away from the law of its Lord, then its servant, the body, begins to put in force the law of disobedience against it ; and then the man and the woman grew ashamed of their nakedness, when they perceived the rebellious motion of the flesh, which they had not perceived before. This discovery is called " the opening of their eyes ; 2 for no longer did they walk about among the trees with closed eyes. The same thing is said of Hagar : " Her
3 Then the man and
eyes were opened, and she saw a well."
the woman covered their loins. God had given them to them as useful members ; they made them * pudenda," parts which caused them shame.
Chap. 37. [xxni.] Sin is the corruption of nature, its renovation is by Christ man's original righteousness in Paradise, his righteousness after the fall. From this law of sin comes that sinful flesh , which requires cleansing through the mystery of Him who came in the likeness of sinful flesh, that the body of sin might be destroyed, which is also called " the body of this death," from which only
God's grace delivers wretched man through Jesus Christ our
4 For this law, which originated death , passed on from
Lord.
the first pair to their posterity, as [is attested by] the labour with which all men toil on earth, and the travail which affects
J mothers with the pains of childbirth. These sufferings they brought on themselves according to the sentence of God, when they were convicted of sin ; and we see them accomplished, not only in them, but also in their descendants, in some more, in others less. Whereas, however, the primeval righteousness of the first human beings consisted in obeying God, and not having in their members the law of concupiscence operating against the law of their mind ; now, since their fall, in our sinful flesh which is born of them , it is obtained by those who obey God as a great acquisition that they do not obey the desires of this evil concupiscence, but crucify in themselves the flesh with its affections and lusts, that they may be Jesus
1 Rom. vii. 17, 23. 2 Gen. iil 7. 8 Gen. xxl 19. * Rom. vii. 24, 25.
110 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
Christ's, who on His cross figured this crucifixion, and who gave them power through His grace to become the sons of
God. For it is not to all men, but to as many as have received Him, that He has given to be born again to God of the
Spirit, after their natural birth in the flesh. Of these indeed it is written : " But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God ; which were born, not of the flesh, nor of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God."
Chap. 38. [xxiv.] What benefit has been conferred on us by the. incarnation of the Word ; Christ's birth in the flesh, wherein it is like and wherein unlike our own birth. He goes on to add, " And the "Word was made flesh, and;" 2 as much as to say, A great thing indeed dwelt among us has been done among them, even that they are born again to God of God, who had before been born of the flesh to the world, although created by God Himself ; but far more wonderful is the fact that, whereas it accrued to them by nature to be born of the flesh, but by the divine goodness to be born of
God, in order that so great a benefit might be imparted to them, He who was in His own nature the Son of God, vouchsafed in mercy to be also born of the flesh,—no less being meant by the passage, " And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Hereby, he says in effect, it has come to pass that we who were born of the flesh as flesh, by being afterwards born of the Spirit, became spirit and dwelt in God ; because God, who was born of God, by being afterwards born of the flesh, became flesh, and dwelt among us. For the Word, which became flesh, was in the beginning, and was God with
3 But at the same time His condescending to our inferior
God.
condition, and sharing in it, in order to our participation in
His higher state, has always occupied a kind of intermediate
4 even in His birth of the flesh. Whilst we indeed position were born in sinful flesh, He was born in the likeness of sinful flesh ; whilst we were born not only of flesh and blood, but also of the will of man, and of the will of the flesh, He was born only of flesh and blood, not of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God. We, therefore, [were born] to
