Chapter 14
Chapter XIV.
Second, it treats of the detestation of idols in a fourfold manner.
Again another thinking to sail etc. After he described the manifold errors of idol-worshippers, here he touches upon the detestation of idols, and first, from the uselessness of the idols themselves; second, from the offense to the Creator: But in like manner they are hateful: third, from the novelty and manner of their invention: For they were not etc.; fourth, from the effect of human corruption: And it was not enough to have erred.
First, he detests idols on account of their uselessness.
He shows the uselessness of idols in the first part by the example of those sailing on the sea, whom the idols, when invoked, cannot help. He shows that this impotence is to be detested, first from the fragility of the idol that has no power; second, from the power of God who saves even without a ship: But thy etc.; third, from the usefulness of the ship itself: But that they might not be: fourth, by the example of Noah's ark preserving the human race: But also from the beginning.
(Vers. 1.). He says therefore: Again another etc., as if to say: not only do men uselessly seek help from idols on land, but again, on water, because another, namely a man, thinking to sail, namely by intention, and through fierce waves, that is, dangerous ones: whence in the Psalm: "Wonderful are the surges of the sea"; likewise Sirach forty-three: "They that sail the sea tell of the dangers thereof." Beginning to make a journey, namely by the execution of his intention, calls upon a wood more fragile than the wood that carries him: he calls upon, namely for help, a wood, namely an idol, more fragile than the wood carrying him, that is, the ship.
(Vers. 2.). For that, namely the wood of the idol, the desire of acquiring devised: whence in Ephesians five it is said "covetousness is the service of idols." And the craftsman fashioned it by his wisdom: his own, he says, as if to say: not divine, "but earthly, sensual, devilish," James three; Isaiah forty-five: "The makers of errors have gone into confusion"; and Job thirteen: "Showing you to be makers of lies"; the Gloss: "Since the maker is greater than what is made, to adore one's own handiwork is madness."
(Vers. 3.). But thy, O Father, as if to say: there they invoke the idol in the governance of their journey: but, meaning however; thy, O Father, by creation; Isaiah sixty-four: "And now, O Lord, thou art our father, and we indeed are clay" etc.; likewise by provision; whence Matthew six: "Our Father etc., our bread" etc. Thou governest, namely all things, by providence, which, according to Damascene, "is the care of God for things"; concerning which Judith nine: "Thou hast placed thy judgments in thy providence."
From what has been said, it is clear that nothing in the world happens by chance and fortune, because, as Plato says, "nothing exists whose origin was not preceded by a legitimate cause." That the world is administered by providence, Cicero proves in the Rhetoric thus: "Things done by providence are better administered than those done by chance; but the world is administered in the best way; therefore," etc.
For etc., as if to say: this is clear, that you govern all things by providence; for you have given, namely to the children of Israel, a way in the sea, leading them out of Egypt through the midst of the dry sea, as is clear from Exodus fourteen: and among the waves, namely of the river Jordan, a most firm path, Joshua three. Of both it is said in the Psalm: "Your way is in the sea, and your paths in many waters"; the Gloss: "Divine power led the Israelites through the Red Sea with dry footstep and divided the waters of the Jordan."
(Vers. 4.). Showing, namely by this, that you are powerful from all things, namely perils and misfortunes, to heal, or better according to another reading, to save, even if without a raft, that is, a ship, someone should go to sea: Isaiah forty-three: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers shall not cover you"; whence "He raised up Peter walking on the waves, lest he be submerged," as is clear from Matthew fourteen: "He freed Paul, shipwrecked for the third time, from the depth of the sea," as is clear from Second Corinthians eleven.
(Vers. 5.). But that they might not be empty, but rather necessary for human use, the works of your wisdom, that is, devised through your wisdom; in the Psalm: "You have made all things in wisdom." For this reason also to a small piece of wood, namely a small ship, men entrust their souls, that is, their bodily life: and crossing the sea, in which nevertheless there are innumerable perils, they have been delivered by a raft: the Gloss: "The Creator gave to his creature knowledge by which it might provide for itself in the present and serve his will."
