Lectio 1 Lecture 1 Prolapsi The fallen away 6:1 Quapropter intermittentes inchoationis Christi sermonem, ad perfectiora feramur, non rursum jacientes fundamentum poenitentiae ab operibus mortuis, et fidei ad Deum, [n. 275] 6:1 Wherefore, leaving the word of the beginning of Christ, let us go on to things more perfect: not laying again the foundation of penance from dead works and of faith towards God, [n. 275] 6:2 baptismatum doctrinae, impositionis quoque manuum, ac resurrectionis mortuorum, et judicii aeterni. [n. 282] 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms and imposition of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. [n. 282] 6:3 Et hoc faciemus, si quidem permiserit Deus. [n. 286] 6:3 And this will we do, if God permit. [n. 286] 6:4 Impossibile est enim eos qui semel sunt illuminati, gustaverunt etiam donum caeleste, et participes facti sunt Spiritus Sancti, [n. 288] 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, have tasted also the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, [n. 288] 6:5 gustaverunt nihilominus bonum Dei verbum, virtutesque saeculi venturi, 6:5 Have moreover tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, 6:6 et prolapsi sunt; rursus renovari ad poenitentiam, rursum crucifigentes sibimetipsis Filium Dei, et ostentui habentes. [n. 291] 6:6 And are fallen away: to be renewed again to penance, crucifying again to themselves the Son of God and making him a mockery. [n. 291] 275. Supra Apostolus fecit mentionem de pontificatu Christi secundum ordinem Melchisedech, et ostendit tarditatem eorum quibus scribebat, hic redit ad suum propositum. 275. Having mentioned the priesthood of Christ according to the order of Melchisedech and scolded the slowness of those to whom he was writing, the Apostle now returns to his theme. Et circa hoc tria facit quia In regard to which he does three things: primo aperit intentionem suam; first, he discloses his intention; secundo ostendit eius difficultatem, ibi et hoc faciemus; second, its difficulty, at and this will we do; tertio declarat intentionem, ibi confidimus. third, he declares his intention, at but, my dearly beloved (Heb 6:9). Circa primum duo facit quia In regard to the first, he does two things: primo manifestat suum propositum; first, he discloses his intention; secundo exponit quod dicit, ibi non rursum. second, he explains what he says, at not laying again. 276. Propositum suum est quod, praetermissis his quae pertinent ad inchoationem doctrinae Christianae, vult prosequi alia altiora. Unde dicit: iam dictum est, quod perfectis opus est solido cibo, quapropter intermittentes sermonem inchoationis doctrinae Christi, per quam Christus inchoat esse in nobis, quod est per doctrinam fidei. Eph. c. III, 17: habitare Christum per fidem in cordibus nostris. Feramur ad perfectionem, id est, ad ea quae spectant ad perfectionem doctrinae Christi. I Cor. XIII, 11: quando factus sum vir, evacuavi quae erant parvuli. 276. His intention is that passing over the things which pertain to the beginning of Christian doctrine, he may go on to loftier matters; hence he says: I have stated that solid food is for the perfect: wherefore, leaving the word of the beginning of the doctrine of Christ, through which Christ begins to exist in us, which is by the doctrine of faith: that Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts (Eph 3:17), let us go on to things more perfect, i.e., to things which look toward the perfection of Christ’s doctrine: when I became a man, I put away the things of a child (1 Cor 13:11). Hoc autem secundum Glossam ad duo referri potest, scilicet vel ad intellectum, ut scilicet ex quo homo provectus est, debet intermittere puerilia et vacare perfectis. I Cor. c. II, 6: sapientiam loquimur inter perfectos. Vel ad effectum. Et est sensus, quod non semper est standum in sensu incipientium, sed oportet tendere ad statum perfectorum. Gen. c. XVII, 1: ambula coram me, et esto perfectus. According to a Gloss this can refer to two things, namely, either to the intellect, so that as a person advances in age, he should put away childish things and devote himself to what is perfect: howbeit we speak wisdom among the perfect (1 Cor 2:6), or to the will, and then the sense is that one should not remain a beginner, but tend to the state of the perfect: walk before me and be perfect (Gen 17:1). 277. Hic est duplex obiectio. Et primo, de hoc quod dicit intermittentes inchoationem, quia numquam debet intermitti inchoatio. Ps. LXXVI, 10: et dixi: nunc coepi. Iob c. XXVII, 6: iustificationem quam coepi tenere non deseram. 