1 John i. 12, 13. 2 John i. 14. 3 John i. 1. 4 Medietatem.
CHAP. XXXIX.] CHARACTER OF CHRIST'S IXCARXATIOX. Ill die on account of sin ; He, on our account, [was born] to die without sin. Moreover, just as His inferior circumstances, to which He lowered Himself to reach us, were not in every particular exactly on a par with our inferior condition, in which He found us here ; so our superior state, in which we mount up to God, will not be quite equal to His superior state, in which we are there to find Him by and by. For we by His grace are to be made the sons of God, whereas He was evermore by nature the Son of God ; we having been once converted shall cleave to God, though not as His equal ; He who never turned from God, remains ever equal to God ; we are partakers of eternal life, He is eternal life. He, therefore, alone having become man, but still continuing to be God, never had any sin, nor did He assume a flesh of sin, although born of His mother's sinful flesh. For what He then took of flesh, He either cleansed in order to take it, or cleansed by taking it. His virgin mother, therefore, whose conception was not according to the law of sinful flesh (in other words, not by the excitement of carnal concupiscence), but who merited by her piety and faith the formation within her of the holy seed, He formed in order to select her [as His parent,] and selected her in order to be formed in her and of her. How much more needful, then, is it for sinful flesh to be baptized in order to escape the judgment, when the flesh which was untainted by sin was baptized to set an example for imitation ?
Chap. 39. [xxv.] An objection of the Pelagians.
The answer, which we have already given,
2 to those who say, " If a sinner has begotten a sinner, a righteous man ought also to have begotten a righteous man," we now advance in reply to such as argue that one who is born of a baptized man ought himself to be regarded as already baptized. " For why," they ask, " could he not have been baptized in the loins of his father, when, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews, Levi was able to pay tithes in the loins of Abraham ?" They who
1 De maternd came peccati. Another reading has, De naturd carnis peccati (" of the nature of sinful flesh ") j and a third, De materid carnis peccati (" of the matter of sinful flesh ").
2 See above, c. 11. 3 jhe allusion is to Heb. vii. 9.
112 ON FOKGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
propose this argument ought to observe that Levi did not subsequently pay tithes because he had paid tithes already in the loins of Abraham, but because he was ordained to the office of the priesthood in order to receive tithes, not to pay them ; otherwise not even his brethren, who all used to contribute their tithes to him, would have to make such payments, because they too, whilst in the loins of Abraham, had paid tithes to Melchisedec.
Chap. 40. An argument anticipated. And let no one contend that the descendants of Abraham might fairly enough have paid tithes, although they had already paid tithes in the loins of their forefather, on the ground that paying tithes was an obligation of such a nature as to require constant repetition from each several person, as was the case with the Israelites, who used to pay such contributions year by year all through life to their Levites, to whom were due various tithes from all kinds of produce ; whereas baptism is a sacrament of such a nature as admits of no repetition,—it is administered once for all. And if a man had already received it when in his father [according to the supposition], he must be considered as no other than baptized, since he was born of a man who had been himself baptized.
Well, whoever thus argues (I will simply say, without discussing the point at length), should look at circumcision. This used to be administered once for all, but yet it must be dispensed to each person separately and individually. [And the cases are strictly parallel] For as it was necessary in the time of that ancient sacrament for the son of a circumcised man to be himself circumcised, so now the son of one who has been baptized must himself also receive baptism.
Chap. 41. Children are called " clean" [or holy] by the apostle when one or the other of their parents was a believer.
The apostle indeed says, " Else were your children unclean, but now are they holy ;" 2 and therefore they infer there was no necessity for the children of believers to be baptized.
I am surprised at the use of such language by persons who
1 [See Gelasius, in his Treatise against the Pelagians.]
« 1 Cor. vii. 14.
CHAP. XLI.] "NOW ARE YOUR CHILDREN HOLT." 113 deny that original sin has been transmitted from Adam. If they take this passage of the apostle to mean that the children of believers are born in a state of holiness, how is it that they actually have no doubt about the necessity of even these children being baptized ? Why, in short, do they refuse to admit that any original sin is derived from a sinful parent, if any holiness is received from a holy parent ? Now it does not contravene any assertion on our side, indeed, even if
" holy " children are [said to be] born of believing parents, because we also hold that unless children are baptized they
1 damnation; and even our opponents exare in danger of clude them from the kingdom of heaven, although they insist