Allegorically, the small piece of wood can be called the cross of Christ on account of its abjection and lowliness; First Corinthians one: "We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and to the Gentiles foolishness." To this men entrust their souls, namely by believing in Christ crucified and adoring him in whom they have believed. And thus crossing the sea of this world, namely by the power and imitation of the cross, by the raft they are delivered and arrive at the port of eternal salvation. Whence Damascene: "The cross is the resurrection of those who sleep, the staff of the infirm, the rod of pastors, the aid of those being converted, the perfection of those advancing, the salvation of soul and body, the aversion of all evils, the teacher of all good things, the destruction of sin, the tree of resurrection, the wood of eternal life." In these words, however, To a small piece of wood, etc., the humility of the cross is first intimated,
when it says: By a small piece of wood: second, its veneration and dignity, when it says: Men trust their souls, rational men, that is, as blessed Andrew said: "Receive me from men"; third, necessity, when it says: And those crossing the sea, namely of this world, concerning which the Psalm says: "This great sea" etc.; fourth, its power and usefulness, when it says: They were delivered by a raft: First Corinthians 1: "We preach Christ" etc.; likewise: "The word of the cross to those who are perishing etc., but to us" etc.
But also from the beginning. Here the usefulness of Noah's ark is first shown: second, it is praised, at: For blessed is the wood etc.; third, the idol and its maker are condemned: But by the hands etc.
(Vers. 6.). But also from the beginning etc., as if to say: it not only delivers from the peril of the sea, but also from the flood, and this is what it says: But also from the beginning, namely in the beginning of the second age, namely in the time of Noah, Genesis 6. When there perished, namely in the flood, the proud giants, concerning whom it is found in Genesis 6: the hope of the world, namely of the future world: the Gloss says: "The seedbed of the human race," namely the eight persons, concerning whom it is said in First Peter 3: "In which a few souls were saved through water"; fleeing to a raft, that is, an ark made in the manner of a raft, because its length was greater than its width, Genesis 6, bequeathed to the age, namely the future age after the flood, the seed of birth, namely of both men and animals, as is evident in Genesis 6. Which, namely the ark, by your hand: the Gloss says: "By power, or by the Son," according to that verse of the Psalm: "Send forth your hand from on high" etc.; was governed, because it had no helmsman except God or his Angel, since all men existing outside were dead, and those existing within were enclosed.
(Vers. 7.). For blessed is the wood, namely of Noah's ark, through which justice is wrought, namely the deliverance of the just, while the wicked were drowned, which was just. Concerning this wood, above in chapter 10: "When water destroyed the earth, wisdom healed it again, governing the just man by a contemptible piece of wood."
Now this wood allegorically can be called the wood of the cross, of which it is said in First Peter, chapter two: "He bore our sins in His own body upon the tree." Through that wood justice was accomplished, because "to each was rendered what was his own." For through that wood sin was destroyed, according to that which the Church sings: "Death then died, when life died upon the wood"; Hosea, chapter thirteen: "O death, I will be your death," etc. Likewise, through it the devil was conquered, according to that saying of Gregory: "He who conquered through wood would also be conquered through wood." Likewise, through it man was reconciled; Colossians, chapter two: "Blotting out the handwriting of the decree that was against us, nailing it to the cross"; likewise Colossians, chapter one: "Making peace through the blood of the cross." Likewise, hell was despoiled; Colossians, chapter two: "Despoiling principalities and powers," etc. Likewise, heaven was opened: whence it was said to the thief: "Today you shall be with Me in paradise," Luke, chapter twenty-three; Isaiah, chapter twenty-two: "I will give the key of the house of David." Likewise, Christ was exalted: whence Philippians, chapter two: "Wherefore God also exalted Him," etc. This was the scepter of Ahasuerus shown or extended to man as a sign of clemency, Esther, chapter fifteen.
(Vers. 8.). And rightly I said that blessed is the wood by which justice is done: now, standing for "but": the idol, which is made by hands, namely of craftsmen, is accursed, both it, namely the idol, and he who made it, namely the craftsman.
But the idol, since it is an inanimate thing, how is it accursed? Because this curse is understood either by reason of fault, which does not befall the idol, or by reason of punishment, which is to be inflicted by reason of fault.
It must be said that in the idol two things are to be considered, namely the presiding spirit and the figure of the wood. The malign spirit itself is accursed with the curse of fault and punishment; but the wood, with the curse of detestation and infamy, as a kind of punishment — not because it is a subject of fault, by reason of which punishment is to be inflicted, but because it is the matter or occasion of fault. Whence the Gloss: "For the devil will be punished because he usurps divine honor for himself; and man, who honors a creature in place of the Creator."
