Lectio 2 Lecture 2 Exempla vetera fidei Ancient examples of faith 11:2 In hac enim testimonium consecuti sunt senes. [n. 561] 11:2 For by this the ancients obtained a testimony. [n. 561] 11:3 Fide intelligimus aptata esse saecula verbo Dei: ut ex invisibilibus visibilia fierent. [n. 563] 11:3 By faith we understand that the world was framed by the word of God: that from invisible things visible things might be made. [n. 563] 11:4 Fide plurimam hostiam Abel, quam Cain, obtulit Deo, per quam testimonium consecutus est esse justus, testimonium perhibente muneribus ejus Deo, et per illam defunctus adhuc loquitur. [n. 567] 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice exceeding that of Cain, by which he obtained a testimony that he was just, God giving testimony to his gifts. And by it he being dead yet speaks. [n. 567] 11:5 Fide Henoch translatus est ne videret mortem, et non inveniebatur, quia transtulit illum Deus: ante translationem enim testimonium habuit placuisse Deo. [n. 570] 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death: and he was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation he had testimony that he pleased God. [n. 570] 11:6 Sine fide autem impossibile est placere Deo. Credere enim oportet accedentem ad Deum quia est, et inquirentibus se remunerator sit. [n. 575] 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that comes to God must believe that he is: and is a rewarder to those who seek him. [n. 575] 11:7 Fide Noë responso accepto de iis quae adhuc non videbantur, metuens aptavit arcam in salutem domus suae, per quam damnavit mundum: et justitiae, quae per fidem est, haeres est institutus. [n. 578] 11:7 By faith Noah, having received an answer concerning those things which as yet were not seen, moved with fear, framed the ark for the saving of his house: by the which he condemned the world and was instituted heir of the justice which is by faith. [n. 578] 561. Supra posuit descriptionem fidei, hic ostendit eam per exemplum. 561. Having given a description, the Apostle now clarifies it with an example. Et circa hoc facit duo. In regard to this he does two things. Primo enim in generali manifestat propositum suum; First, he manifests his thesis in general; secundo in speciali, ibi fide intelligimus. second, in detail, at by faith we understand. 562. Quantum ad primum sic continuatur: sic ergo describo et commendo fidem, nec hoc est de novo, in hac enim, scilicet fide, senes, id est sancti patres, testimonium consecuti sunt, id est, crediderunt, et per fidem instituti sunt. Gen. XV, 6: credidit Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad iustitiam. Ps. CXV, 1: credidi propter quod locutus sum. Inter omnes autem patres Veteris Testamenti, illi duo specialiter, scilicet David et Abraham, habent testimonium fidei. 562. In regard to the first, he says: thus, therefore, I describe and commend the faith, and this is nothing new: for by this, i.e., faith, the ancients, i.e., the holy fathers, obtained a testimony, i.e., believed, and were made ready by faith: Abraham believed God and it was reputed to him unto justice (Gen 15:6): I have believed; therefore, have I spoken (Ps 116:10). But among all the fathers of the Old Testament, two especially, namely, David and Abraham, have the testimony of faith. 563. Fide intelligimus, et cetera. In speciali declarat per exempla antiquorum. 563. Then when he says by faith we understand, he clarifies his thesis in detail with examples of the ancients. Et primo quantum ad id quod crediderunt et docuerunt; First, as to what they believed and taught; secundo quantum ad id quod fecerunt, ibi fide Abel; second, as to what they did, at by faith Abel; tertio quantum ad id quod passi sunt, ibi alii autem distenti sunt. third, as to what they suffered, at but others were racked (Heb 11:35). 564. Doctrina autem in Veteri Testamento duplex fuit. Una aperte posita; alia vero sub velamine figurarum et mysteriorum velata fuit. Prima de unitate Dei et creatione mundi; secunda de mysterio incarnationis et reparationis. Unde sicut ipsi in memoriam creationis colebant sabbata, ita nos in memoriam resurrectionis servamus Dominicam. 