Caput 7 Chapter 7 Finis Sermonis in Monte End of the Sermon on the Mount Lectio 1 Lecture 1 Contra iudiciis Against judgements ^7:1 Nolite iudicare, ut non iudicemini; [n. 632] ^7:1 Do not judge, and you will not be judged; [n. 632] ^7:2 in quo enim iudicio iudicaveritis, iudicabimini: et in qua mensura mensi fueritis, remetietur vobis. [n. 633] ^7:2 for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged: and with what measure you measure out, it will be measured to you again. [n. 633] ^7:3 Quid autem vides festucam in oculo fratris tui, et trabem in oculo tuo non vides? [n. 636] ^7:3 And why do you see the mote that is in your brother’s eye; and do not see the beam that is in your own eye? [n. 636] ^7:4 Aut quomodo dicis fratri tuo: frater, sine eiiciam festucam de oculo tuo: et ecce trabis est in oculo tuo? [n. 636] ^7:4 Or how do you say to your brother: let me cast the mote out of your eye; and behold a beam is in your own eye? [n. 636] ^7:5 Hypocrita, eiice primum trabem de oculo tuo, et tunc videbis eiicere festucam de oculo fratris tui. [n. 638] ^7:5 You hypocrite, first cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see to cast the mote out of your brother’s eye. [n. 638] ^7:6 Nolite sanctum dare canibus: neque mittatis margaritas vestras ante porcos, ne forte conculcent eas pedibus suis, et canes conversi dirumpant vos. [n. 639] ^7:6 Do not give that which is holy to dogs; neither cast your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you. [n. 639] ^7:7 Petite, et dabitur vobis; quaerite, et invenietis; pulsate, et aperietur vobis. [n. 640] ^7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you: seek, and you will find: knock, and it will be opened to you. [n. 640] ^7:8 Omnis enim qui petit, accipit, et qui quaerit, invenit, et pulsanti aperietur. [n. 643] ^7:8 For everyone who asks, receives: and he who seeks, finds: and to him who knocks, it will be opened. [n. 643] ^7:9 Aut quis est ex vobis homo, quem si petierit filius suus panem, numquid lapidem porriget ei? [n. 645] ^7:9 Or what man is there among you, of whom if his son will ask bread, he will give him a stone? [n. 645] ^7:10 Aut si piscem petierit, numquid serpentem porriget ei? [n. 646] ^7:10 Or if he will ask him for a fish, will he give him a serpent? [n. 646] ^7:11 Si ergo vos, cum sitis mali, nostis bona data dare filiis vestris, quanto magis Pater vester, qui in caelis est, dabit bona petentibus se? [n. 647] ^7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? [n. 647] ^7:12 Omnia ergo quaecumque vultis, ut faciant vobis homines, et vos facite illis. Haec est enim lex, et prophetae. [n. 648] ^7:12 All things therefore whatsoever that you would have men do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. [n. 648] ^7:13 Intrate per angustam portam, quia lata porta et spatiosa via est, quae ducit ad perditionem, et multi sunt qui intrant per eam. [n. 649] ^7:13 Enter in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in there. [n. 649] ^7:14 Quam angusta porta et arcta via est, quae ducit ad vitam, et pauci sunt qui inveniunt eam! [n. 652] ^7:14 How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leads to life: and few there are who find it! [n. 652] 632. Implevit legem quoad praecepta et quoad promissa, nunc quoad iudicia. Primo ergo ordinat ut non sit temerarium iudicium, et dicit nolite iudicare etc., idest ex amaritudine odii; Amos VI, 13: convertisti iudicium in amaritudinem. Vel sic. Nolite, quantum ad ea quae nostro iudicio non sunt commissa. Domini est iudicium, nobis commisit iudicare de exterioribus, de interioribus vero sibi retinuit. Nolite ergo iudicare de eis; I Cor. IV, 5: nolite iudicare ante tempus; Ier. XVII, 9: pravum est cor hominis, et quis cognoscet illud? Nullus enim debet iudicare de aliquo quod sit malus homo: dubia enim in meliorem partem interpretanda sunt. Item iudicium debet esse congruum quantum ad personam iudicantis. Unde si es in eodem peccato, vel maiori, non debes iudicare; ad Rom. II, 1: in quo enim iudicas alterum, teipsum condemnas. Item non prohibetur praelatis, sed subditis: unde non debent iudicare nisi subditum. 