Lecture 4 Lectio 4 Salt of the earth Sal terrae ^5:13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savor, wherewith will it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men. [n. 450] ^5:13 Vos estis sal terrae. Quod si sal evanuerit, in quo salietur? Ad nihilum valet ultra, nisi ut mittatur foras, et conculcetur ab hominibus. [n. 450] ^5:14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. [n. 456] ^5:14 Vos estis lux mundi. Non potest civitas abscondi supra montem posita. [n. 456] 450. You are the salt. Above, the Lord shows the dignity of the apostles by the fact that in tribulations they would not only be suffering, but even rejoicing. But now he speaks of their excellence in the fact that they must deter others from evils, and thus he compares them to salt: you are. 450. Vos estis sal. Supra ostendit Dominus dignitatem apostolorum quantum ad hoc quod in tribulationibus non solum patientes sed etiam gaudentes debebant esse; nunc autem dicit eorum excellentiam quantum ad hoc quod debent alios a malis coercere, et ideo comparat eos sali: vos estis. And concerning this he does two things: Et circa hoc duo facit: first, he defines their office as preventing others from evils; primo enim determinat eorum officium quantum ad hoc ut a malis arceant alios; second, he shows how they must protect themselves from evils, at but if salt loses its savor. secundo ostendit quomodo debent se ipsos a malis arcere, ibi quod si sal evanuerit. 451. Therefore he says, you are the salt. He compares them to salt for four reasons. 451. Dicit ergo vos estis sal. Comparat eos sali propter quatuor rationes. First, because of the generation of salt, which is from water and wind and the heat of the sun: for the spiritual generation is from the water of baptism and the power of the Holy Spirit: unless someone is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5); and from the heat of the sun which is the fervor of love that comes from the Holy Spirit, the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us (Rom 5:5). Second, because of the uses of salt, the first of which is that all things are seasoned with salt: hence he signifies the wisdom that apostolic men should have, for the wisdom of doctrine (Sirach 6:23); walk in the wisdom of God toward those who are without (Col 4:5). Prima, propter salis generationem quae ex aqua est et vento et calore solis: generatio enim spiritualis ex aqua baptismi est et virtute Spiritus Sancti, Ioh. III, 5: nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiritu Sancto, non potest introire in regnum Dei, et ex calore solis, id est fervore dilectionis quae est a Spiritu Sancto, Ro. V, 5: caritas Dei diffusa est in cordibus vestris per Spiritum Sanctum. Secundo, propter utilitates salis quarum prima est usus quia omnia sale condiuntur: unde significat sapientiam quam debent habere viri apostolici, Eccli. VI, 23: sapientia enim doctrinae, Col. IV, 5: in sapientia ambulate ad eos qui foris sunt. The second reason was in Leviticus, for in every sacrifice salt was added (Lev 2:13), for the apostolic teaching should shine out of our every work. Secunda ratio erat Levi. II, 13 quod in omni sacrificio adiungeretur sal, quia doctrina apostolica debet in omni opere nostro relucere. The third reason is that it consumes an excess of humors and by doing so, it preserves from rotting: and in the same way the apostles curbed carnal desires through their teaching: for the time past is sufficient (I Pet 4:3); not in rioting (Rom 13:13). Tertia ratio est quia consumit superfluitatem humorum et per hoc praeservat a putredine: ita apostoli sua doctrina refrenabant super concupiscentias carnales, I Petri IV, 3: sufficit praeteritum tempus; Ro. XIII, 13: non in comesationibus. The fourth effect is that it renders the earth sterile: hence it is said that some conquerors sowed salt outside the city they had seized so that nothing would grow; so also the evangelical teaching makes the earth sterile, namely so that earthly works do not spring up in us: have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness (Eph 5:11). Therefore the apostles are called salt because they have the sting of withdrawing from sins: have salt in you (Mark 9:49). Quartus effectus est quia reddit terram sterilem: unde dicitur quod aliqui victores extra civitatem quam ceperant superseminabant salem ut scilicet nihil oriretur; ita etiam doctrina evangelica facit terram sterilem, ut scilicet terrena opera in nobis non oriantur, Eph. V, 11: nolite communicare operibus infructuosis tenebrarum. Ergo apostoli dicuntur sal quia habent mordacitatem retrahendo a peccatis; Marci IX, 49: habete in vobis sal. 452. But someone might say: ‘It is enough that I have salt; it is not at all necessary that the virtues of salt preserve you from sin,’ and to this four arguments can be made. 452. Sed posset aliquis dicere: sufficit quod habeam sal. Immo oportet quod virtutes salis preservent te a peccato, et ad hoc inducit quatuor rationes. 