Sermo 2
by St. Bonaventure
Source text: Public Domain Mark 1.0. English translation/apparatus/encoding: CC BY-NC 4.0, Wroot Press.
https://bonaventure.wrootpress.com/browse/14/d/2/q/bon-serm-s2
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### Sermon II.
#### *On the kingdom of God described in the gospel parables.*

### Summarium

*Introduction; it is the noblest thing to preach the kingdom of God, number 1. — In this parable three things are noted about God in general: power, providence, justice, 2. — The division into three parts: the first, on the kingdom of God considered absolutely, which has five questions; the second, how the likeness fits it in twelve gospel parables; the third, on three questions concerning evil, 3.* — Part I. On the kingdom of God itself considered in itself. *First, what the kingdom of God is. The definition according to St Paul; its three conditions: judgments made straight, commands made tranquil, desires brought to completion, 4. — These are now lacking, 5-7. — An example, 8. — Secondly, where the kingdom of God is; first, not in outward things, but in inward, 9. — Secondly, not in lower things, but in higher, 10. — Thirdly, not in created things, but in causal accounts, 11. — To the way of sinners is opposed the way of the Saviour coming, 12. — Thirdly, of what sort the kingdom of God is; it is glorious, beautiful, delightful; of these singly, 13-15. — Fourthly, how great the kingdom of God is; it is great by the length of eternity, by the breadth of charity, by the height of sublimity, 16-18. — Fifthly, whose the kingdom of God is; the kingdom of glory belongs only to those having grace; grace is fourfold: first, baptismal grace; this is preserved through three things: through faith in truth, love of goodness, imitation of virtue, 19-22. — Secondly, penitential grace; this is exercised in three ways: in the treading down of mental arrogance through humility, in the bridling of worldly avarice through poverty, in the mortifying of carnal concupiscence through chastity, 23-27. — Thirdly, final grace; the cooperation of free choice is necessary; for the completeness of final grace three things are required: steady patience, lofty confidence, long-suffering perseverance, 28-33. — Fourthly, sapiential grace, which is made complete by three things: sapiential contemplations, desires, exercises, 34-36.* — Part II. The kingdom of God fittingly described in twelve gospel parables. *The parables of the Gospel can be reduced to twelve; three indeed on the side of the Maker, namely as creating, governing, rewarding, 37. — Three on the side of the Redeemer, namely as descending into the world, ascending into heaven, returning to judgment, 38. — Three on the side of the gratuitous gift, namely as to prevenient, concomitant, subsequent grace, 39. — Three on the side of free choice: as to simplicity of intention, studiousness of solicitude, strenuousness of operation, of which each requires two, 40-42.* — Part III. Three questions on evil. *First, whence evil arises, 43. — Secondly, why it is borne with, 44-46. — Thirdly, how it is punished, 47.*

1. *The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field,* Matthew, chapter thirteen. — *They stayed him that he should not depart from them,* namely the Galileans, *to whom he said: To other cities also I must preach the kingdom of God, for therefore am I sent.* This last word is written in Luke, chapter four; where it is to be noted that among all hierarchical offices the noblest office is to preach the kingdom of God, to which office indeed Christ says that he was sent. Whence Isaiah, chapter sixty-one: *The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, to announce* or *to preach.* He therefore who wishes to exercise Christ's office ought to be of good life; and unless he himself had given the command, in Matthew, chapter ten: *Going, preach, saying: for the kingdom of heaven shall be at hand;* it would be a wonder how anyone would dare to preach. Since therefore, dearly beloved, our life does not suffice for so worthy an office, let us pray, etc.

2. *The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field.* In this whole parable of today's Gospel three things are noted in general. The first is the divine *power* or *wisdom* in the found-

ing of creatures; which is designated by this which is said: *The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field.* — *Good seed* means good creatures, Genesis, chapter one: *God saw all the things that he had made; and they were very good. The field,* as Christ himself afterwards expounds, is the world; and the Gloss says there: "None but the good sows the good."

The second is the divine *providence* in the long-suffering and bearing with of the wicked; which is noted there: *Lest perhaps, gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to grow until the harvest*; the interlinear Gloss: "Behold, long-suffering, which is necessary even to the end."

The third is the divine *justice* in the repaying of merits; which is noted there: *And in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn*; the interlinear Gloss: "He who bore long-sufferingly repays worthy things through justice." And on this account, as the Gloss says, "in suffering let us meditate on justice, in judging let us not neglect patience."

3. But since *to us it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing may not understand,* as is said in Luke, chapter eight; and no likenesses of things are well known unless the things themselves are known first, just as I cannot know that Peter is like Paul unless I know both first; therefore some things are to be seen about the kingdom of heaven absolutely, and afterwards how the likeness fits it. And there are here six things to be considered about the kingdom of heaven.

The first is, what the kingdom of heaven is.

The second, where it is.

The third, of what sort it is.

The fourth, how great it is.

The fifth, whose it is.

The sixth, on the parables of the kingdom, of which twelve are found in the Gospel.

But last of all there will have to be seen the three difficult questions which fall in with this parable, namely whence evil arises, why it is borne with, and how it is punished.

4. First therefore it is to be seen *what* the kingdom is. What it is, the Apostle says to the Romans, chapter fourteen: *The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.* Here the Apostle subtly describes the felicity of the whole of *free choice*, which is the faculty of will and of reason. But what is the kingdom of God? *The kingdom of God* is nothing else than a deiform influence, universally making straight the *judgments* of reason, making tranquil or peaceful the *commands* of the faculty, fulfilling or gladdening the *desires* of the will. Whence *justice* is nothing else than the universal setting straight of the judgments of reason; *peace* is nothing else than the universal tranquillity of the commands of the faculty; *joy* is nothing else than the universal fulfilment of the desires of the will. And then free choice reigns, and the kingdom of the soul is wholly at peace; which it is impossible should come about in the present. For that all our *judgments* should be straight, our *commands* tranquil, our *desires* brought to completion, is impossible while we are in this life.

5. About *judgments* this is clear in the sciences, especially those of physicians, jurists, astrologers, theologians; by which sciences nearly everything is governed. — For the judgments of physicians are often crooked; because they are means between the *inborn* and the *accidental*, and accidents are various and innumerable, and a little of time changes the complexion; and on this account they are deceived. — The judgments of jurists are often distorted; because they are a mean between the *true* and the *plausible*, and sometimes, because the plausible is proved and appears the more, the true is let go, and they are deceived. — The judgments of astrologers likewise are often fallible, because they are means between the *necessary* and the *possible*. For since lower causes are possible and therefore variable, on that account they are deceived many times. — The judgments of theologians likewise are sometimes less right, because they are means between the *eternal* or aeviternal and the *temporal*. Temporal things are intentions, affections and innumerable circumstances, which sometimes vary operations and change them into another kind: and therefore, because

no one knows *whether* anyone *be worthy of love or hatred,* the judges of souls are sometimes deceived. — So then it is clear that human judgments in this life are not universally straight.