632. He fulfilled the law as regards precepts and as regards promises, and now as regards judgments. First, therefore, he ordains that there be not rash judgment, and he says, do not judge, i.e., out of the bitterness of hatred; you have turned judgment into bitterness (Amos 6:13). Or in this way: do not judge as regards those things which are not entrusted to our judgment. Judgment is the Lord’s; he has charged us to judge about exterior things, but he has reserved the interior things for himself. Therefore do not judge about these things. Therefore do not judge before the time (1 Cor 4:5); the heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable, who can know it? (Jer 17:9–10), for no one should judge about another that he is a bad man; for the doubtful things should be interpreted on the good side. Likewise, judgment should be fitting as regards the person of the one judging. Hence if you are in the same sin, or a greater, you should not judge; for wherein you judge another, you condemn yourself (Rom 2:1). Similarly, it is not forbidden to superiors, but to those who are subject; hence they should judge only those subject to them. Sed Chrysostomus: nolite iudicare etc., idest nolite iudicare vosmetipsos vindicando. Unde si remittitis, non inde iudicabimini; immo ratione huius misericordiae misericordiam consequemini. But Chrysostom says: do not judge, i.e., do not judge by avenging yourselves. Hence if you forgive, you will not be judged for that; rather, by reason of this mercy, you will obtain mercy. 633. Sequitur ratio in quo enim iudicio iudicaveritis, iudicabimini; idest, pro quo iudicio iudicaveritis, iudicabimini; Ps. VII, 17: convertetur dolor eius in caput eius et cetera. Et infra XXVI, 52: qui percusserit gladio, gladio peribit. 633. There follows for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, i.e., you will be judged for what judgment you judged. His sorrow will be turned on his own head (Ps 7:17). And below, all who take the sword will perish with the sword (Matt 26:52). Vel sic. Timere debent qui iudicant, ne hoc iudicio Dominus permittat eos puniri, ut in Is. XXXIII, 1: vae tu qui praedaris, nonne et tu praedaberis? Or in this way: those who judge should fear, lest the Lord permit them to be punished with the same judgment, woe to you that spoil, will not you yourself also be spoiled? (Isa 33:1). 634. In qua mensura et cetera. Hic ponit rationem sub similitudine iudicii; iudex enim est sicut regula animata: cum enim vis aequare duo, defers ad regulam, et quod superabundat de uno, resecas; sic si aliquis habeat de alieno plusquam debeat habere, id resecat, et reddit unicuique quod suum est, idest pro ista mensura remetietur nobis. 634. With what measure you measure out. Here he sets down the reason under a likeness of judgment. For the judge is like a living measuring rod: for when you wish to make two things equal, you refer them to a measuring rod, and you cut off from one whatever is in excess; thus if someone were to have more of another’s things than he should, the judge would cut it off, and return to each what is his own, i.e., it will be measured out to us according to this measure. 635. Sed obiicitur. Aliquis peccat temporaliter, et inde punitur aeternaliter; videtur quod non sit aequum iudicium. 635. But it is objected: someone sins temporally, and hence is punished eternally; it seems that there is not an equal judgment. Dico quod in peccato duo sunt consideranda: duratio et offensa; et in offensa duo, scilicet aversio et conversio. Ex parte conversionis culpa finita est; ex parte aversionis, infinita, quia avertitur a Deo qui est infinitus. Cum ergo avertat se ab infinito, infinite puniri debet. I say that there are two things to be considered in a sin: duration and offense. And in offense there are two things to be considered, namely turning away and turning towards. On the part of turning towards a creature, the guilt is finite; on the part of turning away, it is infinite, because one turns away from God who is infinite. Therefore, since one turns himself away from the infinite, he should be punished infinitely. Item ex parte durationis est duo considerare, scilicet actum et maculam. Actus momentaneus est, macula infinita, idest aeterna; ideo infinite, idest aeternaliter, puniri debet. Unde si a daemonibus posset deseri macula, possent liberari a culpa et poena. Similiter a parte poenae est acerbitas, et haec est finita. Item duratio, et haec est infinita. Likewise, there are two things to be considered on the part of duration, namely the deed and the stain. The act is momentary, the stain infinite, i.e., eternal; therefore it should be punished infinitely, i.e., eternally. Hence if the demons could give up their stain, they could be freed from guilt and punishment. Likewise, on the part of the punishment there is the severity, and this is finite. Likewise the duration, and this is infinite. 