453. The first is taken from incorrigibility, hence but if salt loses its savor. Those things properly lose their savor which lose their virtue: like strong wine when it loses its virtue, so also salt when it loses its bite: if salt became bland, wherewith will you season it? (Mark 9:49). Hence someone loses his salt when he falls into sin: they became vain in their thoughts (Rom 1:21). If therefore because of tribulations or something else you fall from the truth, with what will you be salted, i.e., by what other salt will it be salted? For if the masses sin, they can be corrected, but if a prelate does, nothing can repair it: how long will they be incapable of innocence? (Hos 8:5). And it should be noted that it says, but if the salt should grow insipid (Luke 14:34): for it is a great insipidity to forgo eternal goods for temporal ones. 453. Prima sumitur ex incorrigibilitate, unde quod si sal evanuerit. Illa proprie evanescunt quae amittunt virtutem suam: sicut vinum forte quando amittit virtutem, ita sal quando amittit mordacitatem, Marci IX, 49: si sal insulsum fuerit, in quo illud condietis? Unde tunc evanescit aliquis quando in peccato subiacet, Ro. I, 21: evanuerunt in cogitationibus suis. Si ergo propter tribulationes vel aliquid aliud a veritate recedis, in quo salieris, id est quo alio sale salietur? Si enim plebs peccat potest corrigi, sed si praelatus, nullus potest emendare, Osee VIII, 5: usquequo non poterunt emundari. Et notandum quod Luce XIV, 34 dicitur: quod si sal infatuatum fuerit: magna enim fatuitas est dimittere aeterna pro temporali. 454. The second reason is taken from usefulness, hence good for nothing, and Luke explains this: neither for the land nor for the dunghill (Luke 14:35), for it makes the earth sterile and it does not fertilize the dunghill. So are spiritual men good for nothing when they sin, because they are not good for secular affairs, like soldiers and such: son of man, what will be made of the wood of the vine? (Ezek 15:2); all have gone aside (Ps 53:3). 454. Secunda ratio sumitur ex utilitate, unde ad nihilum, et hoc exponit Lucas XIV, 35: neque in terra neque in stercore utile est, quia terram facit sterilem et stercora non fecundat. Ita spirituales quando peccant ad nihilum valent quia non ad saecularia negotia sicut milites et huiusmodi, Ez. XV, 2: Fili hominis, quid fiet de ligno vitis? etc., Ps. omnes declinaverunt. 455. The third reason is taken from imminent danger, and it has two branches according to the two dangers. The first is expulsion, hence but to be cast out, of the Church, that is: without are dogs (Rev 22:15). Again, that the dignity of priestly magisterium is taken away: because you have rejected knowledge . . . you shall not do the office of priesthood for me (Hos 4:6), and below: the kingdom of God will be taken from you (Matt 21:43), and here it is nothing but to be cast out. The second danger is vilification, because those who live spiritually at first, but then fail, become contemptible, and this is and to be trodden on: this man began to build (Luke 14:30); you have departed out of the way, and have caused many to stumble at the law (Mal 2:8). And according to Augustine it should be noted that if certain holy men are vilified, as is said above, and they speak all that is evil against you (Matt 5:11), nevertheless they can never be trampled underfoot, for they always have their hearts in heaven, and only those can be trampled who are lying on the earth. 455. Tertia ratio sumitur ex periculo imminenti, et habet duos ramos secundum duo pericula. Primum est expulsio, unde nisi ut mittatur foras, de Ecclesia scilicet, Apoc. ult. foris canes. Item ut auferatur ei dignitas sacerdotalis magisterii, Osee IV, 6: quia scientiam repulisti, infra XXI, 43: auferatur a vobis regnum Dei, et hoc est nisi ut mittatur foras. Secundum periculum est vilificatio, quia qui primo vivunt spiritualiter et deficiunt, contemtibiles fiunt, et hoc est et conculcetur, Luce XIV, 30: hic homo cepit aedificare et non potuit consummare, Mal. II, 8: recessistis de via et scandalizastis plurimos in lege. Et notandum, secundum Augustinum, quod si aliqui sancti homines vilificantur, sicut dicitur supra et dixerint omne malum etc., numquam tamen possunt conculcari, quia semper cor habent in caelo, et illi proprie conculcantur qui in terra iacent. 