Because he indeed fashioned it, namely the idol, whence he is rightly accursed: Isaiah, chapter forty-four: "Behold, all its partakers shall be confounded." But that thing, namely the idol, since it was fragile, because made of fragile material, was named a god, namely by appellation alone, not by the truth of the thing: on account of which it is rightly accursed.
Secondly, he detests idols on account of the offense to the Creator
But likewise etc. Here he touches on the second cause of the detestation of idols, taken from the offense against the Creator: and first he touches on the sign of the offense, namely the idol, and the punishment of the idolater; second, the irremissibility of the punishment: For this reason etc.; third, the cause on the part of the idol: Because creatures; fourth, the cause on the part of the idolater: For the beginning etc.
(Vers. 9.). I have rightly said that both are accursed etc.: but, meaning because: likewise hateful to God is the ungodly one, namely the idolater, because he denies the piety of divine worship, and his ungodliness, that is, the matter of his ungodliness, namely the idol, that is, the demon presiding over the idol; Sirach 12: "The Most High hates sinners." And it should be noted that the hatred of God does not denote or signify an affection in Him, but an effect in the one whom He hates.
(Vers. 10.). For indeed that which was made, namely the idol, together with him who made it, that is, with the idolatrous craftsman, shall suffer torments.
Concerning the idolater this is clear: but concerning the idol, how can it be true, namely that it suffers torment, since it is an inanimate thing?
It must be said that he speaks of the idol by reason of the malign spirit presiding in it, not on the part of the figure or matter of the idol itself.
But to the contrary: The idolater does not make the malign spirit that presides.
It must be said that although he does not make it in itself, he nevertheless causes it to preside in the idol; just as we are said to exalt and magnify God, not in Himself, but in ourselves; in the Psalm: "Magnify the Lord with me" etc. Both therefore shall be punished: Sirach 14: "Every corruptible work shall fail in the end, and he who works it shall go with it"; and 27: "The offense shall be crushed together with the offender."
(Vers. 11.). For this reason, namely because they are hateful to God, and, that is also, upon the idols of the nations, that is, upon the demons presiding in the idols of the gentiles, of which it is said in the Psalm: "All the gods of the nations are demons" etc.; there shall be no regard, namely of clemency: which is against Origen, who said that Christ would suffer for the demons in the air at the end, and that thus they would be saved; against which it is said here and in Sirach 39: "There are spirits who were created for vengeance, and in their fury they have confirmed their torments." Because etc.: and deservedly, because
creatures of God, that is, made by God, such as gold and silver: whence Hosea 2: "I multiplied silver and gold for them" etc.; were made into an object of hatred, namely of the irascible power, so that men might hate God, like the demons, concerning whom in the Psalm: "The pride of those who hate you ascends always." And into a temptation of the souls of men, that is, of the concupiscible power, so that men might freely subject themselves to whatever powers according to the will or suggestion of their gods. And into a snare, that is, a deception of the rational power, and a mousetrap is called an instrument by which mice are caught: for the feet, namely the interior ones, that is, of the soul, not the exterior ones, namely of the body: of the foolish, that is, of the unbelieving: Job 18: "His snare is hidden in the ground"; likewise Jeremiah 5: "Wicked men are found among my people, lying in wait like fowlers, setting snares and traps to catch men."
(Vers. 12.). For the beginning etc. I said well that the creatures of God etc.: for the beginning of fornication, namely spiritual fornication, which consists in withdrawing from God, is etc.; whence the Gloss: "The worst kind of fornication is that by which the soul withdraws from God and fornicates with idols"; whence Jeremiah 3: "She committed adultery with wood and stone." Such are destroyed or ruined by God, according to that word of the Psalm: "You have destroyed all who fornicate from you." For the beginning, I say, of fornication, the aforesaid, is the seeking out of idols.
But to the contrary: Ecclesiasticus 10: "The beginning of all sin is pride."
I respond: He does not speak here of fornication which consists in any withdrawal whatsoever from God, as occurs in any mortal sin, but of that by which one withdraws from God by a complete withdrawal, namely even to the subversion of faith, which is the foundation of the entire spiritual edifice; Hebrews 11: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for" etc.; likewise 1 Corinthians 3: "No one can lay another foundation" etc.
And the devising of them is the corruption of life, namely with respect to morals: Romans 1: "For which reason God delivered them over to the desires of their heart, to uncleanness"; in the Psalm: "Give them according to their works and according to the wickedness of their devices."