2 Now, that they are without sin, whether actual or original.
if they think it an unbecoming thing for beings who are " lioly " to incur damnation, how can it be a proper thing to exclude them, " holy " as they are, from the kingdom of God ? They should pay especial attention to this point, How can a sinful state help being derived from sinful parents, if a holy state is derived from holy parents, and an unclean state from unclean parents ? For the twofold principle was affirmed [by the apostle] when he said, " Else were your children unclean, but now are they holy." They should also explain to us how it is right that the holy children of believers and the unclean children of unbelievers are, notwithstanding their different circumstances, equally prohibited from entering the kingdom of God, if they have not been baptized. "What avails that sanctity of theirs in the former class ? Now if they were to maintain that the unclean children of unbelievers are damned, but that the holy children of believers are not damned, because they are " holy,"—although they are unable to enter the kingdom of heaven unless they are baptized,—that would be a distinction so far as it went ; but as it is, they declare with an equal amount of assurance respecting the holy children of holy parents and the unclean offspring of unclean parents, that they are not damned, since they have not any sin ; and that they are excluded from the kingdom of God because they are unbaptized. What an absurdity ! Who can suppose that such splendid geniuses do not perceive it ?
1 Pergere in. 2 See above, Book I. ch. 21-23.
114 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
Chap. 42.—Sanctification manifold ; sacrament of catechumens.
Our opinions on this point are strictly in unison with the apostle's himself, who said, "From one all are exposed to condemnation," and "from One all to justification of life."
Now how consistent these statements are with what he elsewhere says, when treating of another point, " Else were your children unclean, but now are they holy," consider awhile.
[xxvl] Holiness or sanctification is not of merely one mode ; for even catechumens, I take it, are sanctified in a manner suitable to them by the sign of Christ, and His prayer and.
imposition of hand; and what they receive is holy, although it is not the body of Christ,—holier, indeed, than any food which constitutes our ordinary nourishment, because it is a
2 However, that very meat and drink, wherewithal sacrament.
the necessities of our present life are sustained, are, according to the same apostle, "sanctified by the word of God and
3 even the prayer with which we beg that our bodies prayer," may be refreshed. [And here arises an argument from analogy ;] for as this sanctification of our ordinary food does not hinder what enters the mouth from descending into the
4 and partaking of belly, and being ejected into the draught, the corruption into which everything earthly is resolved, whence the Lord exhorts us to labour for the food which never
5 so the sanctification of the catechumen, if he is perishes,
I not baptized, does not avail for his entrance into the kingdom
1 of heaven, nor for the remission of his sins. And, by parity of reasoning, that sanctification likewise, of whatever kind it be, which, according to the apostle, is inherent in the children of believers, has nothing whatever to do with the question of
6 The baptism and of original sin, or the remission thereof.
apostle, in this very passage which has occupied our attention,
1 See Rom. v. 18.
Catechumens received the sacramentum sails—salt placed in the mouth with other rites, such as exorcism and the sign of the cross \ the Lord's Prayer and other invocations concluding the ceremony. See Canon 5 of the third Council of Carthage ; also Augustine's JDe Catechiz. Rud. 50 ; and his Confess, i. 11, j where (speaking of his own catechumenical course) he says : " I was now signed with the sign of His cross, and was seasoned with His salt."
3 i xim. iv. 5. * Mark vii. 19. 6 John vi. 27.
6 See below, Book in. chap. 21; and his Sermons, xxix. 4.
CHAP. XLIII.] CHILDREN OF THE BAPTIZED REQUIRE BAPTISM. 115 says that the unbeliever of a married couple is sanctified by a believing partner. His words are : " For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. Else were your children unclean, but now are they holy."
1 Now, I should say, there is not a man whose mind is so warped by unbelief, as to suppose that, whatever sense he gives to these words, they can possibly mean that a husband who is not a Christian should not be baptized because his wife is a Christian, and that he has already obtained remission of his sins, with the certain prospect of entering the kingdom of heaven, because he is described as being sanctified by his wife.
Chap. 43. [xxvu.]
If any man, however, is still perplexed by the question why the children of baptized persons are baptized, let him briefly consider this : Inasmuch as through the one man, Adam, the generation of sinful flesh draws into condemnation all who are born of such generation, so the generation of the
Spirit of grace through the one man Jesus Christ, draws to the justification of eternal life all who partake of this regeneration to which they are predestinated. But the sacrament of baptism is undoubtedly the sacrament of regeneration.