456. You are the light. Here is set forth the third dignity of apostles. For just as they must deter others from evils, so they must also illuminate. And concerning this he does two things: first, he shows their dignity; second, he removes faintheartedness, at a city . . . cannot be hidden. 456. Vos estis lux. Hic ponitur tertia dignitas apostolorum. Sicut enim debent arcere alios a malis, ita debent et illuminare. Et circa hoc duo facit: primo ostendit eorum dignitatem; secundo removet pusillanimitatem, ibi non potest civitas. Therefore he says you are the light of the world, as though not of Judea alone or of Galilee, but of the whole world: for thus the Lord commanded: I have set you as a light to the gentiles (Acts 13:47). And this was marvelous because they were scarcely known in their own land, and nevertheless their sound has gone out to all the earth (Ps 19:4). But it is objected that it seems that what he calls light applies only to Christ: that man was not the light and later, he was the true light (John 1:8–9). It should be said that light essentially is only Christ, but the apostles are called light illuminated, that is, by participation, as the eye is light illuminating and nevertheless illuminated. Dicit ergo vos estis lux mundi, quasi non Iudaeae tantum vel Galileae, sed totius mundi, Act. XIII, 47: sic enim praecepit Dominus: posui te in lucem gentium. Et hoc mirabile fuit quod vix in terra sua cognoscebatur, et tamen in omnem terram exivit. Sed obicitur quia videtur quod hoc quod dicit lux conveniat soli Christo, Ioh. I, 8: non erat ille lux, et post erat lux vera. Dicendum quod lux essentialiter solus Christus est, sed apostoli dicuntur lux illuminata, scilicet per participationem, sicut oculus est lux illuminans et tamen illuminata. And note that these three, namely, blessed are you when they revile you (Matt 5:11), and you are the salt and you are the light, seem to pertain to the three last beatitudes, namely to blessed are they who suffer persecution (Matt 5:10), the second to blessed are the peacemakers (Matt 5:9), since namely, they make peace in themselves and others, and the third to blessed are the clean of heart (Matt 5:8). For if the apostles were excellent in these three last things, much more would they be in the ones above. Et nota quod ista tria, scilicet beati estis cum vobis maledixerint, et vos estis sal et vos estis lux, videntur pertinere ad tres ultimas beatitudines, scilicet ad beati qui persecutionem patiuntur, secunda ad beati pacifici, quia scilicet pacificant se et alios, tertia ad beati mundo corde. Si enim apostoli in his tribus ultimis excellentes fuerunt, multo magis in superioribus. 457. The Lord had said blessed are you when they revile you (Matt 5:11) and who suffer persecution (Matt 5:10); therefore they could say: we will undergo so many persecutions, therefore we want to hide. And thus the Lord removes the resulting faintheartedness, hence a city . . . cannot be hidden. 457. Dixerat Dominus beati estis cum vobis maledixerint et qui persecutionem patiuntur; possent ergo dicere: nos sustentabimus tot persecutiones, ergo volumus occultare. Et ideo Dominus removet consequenter pusillanimitatem, unde non potest civitas abscondi. And first, he forbids hiding away; Et primo prohibet absconsionem; second, he shows the way that they must make themselves visible, at so let your light shine (Matt 5:16). secundo ostendit modum quomodo debeant se manifestare, ibi sic luceat. He proves by two reasons that they must not hide themselves away: first, because they could not even if they wished to; second, because they should not, and this is neither do men light a lamp (Matt 5:15). Quod non debeant se abscondere probat duabus rationibus: primo quia non possent etiam si vellent; secundo quia non debent, et hoc est neque accendunt. Lecture 5 Lectio 5 The light of the world Lux mundi ^5:14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. [n. 458] ^5:14 Vos estis lux mundi. Non potest civitas abscondi supra montem posita. [n. 458] ^5:15 Neither do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but upon a lampstand, that it may shine to all who are in the house. [n. 459] ^5:15 Neque accendunt lucernam, et ponunt eam sub modio, sed super candelabrum, ut luceat omnibus qui in domo sunt. [n. 459] ^5:16 So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. [n. 462] ^5:16 Sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus, ut videant opera vestra bona, et glorificent Patrem vestrum qui in caelis