6. About the *commands* of our faculty likewise it is clear. For who ever in the present had all his commands made tranquil? For we wretched ones have a fourfold battle by which we are unceasingly assailed, namely the battle of *time*, of the *body*, of *sensuality* and of the *will*. — *Time* assails us miserably: summer through too much heat, winter through too much cold, autumn through too much dryness, spring through excessive moisture. Time also is the beginning of corruption. — The *body* too assails and afflicts us, now growing hungry, now feverish, now growing cold, and so forth. — And who would doubt about *sensuality*, that it brings a great battle upon us, contradicting the will many times? For it wishes to eat, to drink, to sleep, and other such things. — Against the *will* also we have a battle, because neither is it itself many times obedient to reason, indeed it is even in itself contrary and diverse. For it contradicts the divine laws and will not be subject to reason; but in itself it is contrary and divided; for it would wish to will what it cannot will. — Since therefore there is no one in this life who is not troubled by this fourfold battle, it is plain that no one here has his commands made tranquil.

7. About *desires* assuredly this same thing is clear. For who is there who in the present has his desires? No one. Now there are four desires which are inductive of almost every evil, namely the desire of *ruling*, the desire of *knowing* or of coming to know, the desire of *taking pleasure* and the desire of *abounding*. The first is the root of *pride*, the second of *curiosity*, the third of *wantonness*, the fourth of *cupidity*. — The first desire cannot be fulfilled, because, even if you should rule the whole world, yet death will rule over you, since, as the Wise Man says in Ecclesiasticus, chapter ten, *every power*, that is, every princedom, *is a short life.* — The second desire cannot be fulfilled, because, if you were to live many years, still you would not be able to know fully the nature of one straw, or of a fly, or of the least creature in the world. — The third desire, namely of taking pleasure, cannot be fulfilled here, because, where you find a delight, there follows afterwards torment and anguish. For every pleasure in the present is sprinkled with bitterness. — But the fourth desire, namely of abounding, likewise cannot be fulfilled here, because *the covetous man shall not be satisfied with money*. Whence Bernard in the book *On Loving God*: "Money does not so lessen the soul's hunger as wind does not lessen the body's. In short, if you were to see a starving man with open jaws, with cheeks puffed out by the wind, drinking in the air, as if he would thereby take counsel for his hunger; would you not think him mad? Of no less madness is he who thinks that the rational spirit can be more filled than puffed up by any bodily things whatever. For what have bodies to do with spirits? *Neither indeed can those be refreshed by spiritual things, nor these on the other side by bodily things*." The whole is Bernard's.

8. Note about King Alexander, who, when he heard the Epicureans positing two worlds, thought at once how he might have the second world; and he said: now I have more to do. — And on that account we ought greatly to desire that kingdom, where universally our judgments will be straight, our commands made peaceful and our desires terminated.

9. Secondly it is to be seen *where* that kingdom is, that we may know where we ought to seek it. For this it is to be noted that that kingdom is not in *outward things*, but in inward, because it is *spiritual*. Again, it is not in *lower things*, but in higher, because *sublime*. Nor is it in *created things* either, but in causal accounts, because *perpetual* and *incorruptible*.

That kingdom, I say, is not in *outward things*, but in inward. Whence our Saviour says in Luke, chapter seventeen: *Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.* But what does this mean? If it is within us, it seems that it is a very small and narrow kingdom. — But it must be attended to how *great* it is. Fourfold is the power in the soul, namely *sense, imagination, reason* and *intelligence*. See how much *sense* grasps. For the eye in the point of the pupil would apprehend the whole world, according to some, if it had no obstacle. But *imagination* can apprehend many such worlds. But *reason* apprehends still further, because it abstracts the *universal*, which is always and everywhere, from the *particular*, which is here and now. If therefore sense, imagination, reason are of such capacity and appre-

hension; what is intelligence, which is born to apprehend God, the highest good? Therefore it is no small kingdom which is within us, but the *greatest* and *infinite*.

10. Again, that kingdom is not in *lower things*, but in higher. Whence the Saviour says in John, chapter eighteen: *My kingdom is not of this world.* He does not mean to say that this world is not subject to his rule, as certain heretics say; but he means to intimate that his kingdom is to be sought in higher things, not in lower; because it is necessary that it be there, otherwise it would not be a complete kingdom. — For there is a fourfold agent: *elemental, ethereal, aeviternal* or everlasting, and *eternal*. The first is changeable as to *form*; the second, as to *place;* the third, as to *affections;* but the fourth *is neither movable nor changeable.* Therefore in that one is the *sublime* kingdom to be placed.

11. Thirdly, that kingdom is not in *created things*, but in causal accounts. On which account the Saviour says in Luke, chapter twenty-two: *You are they who have continued with me in my temptations. And I dispose to you, as my Father hath disposed to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table.* That table is not material, but sapiential, in which there are as many dishes as there are accounts of creatures shining out. About this table, Proverbs, chapter nine: *Wisdom hath built herself a house*, namely when she took human flesh; *she hath hewn her out seven pillars*, when through the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit she strengthened the Church; *she hath set forth her table*, when she prepared the eternal and living accounts of all things to be contemplated and known by the soul reigning with him; and this is the preparation of the *table*. — Now those living accounts will appear to the glorious spirits as in a *mirror*, as in a *book*, as on a *table*: in a *mirror*, because beautifully; in a *book*, because stably and indelibly; but on a *table*, because delightfully.

12. And because we had gone out from inward things to outward, had fallen from higher to lower, were loving the creature instead of the Creator; therefore our Lord Jesus Christ came from *inward things* to outward, according to that word of Job, chapter twenty-eight: *Wisdom is drawn out of secret places;* that he might call us back from outward things to inward. He also descended from *higher things* to lower, according to that word of the Gospel of blessed John: *I came down from heaven, not to do my own will,* etc.; and Ecclesiasticus, chapter twenty-four: *I dwell in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a cloud;* that he might draw us from lower things to higher. He nonetheless, our *Creator*, took up a creature, according to that word of John, chapter one: *The Word was made flesh;* that he might lead us back from an inordinate love of the creature to the love of himself.