"Wherefore, as the man who has never lived cannot die, and he who has never died cannot rise again, so he who has never been born cannot be born again. From which the conclusion arises, that no man who has not been born could possibly have been born again in his father. Born again, however, a man must of necessity be, if he has ever been born ; because,
" Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 2 Even an infant, therefore, must be immersed in the sacrament of regeneration, or without it his would be an unhappy exit out of this life ; and this baptism is administered solely for the remission of sins. And so much does Christ show us in this very passage ; for when asked, How could such things be ? He reminded His questioner of what Moses did when he lifted up the serpent. Inasmuch, then, as infants are by the sacrament of baptism conformed to the death of
1 1 Cor. vii. 14. 2 John iii. 3.
116 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
Christ, it must be admitted that they are also freed from the serpent's poisonous bite, unless we wilfully wander from the rule of the Christian faith. This bite, however, they did not receive in their own actual life, but in and through him on whom the wound was primarily inflicted.
Chap. 44. An objection of the Pelagians.
Nor do they fail to see this point, that his own sins are no detriment to the parent after his conversion ; they therefore raise the occurrent question : " How much more -impossible is it that they should be a hindrance to his son ?" But they who thus think do not attend to this consideration, that as his own sins are not injurious to the father for the very reason that he is born again of the Spirit, so in the case of his son, unless he be in the same manner born again, the sins which he derived from his father will prove injurious to him. Because even regenerate parents beget children, not from the firstfruits of their renewed condition, but carnally from the remains of the old nature ; and the children who are thus the offspring of their parents' remaining old nature, and are born in sinful flesh, escape from the condemnation which is due to the old man by the sacrament of spiritual regeneration and renewal. Now this is a consideration which, on account of the controversies that have arisen, and may still arise, on this subject, we ought to keep in our view and memory,—that a plenary and perfect remission of sins takes place only in baptism, that the character of the actual man does not at once undergo a total change, but that the first-fruits of the Spirit in such as walk worthily change the old carnal nature into one of like character by a process of renewal, which increases day by day, until the entire old nature is so renovated that the very weakness of the natural body attains to the strength and incorruptibility of the spiritual body.
Chap. 45. [xxviii.]—The law of sin is called sin; concupiscence still remains after its evil has been removed in the baptized ; how this happens ; the being in the flesh; the guilt of concupiscence is done away by baptism, though the concupiscence remains.
This law of sin, however, which the apostle also designates " sin," when he says, " Let not sin therefore reign in your
CHAP. XLV.] CHRISTIANS " NOT IN THE FLESH ; " HOW ? 117
l mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof, does not remain in the members of those who are born again of water and the Spirit, in such a way as if there were no remission thereof, because there is a full and perfect remission of our sins, all the enmity being slain, which separated us from God ; but it remains in our old carnal nature, as overcome and destroyed, soJLong as it does not , by consenting to unlawful objects, spring to life again, and call itself back to its proper reign and dominion . There is, however, so clear a distinction to be seen between this old carnal nature, in which the law of sin (or sin) is already repealed, and that life of the Spirit, in the newness of which they who are baptized are through God's grace born again, that the apostle deemed it inadequate to say of such that they were not in sin ; but he went so far as to describe them as not being in the flesh itself, even before they departed out of this mortal life. " They that are in the flesh," says he, " cannot please God ; but ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
2 And indeed, as they turn to good account dwell in you."
the flesh itself, however corruptible it be, who apply its members to good works, and in that flesh no longer are, sincd they do not mould their understanding nor their life according to its principles ; and as they in like manner make even a good use of death, which is the penalty of the first sin, who encounter it with fortitude and patience for their brethren's sake, and for the faith, and in defence of whatever is true and holy and just,—so also do all " true yokefellows " in the faith turn to good account that very law of sin which still remains, though remitted, in their old carnal nature, who, from their having the new life of Christ, do not permit lust to have dominion over them. And yet these very persons, from the fact of their still carrying about Adam's old nature, continue after the manner of mortal man to beget children with a progeny of sin, who require regeneration to attain immortality
[and this they may attain,] because such as are born again are not tied and bound by the sin in which they are born, and from which they that are born in it are loosened by being born again. As long, then, as the law of sin by concupi-
1 Rom. vi. 12. 2 Rom. viii. 8, 9.
118 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
1 dwells in the members, although the concupiscence rescence mains, the guilt of it is dissoluble, but [only] to him who has received the sacrament of regeneration, and is entering upon newness of life. Whatsoever is born of the old nature, which still abides with its concupiscence, requires to be born again in order to be healed. Granting that believing parents, who have been both carnally born and spiritually regenerated, have themselves begotten children in a carnal manner, how could their children by any possibility, previous to their first birth, have been born again ?