est. [n. 462] ^5:17 Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. [n. 463] ^5:17 Nolite putare quoniam veni solvere legem aut prophetas: non veni solvere, sed adimplere. [n. 463] 458. A city . . . cannot be hidden. The city was the congregation of believers, namely, that very gathering of the apostles: glorious things are said of you, city of God (Ps 87:3). But it was situated on a mountain, namely, in Christ: the mountain of the house of the Lord (Isa 2:2); a stone was cut out of a mountain (Dan 2:34). Or, on a mountain, that is, in the perfection of justice: your justice like the mountains (Ps 36:6). But a city situated on a mountain cannot be hidden, and so it is with the apostles. 458. Non potest civitas. Civitas congregatio fidelium erat, scilicet ipsa collectio apostolorum, Ps. gloriosa dicta sunt de te, civitas Dei. Sita autem erat in monte, scilicet Christo, Ys. II: erit mons domus Domini, Dan. II, 34: lapis abscissus est de monte. Vel in monte, id est in perfectione iustitiae, Ps. iustitia tua sicut montes. Civitas autem in monte sita non potest se abscondere, ita apostoli. Chrysostom: if men in the lowest station should sin, they can escape notice, but if those in the highest station do, they cannot escape notice: the eyes of all Israel are upon you (1 Kgs 1:20). Hilary explains it another way, and the meaning is about the same: the city on a mountain is Christ, for on the part of his human nature in which he shares with us, he is the city: I have made you this day a fortified city (Jer 1:18); he is on the mountain because he is in divinity which is the mountain: the mountain of God is a fat mountain (Ps 68:15). And therefore Christ could not remain hidden: and thus you, apostles, should not hide me. Chrysostomus: homines in infimo constituti si peccant possunt latere, si constituti in culmine non possunt, III Reg. I, 20: in te oculi respiciunt totius Israel. Hilarius aliter exponit, et quasi idem est sensus: civitas in monte Christus est, quia ex parte humanae nature in qua nobiscum communicat civitas est, Ier. I, 18: dedi te hodie in civitatem; in monte est, quia in divinitate quae mons est, Ps. mons Dei, mons pinguis. Et ideo Christus latere non potuit: et ideo vos, apostoli, non debetis me occultare. 459. According to that neither do men light, as it were: ‘let us define what might remain hidden, although you should not hide yourselves.’ For no one receiving a benefit should do something against the intention of the one giving it. God gave you knowledge so that you might share it: as every man has received grace (1 Pet 4:9–11). And this is neither do men light a lamp, men indeed, or the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. By lamp can be understood first the Gospel teaching: a lamp to my feet (Ps 119:105), for a lamp has light as part of it; the light of truth is set down in Sacred Scripture, but it is lit by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Or by lamp the apostles can be understood, in the fact that the light of grace is brought in to them: John . . . was a burning and a shining light (John 5:35); I have prepared a lamp for my anointed (Ps 132:17). Or by lamp can mean Christ, for just as a lamp is a light in a clay jar, so is his divinity in his humanity: you are my lamp (2 Sam 22:29). 459. Secundum ibi neque accendunt, quasi: ponamus quod posset latere, tamen non debetis. Nullus enim beneficium accipiens debet facere contra intentionem dantis. Deus dedit vobis scientiam ad hoc quod communicetis, Petri IV: unusquisque gratiam quam accepit in alterutrum illam administrantes. Et hoc est neque accendunt lucernam, homines scilicet, vel Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus. Per lucernam potest intelligi primo doctrina evangelica, Ps. lucerna pedibus: lucerna enim habet lumen incorporatum; lumen veritatis in Sacra Scriptura positum est, accensa autem est a Patre et Filio et Spiritu Sancto. Vel per lucernam possunt intelligi apostoli in quantum inditum est eis lumen gratiae, Ioh. V, 35: ille erat lucerna, Ps. paravi lucernam. Vel per lucernam Christus, quia sicut lucerna lux in testa, ita divinitas in humanitate, II Reg. II, 22: tu es lucerna mea Domine. 