Chapter 2
Chapter II.
Second, concerning the justice of man toward his neighbor, the treatment is twofold.
For they said etc. Above he treated of the justice of man toward God: here principally of the justice of man toward his neighbor: and first, by drawing back from the likeness of the unjust, namely in this chapter: second, by urging toward the likeness of the just, namely in the third chapter.
First he draws back from the likeness of the unjust by noting three things. In the first part, first on the side of the unjust he sets forth the motivating cause of living unjustly: second he describes the unjust life, at: Come therefore etc.; third he shows that it is not to be imitated, at: These things they thought etc.
In the first part a threefold motivating cause is touched upon: the first on the part of condition; the second on the part of nature: Because we are born of nothing: the third on the part of name or reputation: And our name shall receive oblivion etc.
On the part of condition it is threefold: first, as regards the condition of the world, at: It is short and tedious etc.; second, as regards the condition of paradise: There is no refreshment etc.: third, as regards the condition of hell: And no one is known to have returned from the netherworld.
(Verse 1). For the ungodly said, thinking within themselves not rightly, etc. I have rightly said that "the ungodly by hands and words summoned" injustice and death. For the ungodly said, that is, those lacking piety toward God and neighbor: the Gloss: "It is the voice of the lost, who like brute animals love the things that are present and despise future things, nor do they hope for eternal rest after this life." Within themselves, because "they do not dare openly," according to that passage of the Psalm: "The fool has said in his heart: There is no God"; for if they were to speak openly, they would fear incurring punishment. Thinking not rightly, indeed wickedly. It is short, etc., on account of its brevity, according to that passage of Job chapter fourteen: "The days of man are short." And with weariness, on account of its painfulness: Job chapter fourteen: "Man born of woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries." The time of our life: the Gloss: "Of the present," by which, namely, they live for themselves, not for God; therefore he adds: our, against which Second Corinthians chapter five says: "That they who live may no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again." And there is no refreshment at the end of man; the Gloss: "That is, rest after death." This, however, is false, because it is said in the Psalm in the person of the Saints: "We have passed through fire and water, and you have brought us out into refreshment"; likewise Jeremiah chapter six: "Ask about the ancient paths, which is the good way, and walk in it; and you shall find refreshment for your souls"; likewise Apocalypse chapter fourteen: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, etc., that they may rest from their labors." - And there is no one who is known to have returned from the netherworld. By this they intend to exclude the existence of the netherworld; but by the same reasoning they could say that death does not exist, because no dead person returns to life. Hence their reasoning does not hold, because from privation to possession there is no return according to nature; and therefore from the lower netherworld no one returns according to the common law; hence Job chapter seven: "He who descends to the netherworld shall not ascend." Some, however, are recorded to have returned by a privilege of grace, such as the youth whom John the Evangelist raised, and Trajan, whom Gregory raised. From the upper netherworld, however, Christ returned, and many others raised through him or through his disciples.
Because we are born from nothing, etc. Here is set forth the motivating cause on the part of nature: and first, from the consideration of human origin; second, from the consideration of composition, at: Because smoke: third, from the consideration of dissolution: Which being extinguished.
(Verse 2). I have rightly said that there will be neither refreshment nor punishment, because there is no subject capable of receiving such things; because we are born from nothing, by immediate origin as regards the soul and by mediate origin as regards the body; hence Second Maccabees chapter seven: "Understand that God made these things from nothing, and the race of men."
And after this, that is, after this life, we shall be as though we had never been, as if to say: we shall return to nothing, according to that saying of Damascene: "Everything that began from change is subject to change"; likewise Augustine: "It is natural that what is from nothing can be dissolved into nothing"; which is to be understood of the possibility of primary aptitude, not of necessity: because they are held by the hand of the Creator, lest they fall into nothing, as Gregory says.