Third, he detests idols on account of the novelty and manner of their invention.
For they were not. Here the third reason for the detestation of those idols is touched upon, namely from the novelty and manner of their devising. He touches upon several causes of this devising and worship: first, the curious idleness of men; second, the affection of parents toward deceased children: For with bitter grief; third, the fear of tyrants: Then etc.; fourth, the reverence and honor toward princes: Those whom; fifth, the diligence and solicitude of artisans: Moreover it advanced etc.; sixth, he sets forth a recapitulation of the principal causes: And this was of life.
(Vers. 13.). I have rightly said: The seeking out of idols and the invention etc.; for they were not from the beginning, namely idols, which is evident, because they are not the Creator: whence Jeremiah 10: "The gods who did not make heaven and earth shall perish from the earth"; nor even a creature, because every creature is from God, but idols are not from God, but are a fiction of men: on account of which it is said in 1 Corinthians 8: "An idol is nothing in the world," namely with respect to the divine being which is believed by idolaters to belong to it. Nor shall they exist forever, rather they shall be destroyed, when men are converted to the worship of the one God; Isaiah 19: "The Lord shall ascend upon a light cloud and shall enter Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence."
(Vers. 14.). For the vanity, that is, the idleness, of men devised these things etc.: Sirach 33: "Idleness has taught much wickedness," namely to the idle, who were unwilling to labor to seek the one true God and to worship Him worthily; upon the earth, for in heaven no such error ever existed. And therefore, namely because they did not always exist, a swift end for them was found, namely among the wise. For they were quickly abandoned by the children of Israel in the time of Moses and by the Christian people in the time of Christ or of the new law; Jeremiah 10: "Every craftsman is confounded by his graven image: their works are vain and worthy of ridicule; in the time of their visitation they shall perish."
(Vers. 15.). For a father, grieving with bitter mourning, namely over the death of his son, as David grieved over the death of Absalom, 2 Kings 18, or over the death of the child whom he first had from Bathsheba, 2 Kings 12, of a son swiftly snatched from him, that is, seized by the violence of death, made an image: The Gloss: "Men fashioned for themselves images of their deceased friends, in the contemplation of which they found some consolation." And him who then, namely recently, had died as a man, whose property it is to be mortal, according to that passage of 2 Kings 14: "We all die" etc.; now, that is, a little later, which is all the more inexcusable, he began to worship as God: The Gloss: "And advancing further, through love of the deceased they began to cultivate their memory." And he established among his servants, who obeyed him out of fear, not reason, sacred rites, namely offerings of incense and praises, and sacrifices, namely the immolation of animals. Moreover, the first to do this, as Isidore says on that passage of Luke 11: "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons" etc., was Ninus, king of the Assyrians, who made an image of his dead father Belus, which he honored with such great veneration that he even spared criminals who fled to it for refuge: on account of which unlearned men began to worship the statue of Belus as God and to multiply statues. Of whom some called that idol Bel, some Baal, some Baalim, some Beelzebub.
(Vers. 16.). Then with the passage of time, that is, a delay of time, as the wicked custom grew strong, which ought rather to be uprooted than maintained, because length of time does not diminish sin, but rather increases it: this error, namely, of worshipping idols, as though it were a law, that is, under a precept, was observed: Jeremiah 10: "The laws of the peoples are vain"; likewise Isaiah 10: "Woe to those who enact wicked laws"! And by the command of tyrants, that is, of wicked rulers, figments were worshipped: whence Antiochus compelled the Jews to the worship of the nations, 1 Maccabees 1; and Nebuchadnezzar forced them to adore his statue, Daniel 3.
(Vers. 17.). Those whom men could not honor openly, that is, in their presence, on this account, namely, because they were far away, from afar, namely, from a distant place, their likeness having been brought, namely, in a painting, a visible image, namely, a sculpted image, I say, of the king whom they wished to honor, they made, namely, bestowing divine honor upon men. Cicero: "Moreover, the life of men and common custom undertook to raise to the heavens by fame and goodwill men who excelled in benefits." (So that him, namely, the king, who was absent, that is, he was away, yet still living, they might worship as though present through their devotion. The Gloss: "On account of the foolishness and depravity of men, who lived a rustic life without any ruler, they exalted the king himself and the whole nation with the highest praises, so that they even called them gods either for their distinguished virtue, or for their benefits, or out of flattery." Those whom etc. The text is to be construed thus: Men made a visible image which they wished to honor, their likeness having been brought from afar: those whom they could not honor openly, that is, in person, on this account, supply, because they were far away: they made, I say, so that him who was absent, etc.