460. If lamp is taken in this way, we can understand three things by bushel. First, according to Augustine, corporeal things, for two reasons: first, because a bushel is a measure, you will have a just and a true weight (Deut 25:15)); but what we do in the body will be rendered back to us: for we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the proper things of the body (2 Cor 5:10). Or because all bodies are subject to measure, but divine things are infinite, since they are outside measure. Therefore, they set the lamp under a bushel who suit their teaching to temporal convenience, hence it is costly. Against which the Apostle says, we never came with words of flattery (1 Thess 2:5). In the second way, according to Chrysostom, secular men are called a bushel basket, for they are empty above and solid below: for above they are frenzied because they perceive nothing from the Holy Spirit: the sensual man perceives not these things that are of the Spirit of God (1 Cor 2:14); but below, namely in secular affairs, they are wise: the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light (Luke 16:8); and that is the more literal exposition. Therefore according to this a lamp is set under a bushel when the teaching is hidden in worldly fear: who are you that you should fear from a man? (Isa 51:12); I labor even unto chains (2 Tim 2:9). But if by the lamp is understood Gospel teaching or Christ, then the bushel can be understood as the synagogue: for Christ did not become incarnate in order to remain hidden in Judea, but so that he might reveal himself to the whole world, I have given you to be the light of the Gentiles (Isa 49:6). 460. Sic accepta lucerna, per modium possumus intelligere tria. Primo, secundum Augustinum, res corporales, propter duas rationes: prima quia modius mensura est, Deut. XXV, 15: modius aequalis et verus erit tibi; id autem quod agimus in corpore retribuetur nobis, Cor. omnes astabimus ante tribunal Christi, ut referat unusquique propria corporis prout gessit; vel quia omnia corpora mensurata sunt, divina autem infinita quia extra mensuram. Ponunt ergo lucernam sub modio qui doctrinam suam referunt ad commodum temporale, unde pretiosius est illud; contra quod Apostolus I Thess. II, 5: neque enim fuimus in sermone adulationis. Secundo modo, secundum Chrysostomum, modius dicuntur homines saeculares, quia vacui superius et solidi inferius: superius enim habent insanitatem quia nihil sentiunt de Spiritu Sancto, Cor. II: animalis homo non percipit ea quae sunt Spiritus Dei, sed inferius, in saecularibus scilicet negotiis, sapientes sunt, Luce filii huius saeculi prudenriores filii lucis in generatione sua sunt; et ista est magis litteralis expositio. Tunc ergo secundum hoc lucerna sub modio ponitur quando doctrina occultatur saeculari timore, Ier. quis tu ut timeas ab homine, II Tim. III: laboro usque ad vincula. Si autem per lucernam intelligatur doctrina evangelica vel Christus, tunc per modium potest intelligi synagoga: non enim propter hoc Christus incarnatus est ut latitaret sub Iudaea, sed ut manifestaret se toti mundo, Ps. dedi te in lucem gentium. 461. But upon a lampstand. This is explained in three ways, for by the lampstand can be meant the body, and by the lamp, the Gospel teaching; hence the same thing is meant by the bushel and the lampstand, as it were: the Gospel teaching should not be subjected to temporal things, but they should administer all things to themselves: hence when you give things, your body and even your life up to death for the love of Christ, then you set your lamp upon a lampstand. Or, by the lampstand is understood a church, for those who are lamps are placed in high places, as the lamp shining upon the holy lampstand (Sir 26:22). But if lamp is understood to mean Christ, then the lampstand means the cross: through the blood of his cross (Col 1:20). 461. Sed super candelabrum. Hoc tripliciter potest exponi, quia per candelabrum potest significari corpus, per lucernam doctrina evangelica; unde idem est per modium et candelabrum, quasi: non debet doctrina evangelica submitti rebus temporalibus, sed debent omnia ministrare sibi: unde quando tu das res, corpus et etiam vitam ad mortem amore Christi, tunc ponis lucernam super candelabrum. Vel per candelabrum intelligitur Ecclesia, quia illiqui lucerna sunt ponuntur in superiori loco, Eccli. XXV: lucerna splendens super candelabrum sanctum. Si autem intelligatur de Christo, tunc per candelabrum crucem, Col. I, 20: per sanguinem crucis. 462. That it may shine to all. This is also explained in three ways. By the house can be understood the Church: so that you may know how you ought to behave in the house of God, which is the Church (1 Tim 3:15). Or the house is the whole world, for every house is built (Heb 3:4). 462. Ut luceat omnibus. Istud etiam tripliciter exponitur. Per domum Ecclesia potest intelligi, I Tim. IV: ut scias quomodo oportet conversari in domo Dei quae est Ecclesia. Vel domus est totus mundus, Hebr. III, 4: omnis enim domus fabricatur etc.