277. Here two objections arise: the first is based on his saying, leaving the word of the beginning. For the beginning should never be forsaken: and I said: now have I begun (Ps 77:11); my justification, which I have begun to hold (Job 27:6). Respondeo. Dicendum est, quod contingit dupliciter intermittere inchoationem. Vel quantum ad aestimationem, et sic semper debet homo esse sicut incedens et tendens ad maiora. Phil. III, 12: non quod iam coeperim, aut quod iam perfectus sim. Vel quantum ad progressum ad perfectionem, et sic semper debet niti homo transire ad statum perfectum. Phil. III, 13: quae retro sunt obliviscens, ad ea quae priora sunt me extendens. In via enim Dei non progredi, ait Bernardus, est regredi. I answer that there are two ways of forsaking a beginning: one is according to evaluation, and in this way a man should always be a beginner tending to what is higher: not as though I had already attained or were already perfect; but I follow after, if I may by any means apprehend (Phil 3:12). The other is according to progress toward perfection, and in this way a man should always strive to pass to the perfect state: forgetting the things that are behind, and stretching forth myself to those that are before (Phil 3:13). For, as Bernard says, not to progress in the way of God is to fall behind. 278. Alia obiectio est de hoc quod dicit feramur ad perfectionem. Perfectio enim consistit in consiliis. Matth. XIX, 21: si vis perfectus esse, vade, et vende omnia, et cetera. Non omnes autem tenentur ad consilia; igitur. 278. The other objection is concerned with the invitation, let us go on to things more perfect. For perfection consists in the counsels: if you would be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor (Matt 19:21). But not all are bound by the counsels. Respondeo. Dicendum est, quod duplex est perfectio. Una, scilicet exterior, quae consistit in actibus exterioribus, qui sunt signa interiorum, sicut virginitas, voluntaria paupertas. Et ad hanc non omnes tenentur. Alia est interior, quae consistit in dilectione Dei et proximi. Col. III, 14: caritatem habete, quod est vinculum perfectionis. Et ad perfectionem huiusmodi non omnes tenentur, sed omnes tenentur ad eam tendere, quia si quis nollet plus diligere Deum, non faceret quod exigit caritas. I answer that there are two kinds of perfection: one is external and consists in external acts, which are signs of what is internal, such as virginity and voluntary poverty. To this perfection not all are bound. The other is internal and consists in the love of God and neighbor: have charity which is the bond of perfection (Col 3:14). Not all are bound to a perfection of this kind, but all are bound to tend toward it; because if a person no longer desired to love God more, he would not be doing what charity requires. Dicit autem feramur, et hoc secundum impulsionem a Spiritu Sancto. Rom. VIII, 14: qui Spiritu aguntur, hi filii Dei sunt. Vel sicut portati a Deo, qui portat infirmitatem nostram. Is. XLVI, 3: audite me, domus Iacob, et omne residuum domus Israel, qui portamini a meo utero. Vel sicut portati ab invicem. Gal. VI, 2: alter alterius onera portate. But he says, let us go on, and this by following the impulse of the Holy Spirit: whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Rom 8:14). Or they are as though carried by God, who bears our infirmities: hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who are carried by my bowels (Isa 46:3); or, as carried by one another: bear you one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2). 279. Deinde cum dicit non rursum, exponit quod dixit, et intendit ostendere quae sunt illa quae faciunt ad inchoationem doctrinae Christi. Et utitur similitudine. 279. Then when he says, not laying again, he explains what he has said. Here he intends to show what the things are which make for the beginning of Christ’s doctrine. For this he uses a simile. Per fidem enim anima aedificatur in spirituali aedificio. Sicut ergo in corporali aedificio, primo ponitur fundamentum, ita hic prima rudimenta doctrinae Christi sunt quasi fundamenta. For it is by faith that a soul is built into a spiritual edifice. Therefore, just as in a material building the foundation is laid first, so here the first rudiments of Christ’s doctrine are, as it were, the foundation. Sed contra: quia infra XI, 1, ponitur fides esse fundamentum; fides autem una est. Eph. c. IV, 5: unus Dominus, una fides, unum