(Vers. 18.). Moreover, it advanced to the worship of these, namely, of idols, worship, and, that is, even, those who were ignorant, that is, the ignorant and unlearned, the extraordinary, that is, the greatest, diligence of the craftsman: of the craftsman, I say, diligently and elaborately fashioning the idol and adorning it, according to that passage in Jeremiah 10: "He adorned it with silver and gold"; likewise Isaiah 44: "He made the image of a man, like a beautiful man dwelling in a house."
(Vers. 19.). For he, the craftsman, wishing to please him who engaged him, that is, hired him, namely, to make an idol; this is a wicked pleasing, of which it is said in the Psalm: "God has scattered the bones of those who please men"; likewise Galatians 1: "If I were pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ." He labored with his art, so that the likeness, that is, the image, he might fashion more finely, that is, in the best manner he could: Isaiah 44: "The ironsmith has wrought with a file"; Baruch 6: "As for a maiden who loves ornaments, so having received gold they are fashioned."
(Vers. 20.). But the multitude of men, namely of the foolish; Ecclesiastes 1: "The number of fools is infinite"; led astray, namely from the truth, by the appearance of the work, that is, by its beauty; Proverbs, last chapter: "Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain"; Daniel 13: "Beauty has deceived you"; him who before a time, supply: a short time, had been honored as a man, namely with the honor of dulia; they now esteemed as a God, honoring him with the honor of latria.
(Vers. 21.). And this was the deception of human life, that is, the cause of deception, a cause, I say, that is twofold, as it were a twofold gate of death, namely love and fear, according to the Gloss on that verse of the Psalm: "Set on fire and dug up," etc. For because to their affection, namely their own in the honoring of friends, or to kings, in the veneration of the powerful: the Gloss: "Thus through peoples and regions," namely out of flattery, or out of fear, "various sacred rites were taken up, while men desire to be pleasing to their princes"; serving, that is, devotedly serving, men, against that passage of 1 Corinthians 7: "Do not become slaves of men." The incommunicable name: the Gloss: "of God almighty," because namely the form from which that name God was imposed is incommunicable to creatures, yet communicable to the divine persons: they imposed upon stones and wood, against that precept, Exodus 20: "You shall not take the name of your God in vain."
But to the contrary: Exodus 7: "Behold, I have made you a god to Pharaoh"; likewise in the Psalm: "I said: you are gods," etc.: therefore the name of God is communicable to creatures.
It must be said that God is spoken of in three ways: by nature, by adoption, by appellation. In the first way it is incommunicable; in the second and third ways it is not.
But to the contrary: Because the divine name was communicated to Christ as man: whence Philippians 2: "He gave him the name which is above every name."
But it must be said that it was not communicated to one not having it before, but otherwise than before, because this name belongs to the person, not to the nature, namely the human nature, but nevertheless to one having a human nature.
To that which is objected: He gave him the name, etc.; it must be said that giving is taken there for manifestation. Or: he gave it to him in the human nature, who previously had it in the divine.
Fourth, he detests idols on account of the twofold effect of human corruption.
And it was not enough. Here is touched upon the last cause for the detestation of idols, taken from the effect of human corruption: and first is touched upon in idolaters the blinding of the mind; second, the corruption of works: For either sons; third, the reasonableness of the blinding and corruption: And all things; fourth, the cause of both: For of unspeakable things.
(Vers. 22.). He says therefore: And it was not enough for them to have erred: The Gloss: "With false religion they subjected themselves to all vices"; to have erred, I say, namely concerning the knowledge of God, that is, faith; above in the thirteenth chapter: "Vain are all men in whom there is not the knowledge of God." But living also in a great [war] of ignorance, that is, of unbelief, war, through which unbelief, namely, they wage war against God: whence Job 24: "They were rebels against the light." So many, namely as to number, and so great, as to intensity, or as to the quantity of duration, evils, as to deformity: so many, I say, and so great evils, in which, namely, they live, they call peace, according to that passage in Job 30: "And they counted it a delight to be under thorns"; Jeremiah 6: "Saying: Peace, peace: and there was no peace"; the Gloss: "Under the reign of the devil, subjected to diverse vices, they could not have true peace."