Chap. 46. [Compare Augustine's Book vi. against JuUanus, c. 22.] You must not be surprised at what I have said, that although the law of sin remains with its concupiscence, the guilt thereof is done away through the grace of the sacrament. For as wicked deeds, and words, and thoughts have already passed away, and cease to exist, so far as regards the mere movements of the mind and the body, and yet their guilt remains after they have passed away and become non-existent, unless it be done away by the remission of sins ; so, contrariwise, in this not yet preterite but still abiding law of concupiscence, its guilt is done away, and continues no longer, since in baptism there takes place a full forgiveness of sins.
Indeed, if a man were to quit this present life immediately: after his baptism, there would be nothing at all left to keep him bound, inasmuch as all bonds which held him are loosened.
As, on the one hand, therefore, there is nothing strange in the fact that the guilt of past sins of thought, and word, and deed remains before their remission; so, on the other hand, there ought to be nothing to create surprise, that the guilt of remaining concupiscence passes away after the remission of sins.
Chap. 47. [xxix.] All the predestinated are saved through the one Mediator
Christ, and by one only faith.
This being the case, ever since the time when by one man sin thus entered into the w rorld and death by sin, and death in this way passed through to all men, up to the close of the generations of the flesh and this perishing
1 "We follow the reading, lex [scil. peccati] concujiiscentialiter, etc.
CHAP. XLVIII.] THE " ONE FAITH " VARIOUSLY DEVELOPED. 119 world, the children of which beget and are begotten, there never has existed, nor ever will exist, a human being of whom, while placed in this life of ours, it could be said that he had no sin at all, with the exception of the one Mediator, who reconciles us to our Maker through the forgiveness of sins. Now this same Mediator, our Lord Himself, has never yet refused, at any period of the human race, nor to the last judgment will He ever refuse, this healing grace of His to those whom, in His most sure foreknowledge and promised loving-kindness, He has predestinated to reign with Himself to life eternal. For, previous to His birth in the flesh, and His suffering in infirmity, and rising again in power, He instructed all who then lived, in the faith of those then future blessings, that they might inherit everlasting life ; whilst those who were alive when all these things were being accomplished in
Christ, and who were witnessing the fulfilment of prophecy, He impressed with the belief of their present reality; whilst again, those who have since lived, and ourselves who are now alive, and all those who are yet to live, He likewise informs without ceasing, and will inform, in the faith of these great past events. It is therefore " one faith " which saves all, who after their carnal birth are born again of the Spirit, having its end in Him, who came to be judged for us and to die,—the Judge of quick and dead. But this one faith undergoes change at various times, in sacraments fitted to express its signification by suitable methods.
Chap. 48. Christ the Saviour even of infants ; Christ, when an infant, was fret from the ignorance and mental weakness of that stage of life ; Christ's flesh would seem to have been liable to death even by growing old. He is therefore actually the Saviour at once of infants and of adults, of whom the angel said, " There is born unto you; 2 and concerning whom it was declared this day a Saviour
3 " Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins," where it is plainly shown that He was called Jesus because of the salvation which He bestows upon us,—Jesus being tantamount to the Latin Salvator, " Saviour." Who then can be so bold as to to the Virgin Mary,
1 Futuram. 2 Luke ii. 11.
Rather to Joseph, Mary's husband ; Matt. i. 21.