baptisma. Hic autem ponit sex fundamenta; ergo videtur quod male. But this seems to conflict with what he teaches below (Heb 11:1), where faith is set down as the foundation: for faith is one: one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Eph 4:5). But here he mentions six foundations. Respondeo. Dicendum est, quod fides fundamentum est virtutum. Ista autem, quae ponit hic, sunt fundamenta doctrinae Christi. I answer that faith is the foundation of the virtues, but the things he mentions are the foundations of Christ’s doctrine. Et dicit non rursum iacientes fundamentum, etc., quasi ita firmiter ponamus quod non oporteat iterato ponere. Vel quia dudum posuistis, et non oportet iterare. He says, not laying again the foundation of penance, as though it were laid so firmly that there is not need to lay it again. Or, because you have just laid it, and it should not be laid again. 280. Multum autem signanter ordinat ista Apostolus. Sicut enim in via generationis et cuiuscumque motus, prius est recessus a termino a quo et post accessus ad terminum ad quem, ita dicit hic, quia poenitentia est recessus a peccato, et sic est quasi quoddam fundamentum in ista vita. Nemo enim, secundum Augustinum, suae voluntatis arbiter, potest novam vitam inchoare, nisi poeniteat eum praeteritae. Unde Dominus in principio praedicationis dicit: poenitentiam agite, Matth. IV, 17. Et ideo dicit poenitentiae ab operibus mortuis. Opera enim mortua dicuntur, vel quae secundum se sunt mortua, vel quae sunt mortificata. Res dicitur viva, quando habet officium propriae virtutis, a quo cum deficit, dicitur mortua. Opera enim nostra sunt ordinata ad beatitudinem, quae est finis hominis. Et ideo quando non ducunt ad beatitudinem, nec ordinari possunt, dicuntur mortua: et haec sunt opera facta in peccato mortali. Infra IX, 14: sanguis Christi, qui per Spiritum Sanctum obtulit seipsum immaculatum Deo, emundabit conscientias nostras ab operibus mortuis. Opera vero facta in caritate per peccatum mortificantur; unde non habent virtutem, ut mereantur vitam aeternam. Ez. XVIII, 24: omnes iustitiae eius quas fecerat, non recordabuntur. Poenitentia vero facit, quod ista reviviscunt: unde tunc iterum reputantur ad vitam aeternam. 280. But the Apostle lists them quite clearly. For just as in the process of generation and of any motion, there is first of all the departure, so too here; because penance is a departure from sin and is, as it were, the foundation of that life. For, according to Augustine, no one who is master of his own will can begin a new life without repenting of the past. Hence, at the beginning of his preaching the Lord says: do penance (Matt 4:17). Therefore, he says, of penance from dead works. For works are called dead either because they are dead in themselves, or because they become dead. A thing is said to be alive, when it functions on its own power, so that wherever it fails, it is said to be dead. For our works are ordained to happiness, which is man’s end; therefore, when they do not lead to happiness or cannot be ordained to happiness, they are said to be dead: and these are works performed in mortal sin: the blood of Christ, who by the Holy Spirit offered himself unspotted unto God, shall cleanse our conscience from dead works (Heb 9:14). But works performed in charity are made dead by sin; hence, they do not have the power to merit eternal life: all the justices which he has done will not be remembered (Ezek 18:24). But penance makes them revive; hence they are then once more counted for eternal life. 281. In accessu vero ad terminum primo est fides, et ideo dicit fundamentum fidei ad Deum. Proprium autem fidei est, quod credat homo et assentiat non visis a se, sed testimonio alterius. Hoc autem testimonium vel est hominis tantum: et istud non facit virtutem fidei, quia homo et fallere et falli potest. Vel istud testimonium est ex iudicio divino: et istud verissimum et firmissimum est, quia est ab ipsa veritate, quae nec fallere, nec falli potest. Et ideo dicit, ad Deum, ut scilicet assentiat his quae Deus dicit. Io. c. XIV, 1: creditis in Deum, et in me credite. 281. But in approaching the desired terminus, faith is first; hence, he says, the foundation of faith towards God. For it is proper to faith that man believe and assent to things unseen by him, on the authority of another. But this testimony is either from man alone, and then it does not pertain to the virtue of faith, because man can deceive and be deceived; or that testimony is from God’s judgment, and then it is most true and firm, because it comes from the truth itself, which cannot deceive or be deceived. Hence, he says, towards God, i.e., the assent is made to what God says: you believe in God; believe also in me (John 14:1). 