For smoke, namely with respect to the intrinsic corporeal vital spirit: smoke indeed is a fiery vapor, and the vital spirit is a subtle fiery body; and breath, that is, wind, with respect to the exterior corporeal spirit, which is breathed: James 4: "What is your life? It is a vapor appearing for a little while"; Job 7: "My life is a wind"; Psalm: "My days have vanished like smoke".
In our nostrils, he says this specifically, giving the whole body to be understood from a part, on account of the easy departure, as if it were in the nostrils: likewise, on account of manifestation, because there, by breathing in and breathing out, it is more manifested. And the speech of a spark for moving our heart, "that is, the soul comparable to a spark," as the Gloss says; whence 2 Kings 14: "They seek to extinguish my spark." But the soul is called a word according to the reckoning of the unbelievers, because according to them it is nothing in reality, but only according to name or word: but it is compared to a spark, because according to some philosophers the soul was said to be of a fiery nature. Or better: the soul can be called a word from its effect, because namely it has the power of speaking: but it is compared to a spark on account of the subtlety of its nature and on account of the agility of its motion: whence below in chapter three: "And they shall run about like sparks among the reeds"; likewise, on account of the brevity of its duration, according to the unbelievers: whence the Gloss: "Comparable to a spark, which immediately becomes nothing." For moving our heart, "that is, for enlivening or animating," according to the Gloss: breathing is in our nostrils, that is, in our bodies, so ready to depart from the body, as breath from the nostril.
There follows: Because extinguished etc. I rightly said that the soul is compared to a spark, because it is quickly extinguished, because our body will be extinguished ash, namely after the extinguishing of the soul, which according to the unbelievers is extinguished in death. But the truer reading is: Which having been extinguished etc. Here he touches upon the motivating cause from the consideration of dissolution, and first, from the consideration of dissolution with respect to the body: second, with respect to the spirit, there: And the spirit shall be dispersed: third, with respect to life: And our life shall pass away etc.
(Vers. 3.). He says therefore: Which, namely the soul, being extinguished, according to them, our body will be ashes: Ecclesiasticus seventeen: "All men are earth and ashes"; likewise Genesis eighteen: "I will speak to my Lord, since I am dust and ashes." For through the consumption of the natural moisture by heat, the body is consumed and turned into ashes; and the spirit, the bodily vital spirit, will be dispersed, namely by returning to its component principles, like soft air, that is, easily and invisibly; air is called soft because it does not resist touch. Or: the spirit, the incorporeal spirit, that is the soul, will be dispersed, that is, it will vanish and be dissolved, according to them, according to that verse of the Psalm: "The spirit shall pass through in him and shall not subsist," etc. And our life will pass away, that is, through the annihilation of its principles it will totally cease. And like the trace of a cloud, which does not appear after the dissolution of the cloud: Job thirty: "Like a cloud my well-being has passed away," namely temporal well-being; likewise chapter seven: "As a cloud is consumed and passes away, so he who descends to the netherworld shall not ascend." And it will be dissolved like a mist, which namely is the remnant of a cloud; for a cloud consists of a grosser and lower vapor, but mist of a thinner one. Which, namely the mist, was put to flight by the rays of the sun, the heat of the surrounding air uniting and driving away the parts of the cold vapor, and weighed down by its heat, the same heat driving the cold of the cloud to the interior parts and thus condensing per accidens the parts of that matter and thus weighing them down and afterward dissolving them into water: Job thirty-seven: "Suddenly the air will be gathered into clouds, and the passing wind will drive them away."
And our name, etc. Here is shown the motive cause on the part of fame or name: first the abolition of fame is touched upon; second, the reason for the abolition, at: For the passing of a shadow.
(Vers. 4.). He says therefore: And our name, as if to say: not only will our essence or substance pass into nothing, but also our name, that is, fame as regards the person, will receive oblivion through time, that is, through the length of time: Proverbs ten: "The name of the wicked shall rot." And no one will have memory of our works, as regards life: Job eighteen: "Let his memory perish from the earth"; likewise in the Psalm: "Their memory has perished with a noise"; and on the contrary: "The just shall be in everlasting memory."