13. Thirdly it is to be seen *of what sort* that kingdom is. For which it is to be noted that it is a kingdom *glorious, beautiful, delightful*, and this on account of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. To the Father is appropriated the *height of glory*, to the Son the *beauty of wisdom*, to the Holy Spirit the *sweetness of benevolence*. There therefore is every sublimity, comeliness and gentleness.

I say therefore that that kingdom is *glorious*, according to that word of the Psalm: *They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom.* Now this will be when the glorified spirits will resolve whatever of good they have back into the first principle. And on this account the Angels are in continual praise and glorification, because what they continually receive they resolve back into him who alone can glory. Whence even here, the more humbly the soul attributes to its principle the things which it receives, the nearer it is to that kingdom of glory. But the glory of the eternal kingdom will be in this, that the glorified spirits will praise and glorify perpetually our Lord, their former, reformer, governor, glorifier. So then the kingdom of God is *glorious*.

14. Again, that kingdom is *beautiful*, according to what is said in Wisdom, chapter five: *They shall receive*, namely the Saints, *a kingdom of glory and a crown of beauty at the hand of the Lord.* The crown of beauty or the kingdom of glory is nothing else than to see the beauty of sensible things, of rational spirits, of Christ's humanity, of the Divinity of the one and three God. — Augustine says in the sixth book of *On Music* that "beauty is nothing else than numbered equality," which there will be through all things.

15. Thirdly, that kingdom is *delightful;* on which account it is said in Luke, chapter fourteen: *Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.* What does this mean? Will there be other dishes there than bread? No. For this will suffice, because it will have in itself *every delight and the sweetness of every taste.* This is the bread of Angels. If therefore men take so much delight in material bread, for this reason that it continues mortal life; how great will the delight be in that bread which is life by essence? By this alone and by no other can the soul be satisfied. — And the reason of this is that it alone is *innermost*, alone *most fitting*, alone *most sufficient*, alone *most abundant*. That bread alone, I say, is *innermost* to the soul; because it alone enters into the soul by essence, and therefore it alone can refresh it. But other things do not enter into the soul by essence, but only according to a likeness; whence the Philosopher says that the stone is not in the soul, but the likeness of the stone; and therefore such things cannot refresh. — Again, it alone is *most fitting* to the soul; for nothing fits anyone better than he to whose image he was made. But the soul was made to the image of God; and therefore he alone, being fitting to it, satisfies and delights it: because delight is the joining of the fitting with the fitting. — Again, it alone is *sufficient*, because it alone fills the whole soul; and therefore by itself it can refresh the whole. — Again, it is *most abundant*, because, since it is infinite, it exceeds the capacity of the soul itself. Blessed therefore is he who shall eat that bread *in that kingdom*.

16. Fourthly it is to be seen *how great* that kingdom is. Here sense, imagination, reason and intelligence fall short. For it is great by the *length* of an incorruptible or unending eternity; it is great by the *breadth* of an uncramped charity; it is great by the *height* of an incomprehensible sublimity. That kingdom is great, I say, by the *length* of an incorruptible eternity, according to what is said in the Psalm: *Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages*, that is, everlasting; Tobias, chapter thirteen: *Thou art great, O Lord, for ever, and thy kingdom is unto all ages;* Daniel, chapter three, in the word of Nabuchodonosor: *His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his power is to all generations;* and chapter seven: *His power is an everlasting power, that shall not be taken away, and his kingdom, that shall not be destroyed.* For because the power of the King will not be able to be destroyed, therefore the kingdom is eternal. — For it is not corruptible in itself or *from within;* and therefore blessed Peter in his Canonical Epistle calls that kingdom *an unfading glory.* For that is unfading which does not have in itself any account or cause of corruption; and on the contrary a flower is fading, because in itself it is corruptible. — Again, neither *from above* nor *from beside* nor *from below* will it be able to be destroyed, because the power of the King is eternal, nor does anyone prevail against him. — Nor is there anything which avails so much for despising momentary vanity as to think continually on the eternity of glory.

17. Again, that kingdom is great by the *breadth* of an uncramped charity; because, although there are there men *out of every tongue, people, tribe and nation;* yet in nothing is it cramped on that account, rather it is the more enlarged, because thence each one's glory increases. Whence blessed Augustine says in the eighth book of the *Confessions*: "When there is rejoicing with many, in each one also the joy is richer, because they warm one another and are set on fire by one another." On account of this breadth it is said in the Psalm: *Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession;* and Matthew, chapter eight: *Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.* For neither the multitude of those desiring nor the multitude of those existing nor the multitude of those possessing nor the multitude of those arriving will cramp the place, or do prejudice to anyone. — But note the authority of Gregory in the fourth book of the *Morals*, at the end.

18. Thirdly, that kingdom is great by the *height* of an incomprehensible sublimity. But from the greatness

of a *corruptible kingdom* a man is called a *great king*, whereas from the greatness of the *eternal King* that kingdom is called *a great kingdom*. But who will be able to announce the greatness or the height of his power, wisdom, clemency and justice? Jeremias, chapter ten: *There is none like to thee, O Lord; thou art great, and great is thy name in might. Who shall not fear thee, O king of nations? For thine is the glory; among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms there is none like unto thee.* And therefore thy kingdom is great, and great are they who shall obtain it; Matthew, chapter eleven: *But he that is the lesser in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.* — Now these things said about the kingdom are *speculative;* but what follows is practical, namely *whose* it is.

19. In the fifth place it is to be seen *whose* that most glorious kingdom is. For this it is to be noted that that kingdom of glory belongs only to those having grace, without which it is impossible to come to it. *For the wages of sin is death; but the grace of God, life everlasting*, that is, the cause of life, to the Romans, chapter six; the Psalm: *The Lord will give grace and glory.* But that grace is fourfold in form, namely innocential or *baptismal, penitential, final* or perseverantial, and *sapiential*.

About the *baptismal* or innocential it is plain that it is necessary for the kingdom; for about it the Lord gave sentence in John, chapter three: *Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.* And the reason of this is that on account of the sin of the first parents we are all born *children of wrath;* if children of wrath, therefore children of indignation; and if children of indignation, not children of the kingdom, but of perdition. It is necessary therefore that we of necessity be purged and made pleasing through the restoring of innocence; which baptismal grace does. — Which was figured in Matthew, chapter three, where over Christ baptized the heavens were opened, the Holy Spirit descended in the appearance of a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard: *This is my beloved Son.* Where three effects of baptism are noted: the *opening of the gate*, which sin had closed, through this that the heavens were opened; the *restoring of innocence*, through the dove, which innocence sin had taken away; the *making pleasing*, there: *This is my beloved Son*, because sin had made men children of wrath.