636. Quid autem vides festucam in oculo fratris tui, et trabem in oculo tuo non vides? Hic dicit quod non debet esse iudicium inordinatum: inordinatum enim est quando ab aliquo incipit, non plene examinata causa, aut gravitate delicti. In iudicando enim duo sunt necessaria: cognitio causae et iudicium. De primo Iob XXIX, 16: causam quam nesciebam, diligentissime investigabam et cetera. Quid autem vides festucam, leve peccatum, in oculo, idest in conscientia fratris, trabem autem, idest grave peccatum, in oculo tuo non vides? Per trabem et festucam docet considerare quantitatem peccatorum: saepe enim qui gravia peccata committunt, reprehendunt eos qui levia, sicut contingit in iudicandis religiosis. Cum aliqui qui gravia faciunt, quae vident levia, in religiosis iudicant gravia; sed absorbentur illa sicut una gutta aquae in multitudine vini. 636. And why do you see the mote that is in your brother’s eye; and do not see the beam that is in your own eye? Here he says that there should not be inordinate judgment; for it is inordinate when someone begins when he has not examined fully the case or the gravity of the offense. For two things are necessary in judging: knowledge of the case and judgment. About the first, the cause which I knew not, I searched out most diligently (Job 29:16). And why do you see the mote, a light sin, in your brother’s eye, i.e., in his conscience, and do not see the beam, i.e., a grave sin, in your own eye? By the beam and the mote he teaches us to consider the quantity of sins: for often those who commit grave sins reproach those who commit light sins, as happens in judging the pious, since men who commit grave sins, which they see as light, judge there to be grave sins in the pious; but these sins are swallowed up like one drop of water in a great quantity of wine. Item contingit quod aliquis ex infirmitate peccet leviter, et aliquis iudex malus et male affectus, qui vellet punire illum ex odio, considerat festucam in oculo illius, non autem trabem in oculo suo. Quomodo ergo, idest qua fronte dicere potes: frater, sine eiiciam festucam de oculo tuo? Verecundari debes. Chrysostomus: quo animo diligit homo magis alium quam se? Si enim corrigis eum animo correctionis, prius corriges te; sed hoc facis odio, vel inani gloria; ideo et cetera. Similarly, it happens that someone sins lightly out of weakness, and a judge, evil and badly disposed, who wishes to punish him out of hatred, attends to the mote in his eye and not to the beam in his own eye. How then, i.e., by what audacity can you say, let me cast the mote out of your eye? You should be ashamed. Chrysostom: with what spirit does a man love another more than himself? For if you correct him in the spirit of correction, first correct yourself; but you do this out of hatred, or for vainglory. 637. Sed quaeritur utrum qui in peccato mortali est, possit alium corrigere. 637. But it is asked whether one who is in mortal sin can correct another. Dico quod aut aliquando fuit in peccato, aut non: si numquam fuit in peccato, debet timere ne cadat, ideo invite debet corrigere; si aliquando in peccato fuit, cum mansuetudine corripere debet. Et ideo forte Dominus permisit Petrum cadere, qui debebat esse pastor Ecclesiae, ut mitius se haberet cum peccatoribus; et de Christo dicit Paulus Hebr. IV, v. 15: non habemus pontificem qui non possit compati infirmitatibus nostris, tentatum per omnia pro similitudine absque peccato. I say that either he was in sin at some time, or not: if he was never in sin, he should fear lest he fall, and therefore he should correct another reluctantly; if he was in sin at some time, he should reproach another with meekness. And perhaps the Lord permitted Peter to fall for this reason, he who was to be the pastor of the Church, so that he might bear himself more gently toward sinners. And Paul says about Christ, for we have not a high priest, who cannot have compassion on our infirmities: but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin (Heb 4:15). Si autem subiacet peccato, aut est publicum, aut occultum: si occultum, aut ex infirmitate, quia displicet ei quod peccat; et sic corripere potest, quia quod corripit in alio, corripit in