282. Secundo, in isto processu sunt sacramenta fidei. Haec autem sunt duo sacramenta intrantium; de his enim tantum agit hic Apostolus. Et ista sunt baptismus primum, per quem regeneramur, et secundum est confirmatio, per quam confirmamur. 282. Second in that process are the sacraments of faith. But these are the two sacraments of those entering: for those are the only ones the Apostle is discussing here. The first is baptism, by which we are reborn; the second is confirmation, by which we are strengthened. 283. Quantum ad primum dicit baptismatum. 283. In regard to the first he says, of baptisms. Sed contra Eph. IV, 5: una fides, unum baptisma. Non ergo plura sunt baptismata. But this seems contrary to what is stated in Ephesians: one faith, one baptism (Eph 4:5). Therefore, there are not several baptisms. Respondeo. Dicendum est, quod triplex est baptismus, scilicet fluminis, flaminis, et sanguinis; sed duo ultima non habent vim, nisi referantur ad primum, quia illa oportet habere in proposito, si non adsit facultas, in habentibus usum liberi arbitrii. Et ideo non sunt tria sacramenta; sed unum sacramentum, per quod regeneramur ad salutem. Io. III, 5: nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiritu Sancto, et cetera. I answer that there are three kinds of baptism, namely, of water, of desire, and of blood. But the last two have no force unless they are referred to the first because the first one must be intended, if it cannot be actually received by a person with the use of freedom. Hence, there are not three sacraments, but one sacrament, by which we are reborn unto salvation: unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). Inter ista vero Baptismus sanguinis plus habet de effectu Baptismi, si tamen primum fuerit in proposito, vel contrarium non teneatur in mente, sicut patet de innocentibus, qui non erant in opposita dispositione. Baptismus enim virtutem habet ex merito passionis Christi. Rom. VI, 3: quicumque baptizati sumus in Christo Iesu, in morte ipsius baptizati sumus. Sicut ergo qui baptizatur, conformatur morti Christi sacramentaliter, ita martyr realiter. Et ideo istud Baptisma habet totum effectum Baptismi, quantum ad hoc quod purgat omnem culpam et poenam peccati, non tamen imprimit characterem aliquem. Et ideo si recipiens martyrium sine Baptismo aquae resurgeret, esset baptizandus. Of the other two, baptism of blood produces more of baptism’s effects, provided that the first is desired, or the opposite is not present in the mind, as is clear in the case of the holy innocents, who were not of an opposite mind. For baptism has its power from the merit of Christ’s passion: all we who are baptized in Christ Jesus are baptized in his blood (Rom 6:3). Therefore, just as one who is baptized is conformed sacramentally to Christ’s death, so the martyr is conformed really. Therefore, the baptism of blood produces the total effect of baptism in the sense of washing away all guilt and punishment for sin; but it does not imprint a character. Therefore, if one who had undergone martyrdom without baptism of water were to rise, he would have to be baptized. Poenitentia vero non tantum habet de effectu baptismi, quia non tollit omnem poenam, licet tollat culpam. Sicut autem martyr conformat se morti Christi per exteriorem passionem, ita poenitens per interiorem. Gal. c. V, 24: qui Christi sunt, carnem suam crucifixerunt cum vitiis et concupiscentiis. Ideo potest esse tanta, quod tolleret omnem culpam et poenam, sicut patet in latrone et Magdalena. Unde poenitentia dicitur baptismus, inquantum supplet baptismi vicem. Et quia non licet illud iterari, ideo instituta est poenitentia. Penance, however, does not produce as many of baptism’s effects, because it does not take away all punishment, although it takes away all guilt. But just as a martyr conforms himself to Christ’s passion by external suffering, so does a penitent by internal suffering: they who are Christ’s have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences (Gal 5:24). Therefore, penance can be so great that it would remove all guilt and punishment, as happened to the good thief and to Magdalene. Hence, penance is called baptism, inasmuch as it performs the function of baptism. And because baptism cannot be repeated, penance was instituted.