564. Now the doctrine of the Old Testament was twofold: in one part, it was clearly given; in another part, it was hidden behind the veil of figures and mysteries. The first concerned the unity of God and the creation of the world; the second, the mystery of the Incarnation and reparation. Hence, just as they observed the sabbath in memory of the creation, so we observe Sunday in memory of the resurrection. Quantum ergo ad doctrinam de mundi creatione, dicit fide intelligimus, et cetera. Quod potest dupliciter legi: uno modo, quod verbo Dei sit ablativi casus. Et est sensus: nos sicut antiqui, fide, id est per doctrinam fidei, scilicet Veteris Testamenti Gen. I, 3: dixit Deus: fiat, etc., Ps. XXXII, 9: ipse dixit, et facta sunt, intelligimus saecula esse aptata, id est disposita, verbo Dei, id est, per imperium Dei. Hoc autem pertinet ad fidem, quod scilicet hoc intelligimus, quia cum fides sit de invisibilibus, etiam saecula facta sunt de invisibilibus, scilicet de materia prima, quae nuda et privata omni forma invisibilis est, et omni specie et dispositione carens. Ideo dicit ut ex invisibilibus visibilia fierent. Sed hoc est satis ruditer dictum, licet sit verum. In regard to the doctrine of the creation of the world, he says, by faith we understand. This can be read in two ways: in one way so that the word of God is in the ablative case. Then the sense is: we, as the ancients, by faith, i.e., by the doctrine of faith, namely, of the Old Testament: God said: let there be light; and the light was made (Gen 1:3); he spoke and they were made (Ps 33:9), understand that the world was framed, i.e., arranged, by the word of God, i.e., by God’s command. But it pertains to faith that we understand this because, since faith is concerned with things unseen, even the world was made of invisible things, namely, of prime matter, which, being bare and devoid of all form, is invisible, lacking all form and disposition. Hence, he says, that from invisible things visible things might be made. But this is said quite roughly, even though it is true. Secundo modo, quod verbo sit dativi casus. Et tunc est sensus: intelligimus per fidem ut prius saecula essent aptata, id est, convenientia et correspondentia verbo, ut ex invisibilibus, et cetera. In the second way, so that word is in the dative case. Then the sense is: by faith we understand, as before, that the world was framed, i.e., suited and corresponded, to the word, that from invisible things visible things might be made. Propter quod sciendum est, quod verbum Dei est ipse conceptus Dei, quo seipsum et alia intelligit. Deus autem comparatur ad creaturam, sicut artifex ad opus suum. Hoc autem videmus quod artifex, illud quod producit extra, producit in similitudinem conceptus sui. Unde facit domum in materia ad similitudinem domus, quam in mente sua formavit; quod si domus extra conveniat domui praeconceptae, est opus debito modo ordinatum; si non, non. Quia vero tota creatura optime disposita est, utpote producta ab artifice, in quo non potest cadere error, vel aliquis defectus, ideo plenissime secundum modum suum convenit divino conceptui. Unde Boetius de Consolatione: pulchrum pulcherrimus ipse mundum mente gerens, similique imagine formans. Ideo dicit intelligimus fide saecula, id est, totam universitatem creaturae, aptata, id est, convenienter respondentia, verbo, id est conceptui Dei, sicut artificiatum arti suae. Eccli. I, 10: effudit illam, scilicet sapientiam suam, super omnia opera sua. Here it should be noted that the word of God is God’s very concept, by which he understands himself and other things. But God is compared to the creature as artisan to artifact. But we notice that an artisan produces what he produces outside himself in a likeness of his concept; hence, he makes a house in matter in the likeness of the house formed in his mind. But if the external house conforms to the preconceived house, it is a work properly arranged; if not, it is not. But because all creatures are arranged in the best way, as produced by an artisan in whom no error or defect can occur, they all conform in the fullest way to the divine concept according to their mode. Hence Boethius in the Consolations says: the most beautiful, on bringing forth in his mind a beautiful world, forms it in his likeness and image. Therefore, he says, by faith we understand that the world, i.e., the entire universe of creatures, was framed, i.e., fittingly corresponded, to the word, i.e., to God’s concept, as artifacts correspond to their art: and he poured her out, i.e., his wisdom, upon all his works (Sir 1:10). 