seipso; si ex malitia, numquam debet corripere. Si autem publicum, non debet arguere cum severitate, sed mansuete seipsum coniungere illi. Unde contra peccatores non est obiurgandum cum asperitate. Now, if someone is subject to a sin, either it is a public sin, or a hidden one. If a hidden one, it is either out of weakness, since it displeases him that he sins, and thus he can reproach another, because what he reproaches in another, he reproaches in himself; if it is out of malice, he should never reproach another. But if it is a public sin, he should not accuse another with severity, but should meekly unite himself with that man. Hence one should not scold against sinners with harshness. 638. Sequitur hypocrita, eiice primum trabem de oculo tuo. Incipit Dominus arguendo sicut inferius contra servum nequam et cetera. Augustinus: ostendit quod intendit reprehendere eum qui assumit auctoritatem quae non est sua. Ps. XLIX, 16: peccatori autem dixit Deus: quare tu enarras iustitias meas, et assumis testamentum meum per os tuum? Tu vero odisti disciplinam et cetera. Eiice primum, ieiunando, orando, trabem de oculo tuo; et tunc poteris videre festucam in oculo fratris tui. 638. There follows you hypocrite, first cast the beam out of your own eye. The Lord begins by accusing, just as he does below against the wicked servant. Augustine: he shows that he means to blame the one who takes up an authority which is not his own. As it is written: but to the sinner God has said: why do you declare my justices, and take my covenant in your mouth? Seeing you have hated discipline (Ps 49:16–17). First, by fasting, praying, cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see the mote in your brother’s eye. 639. Sequitur nolite sanctum dare canibus. In quo ostendit quod iudicium debet esse discretum. 639. There follows do not give that which is holy to dogs, in which he shows that judgment should be discerning. Notandum ergo quid per sanctum, et quid per margaritas. Augustinus: sancta sunt inviolata et immaculata conservanda; margaritaeque pretiosae non debent contemni. Per canes, qui lacerant dentibus, haeretici significantur; per porcos, qui conculcant pedibus, immundi. Sancta ergo dare canibus est sancta haereticis ministrare. Item si aliquid spirituale dicatur, et istud contemnitur, porcis datur. Therefore one should note what is signified by holy things, and what by pearls. Augustine: the holy things are the inviolate and unstained things to be safe-guarded; and the pearls are precious things which should not be despised. The dogs, which wound with their teeth, signify heretics; the pigs, which trample with their feet, signify the unclean. So to give holy things to the dogs is to supply holy things to heretics. Likewise, if something spiritual is said and it is despised, it is given to pigs. Vel per sancta, ecclesiastica sacramenta; per margaritas, mysteria veritatis. Canis est animal totaliter immundum; porcus partim immundus, partim non. Per canes, infideles; per porcos, mali fideles. Nolite ergo sanctum dare canibus, idest sacramenta dare infidelibus. Margaritae, idest sensus spirituales, non debent porcis dari; I Cor. II, 14: animalis homo non percipit ea quae Dei sunt, idest, ne forte contemnat; Prov. XXVII, 7: anima satiata conculcat favum. Unde conversi, ad peccata, dirumpunt, quia contemnunt, vel calumniam inferunt. Or, holy things signify the ecclesiastical sacraments; pearls, the mysteries of truth. The dog is an animal entirely unclean; the pig is partly unclean, partly not. The dogs signify infidels; the pigs signify those faithful who are evil. Do not give therefore that which is holy to dogs, i.e., do not give the sacraments to infidels. Pearls, i.e., the spiritual senses, should not be given to pigs; but the sensual man does not perceive these things that are of the Spirit of God (1 Cor 2:14), i.e., lest perhaps he should despise them. A soul that is full will tread upon the honeycomb (Prov 27:7). Hence turning to sin, they tear you, because they despise you, or bring in a false accusation. Sed quare? Nonne Christus multa bona dixit infidelibus, et illi dirumpebant verba sua? Dico, quod hoc fecit propter bonos qui cum malis erant, qui inde proficiebant. But why? Did not Christ say many good things to infidels, and they rent asunder his words? I say that he did this for the sake of the good men who were with the evil men, who profited from it.