But it is objected that the works of many reprobates, namely Cain, Pharaoh, Nero, etc., are still remembered.
It must be said that this statement is the statement of the reprobates, and therefore it is not unfitting to say that it is false. Or it must be said that they are not remembered with a praiseworthy memory or one useful to them; and it is of this kind that he speaks here.
But it is objected that the celebrated and praiseworthy deeds of many reprobates are remembered.
To this it must be said that these were not theirs but God's in them, according to that text of Isaiah twenty-six: "All our works you have wrought in us, O Lord."
(Verse 5). For remembering, however, two things are required, namely a strong impression and frequent repetition, and he excludes both when he adds: For shadows etc.; the passing of a shadow, on account of the swiftness of passing, 1 Chronicles twenty-nine: "Our days are like a shadow upon the earth, and there is no delay"; a shadow, I say, of passing is our time, that is, what we spend on doing our own will, not God's; but the Lord will at some time take that very time for himself: Psalm: "When I shall receive the time, I will judge justices." And there is no return of our end, on account of the impossibility of returning: Job ten: "Before I go and do not return" etc. Because it is sealed, namely our return, that is, closed under a seal: the Gloss: "Sealed, as if not appearing, because it does not exist." And no one returns to life, namely according to the common law; Psalm: "Their graves are their homes forever," namely according to their opinion, but according to truth all will at some time rise again through divine power: whence 1 Corinthians fifteen: "Indeed we shall all rise again" etc.
It should be noted, however, that the life and condition of the impious is said to be smoke on account of the blinding of the rational faculty, below in the same chapter: "Their malice has blinded them"; likewise Romans one: "Their foolish heart was darkened." It is likened to a breath on account of the restless disturbance of the irascible faculty, Isaiah fifty-seven: "The impious are like a raging sea"; to a spark, on account of the inflammation of the concupiscible faculty, Ecclesiasticus twenty-three: "A heated soul like a burning fire will not be quenched"; to air, on account of the emptiness of intention; to ashes, on account of the fruitlessness of works, below in chapter three: "Their works are useless"; to a thick cloud, on account of opposition to grace; to a light mist, on account of the elevation or elation of the mind; to a shadow, on account of outward dissimulation.
Come therefore etc. Here he describes the unjust life, and first is touched upon the concord of the unjust and their mutual exhortation to the dissolution of their own life; second, the oppression of the just, at: Let us oppress etc.
First, therefore, they exhort one another to devote themselves to dissolution: first, swiftly; second, abundantly, at: With costly wine etc.; third, openly, at: Let us crown; fourth, in common or universally, at: Let none of us; fifth, merrily, at: Let us leave everywhere.
(Vers. 6.). Come therefore, as if they were saying: since the present life passes away, and we do not hope for a future one; come therefore etc. Come, they say, because as Seneca says, "the possession of no thing is pleasant without a companion"; and therefore they exhort one another. For this is the invitatory at the matins of the devil. For it should be noted that just as the Church of the just has different invitatories and Venite according to different feasts, so too does the synagogue of sinners. One is of vanity: Genesis 11: "Come, and let us make for ourselves a city and a tower." Another, of iniquity: Genesis 37: "Come, and let us kill him and cast him into an old cistern." The third, of avarice and cupidity: Proverbs 1: "Come with us" etc. The fourth, of pleasure, which is treated here, namely: Come, and let us enjoy the good things that are etc. To these corresponds that saying of Matthew 25: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the fire" etc. Let us enjoy, I say, with loving affection, desiring nothing beyond; "for to enjoy is to cling with love to something for its own sake"; the good things that are, that is, present goods, and let us use, taking delight in the effect: Augustine: "To use is to take something into the power of the will"; Augustine: "The whole evil of man is to enjoy things that should be used and to use things that should be enjoyed." Let us use, I say, the creature, namely with contempt for the Creator: for otherwise it would not be a sin to use the creature. As in youth, that is, as long as we are young: because the senses of the young perceive pleasure more than those of the old: whence 2 Kings 19: "I am eighty years old today; are my senses still vigorous?" etc.; therefore Ecclesiastes 11: "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth." Swiftly: The Gloss: "Lest we and those things pass away before we enjoy them," according to that saying of Isaiah 22: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die."