120 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
maintain that the Lord: Christ is Jesus only for adults and not for infants also ? Coming in the likeness of sinful flesh, to destroy the body of sin, with infants' limbs fitted and suitable for no use in the extreme weakness of such body, and His rational soul oppressed with miserable ignorance ! Now that such ignorance existed [in such a way as is here suggested,] I cannot suppose in the infant in whom the Word was made flesh, that He might dwell among us ; nor can I imagine that such weakness of the mental faculty ever existed in the infant Christ which we see in infants generally. It is owing to such infirmity and ignorance that infants are disturbed with unaccountable fits of restlessness, and are restrained by no rational command or rule, but by pains and penalties, or the terror of such. From this you can quite see what happens in the case of the children of that disobedience , which excites itself in the members of our body in opposition to the law of the mind,—how it refuses to be still, even when the reason wishes ; nay, how it is either repressed by some actual infliction of bodily pain, as for instance by flogging; or is checked by producing fear, or by some such mental emotion, but not by any precept of the will . Inasmuch, however, as in Him there was the likeness of sinful flesh, He willed to pass through the changes of the various stages of life, beginning even with infancy, so that it would seem as if that flesh of His might have arrived at death by the gradual approach of old age, if He had not been killed when a young man. Since, however, the death which is inflicted on sinful flesh is owing to disobedience, in His case it was undergone in the likeness of sinful flesh, because of His voluntary obedience. For when He was on His way to it, and was soon to suffer it, He said,
" Behold, the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that all may know that I am doing my Fathers
1 Having said these words, He went straightway, and encountered His undeserved death, will, arise, let us go hence."
having become obedient even unto death.
Chap. 49. [xxx.] An objection of the Pelagians. They therefore who say, " If through the sin of the first man it has come to pass that we must die, by the coming of
1 John xiv. 30, 31.
CHAP. L.] ADAM AND CHRIST, IN CONTRAST. 121
Christ it must needs happen that, being believers in Him, we shall not die;" and they add what they deem a reason, saying,
" For the sin of the first transgressor could not possibly have injured us more than the incarnation or redemption of the
Saviour has benefited us." But why do they not rather give an attentive ear, and an unhesitating belief, to that which the apostle has stated so unambiguously : " Since by man came death, by Man came also the resurrection of the dead ; for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive Vn
It is of no other subject that he spoke than of the resurrection of the body. Having said that the bodily death of all men has come about through one man, he adds the promise that the bodily resurrection of all men to eternal life shall happen through one, even Christ. How can it therefore be that " the one has injured us more by sinning than the other has benefited us by redeeming," when by the sin of the former we die a temporal death, but by the redemption of the latter we rise again not to a temporal, but to an eternal life ? Our body, therefore, is dead because of sin, but Christ's body only died without sin, in order that, having poured out His blood without fault or sin, " the handwriting " which contains the register of all men's sins "might be blotted out."
2 While their debts were inscribed in this, they who now believe in Him were formerly held in bondage by the devil And accordingly He says, " This is my blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
Chap. 50. [xxxi.] Why it is that death itself is not abolished, along with sin, by baptism. He might, however, have also conferred this upon believers, that they should escape even the experience of the death of their body. But if He had done this, there might no doubt have been added a certain felicity to the flesh, but the fortitude of faith would have been diminished ; for men have such a fear of death, that they would insist on Christians being happy, because of their mere immunity from dying. No one in the case now supposed would, for the sake of that life which is to be so happy after death, be forward in possessing the grace of Christ by virtue of despising even death itself
1 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22. a Col. ii. 14. 3 Matt. xxvi. 28.
122 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
he would rather resort to a more delicate and easy mode of believing in Christ, with a view to remove the trouble and difficulty of death. More grace, therefore, than this has He conferred on those who believe on Him ; and a greater gift, undoubtedly, has He vouchsafed to them ! What great matter would it have been for a man, on seeing that people did not die when they became believers, himself also to believe that he was not to die ? How much greater a thing is it, how much braver, how much more laudable, so to believe, that although one is sure to die, he can still hope to live hereafter for evermore ! Indeed, upon some there will be bestowed this blessing at the last day, that they shall not perceive the actual suffering of death in the suddenness of the change which shall happen to them, but they shall be caught up along with the risen in the clouds to meet Christ