For either etc. Here he enumerates the evils by which they were corrupted in deed: first, the evil specially committed against God; second, specially committed against themselves and against the neighbor: Neither life.
(Vers. 23.). He says therefore: For either sacrificing their own children, according to that passage of the Psalm: "And they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons": Ezekiel 16: "Is your fornication a small thing? You have sacrificed my children and given them up, consecrating them to those," because, as the Gloss says, "in the rites of Saturn, on account of hatred of Jupiter, without regard for piety they sacrificed their little ones." Or performing obscure sacrifices, obscure, that is, nocturnal, as was done, according to the Gloss, "in the rites of Egyptian Isis and Ceres, which rites were celebrated with the brandishing of burning torches." Or keeping vigils full of madness, for in the rites of Bacchus and Cybele, mother of the gods, "after the example of the gods, who being sated at the festival spent the whole night in revelries, they themselves reveled," as the Gloss says. Against this it is said in the Psalm: "Blessed is the man whose hope is the name of the Lord, and who has not regarded vanities and false madnesses."
(Vers. 24.). Neither do they keep life, namely their own life, pure, because "God gave them up to uncleanness," Romans 1. Nor do they any longer keep their marriages pure, against which Hebrews 13: "Marriage is honorable, and the bed undefiled"; any longer do they keep etc.; because, as the Gloss says, "they thought to please their gods through lust and uncleanness," and the more wicked anyone was, the more he thought he pleased his god. But also one kills another through envy, namely in his own person, as Cain killed Abel, Genesis 4; and the Jews killed Christ, Matthew 27. Or the adulterer grieves, namely in the person joined to him: he says grieves, because the violation of the marriage bed is a great cause of sorrow; whence also according to the civil laws the husband was given license to kill the adulterer and adulteress found in the very act of adultery.
And all things, namely vices, are mixed together: whence Hosea 4: "Cursing and lying and murder and theft and adultery have overflowed."
Blood. Here he touches first upon certain spiritual sins; second, upon certain carnal sins: Of souls etc.
In the first, first certain evils of deed; second, certain evils of the heart: Corruption; third, certain evils of speech: And perjury.
He touches upon four evils of deed, namely wounding, when he says: Blood; slaying, when he says: Murder; theft, when he says: Theft; fraud, when he says: And deceit.
(Vers. 25.). Rightly I said: And all things are mixed together, namely blood, by mutual wounding; whence Isaiah 1: "Your hands are full of blood"; likewise Hosea 4: "Blood has touched blood." Murder: whence Micah 7: "A man hunts his brother to death." Theft, Isaiah 1: "Your princes are faithless, companions of thieves"; in the Psalm: "If you saw a thief, you ran with him." And deceit, that is, guile: "For guile is when one thing is done, and another is pretended or feigned."
Corruption. Here he touches upon the sins of the heart, namely of the concupiscible power; in the Psalm: "They are corrupt and have become abominable" etc. And unfaithfulness, namely of the rational power; whence Jeremiah 7: "Faith has perished and has been taken from their mouth." Disturbance, namely of the irascible power; whence Isaiah 57: "There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord." These are the three evils of the heart.
Then he touches upon three evils of speech, saying: And perjury, namely either assertory, as occurs in false testimonies, or promissory, as in false promises, against which Leviticus 19 says: "You shall not swear falsely." Uproar, namely in contentions and discords; whence Isaiah 3: "The youth shall rise up tumultuously against the elder."
(Vers. 26.). And forgetfulness of the good things of God, that is, ingratitude, because they do not praise God for his benefits; whence Luke 17: "There was none found who returned to give glory to God" etc.; in the Psalm: "I am forgotten as one dead from the heart." These are the three evils of speech: the first against God and neighbor; the second against the neighbor; the third against God, namely by omission.
The defilement of souls etc. Here he touches upon carnal sins, first, sins of interior lust: second, of unnatural intercourse, at: The changing of birth etc.; third, of bigamy: The inconstancy of marriages etc.; fourth, of adultery: The disorder etc.; fifth, of fornication: And immodesty etc.
He says therefore: The defilement of souls, namely through interior lust; whence Matthew 5: "He has already committed adultery in his heart"; Jeremiah 4: "Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem" etc.; Titus 1: "Both their mind and conscience are defiled." The changing of birth, that is, of nature or of natural use; Romans 1: "Their women changed the natural use" etc. The inconstancy of marriages, namely taking and repudiating wives at will, when nevertheless they ought to be "two in one flesh," Genesis 2; likewise Matthew 19: "What God has joined together, let not man separate." The disorder of unchastity, that is, of adultery, against the order of matrimony, against which Exodus 20: "You shall not commit adultery." And immodesty, that is, of fornication, against which Romans 13: "Not in debauchery and immodesty."