20. But it is to be noted that this grace is preserved through three things, without which it is impossible to obtain the kingdom, namely through *faith* in the highest truth, through *love* of the highest goodness, through *imitation* of the highest virtue; and this is faith working through love. — The first therefore which is necessary for having the kingdom is *faith in truth*, because *without faith it is impossible to please God*, to the Hebrews, chapter eleven. Whence it is said in John, chapter three: *Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.* Well did he say: *he cannot see the kingdom of God.* Truly he cannot see the kingdom of God who cannot see truth, because that kingdom is "joy about truth"; but he cannot see truth who does not believe truth, according to that word of Isaiah, chapter seven, in another reading: *Unless you believe, you shall not understand:* therefore he who does not believe truth cannot see the kingdom of God; if not see, neither have; because the vision is "the whole reward": therefore faith in truth is necessary.

21. The second thing which is necessary is *love of goodness*. On which account it is said in Wisdom, chapter six: *If you be delighted with thrones and sceptres, O kings of the people, love wisdom, that you may reign for ever. Love the lumen of wisdom*, etc. That *wisdom to be loved* is nothing else than Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, whom he who does not love cannot reign with God. — And the reason of this is: since the soul in that kingdom must be united and joined to God, as a bride to a bridegroom, by an indissoluble bond — as is said in Matthew, chapter twenty-five of the virgins: *They that were ready went in with him to the marriage*, the interlinear Gloss: "Where the clean soul is joined to the Word of God" — and since love is a uniting power and the principle of delight — as Dionysius says: "Love, he says, whether divine, or intellectual, or animal, whether divine, or angelic, or intellectual, or animal, or

natural, let us call it a certain uniting and concreting power, let us understand it" — and since Augustine also says that charity is the love of the highest good: therefore it is necessary to have charity and to love the highest goodness for this, that the soul may reign there, where to reign is nothing else than to be joined to the highest goodness and to enjoy it.

22. The third thing which is necessary for having the kingdom is *the imitation of the highest virtue*, so that there be obedience in the commandments; because, as is said in the first to the Corinthians, chapter four, *the kingdom of God is not in speech, but in power.* And on this account it is said in Matthew, chapter seven: *Not every one that saith to me: Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.* — And the reason of this is: it is impossible that you should reign with God unless God reign in you; but he does not reign in you unless you do his will; and you do not do his will unless you obey his commandments: therefore obedience to the commandments is necessary for this, that you may enter into the kingdom of heaven. For no one ever will enter except under the title of obedience; for more will be asked about deeds than about words.

23. There follows the *penitential* grace, which is likewise necessary for entry into the kingdom. Whence John says in Matthew, chapter three: *Do penance; for the kingdom of heaven shall be at hand.* Christ also says the same in Matthew, chapter four. — And the reason of this necessity is: since in sin, by which we are driven out from the kingdom, there is a voluntary delight; it is fitting that in penance, by which it is recovered, there be a certain voluntary affliction, so that a man may, that is to say, do violence to himself. Whence it is said in Matthew, chapter eleven: *From the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.* Now this violence is done in three ways, according to the three roots from which every evil sprouts.

24. First in the *treading down of mental arrogance* through the deepest humility; because, as is said in Matthew, chapter eighteen, *unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Suffer,* he says in Mark, chapter ten, suffer *the little children to come to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven;* but the proud man will never enter. — And the reason of this is threefold: the first, because in that kingdom there is complete *subjection* as regards the Lord. But the proud man will be subject to no one, not even to the Lord, Deuteronomy, chapter one: *I spoke, and you heard not; but resisting the commandment of the Lord and swelling with pride, you went up into the mountain.* — The second reason is: because in that kingdom there is complete *peace* and concord as regards the neighbour; on the contrary, as is said in Proverbs, chapter thirteen, *among the proud there are always contentions.* — But the third reason is complete *quieting* as regards oneself. For each one is content with what he has: with his own place, his own dwelling, his own bounds, and desires no more; but the proud man is not, but always extends himself beyond his own limits through an appetite for excellence and vanity. Whence Anselm says in the book *On Likenesses* that it is called *pride* because a man steps above what he ought; Job, chapter eleven: *A vain man is lifted up into pride;* for *the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth continually.* — Therefore the region of complete *subjection*, of perpetual *peace*, of full *sufficiency* in no way befits pride, but on the contrary deep humility. *Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven*, Matthew, chapter eighteen.

25. Secondly, for having the kingdom of heaven violence is necessary in the *bridling of worldly avarice* through the highest poverty; Matthew, chapter five: *Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.* Well does he say: *theirs it is*, because, since such men are borne above the whole world through contempt of all things, while they are singularly raised up to that kingdom through desire, in a certain way they are already there. On the contrary, about the lovers of the world it is said in Matthew, chapter nineteen: *Amen I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.* — And the reason of this is threefold: the first, because that kingdom is *most simple;* on the contrary the covetous man is most composite; for as many affections for earthly things as he has, so many compositions has he. Whence he is compared to a camel on account of its humpedness, because, as many parts or possessions of the earth as he desires, so many humps has he, on account of

which he cannot enter; because in the kingdom there is unity of affection, sublimity of position, community of possession. — The second reason is: because that kingdom is *most sublime*, as was said before; on the contrary the covetous man is lowest, clinging to the earth, the dregs of the elements. Whence the covetous man can say that word of the Psalm: *The enemy hath persecuted my soul, he hath brought down my life to the earth*, that is, "to earthly things," as the Gloss says. — The third reason is: because that kingdom is *most common;* on the contrary the covetous man is most envious, appropriating all things to himself. — Note the authority of Gregory in the eighth book of the *Morals*, at the end. — Therefore the region of *simplicity, sublimity* and *community* in no way befits avarice, but rather on the contrary poverty. Rightly therefore *hath God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which God hath promised to them that love him*, James, chapter two.

