274 Mind of the wicked borne away by the wind of temptation. JOB 24, because most frequently one person begins what is bad, and 18. LIT. numbers by imitating him follow after, but the fault is primarily his, who to the bad men following after furnished examples of wickedness; and hence the sentence frequently returns to him who was the leader in sin. Now the surface of water is carried hither and thither by the breath of the air, and not being steadied with any fixedness is put in motion every where. And so the mind of the wicked man is 'lighter than the surface of water,' in that every breath of temptation that touches it, draws it on without any retarding of resistance. For if we imagine the unstable heart of any bad man, what do we discover but a surface of water set in the wind? For that man one while the breath of anger drives on, now the breath of pride, now the breath of lust, now the breath of envy, now the breath of falsehood forces along. And so he is light above the surface of the water,' whom every wind of error when it comes drives before it. Whence too it P. 83, is well said by the Psalmist, O my God, make them like a wheel, as the stubble before the wind. For the wicked are 'made like a wheel,' in that being sent into the round of labour, whilst the things that are before they neglect, and those which ought to be given up they follow, in the hind parts they are lifted up, and in the fore parts they fall. And they are likewise rightly compared to stubble before the face of the wind,' in that, when the breath of temptation comes upon them, having no principle of gravity to rest upon, they are only lifted up to be dashed to the ground, and they often account themselves of some merit in proportion as the blast of error bears them on high. It goes on; 13. lxvi. Let their portion be cursed in the earth; and let him not walk by the way of the vineyards. 80. Whoever in the present life does what is right and meets with misfortunes, is seen indeed to travail in adversity, but for the blessing of the everlasting inheritance he is finished complete; but whoever does what is bad and yet meets with good fortune, and does not even by the bountifulness of blessings withhold himself from wicked deeds, is seen indeed to prosper, but is tied fast by the bond of everlasting cursing. Hence it is rightly said now, Let their portion be cursed in the earth, in that though he is blessed for a time, Not guided by the Church, they go from error to error. 275 XVI. yet he is held fast in the bond of cursing. Concerning Book whom too it is fitly added, He walketh not by the way of the vineyards. For the way of the vineyards,' is the rightness of the Churches. Wherein nothing hinders but that we understand either the heretic or every carnal man, because 'the way of the vineyards,' i. e. the rightness of the Churches, is parted with, when either the right faith or the right rule of just living is not held. For he walks by the way of the vineyards,' who taking to heart the preaching of the Holy Catholic Church, deviates neither from the right line of faith nor of good deeds. Since to walk in the way of the vineyards' is to behold the Fathers of Holy Church as hanging clusters of the vine, whose words whilst he heeds in the toils of the journey, he is intoxicated with the love of Eternity. It goes on; Ver. 19. Let him pass to excessive heat from the snow waters. 7. 12. 81. Iniquity is on this account likened to cold, because lxvii. the mind that sins it binds up with insensibility. Hence it is written; As a fountain has made her waters cold, so she Jer. 6, has made her wickedness cold. Contrariwise charity is heat,' in this respect that it fires the soul it fills. Of which 'heat' it is written, Because iniquity shall abound, the love Mat.24, of many shall war cold. And there are some who while they shun the cold of their wickednesses come to true faith or to the wearing of sanctity, but because they presume on their own faculties for perceiving more than should be, oftentimes in the faith which they receive they are minded to pry curiously into the things that they do not take in, so as to be held fast in God rather by reason than by faith. But because the mind of man has not power to dive into the mysteries of God, all that they cannot get to the bottom of by reason, they care not to believe, and by overmuch investigation they fall into error. So these, when they did not as yet believe, or were still busied for works of wickedness, were snow waters;' but when abandoning carnal deeds, in the faith to which they have been brought they aim to dive deeper than they have capacity for, they are hot beyond what they ought to be. And so touching this wicked kind of person the sentence of one prophesying only and not wishing the thing is 20. LIT. 276 Sin unrepented here is carried on to Hell. JOB 24, rightly delivered. Let him pass to overmuch heat from the snow waters. As if it were said in plain speech; 'he that is not restrained in humility under the fetters of self-discipline, from his unbelief, or from the coldness of bad practice, through immoderate wisdom falls into error. Whence too the great Preacher getting quit of this excessive heat of too refined wisdom from the hearts of his disciples saith well, Not to be wise of himself above that he ought to be wise; but to be wise unto sobriety. Lest perchance excessive heat might destroy those, of whom 'snow waters,' i. e. unbelief, or the fruits of deadened actions, held possession in the way to die. And because it is very difficult for him who accounts himself wise to bring down his mind to humility and believe those that preach right things, and reject the view of his own wrong thought, it is rightly said; Rom. 12, 3. lxviii. 