Of unspeakable things etc. Here it is shown that idolatry is the cause of this corruption: and first he shows how idolatry is the cause of all evils in idolaters; second, on account of what, namely on account of the hope of impunity: For while they trust etc.; third, he shows that this very thing is for them the cause of punishment: Both etc.; fourth, he shows what that punishment is, namely the fall and headlong rush into other sins: For not etc.
(Vers. 27.). Of unspeakable things etc. Thus I have said that idolaters commit so many and such great evils; for of unspeakable idols, that is, of abominable ones, that is, of those unworthy of being named, according to that saying of the Psalm: "Nor will I be mindful of their names upon my lips." Of unspeakable, I say, idols, the worship is the cause of all evil, namely through the blinding of the intellect and the subversion of the will; and the beginning, namely through the inception of the work; and the end, through its completion, just as faith and the worship of God is the cause of all good, as the Apostle proves in Hebrews 11, where he says: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for."
But to the contrary: Ecclesiasticus 10: "The beginning of all sin is pride"; likewise 1 Timothy 6: "The root of all evils is covetousness"; therefore it is wrongly said here that the beginning of all evils is infidelity.
It must be said that it is not unfitting for there to be many beginnings of evils according to different respects
just as of one thing there are four causes, namely efficient, material, etc., and yet only one in each genus
because on the part of the rational power there is unbelief, on the part of the concupiscible power there is covetousness, on the part of the irascible power there is pride.
(Vers. 28.). For either while they rejoice, they are mad: The Gloss: "In feasts and games," and this with respect to the evil in affection: they are mad, he says, because irrational joy is madness, like the laughter of the frenzied: Hosea 9: "Madness in the house of his God." Or indeed they prophesy falsehoods, namely by prophesying false things, and this with respect to the evil of thought: 3 Kings, last chapter: "I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all the prophets." Or they live unjustly, and this with respect to the evil of conduct: Ecclesiastes 7: "The impious man lives a long time in his wickedness." Or they commit perjury, or forswear themselves, and this with respect to the sin of speech: quickly, that is, easily, on account of their evil habit: on account of which Ecclesiasticus 23: "Let not your mouth become accustomed to swearing, for there are many falls therein."
(Vers. 29.). For while they trust in idols, which are without soul, as regards life: swearing wickedly, namely on the part of the thing by which they swear, because by an idol, and on the part of the thing for which they swear, because it is false, against that saying of Jeremiah 4: "You shall swear: The Lord lives, in truth and in judgment and in justice." They do not expect to be harmed, that is, they do not fear.
But how do they not fear, since they believe them to be true gods?
It must be said that although they worship them as gods, they nevertheless do not think omnipotence to be in them; or they do not believe that they punish the sins of men. And in truth they cannot harm them, on account of which Jeremiah 10: "Do not fear them," namely the idols, "for they can do neither evil nor good"; but nevertheless they will be punished by God for the sin of perjury.
(Vers. 30.). Whence follows: Both things therefore will come upon them, namely the evil of guilt, because they are permitted to swear wickedly, and the evil of punishment, because they will be punished for this: they will come upon them, I say, deservedly, namely according to their merits: Apocalypse, last chapter: "He who is filthy, let him be filthy still." Because they thought wrongly of God by attending to idols, that is, by attributing divine worship to idols, while they swear by an idol. And they swore unjustly by an idol, despising justice, namely by swearing what is unlawful or what is false, and thus they err or sin in a twofold way, namely, because they swear by what they ought not, and because they swear that which they ought not: Exodus 23: "You shall not swear by the name of foreign gods."
(Vers. 31.). For not, as if to say: and truly they sin by swearing thus: for not of those who swear, namely in this way, is the virtue, that is, a virtuous or meritorious work; but the punishment of those who sin, that is, the sin itself, which is also the punishment of preceding sins and guilt in itself. It always walks about, namely from bad to worse, in the transgression of the just, that is, of just things, namely of God's commandments; Gregory: "For a sin which is not washed away through penance, by its own weight soon drags one to another": for in the Psalm: "Let their way be darkness and slippery" etc.