26. Thirdly also, for having the kingdom violence is necessary in the *mortifying of carnal concupiscence* through the most complete chastity, about which Matthew, chapter nineteen: *There are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men; and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven;* and he speaks of a threefold kind of eunuchs, whom namely *necessity, violence* and *grace* make. Yet morally the eunuchs who are made so by men can be called *hypocrites*, who are continent on account of vainglory, or on account of shame, lest they lose the honour of the world, or their revenues. But only the third sort are fit for the kingdom. — On the contrary: *Know you this and understand, that no fornicator, or unclean, or covetous person, which is a serving of idols, hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God*. — Why this? For this there is a threefold reason: the first, because that kingdom is *most pure*, inasmuch as it is luminous; whence it is compared in the Apocalypse to gold and to clean glass, Apocalypse, chapter twenty-one. On the contrary in lust there is the highest impurity. — Note about the mixing of gold and mud, so it is with the soul and with lust. — The second reason is that that kingdom is *most ordered*: because, as in hell there is no order, so there every order is. On the contrary in the sin of the flesh there is the highest disorder, where reason is swallowed up by the flesh. — The third reason is: because that kingdom is *incorruptible* and perpetual, as was said above. On the contrary in the sin of the flesh there is the highest corruption, in which a man is wounded even in his natural gifts, etc.

27. Therefore the region of purity does not befit the filthy and the defiled, because *there shall not enter into it* the city *anything defiled*, Apocalypse, chapter twenty-one. The region of total order does not belong to those swallowed up by the flesh, because *flesh and blood cannot possess the kingdom of God*, the first to the Corinthians, chapter fifteen. The region also of the highest incorruption does not befit the corrupt, because *neither shall corruption possess incorruption*, as is said in the same place; nay rather, *he that soweth in the flesh*, the Gloss: "carnal vices," and fosters them, *of the flesh also shall reap corruption*, the Gloss: "a fitting harvest"; for nothing befits the flesh better than corruption, to the Galatians, chapter six. *Whosoever therefore shall not receive the kingdom of God as a child, shall not enter into it.* This sentence the Saviour gave in Luke, chapter eighteen. And the Gloss says there: By the *child* is understood the chastity of innocence, which is set before us for imitation, if we will have the kingdom of God; because, as is said in Wisdom, chapter six, *incorruption maketh one to be near to God*.

28. There follows the *final* grace, which above all things is necessary for having the kingdom, nor can it be had otherwise. This sentence the Saviour gave to him who wished to go back to bury his father, Luke, chapter nine: *No man, putting his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.* Which he does not understand who does not understand the parable about the seed. — Whence it is to be noted that the *seed in the field* is grace infused into the heart of man; and although the field bears fruit from the power of the seed, yet the diligence of the tiller and fellow worker is required. So, although from the power of grace we bring forth the fruit of good work, yet the diligence and cooperation of free choice and the industry of man is required, according to that word of the first to the Corinthians, chapter three: *We are God's coadjutors; you are God's husbandry, you are God's building;* and this is the *plough*. It is nothing else

therefore to say: *No man, putting his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God,* than to say: no one, cooperating with grace in bringing forth a good work and drawing back, since he in no wise perseveres, is fit for the kingdom of God; because, as Gregory says, "in vain is a good thing done, if it be abandoned before the end of life"; because also he runs swiftly in vain who fails before he comes to the goal.

29. But it is to be noted that there are three things which make that grace complete; which are necessary for obtaining the kingdom, namely steady *patience*, lofty *confidence* and long-suffering *perseverance*. And one arises from another, as is said to the Romans, chapter five: *Knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience trial; and trial hope; and hope confoundeth not,* etc. — Therefore steady *patience* is necessary for having the kingdom. For it is written in the Acts, chapter fourteen: *Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of heaven.* Paul said this, nor does that *must* sound of fittingness, but of necessity. Whence our Saviour, in Matthew, chapter twenty, to the mother of the sons of Zebedee asking: *Say that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom;* answered: *You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink? They say to him: We can;* as if he should say: you ask for the kingdom, but ask along with it for its justice. Justice is that he who wishes to be a partaker in the kingdom should be a partaker in tribulation; Apocalypse, chapter one: *Partaker in tribulation and in the kingdom.* Whence John says in the Gloss: "And he knew this, that they could imitate his passion; but he says this so that, with him asking and them answering, we may hear that no one can reign with Christ unless he has imitated his passion." And for this there is a threefold reason.

30. The first is: because God ought to admit no one to the fellowship of his kingdom unless he be a true and approved friend. But no one ought to be approved unless he be first tried; no one can be tried so well as through tribulation, as is said of Abraham, Judith, chapter eight: *We ought to remember how our father Abraham was tempted, and being proved by many tribulations, was made the friend of God.* Therefore the bearing or patience of tribulation is necessary for having the kingdom. — The second reason is: because God crowns all men in his kingdom, as is said in Wisdom, chapter five: *They shall receive a kingdom of glory and a crown of beauty at the hand of God.* But no one ought to be crowned unless he has conquered; no one can conquer unless he has striven; nor strive unless he has had enemies and temptations or tribulations, as the Gloss says upon that word of the Psalm: *When my heart was in anguish, thou hast exalted me on a rock.* Therefore one must come to the crown of the kingdom by the way of steady patience; the second to Timothy, chapter two: *He shall not be crowned, except he strive lawfully.* — The third reason is: because in that kingdom there is every joy and delight: for *at thy right hand are delights even to the end*. But no one is worthy to come to such a joy unless he has been set far from the joys and delightful things of the world. Whence Jerome says to Heliodorus: "You are dainty, brother, if you wish both to rejoice here with the world and afterwards to reign with Christ." For, as the same man says to Julian, "it is difficult, nay impossible, that a man should enjoy both present and future goods, that he should fill both his belly here and his mind there, that he should pass from delights to delights; that he should be first in both ages, that he should appear glorious both in heaven and on earth"; and elsewhere. But there is nothing which so sets a man far from these things and sequesters him as tribulation does. Therefore tribulation is the straight way to the kingdom: *blessed* therefore *are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven*, Matthew, chapter five.

31. Again, for having the kingdom *lofty confidence* is necessary, which that blessed thief had, who said in Luke, chapter twenty-three: *Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom,* who at once, on account of his hope, which he placed in the mercy of God, deserved to hear: *Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.* — But why ought I to be confident or to hope that I should possess the kingdom of God? Surely on account of his *liberality*, which

invites me; Matthew, chapter six and Luke, chapter twelve: *Seek ye first the kingdom of God.* — On account of the *truth* which *strengthens* me; Luke, chapter twelve: *Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom.* — Again, on account of the *piety* and the *charity* which *redeemed* me; Apocalypse, chapter five: *Thou art worthy, O Lord God, to take the book and to open the seals thereof; because thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God in thy blood, out of every tongue and tribe and people and nation; and hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign upon the earth.* — Hope therefore or confidence is necessary for having the kingdom, and this because it raises a man upward, steadies him raised, and for him steadied makes a dwelling.