565. Sequitur ut ex invisibilibus, et cetera. Sed quia apud antiquos communis animi conceptus erat, quod ex nihilo nihil fit, II Physicorum, ideo quando videbant aliquod novum opus, dicebant quod esset factum ex aliquibus invisibilibus. Unde vel ponebant quodlibet esse in quolibet, sicut Empedocles et Anaxagoras: de quo nihil ad praesens; alii vero latitationem formarum, sicut ipse Anaxagoras; alii ab ideis, sicut Plato; alii ab intelligentia, sicut Avicenna. Unde secundum omnes istos visibilia facta sunt ex invisibilibus rationibus idealibus. 565. He continues, that from invisible things. But because the common notion among the ancients was that the soul was produced from nothing (2 Physics), when they saw a new work they said that it was made from invisible things. Hence, they either supposed that everything was in everything else, as Empedocles and Anaxagoras, of whom we shall say nothing at present, or they thought that forms were in hiding, as Anaxagoras. Still others supposed that they were formed from ideas, as Plato; and others, from a mind, as Avicenna. Hence, according to all these philosophers, visible things were made from invisible ideal notions. Nos autem dicimus secundum modum praedictum, quod ex invisibilibus rationibus idealibus in Verbo Dei, per quod omnia facta sunt, res visibiles sunt productae. Quae rationes, et si realiter idem sunt, tamen per diversos respectus connotatos respectu creaturae differunt secundum rationem. Unde alia ratione conditus est homo, et alia equus, ut dicit Augustinus in libro LXXXIII Quaestionum. Quaestionum. But we say, according to the aforesaid manner, that visible things were produced from invisible ideal notions in the Word of God, by whom all things were made. These notions, even though they are the same reality, differ in aspect by diverse relations connoted in respect to the creature. Hence, man was created by one notion, and a horse by another notion, as Augustine says in the Book of 83 Questions. Sic ergo saecula aptata sunt Verbo Dei, ut ex invisibilibus rationibus idealibus in Verbo Dei, visibilia, id est omnis creatura, fierent. Thus, therefore, the world was framed by the Word of God: that from invisible ideal notions in the Word of God, visible things, i.e., every creature, might be made. 566. Omnia autem ista verba expresse sunt contra Manichaeos. Ipsi enim dicunt, quod non est curandum quid homo credat, sed tantum quid faciat. Sed Apostolus principium omnis operis ponit fidem; unde dicit, quod est substantia, id est fundamentum. Sine fide ergo frustra sunt opera. 566. But all those words are expressly against the Manicheans, who say that what a man believes is not important, but what he does. But the Apostle sets faith down as the principle of every work; hence he says that it is the substance (Heb 11:1), i.e., the foundation. Therefore, without faith, works are performed in vain. Item dicunt, quod non est credendum nisi unde habetur ratio. Contra quod dicit non apparentium. Furthermore, they say that one should believe only those things for which a reason is had. Against this he says, of things that appear not (Heb 11:1). Item damnant Vetus Testamentum, dicentes quod a malo principio, scilicet a diabolo, conditum sit. Contra quod dicit, quod in hac fide testimonium consecuti sunt senes. Again, they condemn the Old Testament, saying that it was formed by an evil principle, namely, the devil. Against this he says that by this faith the ancients obtained a testimony. 567. Deinde cum dicit fide Abel, etc., ostendit quid patres antiqui fecerunt. 567. Then when he says by faith Abel he shows what the ancient fathers did. Et primo hoc ostendit de patribus qui fuerunt ante diluvium; First, he shows this of the fathers who lived before the deluge; secundo de patribus, qui fuerunt ante legem, ibi fide qui vocatur Abraham; second, of those who lived before the law, at by faith he that is called Abraham (Heb 11:8); tertio de his, qui fuerunt sub lege, ibi fide Moyses. third, of those who lived under the law, at by faith Moses (Heb 11:24). Ante diluvium fuerunt tres specialiter Deo accepti, scilicet Abel, Enoch, Noe. Before the deluge there were three especially pleasing to God, namely, Abel (Gen 4:4), Enoch (Gen 5:22), and Noah (Gen 6:9). Primo ergo ponit fidem Abel; First, he mentions Abel’s faith; secundo fidem Enoch, ibi fide Enoch; second, Enoch’s, at by faith Enoch; tertio fidem Noe, ibi fide Noe. third, Noah’s, at by faith Noah. 568. De Abel autem ostendit quid per fidem fecerit, et quid inde consecutus sit. 568. In regard to Abel, he shows what he did by faith and what he obtained.