(Vers. 7. 8. 9.). With costly wine, inwardly as regards taste, arousing warmth from within; and with ointments, outwardly as regards touch, arousing warmth from without: let us fill ourselves, through superfluous and immoderate use; Amos 6: "Drinking wine in bowls and anointed with the finest ointment" etc. And let not the flower of time pass us by, that is, pleasantness as regards sight: Jeremiah 48: "Give a flower to Moab" etc. Such people care nothing for the fruit of the heavenly autumn, but only for the flower of the present spring. Let us crown ourselves with roses before they wither: Isaiah 40: "The flower has fallen"; and chapter 28: "Woe to the falling flower"! Let us crown ourselves with roses, for delight as regards smell: but "woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim"; Isaiah 28. Let no meadow be that our wantonness does not pass through, that is, no pleasant place: this is said as regards the universality of place: Jeremiah 2: "On every high hill and under every leafy tree you lay down, O harlot." Let none of us, this is said as regards the universality of persons. Such was Sodom, in which not even ten just men could be found, as is clear from Genesis 18.
Let none, I say, of us be without a share in our wantonness, that is, without a lot, that is, lacking a part or exempt from it. Everywhere let us leave signs of our merriment: this is said as regards universality in deed: Ezekiel 16: "At every head of the way you built a sign of your prostitution." For this, namely such a dissolute life, is our portion, namely on the part of the soul: and of clay is the lot ours, namely on the part of the body. Or: portion and lot are the same in reality, but they differ in concept, because portion is named from the side of the one receiving, lot from the side of the one giving: Isaiah 57: "In the parts of the torrent is your portion, this is your lot." On the contrary, the just man says: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance"; likewise: "God of my heart, and God is my portion forever."
Let us oppress the just poor man etc. Here he describes the unjust life as regards the oppression of the good, first, because they oppress without reverence for the person: second, because without fear of justice, at the words: But let our strength etc.
(Vers. 10. 11.). Let us oppress: The Gloss: "It is the voice of the lost"; the just poor man, that is, anyone whatsoever: Job 24: "They have equally oppressed the meek of the earth." And let us not spare the widow: Psalm: "They slew the widow and the stranger" etc.; nor let us reverence the grey hairs of the aged of many years, that is, any old man whatsoever; Baruch 4: "They have not reverenced the old man."
But let our strength be the law of injustice, that is, let us consider everything lawful, whatever we are able to do: Habakkuk 1: "Judgment has arisen and contention is more powerful." Or: of justice: whence the interlinear gloss: "As if we should have strength in place of justice," that is, what we cannot do through justice, let us do through violence. For what is weak etc., as if to say: let us not oppress only the poor and weak, such as widows and the elderly, but whomever we can; for what is weak, namely in itself, such as the widow, the poor, and the elderly: is found useless, namely to others: whence for such persons little or nothing is to be cared about. Not so did the Lord think, who "chose the weak things of the world to confound the strong, and the ignoble things of the world and the contemptible" etc. Not so Paul, who said that "power is made perfect in weakness," 2 Corinthians 12.
Allegorically this is expounded concerning heretics, who do not spare the just poor man, that is, the Christian people; nor the widow, that is, the Church; nor the aged, that is, the Apostles and Prophets.
Specifically, the persecution of Christ is described, first with regard to the threefold cause.