1 And in the air, and so shall they ever live with the Lord.
rightly shall it befall those whose belief is actuated by this nobler principle ; they shall escape the degradation of those who shall deserve the lower place for not hoping for what they see not, while loving what they see. This weak and nerveless faith must not be called faith at all, inasmuch as faith indeed is thus defined : " Faith is the firmness of those who hope,
2 the clear proof of things which they do not
3 Accordingly, in the same Epistle to the Hebrews, where this passage occurs, after enumerating in subsequent see."
sentences certain worthies who pleased God by their faith, he says : " These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but seeing them afar off, and hailing them, and confessing that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
4 And then afterwards he concluded his eulogy on earth."
faith in these words : K And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, did not indeed receive God's promises for they foresaw better things for us, and that without us they could not themselves become perfect." 5 Now this would
1 1 Thess. iv. 17.
2 Augustine constantly quotes this text with the active participle sperantium, instead of sperandorum. The Greek ixvi^opivav is not always construed passively in the passage ; some regard it as of the middle voice.
3 Heb. xi. 1. 4 Heb. xi. 13. 5 Heb. xi. 39, 40.
CHAP, lil] why the regenerate aee subject to death. 123 be no praise for faith, nor (as I said) would it be faith at all, were men in believing to follow after rewards which they could see,—in other words, if on believers were bestowed the reward of immortality in this present world.
Chap. 51.— Why the devil is said to hold the power and dominion of death.
Hence the Lord Himself willed to die, " in order that," as it is written of Him, " through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil ; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject l From this passage it is shown with sufficient to bondage."
clearness that even the death of the body came about at the instigation and authority of the devil,—in a word, from the sin which he persuaded man to commit ; nor is there any other reason why he should be said in strictness of truth to hold the power of death. Accordingly, He who died without any sin, original or actual, said in the passage I have already quoted: " Behold, the prince of this world," that is, the devil, who had the power of death, " and hath nothing in me,"—meaning, he shall find no sin in me, because of which he has caused men to die. As if the question were asked Him : Why then should you die ? He says, " That all may know that I am doing my Father's will ; arise, let us go
2 That is, [let us go hence] that I may die, though hence."
I have no cause of death from sin under the author of sin, but only from obedience and righteousness having become obedient unto death. Proof is likewise afforded us by this passage, that the fact of the faithful overcoming the fear of death is a part of the struggle of faith itself ; for all struggle would indeed be at an end, if immortality were at once to become the reward of them that believe.
Chap. 52. [xxxn.] Why Christ, after His resurrection, withdrew His presence from the world. However many were the miracles which the Lord visibly wrought, in order that faith might sprout at first and be fed by infant nourishment, and grow to its full strength by and by after this tender treatment (for faith becomes stronger the more it foregoes the help of those [visible proofs] ), He still
124 ON FOKGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
wished us to wait quietly, without visible inducements, for the
1 and so promised hope, that the just might live by faith; great was this wish of His, that though He rose from the dead the third day, He did not desire even to remain among men, but, after leaving a proof of His resurrection by showing
Himself in the flesh to those whom He deigned to have for
His witnesses of the great event, He ascended into heaven, withdrawing Himself even from their sight, and no longer conferring on the flesh of any one of them such [a quickening] as He had displayed in His own flesh, in order that they too might live by faith, and in the present world might wait in patience and without visible inducements for the reward of that righteousness in which men live by faith,—a reward which should hereafter be visibly and openly bestowed. To this view and purpose I believe that passage must be referred which He speaks concerning the Holy Ghost : " He will not
2 For this was in fact saying, Ye
come, unless I depart."
shall not be able to live that life of faith, which ye shall have as a gift of mine,—that is, from the Holy Ghost,—unless I withdraw from your eyes that which ye now gaze upon, in order that your heart may advance in spiritual growth by fixing its faith on invisible things. This righteousness of faith He constantly commends to them. Speaking of the
Holy Ghost, He says, " He shall reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment : of sin, because they have not believed on me : of righteousness, because I go to
3 What is that the Father, and ye shall see me no more."
righteousness, whereby men were not to see Him, except as the just man who lived by faith ? and the hope of which we were to cherish by the Spirit in faith,—not looking at the things which are seen, but at those which are not seen ?