5, 16. Ver. 19. And his sin even to hell. 82. For sin is brought even to hell,' which before the end of the present life is not by chastening reformed unto 1 John repentance. Of which same sin it is said by John, There is a sin unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it. For a sin unto death' is a sin even until death in this way, that the pardon of that sin is sought in vain which is not corrected here. Concerning which same it is yet further subjoined; lxix. Ver. 20. Let mercy forget him. Almighty God's mercy is said to forget him,' who has forgotten Almighty God's justice, in that whoever does not fear Him now as just, can never find him merciful afterward. Which same sentence is not only held out against him, who abandons the preachings of true faith, but against him likewise, who being in the right faith lives a carnal life, in that the vengeance of eternal condemnation is not got quit of, whether sin lie in faith or practice. For though the kind of condemnation be unequal, yet guilt which is not wiped away by repentance, there is no means supplied for the absolving thereof. It goes on; The worm is his sweetness. 83. Whoever desires to make his way prosperous in this world, to surpass the rest of the world, to swell high with substance and honours, to this man no doubt worldly busi The delight of the wicked is the worm, restless and foul. 277 6. XVI. ness is a delight, and repose a labour. For he is very much Book tired if the business of the world be lacking wherewith to be tired. Now because it belongs to the nature of worms to be put in motion unceasingly every moment, restlessness of thoughts is not unjustly denoted by the name of 'worms.' And so the worm is the sweetness' of the wicked soul, in that he is fed to his satisfaction from the same source whence he is unceasingly agitated in restlessness. Moreover it may be that by the title of the worm' the flesh may be more plainly denoted. Hence it is said further on, How much less man that is a worm? or the son of man c.17,14. which is a worm? And so of every one that is full of and 25, lust and devoted to the pleasures of the flesh, how great is the blindness is shewn, when it is said, The worm is his sweetness. For what is our flesh but' rottenness' and' the worm?' And whosoever pants with carnal desires, what else does he but love the worm ?' For what the substance of the flesh is, our graves bear witness. What parent, what faithful friend can bear to touch the flesh of one however beloved fraught with worms? And so when the flesh is lusted after, let it be considered what it is when lifeless, and it is understood what it is that is loved. For nothing has so much. efficacy to subdue the appetite of carnal desire, as for every one to consider, what that which he loves alive will be when dead. For when we consider the corruption of the flesh, we see in a moment, that when the flesh is unlawfully lusted after, corruption is desired. Therefore it is well said of the mind of the lustful man, the worm is his sweetness, in that he who is on fire with the desire of carnal corruption, pants after the stink of rottenness. All this, as I remember that I promised in the beginning B. xi. of this third part, I have run over in brief, that the things which follow after in this work, as they are involved in great obscurity, may with God's aid be more fully gone into. Opere. Ben. notes that some Mss. read corpore,' which would mean 'Volume.' THE FOURTH PART. BOOK XVII. What remains of the twenty-fourth chapter beginning from the middle of verse 20, together with chapters twenty-five and twenty-six entire, he sets forth chiefly in a moral sense. i. As often as in the history of the holy man we betake ALLEG. ourselves in a new book to unravel the mystery of the typical explanation, it must be either from that man's name or course of suffering that we mainly draw out the mystical interpretation, so that after the manner of dwelling houses, whilst we set forth a superscription of the title on the very front of the door post, whereas it is known whose house it is, one may enter with greater security. Now I remember that I have often said that blessed Job, both by his course of suffering and his name, marked out the sufferings of our Redeemer, and of His Body, i. e. Holy Church. For Job' is by interpretation Grieving.' And who else is represented in this grieving one saving He, concerning Whom it is Is.53,4. written, Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Concerning Whom again it is written, And with His bruise we are healed? But his friends bear the likeness of heretics, who, as we have often said already, while they set themselves to defend, only offend God. Thus let the holy man by words and wounds so tell things of his own as at the same time to set forth ours also, and most often, by the spirit of prophecy, relate things to come, surmount things present, yet sometimes so tell of those present as to be silent touching those future. The keeping then of this exercise of discernment being understood in accordance with the altering of his voice, let our understanding likewise turn about, that it may agree the more truly with his ideas in proportion as it also shifts itself with his accents. Thus by the preceding words the holy man, in sentences eloquently formed by the ib. 5. |