Let us therefore beset the just man etc. Here he specifically describes the persecution of Christ, and first he touches upon the cause; second, the end, at: Let us see therefore, if his words etc.; third, the manner, at: With insult and torment etc. The cause, on account of which the Jews persecuted Christ, he touches upon in three ways: first, on the part of their works; second, on the part of their thoughts, at: He has become to us; third, on the part of their words, at: As triflers.
In the first part, on the part of works, he touches upon a threefold cause, of which the first is the detestation of the works of the Jews; the second, the reproaching and defaming of those transgressions, at: And he reproaches us etc.;
the third, the commendation of Christ, at: He promises etc.
(Vers. 12.). Let us therefore ensnare etc. Because I said: Let our strength be the law of injustice, and we cannot do this unless we ensnare the just one: let us therefore ensnare the just one etc., so that, namely, we may freely exercise the law of our strength. Let us ensnare, I say, through deceit, the just one, that is, Christ, who by antonomasia is called the just one: Jeremiah twenty-three: "This is the name by which they shall call him: The Lord our just one"; "because he committed no" actual "sin," First Peter two; nor did he contract original sin in his conception: whence Jeremiah twenty-three: "I will raise up for David a just branch," that is, Christ in the branch, that is, in his conception: Isaiah forty-five: "Let justice spring up together" etc. Or: Let us ensnare etc., can be the voice of any wicked persons against any just person, against which the Apostle warns in First Thessalonians four: "Let no one defraud his brother in business"; just as he himself had not done so; whence Second Corinthians seven: We "have injured no one," namely by deed; "have corrupted no one," namely by evil example; "have defrauded no one," namely by word. Because he is useless to us: The Gloss: "Although they saw his usefulness in all things," according to that passage in Acts ten: "Who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil." But they considered him useless to themselves in temporal matters: whence John eleven: "The Romans will come and take away our place and our nation." And he is contrary to our works, namely as good is contrary to evil, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus thirty-three: "Against evil stands good, and against the just man stands the sinner." And he reproaches us with sins against the Law, that is, because we sin by transgressing the Law: whence John seven: "Did not Moses give you the Law, and none of you keeps the Law"? And he spreads abroad against us, that is, against us, or turning back upon us, the sins of our training, that is, by saying that we sin by teaching our traditions, or by holding them, or by making others hold them; whence Matthew fifteen: "Why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your traditions"?
(Vers. 13.). He professes to have the knowledge of God: The Gloss: "That is, to know all things as God," and this with respect to essence. And he calls himself the Son of God, "that is, consubstantial and coeternal with God," with respect to person: John five: "He called God his Father, making himself equal to God." Thus any just person has the knowledge of God in the intellect, and is a son of God by grace in the affections; whence in the Psalm: "I said: You are gods," namely knowing good and evil, "and all of you sons of the Most High."
He has become for us an exposer. Here is set forth the moving cause on the part of thoughts, and first is touched upon the manifestation of the thoughts of the Jews through Christ; second, the effect of the manifestation, caused not on the part of Christ, but on the part of the Jews, namely their envy, at: He is grievous etc.
(Verse 14.). He has become for us an exposer, that is, a revealer, of our thoughts: The Gloss: "He brings our thoughts into the light," that is, he leads them out into knowledge; whence Matthew 9: "Why do you think evil in your hearts?" So traducere is understood in Matthew 1, namely as to expose, where it says: "He was not willing to expose her."
(Verse 15.). He is grievous for us even to behold, namely on account of the manifestation of their sins; Augustine: "To sick eyes the light is hateful"; John 3: "He who does evil hates the light." But this, that they could not bear to see him, was a sign of envy; whence 1 Kings 18: "Saul did not look upon David with favorable eyes," namely because he envied him. Because his life is unlike that of others, namely his entire outward life or conduct.
On the contrary: Hebrews 2: "He ought to be made like his brethren in all things."
It must be said that the Apostle speaks of likeness in passible nature; here, of likeness in fault.