32. Nonetheless above all things *long-suffering perseverance* is necessary for having the kingdom. *For if we be dead with him, we shall live also with him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with him*. What is it to die with Christ on the cross, unless to persevere unto death on the cross of penance and of evangelical observance? And on this account that notable word is said in James, chapter five: *You have heard of the patience of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord.* — For some might say: we have indeed heard of the patience of Job, and that afterwards he was in great prosperity, and all things were restored to him doubled, and he died in peace. On this account, to signify that one must persevere unto death in poverty, confusion and affliction, he added: *and you have seen the end of the Lord*, to whom nothing was repaid in the present.

33. And truly on account of three things long-suffering perseverance is necessary for having the kingdom. The first is the *eternity* *of the will.* Whence, just as those who had an evil will in their own eternal will be tormented eternally in hell; so those who had a good one will reign eternally in heaven. — The second is the *punctuality of death*, because in that point of death, *where the tree falleth, there shall it be*, nor will there be any going back to do penance. On this account Gregory says a terrible word in the twenty-fourth book of the *Morals*: "As death draws near, the soul of anyone is not without cause terrified, when after a little while it finds this, which it cannot change for eternity." — The third is the *immutability of virtue*, for the perfection of which, according to the Philosopher, there is required "to know and to will and to work unchangeably"; otherwise it would not be worthy of the recompense of an eternal reward.

34. There follows the *sapiential* grace, which also is expedient for having the kingdom. But it is to be noted that three things make it complete, namely sapiential *contemplations*, sapiential *desires*, sapiential *exercises*, so that wisdom may possess the whole man as to understanding, affection and effect. — I say therefore that for having the kingdom sapiential *contemplations* are expedient, and about this it is said in Wisdom, chapter ten: *The Lord conducted the just man through the right ways and shewed him the kingdom of God and gave him the knowledge of the holy things. The knowledge of the holy things* means the contemplations of wisdom, of which some are *real*, namely in all creatures; some *mental*, namely in the divine Scriptures; but some *moral*, namely in the works of the Redeemer. The first pertain to the uncreated Word, the second to the inspired Word, but the third to the incarnate Word.

35. Again, for having the kingdom sapiential *desires* are expedient, according to what is said in Wisdom, chapter six: *The desire of wisdom leadeth to the everlasting kingdom;* and this because such desires simplify, raise up and set on fire the soul; Daniel, chapter ten: *Daniel, man of desires, understand the words that I speak to thee, and stand upright.* Again, in chapter nine Gabriel said to Daniel: *I am come to shew thee, because thou art a man of desires.* — Again, sapiential *exercises* are expedient, Matthew, chapter five: *But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.* Now these exercises are: if we form our heart, if we govern our body well, if we instruct our neighbour.

36. These twelve branches of grace can be signified by the twelve gates of the city of Jerusalem, about which it is written in the Apocalypse, chapter twenty-one: *On the east three gates*, namely of baptismal grace, where the soul is born again and rises up spiritual; from the setting or *from the west three gates*, namely of penitential grace, because through it man rises again from his setting, according to that word:

*The just man shall fall seven times in the day and shall rise again*; about the prodigal son, Luke, chapter fifteen: *I will arise and will go to my father,* etc.; *from the north*, whence every evil is spread abroad, as is said in Jeremias, chapter one, *three gates* of final grace, through which a man is firm against the evil of tribulation and temptation; *from the south* or midday, where the sun is in full brightness, *three gates* of sapiential grace, which enlightens a man for knowing the things said above, namely the book of nature, of Scripture, of grace.

37. Having seen, therefore, concerning the conditions of the kingdom: *what* it is, *where* it is, *of what sort* it is, *how great* it is and *whose* it is; now therefore there must be subjoined a treatment of the *twelve parables of the kingdom*, which are found in the Gospel as general ones, and if perchance there are more, they are reducible to these; of which three are taken on the side of the *Maker*, three on the side of the *Redeemer*, three on the side of the *gratuitous gift* and three on the side of *free choice*. — Three parables, I say, are taken by reason of the *Maker* as creating, as governing, as rewarding. — By reason of the Maker as *creating* is taken that one of Matthew, chapter thirteen: *The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field,* as above. *But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat* etc. But how the enemy oversowed cockle, that is, malice and disorder in this world, will perhaps appear *below*. — But by reason of the Maker as *governing* is taken that one about the householder, Matthew, chapter twenty: *The kingdom of heaven is like to a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.* Here is noted the solicitude of God, which he has had about his people from the beginning of the world, as a householder about his household. For he has never ceased to instruct us. For *in the morning*, through the law of nature; *at the third hour*, through the law of Scripture; *at the sixth*, through the Prophets; *at the ninth*, through the Apostles in the law of grace; *at the eleventh*, through the holy Doctors; and yet still we remain slothful and unfruitful; and it can not undeservedly be said to us: *Why stand you here all the day idle?* — But by reason of the Maker as *rewarding* is taken that one about the king who would take an account of his servants, Matthew, chapter eighteen: *The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants;* and there two things about God are made manifest: mercy, namely, and justice, because *all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth*: mercy in the remitting of the debt, but justice in the punishing of the ungrateful; upon those, indeed, who have abused mercy, justice will rage the more fiercely. — And note the example of blessed Bernard about the bee, which has honey and a sting. — Now the first of these parables is taken in the account of the past, the second in the account of the present, the third indeed in the account of the future.