Chap. 53. [xxxni.]—An objection of the Pelagians.
But those persons who say, " If the death of the body has happened by sin, we of course ought not to die after that remission of sins which the Eedeemer has bestowed upon us," do not understand how it is that some things, whose guilt
God has cancelled and hindered from standing in our way
1 Hab. ii. 4. 2 John xvi. 7. 3 John xvi. 8-10.
CHAP. LIT.] "WHY EFFECT OF SIN OUTLIVES ITS EEMISSION. 125 after this life, He yet permits to remain in the contest of faith, in order that they may become the means of instructing and exercising those who are advancing in the struggle after holiness. Might not some man, by not understanding this, raise a question and ask, Since God has said to man because of his sin, " In the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat thy bread : thorns also and thistles shall the ground bring forth to thee," how comes it to pass that this labour and toil continues since the remission of sins, and that the ground of believers yields them this rough and terrible harvest ? Again, since it was said to the woman in consequence of her sin, " In sorrow shalt thou
2 how is it that believing women, notbring forth children," withstanding the remission of their sins, suffer the same pains in the process of parturition ? But it is an incontestable fact, that by reason of the sin which they had committed, the primeval man and woman heard these sentences pronounced by God, and deserved them ; nor is any opposition shown to these words of the sacred volume, which I have quoted about man's labour and woman's travail, except by the man who is utterly hostile to the Catholic faith, and an adversary to the inspired writings.
Chap. 54. [xxxiv.] Why punishment is still inflicted, after sin has been forgiven.
But, inasmuch as there are not wanting persons of such character, just as we say in answer to those who raise this question, that the punishments of sins are as such before remission, whereas after remission they become trials and trainings of the righteous ; so again to such persons as are similarly perplexed about the death of the body, our answer ought to be so drawn as to show both that we acknowledge the said death to have accrued because of sin, and that we are not discouraged by the punishment of sins having been bequeathed to us for an exercise of discipline, in order that our great fear of it may be overcome by us as we advance in holiness. For if only small virtue accrued to " the faith which worketh by love " to conquer the fear of death, there would be no great glory for the martyrs ; nor could the Lord say, " Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay
1 Gen. iii. 18, 19. 2 Gen. iii. 16.
126 ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND BAPTISM. [BOOK II.
down his life for his friends ;" 1 which John in his epistle expresses in these terms : " As He laid down His life for us, so ought we to lay down our lives for the brethren." 2 In vain, therefore, would commendation be bestowed on the most eminent suffering in encountering or despising death for righteousness' sake, if there were not in death itself a really great and very severe trial. And the man who overcomes the fear of it by his faith, procures a great renown and just recompense even for his faith itself. Wherefore it ought to surprise no one, that the death of the body could not possibly have happened to man unless sin had been previously committed, of which it was to become even the penal consequence ; and that after the remission of their sins it happens to the faithful, in order that in their triumphing over the fear of it, it may afford them opportunity of exhibiting holiness with fortitude.
Chap. 55. To recover the righteousness which had been lost by sin, man has to struggle hard, with abundant labour and sorrow.
The flesh which was originally created was not that sinful flesh in which man refused to maintain his holiness amidst the enticements of Paradise ; whence God determined that sinful flesh should propagate itself after it had sinned, and have to struggle hard for the recovery of holiness, by many toils and troubles. Therefore, after Adam was driven out of Paradise, he had to dwell over against Eden,—that is, over against the garden of delights,—to indicate that it is by labours and sorrows, which are the very contraries of delights, that sinful flesh had to be educated, after it had failed amidst its first pleasures to maintain its holiness, previous to its becoming sinful flesh. As therefore our first parents, by their subsequent return to holy living, whence they are fairly supposed to have been released from the worst penalty of their sentence by the blood of [Christ, their] Lord, were still not deemed worthy to be recalled to Paradise during their life on earth, so in like manner our sinful flesh, even if a man lead a righteous life in it after the remission of his sins, does not deserve to be immediately exempted from that death which it has derived from its propagation of sin.3