It should be noted, moreover, that his life or conduct was unlike others both with respect to its beginning, because he was conceived and born without sin: Isaiah 6: "The holy seed shall be that which has stood in her," that is, in Mary; Matthew 1: "That which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit." And with respect to its middle, because he lived without sin: 1 Peter 2: "He committed no sin, nor was deceit found" etc. And with respect to its end, because he died without any debt of death: the Psalm: "What I did not seize, I was then paying back."
And his ways are changed: The Gloss: "They have been made unlike," namely his deeds and his teaching: Isaiah 55: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways, says the Lord."
As triflers etc. Here is touched upon the moving cause on the part of speech, and first is set forth their reprobation; second, the approbation of others, at: And he prefers the last things etc.; third, his self-commendation, at: And he boasts that he has God for a father.
(Vers. 16.). As therefore we were regarded as triflers by him, that is, doing and saying vain things: Zephaniah 3: "I will gather the triflers, who had departed from the law." And he abstains from our ways: The Gloss: "That is, from our actions and traditions"; as from unclean things, and indeed justly, because they were truly unclean: whence Ezekiel 36: "Their way was made before me like the uncleanness of a menstruous woman." And he prefers the last things of the just, that is, the end, and indeed deservedly, because "the death of sinners is the worst," but the death of the just is precious, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints"; therefore in Numbers 23 Balaam said: "Let my soul die the death of the just, and let my last end be like theirs." Or according to the Gloss: He prefers the last things of the just, "that is, eternal life to pleasure." And he boasts that he has God for his Father: John 8: "It is my Father who glorifies me."
Second, the persecution of Christ is described with regard to its purpose.
Let us see therefore, if the words etc. Here in the person of the Jews he first touches upon the purpose of the persecution of Christ, which was that they wanted to know the truth about Christ; second, it is added how they could know this, at the words: For if he is the true Son of God, etc.
(Vers. 17. 18.). Let us see, etc., as if they were saying: since he so boasts, let us see, as it were from afar, by deliberating about his death: John 11: "The chief priests and Pharisees gathered a council" against Jesus. Let us see, I say, if his words are true, namely, that he is truly the Son of God. This the centurion saw and recognized, who, seeing him expire with a cry and the earthquake and other signs, said in Matthew 27: "Truly this was the Son of God." And let us test him, from close at hand, namely by crucifying him and exposing him to death: what will come upon him, namely whether he will be able to free himself: Matthew 27: "He saved others, he cannot save himself." And we shall know, or: so that we may know, what his last end will be, namely whether he will rise again. And this we shall know by guarding his tomb: whence Matthew 27: "Lord, we have remembered that that deceiver said while he was still living: After three days I will rise again."
For if he is the true Son of God, as he foretold, not through the grace of adoption, as we are, but through the natural property of eternal generation: he will receive him, namely in glory: Isaiah forty-two: "Behold, my servant, I will receive him." And he will deliver him, namely from punishment: and this is what follows: From the hands of adversaries, that is, of those who crucified him, who were his adversaries. God did both for him: for he delivered him from punishment, according to that word of the Psalm: "My deliverer from my wrathful enemies," namely on the very day of the passion, after he endured temporal death: and he raised him up, but not immediately, but on the third day, according to that word of Zephaniah three: "Wait for me on the day of my resurrection"; and he received him with glory on the day of the ascension: whence in the Psalm: "With glory you have received me."
Third, the persecution of Christ is described with respect to the special mode of oppression.
Let us examine him with insult and torment, etc. Here he touches upon the special mode of oppression, and first, with respect to those things disposing toward death: second, with respect to death itself: By a most shameful death, etc.