38. Three parables again are taken by reason of the *Redeemer*, of the Redeemer, I say, *descending* into the world, *ascending* into heaven and *sitting* at the right hand of the Father and again *returning* to judgment: the first is taken in the account of the past, the second in the account of the present, the third indeed in the account of the future. — By reason, therefore, of the Redeemer *descending* into the world is taken that one about the man, a king, who made a marriage for his son, Matthew, chapter twenty-two, where it is said: *The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son* etc. *To a king*, the interlinear Gloss: "to God the Father"; *who made a marriage*, the interlinear Gloss: "through the mystery of the incarnation he joined the Church to his Son". And the bridal chamber of the marriage was the Virgin's womb. — But by reason of the Redeemer *ascending* into heaven is taken that one about the nobleman, Luke, chapter nineteen: *A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. And calling his ten servants, he gave them ten pounds and said to them: Trade till I come.* Who is this nobleman but that Son of God, who says of himself: *But I am appointed king by him*, and that word of Proverbs, chapter thirty-one: *Her husband is honourable in the gates.* He went into a far country when he carried over into heaven our flesh, whose proper place is the earth, as Gregory says. But he then gave talents for trading when he gave the diverse gifts of the Spirit for acting well. But alas for us wretched ones! who of this trading

will be able to give a sufficient account? — By reason also of the Redeemer *returning* to judgment is taken that one about the ten virgins, Matthew, chapter twenty-five, where it is said: *Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like to ten virgins;* and it follows: *At midnight there was a cry made: behold, the bridegroom cometh,* that is, Christ, and it is said there: *And the bridegroom tarrying,* the interlinear Gloss: "deferring the last judgment"; or tarrying, because, as the interlinear Gloss says, there is not a little time between the first and the second coming of Christ. And the virgins under the number *ten* signify the whole body of all men. For ten is a perfect number, because it comprehends all numbers, and beyond it there is no number, but only a recapitulation of number. *For we shall all*, as the Apostle says, *stand before the judgment seat of Christ* etc.

39. Three parables nonetheless are taken on the side of the *gratuitous gift*, and this as regards *prevenient* grace in the will, *concomitant* grace in justification and *subsequent* grace in consummation. — By reason, therefore, of the gratuitous gift as regards *prevenient* grace in the will is taken that one about the net cast into the sea, Matthew, chapter thirteen, where it is said: *The kingdom of heaven is like to a net cast into the sea and gathering together of all kinds of fishes.* For as the Saints expound, the *sea* is the world, the *net* is the preaching of the Gospel or prevenient grace, which gathers of all kinds of fishes; because "it calls men of every kind to pardon", although not all are chosen; whence: *Many are called, but few are chosen*. The *shore* is the end of the world, in which the good are sent to heaven, the evil to the darkness. For in the present they were mingled together; whence it follows: *they chose out the good into vessels*, that is, "into eternal tabernacles"; so the Gloss expounds. — But by reason of the gratuitous gift as regards *concomitant* grace in justification is taken that one about the man casting seed into the earth, Mark, chapter four, where it is said: *So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the earth, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up whilst he knoweth not.* For of itself the earth brings forth and bears fruit, first the blade, then the ear. For as seed cast into the earth grows imperceptibly both by day and by night; so infused grace, cooperating in the heart of man, makes him grow, although it be not perceived, as much in the day of prosperity as in the night of adversity, because to the elect *all things work together unto good.* And Gregory says: "When we conceive good desires, we cast seed into the earth; but when we begin to work rightly, we are the blade; and when we grow to the advancement of good work, we come to the ear; and when we are made solid in the perfection of the same, we now bring forth the full grain in the ear". — But by reason of the gratuitous gift as regards *subsequent* grace in consummation is taken that one about the leaven, Matthew, chapter thirteen, where it is said: *The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid* or put *in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened;* the same in Luke, chapter thirteen. That *woman* is the divine wisdom, and the *leaven* is charity by reason of its heat. For as by the mediating heat of the leaven the dough is disposed and becomes edible, so by the mediating of charity we are incorporated into Christ and are consummated in good; first to Timothy, chapter one: *The end of the precept is charity* etc. The *three measures* can be said to be the active, the contemplative and those mingled of both, namely prelates, in whom that leaven is hidden. — Or, according to the Gloss, *in three measures of meal*, as spirit, soul and body brought back into one, lest they be at variance among themselves, or that the three powers of the soul be brought back into one, so that in the rational we may possess prudence, in the irascible hatred of vices, in the concupiscible desire of virtues. *Until the whole was leavened*, the Gloss: "So long ought charity to grow in the mind, until it change the whole mind into its own perfection, so that it love nothing besides God". "A *measure*, as the Gloss says, is a standard".

40. Three parables, finally, are taken on the side of *free choice*, in which there ought to be *simplicity of intention, studiousness of solicitude, strenuousness of operation* according to the three things that are in free choice. — By reason,

therefore, of *simplicity of intention*, which ought to be in free choice, is taken that parable about the treasure, Matthew, chapter thirteen, where it is said: *The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field, which a man having found hid it, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.* — Here note Gregory's exposition, and let it suffice. Yet in general two things are noted there, namely the *avoiding of danger*, namely of human praise, in the hiding of the treasure; whence blessed Gregory says: "The treasure is hidden that it may be kept, because he who does not hide from human praises his zeal for heavenly desire does not suffice to guard it from the malignant spirits. He therefore desires to be plundered who carries his treasure openly on the road". — Note the example of a candle carried in the wind. — The second notable thing is the *appraising of the kingdom* in the selling of every possession, because, as blessed Gregory says elsewhere, "if we consider what and how great are the things which are promised to us in the heavens, all things which are had on earth grow worthless to the mind". Whence such a man in comparison reckons all things as *dung*.

41. By reason likewise of *studiousness of solicitude*, which ought likewise to be in free choice, is taken that parable about the man, a merchant, Matthew, chapter thirteen, where it is said: *The kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls.* Where two things in general are to be attended to: first, *vigilance* in seeking. — Note concerning those merchants, to how many labours and dangers they expose themselves. Whence blessed Jerome to Nepotian says: "With how many sweats is an empty inheritance sought after? With less labour the pearl of Christ could have been bought". — Secondly, *prudence* in buying is to be attended to, that he may buy such goods as are of value in the land to which he is going to carry them, and of which there is a scarcity there.

42. But by reason of *strenuousness of work*, which is required likewise in free choice, is taken that parable about the grain of mustard seed, Matthew, chapter thirteen, where it is said: *The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. Which is the least indeed of all seeds; but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs.* Almost the same in Luke, chapter thirteen, and Mark, chapter four. — In the *grain of mustard seed*, which is the least in quantity and the greatest in power, are noted two things necessary to good works, namely *humility* through smallness, *manliness* through power; and these against the two things which are most to be feared in good works, namely against *fraud* and *sloth*. Whence upon that word of Job, chapter nine: *I feared all my works*, the Gloss of blessed Gregory says: "Two things are to be feared in good works, sloth and fraud. Sloth is caused by a lesser love of God, fraud by one's own love of self, when for things well done there is desired the silent favour of the human heart, or the breeze of applause, or any outward thing whatsoever". Let these things said briefly about the parables suffice.

43. There follows the treatment of the three difficult questions which fall upon this parable, namely *whence* evil *arises, why it is borne with* and *how it is punished*.