(Vers. 19. 20.). He says therefore: With insult, namely of words: and with torment, namely of blows: Hebrews eleven: "The saints experienced mockeries and beatings"; let us examine him, that is, let us test him. So it was done, as is clear from Matthew twenty-seven and John nineteen, because he was mocked with insulting words and struck with scourges and at last fastened with nails to the gibbet of the cross. That we may know his reverence, that is, the humility with which he reverences God: Hebrews five: "He was heard because of his reverence." And let us test his patience, namely through torments: that is, whether he is truly humble and patient. And truly so, because "when he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten," First Peter two. Gregory: "What sort of person each one is within himself, an insult inflicted reveals."
By a most shameful death: The Gloss: "That is, by the death of the cross, which up to the passion of Christ was the punishment of the guilty, but now is the trophy of victory and the glory of the Church"; Augustine: "The cross passed from the punishments of robbers to the foreheads of emperors." And because the death of the cross was most shameful, therefore to show the usefulness of Christ's death the Apostle says in Philippians two: "He humbled himself, etc., even the death of the cross."
Now the death of Christ was most shameful by reason of place, because it was outside the city at the place of Calvary, that is, the place where the heads of the beheaded were cast out, Matthew twenty-seven. By reason of time, because it was on a solemn day and at the greater hour, namely "the sixth hour," John nineteen. By reason of instrument, because it was on the wood of the cross: 1 Peter two: "He bore our sins in his body upon the wood." By reason of company, because it was among thieves, Luke twenty-three. By reason of reproach, because many reproaches were inflicted upon him as he hung, as is evident in Matthew twenty-seven.
Let us condemn him. It should be noted that Pilate condemned him by authority; the Jews, by persuasion. For there shall be regard for him from his words, that is, knowledge of the truth of his words: the Gloss: "We shall see whether after death he is able to raise up his flesh; for he said: 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will rebuild it,'" John two.
These things they thought, and they erred. Here he shows that the life of such men is to be shunned as erroneous; and first he touches upon the meritorious cause of their error; second, the matter of their error: And they knew not, etc.; third, the author of their error: But by the envy of the devil, etc.
(Vers. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.). These things, namely the aforesaid, they thought, namely the impious, and they carried them out; and they erred: whence below in chapter five: "Therefore we have erred from the way of truth, and the light of justice has not shone upon us"; likewise Proverbs fourteen: "They err who work evil." For it blinded them, namely their interior eye, their malice: whence in the prayer of Jeremiah: "Woe to us, for we have sinned; therefore our eyes are darkened"; likewise 2 Corinthians four: "The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers."
And they knew not the mysteries of God, that is, the sacred and secret counsels and dispositions concerning the passion and resurrection of Christ; Ephesians three: "The mystery was made known to me, which in other generations was not known." Nor did they hope for the reward of justice; the Gloss: "That is, of the death of Christ," namely his exaltation through death, concerning which, Philippians two: "Wherefore God also exalted him." Nor did they judge: the Gloss: "That is, understand," the honor of holy souls, that is, the salvation of holy souls to be obtained through the death and resurrection of Christ: whence the Gloss: "They did not understand that the death of Christ is the honor and salvation of souls"; the Psalm: "They are exceedingly honored," etc.; likewise 1 Peter two: "To you therefore who believe, honor," etc.
And rightly I said: Honor, because God created man imperishable, that is, having the power not to die, on the part of the body: and to the image, namely on the part of the soul; Genesis 1: "Let us make man to our image and likeness"; to the image, namely in natural endowments: of his likeness, namely in gratuitous gifts: or: to the image, in the cognitive power: to the likeness in the affective power: for image is the principle of knowing, likeness the ground of loving; for "every animal loves its like," Ecclesiasticus 13. He made him.
But by the envy of the devil, who envied the happiness of the first parents, death entered into the world.
Against this: Romans 5: "By one man sin entered, and by sin death."
It must be said that death entered through the devil suggesting and through man consenting.
But they imitate him, namely the devil, by envying the just, who are of his party, namely the impious, who are of the party of the devil. "For he himself is the head of all the wicked," as Gregory says.