For the answering of the first question it is necessary first to understand what *evil* is. Now evil, according to Augustine, is not any nature, but the privation of good has received the name of *evil*. The Manichaean cannot understand that evil is a privation, but posits that it is some nature; therefore he necessarily has to posit a *principle of evil*, and so two principles, since there can be no principle of evil except evil in so far as it is such; but the good is diffusive of itself. — For since *unity* is the undividedness of *being*, and *truth* the undividedness of *being* and *to-be*; *goodness* adds still further upon this, because it is the undividedness of *being* and *to-be* and *to act*, and that acting is to diffuse and communicate itself. But God does everything that he does *from himself, according to himself* and *for the sake of himself.* Because he acts from himself, he gives *mode*; because according to himself, he gives *species*; because for the sake of himself, he gives *order*; because every good has mode, species and order; and the privation of these is evil. But since a cause is either only *acting*, as God; or only *acted upon*, as irrational things; or *acting and acted upon*, as the rational creature: the privation of these cannot be in a cause *only acting*; in a cause *only acted upon* it can be and is, but without fault; but in a cause *acting and acted upon* it is with fault; because, if it fails, this is from its own fault, since it can order its own action and can, by the liberty of its choice, fail from order. For the rational creature is both *from God* and *out of nothing*. Because

it is *from God*, it is imitative of him; and in imitating God in its own action, if it acts from God and according to God and for the sake of God, so that it constitutes God the principle, the exemplar and the end of its action; then its action is good, having mode, species and order. But because it is *out of nothing*, it can fail from these, and it does this when it loves itself too much, so that, when it ought to constitute God the end and to act for the sake of God, it constitutes itself and acts *for its own sake;* and so it necessarily acts *according to itself* and *from itself*: and so it fails from the order of right action, and such a defect is evil, caused by self-esteem and self-love. — We have therefore *what* evil is, namely a defect of mode, of species and of order; *whence* it is, namely from a failing will; and *why* it is in the rational creature alone, which uses the liberty of choice, on account of which it can be bent aside from right order.

44. To the second thing that is asked, *why it is borne with;* I answer: because this makes for the *completion of the universe*, for the *greater glory of the human race* and for the *fuller praise of God.* — To the *completion of the universe* it belongs that there be every difference of beings which can reasonably be thought. But since there is a being which, falling from good, is at once obstinate in evil, as Lucifer; and a being which, cleaving to good, is at once confirmed in it, as the good Angels: there ought also to be some creature which can fall and rise again according to the liberty of its own choice. And since, according to Augustine, "God so administers the things which he has founded that he lets them carry on their own proper motions"; just as he does not change the nature put into a stone and into any other heavy thing, so that they tend downward toward the centre, nor that of fire and of air, so that they tend upward and recede from the centre; so neither ought he to do violence to man, whom he made free, so that he might not always be able to choose what he wills. Therefore it is not only reasonable, but even necessary for the completion and the government of the universe, that evils be permitted to happen.

45. Evil belongs also to the *greater glory of the human race.* For man becomes more glorious through the *exercise of the virtues.* For, according to Augustine, God would not permit evils to happen, did he not know to what uses of good things he would turn them. For the malice of Decius made blessed Lawrence more glorious than his own father's love. — He becomes more glorious also through the *heaping up of graces.* For he is more pleasing to God who knows himself freed from evils, than he who would not know that he had been disposed toward evils; and therefore, if a man had been made who could not sin, he would not render God so great thanks. — He becomes more glorious also from the *appearing of opposites*; for contraries set beside one another shine out the more, as a white colour appears more beautiful beside black, and a song more delightful from the interposing of silence, since silence is a pure privation.

46. It belongs also, or rather it makes, for the *fuller praise of God;* for from evils his *power* appears the more praiseworthy; for although it is manifest in the production of things, yet it is better to manifest it in diverse ways. On account of which the Lord says of Pharao: *And therefore have I raised thee, that I may shew my strength in thee.* For God would never have shown his power in so many marvels, had Pharao not been evil. — His *wisdom* also becomes more praiseworthy; for it belongs to a greater wisdom to lead back what is disordered to order, than never to preserve in order what is disordered. Whence Boethius: "The order of divine providence embraces all things"; whence it comes about that, if anyone falls away from one difference, he slips back into another. — His *justice* also becomes more praiseworthy in punishing, which would not so appear, were there not evils which it might punish. — More praiseworthy also is his *mercy* in pardoning, his *patience* in bearing with, his *munificence* in bestowing: because *he maketh his sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust*.

47. To the third thing that is asked, *how* evil *is punished;* I answer that it is punished eternally; and that it ought so to be is clear first by reason of the *divine offence*, which is as great as is he who is offended. Since therefore God is infinite, the offence of sin is infinite. It is just, therefore, that it be punished with an infinite punishment; but it cannot be punished with a punishment infinite in intensity: it must be, therefore, that it be punished with a punishment infinite in eternal duration. — Another reason is that one who sins against the *fellowship of a city* can justly be separated by exile from its company, as long as he himself shall live and the city shall endure. If therefore a sinner is a traitor to the city of God, whose duration is perpetual, it is just that he too be punished with perpetual exile. — A third reason is that a sinner is judged not principally according to the outward act alone, but according to the inward will. But every sinner, whenever he forsakes God for a momentary delight, would prefer that delight to be made perpetual,

seeing that he does not repent of it in the whole course of his life: therefore he is to be punished as if the delight had lasted perpetually. — A fourth reason is this: that a sinner in every act of mortal sin abuses all those things by which he ought to be helped and with which he has to be ordered. But he himself, since he is a part of the universe, receives help from things elemental, celestial and supercelestial, and has an ordering to things past, present and future; he abuses therefore all the aforesaid things: there is nothing therefore in the universe which is not set against him both as to subsistence and as to duration. Therefore it is necessary that he be punished with a universal and everlasting adversity, and through this with an unending calamity of punishment. — A fifth reason is this: that, since the rational soul is created on the horizon of aeviternity and of time, and is not in time save by reason of its union with the body, when that union is taken away the soul necessarily enters the state of aeviternity. If therefore it dies in mortal sin, it endures everlastingly in the perversion of sin; but "there is no disgrace of sin without the comeliness of justice": therefore if the fault lasts everlastingly, it is to be punished with an everlasting punishment; from which punishment may the Son of God bring us, set free, to the kingdom of heaven; which may he deign to grant us who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen. — Exᴘʟɪᴄɪᴛ.

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